Valorant's combat score to get reworked to make rewards fairer

Valorant's combat scoring system, which ranks players' contribution in games, will be getting reworked according to Riot's latest developer Q&A.

The question put to the developers encapsulated many peoples' feelings about the current system, that it too heavily weights kills.

"Is it true that there’s an extra importance on frags when it comes to getting a good combat score?" asked the player.

Ian Fielding, Senior Producer on Valorant, clarified the combat score isn't solely based on kills, however, it is a "big factor" in your overall score.

Valorant's current combat score system is heavily weighted towards kills. (Picture: Riot Games)

"We also look at damage inflicted, meaning that assists where you help kill an enemy are taken into account, as well as utility that does damage," explained Fielding. "There are some other factors that help inform your combat score, such as first bloods and streaks."

The developers aren't totally happy with the current system though and hope to add more ways to earn points with "non-damage assists", which would reward points for successfully using non-lethal abilities such as flashing, stunning, or spotting opponents.

Fielding also explained that your combat score isn't a "1:1" ratio when it determining how much MMR you will gain or lose from a competitive match. While some weight is giving to combat score, the most critical factors are if you win and the "decisiveness of these wins".

• Read more: Valorant's repeating map problem in matchmaking to be fixed, Riot states

On the topic of calculating and rewarding performance, Fielding also explained what the silver and gold stars mean that you will sometimes see in your performance history.

"A star indicates if you’ve played better than we anticipated. That is, if you were regularly beating someone in combat and/or closely competing with someone of a higher rank than you, expect to have that acknowledged via a star," explained Fielding.

The stars denote how much you have exceeded expectations against certain players. (Picture: Riot Games)

"A silver star means you exceeded expectations and a gold star means you’ve really punched above your weight."

• Read more: Riot "accelerating" development on Valorant left-hand models, considering epilepsy-friendly flashbangs

Valorant's rank and performance evaluation is far from perfect, but from what we have heard so far from Riot, as well as that talked about today, it's clear that they are far from finished when it comes to ranking and rewarding players.