Kombat League point system.

[JeezusChrysler]

I’ve started to get into KL over the last two seasons. Can someone explain how the point system works? I’m thoroughly confused and I’m a civil engineer.

 

[NaughtySenpai]

You get around 50 points for people on the same rank and around the same KL points as you
40 Points for people like half a level below/above you
Around 100 for somebody a full rank above you
150 for people 2 ranks above you
and 20 or some ridiculously low number for people considerably lower than you.

These are all just estimates from my experience with the game.

Also losing points is only a thing around god rank. Before that you usually win more than you lose, making demi god the rank that everybody can achieve if they grind enough and everything past that is where the good players are.


This is all not evidence based. Just my experience with the system because nobody at NRS explains anything ever.

 

[Obly]

Not trying to give you an unserious answer, but tbh, it's not that important to understand the point system. You can't decline matches (unless the ping is truly bad) or choose whom you're matched up with, so there's no way to strategize or game the system around points. You just play whoever you're matched up with and gain/lose whatever points the game assigns to that match. Obviously to climb the ranks you generally want to win your matches. It's that simple.

The only way points somewhat matter is with respect to diminishing returns. At the lower ranks the game gives you a lot of help to move up--you get points even if you lose, and big payouts (for beating higher ranked players) are frequent. The higher you get, the more it shifts out of your favor--losing points if you lose the match and seeing fewer and fewer opportunities for big point gains.

How does all that matter? It doesn't, very much. Just means that KL becomes more and more of a grind the higher you get. Most players just look at the reward list, decide how much the grind is worth to get to the reward they want, and go from there.

 

[Zer0_h0ur]

I'm more curious at how it matches you up with someone. There are some seasons where I literally cannot catch a break and get matched up with Apprentice, Kombatant, and Champions when I'm in Master to Grandmaster. It's infuriating, moreso than bad connections etc. The point discrepancy can erase 2-3 hours of playing with 2 shitty match up losses.

 

[Obly]

I'm more curious at how it matches you up with someone. There are some seasons where I literally cannot catch a break and get matched up with Apprentice, Kombatant, and Champions when I'm in Master to Grandmaster. It's infuriating, moreso than bad connections etc. The point discrepancy can erase 2-3 hours of playing with 2 shitty match up losses.

Yeah this is maybe the shittiest, most frustrating thing about KL (ok well, at least tied with not having a wifi filter). OP, it's because the ranks reset every season, but the point system acts like they don't.

Say you're at Master rank. The game forces you to accept a match with someone at Apprentice. Going by the points, the game says, "You should stomp this noob! You only get +5 if you win but -50 if you lose. He still gets +25 if he loses but +150 if he clutches it out against you."

Which would be fine except that "Apprentice" might regularly make Elder God but only just started playing the current KL season. So he utterly destroys you and the game punishes you for it--because the points correlate with rank, but rank doesn't correlate with skill (at least not till you pass Demigod or so).

It totally sucks, but probably won't change at this point; it is what it is. You have to figure this into the grind, and how much grind you're willing to tolerate.

 

[imMORTAL KOMBATant]

Say you're at Master rank. The game forces you to accept a match with someone at Apprentice. Going by the points, the game says, "You should stomp this noob! You only get +5 if you win but -50 if you lose. He still gets +25 if he loses but +150 if he clutches it out against you."

Which would be fine except that "Apprentice" might regularly make Elder God but only just started playing the current KL season. So he utterly destroys you and the game punishes you for it--because the points correlate with rank, but rank doesn't correlate with skill (at least not till you pass Demigod or so).

And it was way worse at the beginning when you lost a fat -100 in these lopsided matchups. My problem with it that the game basically punishing you for playing regularly. I'm an average joe but I can reach Grand Master in two weeks. I'm a fairly consistent Demi God so that could suggest my performance is significantly weaker during Week 3 and Week 4. But it's not that simple.

My main issue is when I make it to Grand Master by the end of Week 2 I'm in huge disadvantage against all late starter Gods and Elder Gods and against everyone around my skill level. Obviously I have problematic matchups and there always is an opponent with skills and decisions that could heavily influence a set. So whenever I'm in a 50-50% matchup as a Grand Master and my opponent is a Warrior, a +20/-50 matchup is a win/win for him and almost a lose/lose for me.

