RR penalty decreased for 5-stacks in Valorant patch 4.08

Riot Games has made some much-needed adjustments to its Rank Rating system for Valorant 5-stacks. Here’s how the updated RR penalty now works. 

Valorant is a team game at its core. However, increasing toxicity issues may make coordination and communication difficult for many players trying to increase their rank. Fortunately, Riot Games allows players to queue with friends even if there is a rank disparity between players. But this amenity comes at the cost of Rank Rating (RR), which decreases as players of higher ranks join the shared lobby. 

Previously, a 50-90% RR loss applied depending on the skill disparity between teammates. This was a huge loss for those players trying to climb the ranks as it greatly slowed down their advancement. While players could queue with their friends, they were losing ELO in the process. Valorant patch 4.08 may help 5-stacks to rank up more smoothly. 

Do you get less RR if you 5-stack in Valorant?

Rank Rating gains and losses will be reduced when playing in a 5-stack outside the current rank restrictions rules. The amount that your RR is adjusted depends on the rank disparity within the group, which ultimately leads to whether you’ll get less RR with your 5-stack teammates.

After patch 4.08, players will lose much less RR upon queuing with a full lobby, but the penalty does remain. In the new act, if all players in a party are within ranks Iron 1 to Diamond 2, only a 25% RR penalty will be applied if any player falls outside of the standard grouping. For example, if one player is Diamond 3, all players will get reduced RR. However, a more significant penalty will be applied if the odd rank out is ranked as high as Radiant.

Before this update, 50% RR was deducted if one of the members is outside of the rank limit. The percentage kept going up with greater numbers of teammates outside of rank restriction. Here’s how the tweaked penalties now work: 

If everyone in your party is Iron–Diamond 2:

• No RR penalty if within normal grouping range
• 25% RR penalty for all players if any player falls outside of normal grouping

If anyone in your party is Diamond 3–Immortal 3:

• 25% RR penalty for all players

If anyone in your party is Radiant

• 75% RR penalty for all players

These changes mean that RR deduction is now capped at 75%, as opposed to the previous deduction of 90%. It is undoubtedly a positive move as the previous RR cut was much more punishing, resulting in high-ranked players opting to smurf rather than play on their main accounts. A decrease in smurfs should occur given this change in act 3, considering these new rules that make queuing with a 5-stack less punishing.

Apart from these changes, Riot has also improved the wait time for 5-stacks. Players should find their matches much quicker in the new Valorant act. 

Valorant Episode 4 Act 3 has now gone live with Fade, the RGX 11x Pro 2 bundle, and a shiny new battle pass that pays homage to the creator of “Revive me Jett” meme. It also includes these described changes to RR loss for teammates queuing together.