How Apex Legends™ Ranked works

5 min read

Overview

Learn how to compete in Apex Legends Ranked, how matchmaking works, and how to earn Ranked Points (RP).

Table of Contents

What's Apex Legends Ranked mode?

Ranked is a competitive mode that lets you play with other players of a similar rank. To access Ranked mode, you need to complete Road to Ranked Challenges. You can also access Ranked mode if you had access before Road to Ranked was released.Over time, you can rank up and play in higher tiers. Your rank will partially reset at the start of and about halfway through each Season. You’ll earn rewards when the Season ends.For more info on Ranked and gameplay terms, check out our Apex Legends terms guide.

What’s Road to Ranked?

If you’re new to Apex Legends and under Level 20, you need to play Road to Ranked before you can take part in Ranked.
  • Road to Ranked has three sets of challenges. 
  • To join Ranked, you need to complete all challenges.
  • If you had access to Ranked before Road to Ranked Challenges launched, you’ll still have access to Ranked.

How to play Ranked

Some game features work differently in Ranked compared to other modes. Read our Apex Legends game modes guide for a full overview of differences between Ranked and Freestyle modes, like Wildcard.If you’re new to Ranked, here’s what you need to know.
There are two ways to drop into Ranked: Dropship or Drop Zone. 
  • If you’re playing Dropship, you’ll have a Jumpmaster who can pick where you land.
  • You’ll play Drop Zone style if your lobby meets a certain threshold of Diamond, Master, or Predator ranked players. 
    • Before you select a Legend, your squad is assigned a Point of Interest on the map, which is where you’ll drop in. 
    • Dropships fly to your designated Drop Zone, and your team will independently jump. If you want, you can slightly adjust your landing to invade another zone and land closer to other teams. 
    • Loot is spread across Points of Interest, so every squad has a fairer chance of picking up weapons and items.
You might play both styles of match. You’ll see if you’re playing a Drop Zone style match on the match loading screen.

How does matchmaking work in Apex Legends?

Matchmaking is based on your current Ranked Points (RP).
  • When you play Ranked for the first time, your starting rank tier and RP value are determined by your hidden skill value in Unranked Trios.
  • If you played Ranked last Season, your starting rank tier and RP value are determined by your current hidden skill value in Ranked.
Matches will become more challenging as your RP increases.
Before the start of a match, check the distribution of player ranks in your lobby to adjust your strategy accordingly.If you’re killed, your Death Recap gives details on who killed you and the damage you took.

How does ranking work?

Each rank is split into four divisions—for example, Bronze IV, Bronze III, Bronze II, and Bronze I. To progress through these divisions, you need to earn Ranked Points (RP). You’ll get RP based on your performance within a Ranked game. The amount of RP you need to reach the next division increases as you become a higher rank. To get to the next division of each rank, you need to earn: 
  • Rookie: 250 RP
  • Bronze: 500 RP
  • Silver IV to Silver III: 500RP
  • Silver III to Silver II: 500 RP
  • Silver II to Silver I: 500 RP
  • Silver I to Gold IV: 750 RP
  • Gold: 750 RP
  • Platinum IV to Platinum III: 750 RP
  • Platinum III to Platinum II: 750 RP
  • Platinum II to Platinum I: 1000 RP
  • Platinum I to Diamond IV: 1000 RP
  • Diamond: 1000 RP.
This means you’ll need to get 500 RP to level up from Bronze II to Bronze I. 
If you play Apex Legends on different platforms (for example, on both PC and console), you’ll progress through Ranked separately on each platform. This means you could be Bronze rank on one platform but Gold on another.Different generations of the same console, like PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®5, count as the same platform.For more info on playing Apex Legends on different platforms, check out our Cross Progression article.

What are the Apex Legends ranks?  

The Ranked Leagues screen shows ranks from Rookie to Apex Predator. The ranks are highlighted in a red box.
  • Rookie
  • Bronze
  • Silver
  • Gold
  • Platinum
  • Diamond
  • Master
Once you’re Master rank, you can earn the title of Apex Predator. Apex Predators are the top 750 players per platform in the Master rank.At the start of each Season, you’re assigned an initial Ranked tier based on your hidden Ranked skill value. If you're new to Ranked, your Unranked Trios hidden skill value will be used instead.

