The Splatoon 2 Tumblr has updated with details about the 3.0 update in regards to what people can expect from the upcoming X Rank. This new Rank was revealed during the March 2018 Nintendo Direct and will be a best of the best tier above S+ for the game’s top players.
First, Nintendo’s update reveals who will automatically be in X Rank when the update releases and how this rank is measured. This new tier relies on X Power to match players, with their Rank meter not being affected by gameplay each month. However, people who do not have a certain amount of X Power when the monthly rankings are published will be demoted to Rank S+9 and need to work their way back to X Rank. When the late April 2018 update 3.0 comes to Splatoon 2, everyone who is Rank S+10 or higher will immediately be in X Rank.
Nintendo released a reference point that shows what percentage of Splatoon 2 players are at each rank as of February 20, 2018.
- Rank S+10 ~ S+50: 1%
- Rank S+0 ~ S+9: 6.4%
- Rank S: 5.2%
- Rank A- ~A+: 20.7%
- Rank B- ~ B+: 33.0%
- Rank C- ~ C+: 33.0%
Splatoon 2 X Rank players and their gear will be shown in the Nintendo Switch Online application. The top 500 Clam Blitz, Rainmaker, Splat Zones and Tower Control players will each be shown, as well their weapons. Each month, this will be updated. Also, each month the Rank X Power will be reset, which will be reflected on the leaderboards.
Another Ranked change will come. Nintendo will be paring back the pool of stages for each Ranked Battle mode. There will be eight stages for each kind of Ranked game, rather than all available stages in the game. This means when X Rank resets each month, eight new stages will be set. Only Ranked Battle will have this limitation, with the Regular Battle and League Battle still having all available stages in the rotation. The first X Rank Power reset will be on May 31, 2018 in North America and June 1, 2018 in Japan and Europe.
In addition, all free maps and weapons will come to Splatoon 2 on a monthly basis after the 3.0 update, rather than weekly. This means a new stage and multiple weapons will be added at the beginning every month, rather than scattered throughout the month.
Splatoon 2 is available for the Nintendo Switch.
