When it launched in early March, Marathon was perhaps a tad barebones. This was part of Bungie's plans as the Destiny 2 developer wanted to deliver some of the more tricky and demanding options after fans became familiar with the game. To this end, this week has seen Cryo Archive officially be added to Marathon and this coming weekend will also see the Ranked mode being introduced.
The first Ranked weekend (is Bungie treating Marathon Ranked like Trials of Osiris?) will occur this coming weekend, with the kickoff planned for March 21 at 17:00 GMT/18:00 CET. It will then run until the same time on March 24. Bungie is treating Ranked in Marathon's first season as a beta, meaning it might be a tad weird and quirky in places, hence why an explanation of how the mode operates is useful.
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For one, the Ranked works a bit like a contract, where you accept Holotag items of differing values and then must loot items worth that value before extracting to gain points. You can bet big or little, depending on how quickly you want to rank up.
Similarly, there are set to be multiple ranked tiers and sub-tiers, with each of Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Pinnacle having three numbered sections to work through. Where you place in each tier by the end of the season will determine the item you are rewarded with, ranging from gun styles and titles to Runner Shell styles and player backgrounds. Each new season will also have unique Ranked rewards.
As per what you need to be eligible for Ranked, you need to hit level 25. That's all.
Looking at how scoring is arranged, Bungie has shared the following information:
You have a score target set by your team's Holotag values
Loot valuable items to get score
Once you reach your score target, exfil to get Rated Points
If you exfil before you hit your target, you don't get Rated Points
If you die, you lose Rated Points based on your team's Holotag values
You can get bonus Rated Points, aka overperformance capacity, by looting enemy player's Holotags or collecting Tag Chips from UESC and map events
The Holotag you are using then determines the final score, i.e. if you fail to meet the target loot value, you might be penalised, similarly to if you die and lose your gear.
For this coming weekend, the map of choice will be Perimeter and there will only be a Low Stakes Queue on offer to ensure fans are familiar with what the mode will serve up. In future weekends, a High Stakes Queue will be featured as well that requires players to at least use Platinum-rank Holotags and take gear valued at 10,000 into each match. Will you take that risk?
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