I have days when I'm doing fairly good and a 4-1 W/L streak earns me no more than about 100 points. Let's say I win a +50/-25, a +40/-30, a +25/-50 and a +10/-50 and lose a +25/-50. So I'm done with my daily 5 sets and I gained 75 points. That's less than a 3-2 W/L streak with +50/-25 matchups only where I can gain +150 and lose -50 for the two losses so I earn +100 in the end.

On a bad day you can lose -150 easily. That's when you can decide how you gonna handle it. Either stop after 3 losses, catch your breath, and go at it next time or you decide to hard grind and do a lot of sets where frustration can really affect your performance. I had days when I lost -200 and earned back +180-190 and was glad not losing too much in the end.

But I noticed something: the more you play, the more you lose. It's almost always like this: when you start your dailies, the game gives you easier matchups. I don't have any idea how it calculates those win percentages but they are misleading AF. But after I'm reaching Grand Master it's easier to win the first few matches and the more I play, the harder opponents I get. As if they had some script behind it to keep you playing. If you win a lot and progress too fast and have a goal and after reaching it you stop, that means less players for them.

When I first read about something like this, I thought it's just a conspiracy theory for us, the average players, to feel better about our failings. But ever since I play less after reaching Grand Master and do a daily 2-0, 2-1, it's easier to progress. And yet, as I was about to Rank Up to Demi God, at 349x points, I got a +10/-50 matchup against a Champion and I lost it of course. I checked it and he was Demi God and God before. It's hard to believe that it was a coincidence, especially as it happens more often than not when I'm about to Rank Up.

 

[Zer0_h0ur]

And it was way worse at the beginning when you lost a fat -100 in these lopsided matchups. My problem with it that the game basically punishing you for playing regularly. I'm an average joe but I can reach Grand Master in two weeks. I'm a fairly consistent Demi God so that could suggest my performance is significantly weaker during Week 3 and Week 4. But it's not that simple.

My main issue is when I make it to Grand Master by the end of Week 2 I'm in huge disadvantage against all late starter Gods and Elder Gods and against everyone around my skill level. Obviously I have problematic matchups and there always is an opponent with skills and decisions that could heavily influence a set. So whenever I'm in a 50-50% matchup as a Grand Master and my opponent is a Warrior, a +20/-50 matchup is a win/win for him and almost a lose/lose for me.

I have days when I'm doing fairly good and a 4-1 W/L streak earns me no more than about 100 points. Let's say I win a +50/-25, a +40/-30, a +25/-50 and a +10/-50 and lose a +25/-50. So I'm done with my daily 5 sets and I gained 75 points. That's less than a 3-2 W/L streak with +50/-25 matchups only where I can gain +150 and lose -50 for the two losses so I earn +100 in the end.

On a bad day you can lose -150 easily. That's when you can decide how you gonna handle it. Either stop after 3 losses, catch your breath, and go at it next time or you decide to hard grind and do a lot of sets where frustration can really affect your performance. I had days when I lost -200 and earned back +180-190 and was glad not losing too much in the end.

But I noticed something: the more you play, the more you lose. It's almost always like this: when you start your dailies, the game gives you easier matchups. I don't have any idea how it calculates those win percentages but they are misleading AF. But after I'm reaching Grand Master it's easier to win the first few matches and the more I play, the harder opponents I get. As if they had some script behind it to keep you playing. If you win a lot and progress too fast and have a goal and after reaching it you stop, that means less players for them.

When I first read about something like this, I thought it's just a conspiracy theory for us, the average players, to feel better about our failings. But ever since I play less after reaching Grand Master and do a daily 2-0, 2-1, it's easier to progress. And yet, as I was about to Rank Up to Demi God, at 349x points, I got a +10/-50 matchup against a Champion and I lost it of course. I checked it and he was Demi God and God before. It's hard to believe that it was a coincidence, especially as it happens more often than not when I'm about to Rank Up.

I can relate to this. I've had seasons where I went from Master to Champion 3-4 different sessions because it kept matching me up with champions, warriors, and I shit you not I even got an apprentice a couple times. If I win? Who freakin care I get 5 total points. Lose and I've ruined my entire day's progress.