What's the Rookie tier?

The Rookie tier is an introductory tier for new players to learn about Ranked mode. You might start here based on your hidden skill value in Unranked Trios. Once you progress out of Rookie, you'll continue earning Ranked rewards based on the highest Ranked tier you achieve during the Season. You can’t be placed back into the Rookie tier once you’ve progressed out of it. 

How to earn Ranked Points

You earn Ranked Points (RP) for: 
  • how many players you kill 
    • The higher you place in a match, the more each kill is worth.
  • your skills, like killing stronger players or getting a streak of top-five placements
  • where you place in a match. You get more RP for higher placements.
You don’t get RP for heals or revives—only assists and kills. 

How much RP does it cost to play?

Each Ranked match costs RP to enter, and you’ll earn RP back if you place in the top half of a match. Match entry cost depends on the rank you're currently in and increases as you climb the ranks.
  • Rookie: 0 RP
  • Bronze: 10 RP
  • Silver: 20 RP
  • Gold: 38 RP
  • Platinum: 48 RP
  • Diamond: 65 RP
  • Master/Predator: 90 RP

If you end a match with less Ranked Points 

Since it costs RP to enter a match, you could end up with less points than you started with. 

How does scoring work?

Scoring RP in Apex Legends is determined by a combination of placement, eliminations, and bonuses, which are based on skill.Scoring might change with each new Season, so be sure to stay up to date with the latest Apex Legends news.
This refers to the position your team finished in out of the 20 teams that entered the game. The higher your team places, the more points you’ll score. 

What's a Ranked split?

Ranked splits, or rank resets, happen twice per Season: once at the start and once at the announced split for the Season, which is called split two. Ranked splits reset the amount of RP you have.

What happens at the start of Season Ranked reset? 

  • When Ranked resets, you’re automatically assigned a rank tier that closely matches your skill level based on your Ranked matchmaking rating (MMR). 
  • If you’re new to Ranked, your MMR from Unranked Trios will be used as your Ranked MMR to assign your rank tier. 

Split two rank resets

  • Bronze IV to I reset to Bronze IV 1000 RP.
  • Silver IV to I reset to Silver IV 3250 RP (with +250 demotion protection).
  • Gold IV to I reset to Gold IV 5750 RP (with +250 demotion protection).
  • Platinum IV to I reset to Platinum IV 8750 RP (with +250 demotion protection).
  • Diamond IV and III reset to Platinum III 9250 RP.
  • Diamond II and I reset to Platinum II 10000 RP.
  • Master and above reset to Platinum I 11000 RP.

How do Ranked rewards and badges work?

At the start of the next Season, you’ll get the rewards for the highest rank you achieved during the last Season. Your highest rank can be taken from either the first or second split. You'll get an animated version of the Season-end reward badge if you match the rank you achieved in the first split. If you don’t get the same or a higher rank in the second split, you’ll get a normal version of your badge.

Why can’t I join a friend’s party?

All players in a premade Ranked squad have to be within two ranks of each other. If they aren’t, matchmaking will fail. This happens to prevent boosting and help keep the competition fair. Rank restrictions apply to all premade squads, including Duos and Trios. You’ll be matched against other squads using the highest RP value in your premade squad.Read more about the rules in Apex Legends. 

What are Ranked Ladders?

Ranked Ladders are smaller, skill-based leaderboards where you can earn rewards based on your final leaderboard tier.Ranked Ladders run every weekend. When one starts, you’re automatically assigned to a leaderboard with a maximum of 100 players. Players in your leaderboard are chosen by their hidden skill value. 

How do Ranked Ladders work?

To see your Ranked Ladder, select the Compete tab.
  • You need to play at least five Ranked matches to get started.
  • You must have cross-play turned on.
  • You can compete with or without a squad.
Your leaderboard score is decided by your five best RP scores in Ranked matches. You’ll get the rewards you earned during a Ranked Ladder shortly after it ends. Rewards are based on your final tier. 
Tier 1Top 10% of your leaderboard
Tier 2Top 10-30% of your leaderboard
Tier 3Top 30-50% of your leaderboard
Tier 4Bottom 50% of your leaderboard
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