{"id":1530757,"date":"2026-03-19T15:46:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/3iJQGtWdThcMrjnZeNJLU4"},"modified":"2026-03-19T15:46:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:46:30","slug":"marathon-ranked-explained-rules-scoring-and-rewards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/marathon-ranked-explained-rules-scoring-and-rewards\/","title":{"rendered":"Marathon Ranked explained: Rules, scoring, and rewards"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I’ll admit, I was sceptical of Marathon<\/a>‘s Ranked<\/strong> mode at first. How do you even make a proper competitive system in an extraction shooter, where a win and a loss aren’t quite so easily defined? Well, Bungie’s done it. Though to get it all to work, it’s quite complicated.<\/p>\n

You earn and lose points to go up and down ranks as you’d expect, but there are a lot more layers on top, with new systems like Holotags, gear ante, and matchmaking pools. But with unique seasonal Ranked rewards up for grabs, you’ll want to know how it all works. One thing’s for sure, you’ll want the best guns<\/a> in your hands and characters<\/a> in your crew to improve your odds.<\/p>\n

Marathon Ranked mode explained<\/span><\/h2>\n
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\"Marathon
Bungie<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Marathon
Bungie<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

Firstly, Marathon’s Ranked mode is only available on the weekends, and you must be level 25+<\/strong>. Each weekend, a different planet-side<\/em> map will be spotlighted, so Perimeter, Dire Marsh, or Outpost\u2014no Cryo Archives, thankfully.<\/p>\n

Importantly, all team sizes are matched together<\/strong> in Ranked. What this means is that if you’re a solo player, you can be put in matches against three-player groups, unlike the standard solo queue. As you can imagine, that makes it much harder as a solo.<\/p>\n

There are six ranks, each with three tiers<\/strong> to progress through:<\/p>\n

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  1. Bronze<\/li>\n
  2. Silver<\/li>\n
  3. Gold<\/li>\n
  4. Platinum<\/li>\n
  5. Diamond<\/li>\n
  6. Pinnacle<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    It’s quite complicated, so here are the basics:<\/p>\n

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    Minimum gear requirement<\/h3>\n
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    You need to meet certain gear values to even enter a Ranked match (no free loadouts), and this dictates your queue type<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Holotags<\/h3>\n
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    You must have a Holotag, which determines your team’s score target during a match<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Score targets<\/h3>\n
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    Loot enough to meet your target and extract to gain rank, or die and lose rank<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Risk and reward<\/h3>\n
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    The higher tier your team’s Holotags, the more Ranked Points you stand to earn but the harder the challenge<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    Low and High Stakes queues<\/h3>\n

    When you queue for Ranked, you’ll have two matchmaking options: Low Stakes and High Stakes. These are two entirely separate queues based on your minimum ‘gear ante’, which is the value of your equipped gear when entering a match. You can see your current loadout value in the loadout or ready-up screen.<\/p>\n

    Low Stakes:<\/strong><\/p>\n