 

[Shania Twain]

I almost ALWAYS get matched up with someone who plays as Scorpion or Kung Lao. I have literally seen every ugly outfit iteration to cool iteration possible. Someone may pick someone as a counter pick but that's it. For me I almost want to get the whole thing outta the way the first couple days just so it's out of my life. The skins i think are the best rewards cuz you cannot get them any other way. regardless even if you get point decay you still get the highest you received rewards.

 

[JeezusChrysler]

Another question: If your opponent quits, do you receive any points or just the match win?

 

[Art Lean]

Ok so I've only just started playing my first ever KL season because I want the Skarlet skin, which is available from I believe from just reaching 'Champion', is that right? So just out of curiosity, how many fights/wins needs to get me there?

I've only played one match so far and was amazed that I won (I'm not very good at the game, I don't have that technical mindset for fighting games, I like MK's story, characters and gore - I play this game like I'm 12 years old again and it's MK2 on the SNES) and it weirdly really had me all on edge playing (it's why I don't play games online) but just want to know how much more I need to play it to get Mosquito Skarlet?

 

[Raider]

Another question: If your opponent quits, do you receive any points or just the match win?

You should get the points if your opponents leaves. It counts as a win for you.

Ok so I've only just started playing my first ever KL season because I want the Skarlet skin, which is available from I believe from just reaching 'Champion', is that right? So just out of curiosity, how many fights/wins needs to get me there?

I've only played one match so far and was amazed that I won (I'm not very good at the game, I don't have that technical mindset for fighting games, I like MK's story, characters and gore - I play this game like I'm 12 years old again and it's MK2 on the SNES) and it weirdly really had me all on edge playing (it's why I don't play games online) but just want to know how much more I need to play it to get Mosquito Skarlet?

I was able to reach Champion last night. Which is 4 days since it started.



Was playing only 5 sets per day, except for yesterday when i played more than 5 definitely because i wanted to secure Ska'Vorah and be done with this season. So basically it depends on how much you are winning or losing. But you should be able to get there in few days even if you lose most of your matches. If you wait like 10 days or one week before the season ends you can climb even faster because majority of players are high ranks at that point.

KL is really not good and fun experience imo. And i see that majority of the players think the same. I never forced myself to grind higher than Champion. This season especially was really frustrating for me, it was Scorpion after Scorpion, Sub-Zero after Sub-Zero and some spammy and annoying Sheevas that i still don't know what to do when i play against

 

[NaughtySenpai]

spammy and annoying Sheevas that i still don't know what to do when i play against

You walk forward and punish.

 

[Raider]

You walk forward and punish.

Not that easy with the variation they are all picking...

 

[ticklebandit!]

In a nutshell, what does a civil engineer do??

also in a nutshell, from Demi god to god and above is like punching yourself in the fucking face. You can be good at it, but at the end of the day you’re punching yourself in the fucking head.

 

[Art Lean]

You should get the points if your opponents leaves. It counts as a win for you.



I was able to reach Champion last night. Which is 4 days since it started.

View attachment 17429

Was playing only 5 sets per day, except for yesterday when i played more than 5 definitely because i wanted to secure Ska'Vorah and be done with this season. So basically it depends on how much you are winning or losing. But you should be able to get there in few days even if you lose most of your matches. If you wait like 10 days or one week before the season ends you can climb even faster because majority of players are high ranks at that point.

KL is really not good and fun experience imo. And i see that majority of the players think the same. I never forced myself to grind higher than Champion. This season especially was really frustrating for me, it was Scorpion after Scorpion, Sub-Zero after Sub-Zero and some spammy and annoying Sheevas that i still don't know what to do when i play against

Cool thank you for the reassurance! Fingers crossed I'll adding that revolting (yet confusingly kinda sexy) carapace to her wardrobe then.

Here's also hoping that 'mega tits' Sindel won't be set to a difficult rank to obtain either when that season launches!

 

[NaughtySenpai]

Not that easy with the variation they are all picking...

Even then it's just 5 minutes of labbing then finding somebody to play 10 or 20 matches against.

Since she has to choose the impact point right away that means she has a shit risk/reward ratio when doing it in neutral. If you just walk forward or dash backwards you beat 2 options and when you stand still you also beat 2. Unless you're the most predictable motherfucker on earth, you'll get 2 full combo punishes for every single stomp she actually lands.

