TheRetroArcade
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Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
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I imagine it took Bungie a lot of time and iteration before settling on Marathon's competitive system. After all, how do you structure a Ranked mode in an extraction shooter, a genre where winning and losing isn't clear-cut? How does starting gear factor in? Does killing players or AI give you rank points? What is even the goal? Kill people or loot as much as possible?
There were a lot of ideas floating around in my head ever since Bungie announced Marathon would have a Ranked mode, and the developer has now clarified how the system works. Understandably, it's very complicated to make a competitive mode in an extraction shooter. To help you understand it better, Bungie's made… a maths test.
Marathon's unique ranked system can be a lot to understand when you're new to it. We've prepared a resource to help you get used to figuring out score targets, loss penalties, and more. pic.twitter.com/xrR4gRrnC6March 18, 2026
This 'ranked calculation worksheet' puts your understanding of the scoring system to the test with four questions (plus a bonus), which you answer using the data in the given table. So let's try to answer them to see if I actually learned anything after reading through Bungie's official explainer multiple times over.
1: Johnnie equips a Silver Holotag. Andy equips a Gold Holotag. Chris equips a Silver Holotag. What is their crew's score target?
2: Paul equips a Gold Holotag. Ross equips a Silver Holotag. Nikki equips a Platinum Holotag. How many Ranked Points will they each lose on failure to exit?
3: Brian equips a Diamond Holotag. Eric equips a Platinum Holotag. Nick equips a Platinum Holotag. They loot three Gold Holotags. How many Ranked Points can they potentially gain?
4: Phil equips a Gold Holotag and exfils after looting 6,000 gear value. How many Ranked Points does he gain?
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Bonus: Eunice equips a Platinum Holotag. How much additional gear value does she need to be eligible to queue for High Stakes? (10,000 gear value requirement.)
While Bungie's done this math test in jest, I must say, it's rather helpful in getting your head around the complex system. Holotag costs, score targets, overperformance, it's all very complicated. However, after studying the learning material (Bungie's blog explaining...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
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Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
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GamesRadar+
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Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
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From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
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Switch 2 Spotlight
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Every Saturday
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Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
I imagine it took Bungie a lot of time and iteration before settling on Marathon's competitive system. After all, how do you structure a Ranked mode in an extraction shooter, a genre where winning and losing isn't clear-cut? How does starting gear factor in? Does killing players or AI give you rank points? What is even the goal? Kill people or loot as much as possible?
There were a lot of ideas floating around in my head ever since Bungie announced Marathon would have a Ranked mode, and the developer has now clarified how the system works. Understandably, it's very complicated to make a competitive mode in an extraction shooter. To help you understand it better, Bungie's made… a maths test.
Marathon's unique ranked system can be a lot to understand when you're new to it. We've prepared a resource to help you get used to figuring out score targets, loss penalties, and more. pic.twitter.com/xrR4gRrnC6March 18, 2026
This 'ranked calculation worksheet' puts your understanding of the scoring system to the test with four questions (plus a bonus), which you answer using the data in the given table. So let's try to answer them to see if I actually learned anything after reading through Bungie's official explainer multiple times over.
1: Johnnie equips a Silver Holotag. Andy equips a Gold Holotag. Chris equips a Silver Holotag. What is their crew's score target?
2: Paul equips a Gold Holotag. Ross equips a Silver Holotag. Nikki equips a Platinum Holotag. How many Ranked Points will they each lose on failure to exit?
3: Brian equips a Diamond Holotag. Eric equips a Platinum Holotag. Nick equips a Platinum Holotag. They loot three Gold Holotags. How many Ranked Points can they potentially gain?
4: Phil equips a Gold Holotag and exfils after looting 6,000 gear value. How many Ranked Points does he gain?
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Bonus: Eunice equips a Platinum Holotag. How much additional gear value does she need to be eligible to queue for High Stakes? (10,000 gear value requirement.)
While Bungie's done this math test in jest, I must say, it's rather helpful in getting your head around the complex system. Holotag costs, score targets, overperformance, it's all very complicated. However, after studying the learning material (Bungie's blog explaining...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?