The move isn't useless since you can blow up delay wakeups with it and make hard reads on low health characters, but it's a sure match loser if somebody relies on it, and takes minimal effort to lab.

 

[Art Lean]

You should get the points if your opponents leaves. It counts as a win for you.



I was able to reach Champion last night. Which is 4 days since it started.

View attachment 17429

Was playing only 5 sets per day, except for yesterday when i played more than 5 definitely because i wanted to secure Ska'Vorah and be done with this season. So basically it depends on how much you are winning or losing. But you should be able to get there in few days even if you lose most of your matches. If you wait like 10 days or one week before the season ends you can climb even faster because majority of players are high ranks at that point.

KL is really not good and fun experience imo. And i see that majority of the players think the same. I never forced myself to grind higher than Champion. This season especially was really frustrating for me, it was Scorpion after Scorpion, Sub-Zero after Sub-Zero and some spammy and annoying Sheevas that i still don't know what to do when i play against

Hang on, another question here... it says I get 'Mosquito' Skarlet at Champion, but does that also mean I get the red 'Blood Tick' skin variant, or just the yellow Mosquito skin?

It's the red Blood Tick version I want, not fussed about the yellow one.

 

[Shania Twain]

Hang on, another question here... it says I get 'Mosquito' Skarlet at Champion, but does that also mean I get the red 'Blood Tick' skin variant, or just the yellow Mosquito skin?

It's the red Blood Tick version I want, not fussed about the yellow one.

Yes. you technically get two skins on each KL skin you are awarded. the one they show and the alt.

 

[Art Lean]

Yes. you technically get two skins on each KL skin you are awarded. the one they show and the alt.

Cool that's a relief, I was about to throw a toddler's tantrum if I'm not even going to get it after I, as Kitana would say, "face your worse fear!" (playing online with other human beings).

Well I've played 13 sets... I'm only now up to Kombatant. God I suck. Deary me this is going to take a while. Getting beaten by that level 19 player when I'm apparently level 80 just felt embarrassing.

 

[Raider]

Cool that's a relief, I was about to throw a toddler's tantrum if I'm not even going to get it after I, as Kitana would say, "face your worse fear!" (playing online with other human beings).

Well I've played 13 sets... I'm only now up to Kombatant. God I suck. Deary me this is going to take a while. Getting beaten by that level 19 player when I'm apparently level 80 just felt embarrassing.

It doesn't matter, you can do it!
You have your goal and that's Kytinn Skarlet skin and that's it. Don't care about W/L, ppl are trying way too hard in KL. Like i said you can get to Champion rank even if you are losing most of your matches. But you should definitely try to win and have at least some fun.

 

[Art Lean]

It doesn't matter, you can do it!
You have your goal and that's Kytinn Skarlet skin and that's it. Don't care about W/L, ppl are trying way too hard in KL. Like i said you can get to Champion rank even if you are losing most of your matches. But you should definitely try to win and have at least some fun.

Haha thanks bud, really appreciate it

I spent all my childhood playing Mortal Kombat since the original... sadly against a non-existent player 2. I'd plug in the second controller, practice the fatalities, love the music and arenas and my mind would just go crazy imagining that universe of Ancient Chinese myths and Outworld whilst loving the gore. I'd also obviously play the main tournament tower, try my best to beat it to find out where the story was going, usually by using the one character I was ok with and then changing the character for the final battle by taking a deliberate fall. Think I had to use the "each move deals 75% more damage" cheat to even beat MK2. I was more the guy listening to the MK movie score by George S Clinton and tuning into Conquest every week to see where the backstory went, rather than someone who was practicing to get good at the games... and sadly against who? No other kids lived anywhere near me unfortunately, and the friends I did have never liked Mortal Kombat.

Other than the great story mode, the thing I love most about MK11 is being able to customise my characters. Here's a franchise I've loved for nearly 30 years and I can finally play about with how they look in my game? Oh my god it's Heaven! I love character customisation in any game but to basically feel like I'm the costume designer for a Mortal Kombat movie is like a dream come true. The only KL skins I've really been disappointed to have missed were Kitana's human version of her revenant outfit with the hair buns (less of an issue now that she's got 3 completely different DLC skins; MK2, UMK3 and Summer Heat, but in the early days I hated having nothing but identical jumpsuits), Kitana's purple skin just for something rather different and maybe Jade's human revanant outfit, but again with both MK2 and UMK3 skins, I'm not that bothered. Most are silly little references or just reskins that don't interest me in the slightest. I was semi curious by the Osh-Tekk season, but when it was revealed that Jade's skin was so bland compared to the horrifically ornate tribal women of Osh-Tekk in story mode, it was little more than a wooden collar and glowing eyes so I just got on with my day. If she'd been in sandals, tribal paint, ornate headdress etc. I might have checked it out, but it was literally nothing more than a couple of accessories to her usual gear so wasn't fussed in the end.

Finally we're getting some really "check out the fashion for this season!" skins that are real head turners (I also really want Reptile skin Scorpion and thunder tits Sindel). Anything I can put into my head-canon to make sense or is literally just pure oldschool MORTAL KOMBAT I'm all over!

With Skarlet, MKX stated her favorite historical figure when she was a young girl was the 16th century Hungarian Countess and murderer Elizabeth Báthory, who was rumored to have bathed in the blood of young women to maintain her youth. So naturally I have a skin variation of hers I called 'Bathory's Harlot' (in full leather cleavage-exposing glory obviously). But it has a lot of nostalgia to it as well... it reminds me of Cradle of Filth's Cruelty and the Beast album I loved when I was 16 that was a concept album about Bathory (feel free to critique teenage me's musical taste, it was 22 years ago, I'm not saying they're any good, but it gives me member-berries haha).

Well the follow-up album was album based on Clive Barker's Midian, released when I was 18 and playing MK Gold on my Dreamcast and watching Conquest on VHS, which took the silly Midian movie's artistic vision of kooky monster people and went into full insectoid fusion horror on the front cover... and so 18 year old me wants what I see as a 'Midian' Skarlet in my ranks haha, it only makes sense after the Bathory references (but if they want to give us a 16th Century blood countess Skarlet, I'll be more than happy haha). And now you know the stupid shit that goes through my head

 

[Art Lean]

God this is gruelling... going up by a mere 10 or 20 points each time I lose. Which is almost literally every time... I calculate just 80 more fights and I should get my skin God but sometimes I get absolutely 0???

Assuming the points between ranks doesn't change, does it? Is it still 500 the more up you go?

Been playing for two hours and I've gone from 600 points to a whopping 740. And if I face that unblockable, spammable Erron Black drop kick again that takes half my health away with a crushing blow I think I'm going to punch my TV screen. With my face. And my dick.

I ended up putting the controller down in one fight and just let them get on with it.

I just keep getting smashed by these huge long strings of moves that apparently can't be blocked whilst all mine can, as I'm still playing like I did MK1 on my old SNES... freeze + uppercut = combo. Sigh. Can it not pair me with someone who bought the game this afternoon and doesn't know what the buttons do yet?

* sobs *

Can I not just give you my money NRS? That's what micro-transactions are for! I just want some pretty clothes for my characters.

On the plus side I'm well on my way to getting a spider Baraka simply due to the grind of the challenges becoming more and more completed with each fight I fail... so yay?

 

[JeezusChrysler]

In a nutshell, what does a civil engineer do??

also in a nutshell, from Demi god to god and above is like punching yourself in the fucking face. You can be good at it, but at the end of the day you’re punching yourself in the fucking head.

i Design streets, storm drainage systems, retention ponds, subdivisions, bridges.

 

[Arqwart]

Assuming the points between ranks doesn't change, does it? Is it still 500 the more up you go?

Unfortunately, nope. You start making fewer points (eventually not getting any from losing, eventually turning to losing points when you lose) AND it requires more points per rank.

 

[Art Lean]

Unfortunately, nope. You start making fewer points (eventually not getting any from losing, eventually turning to losing points when you lose) AND it requires more points per rank.

Oh god... so in order to just get to the Skarlet skin, does that push me into that punishing threshold?

Or will I be able to just edge into it with the slow (mostly losing) grind I’m currently enduring? And I can give up playing it any further once I get there is that right?