How exactly is combat rank calculated?

[Frewq]

Can someone FD clarify exactly how combat rank is calcuated?

From the DDF we know there is a combat rank number, and it can never decrease [https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6279]

The DDF also says:

The “Elite” rating is a combat rating based on the number of successful pirate kills by a pilot. To get this rating requires a great deal of dedication. Additional routes to an “Elite” rating and that coveted membership were introduced in 3290.​

But after release someone from FD, I think Sandro, reported that in fact all kills count towards combat rating.

DDF also says:

Three new possible “Elite” rankings, in addition to the combat effectiveness rating (still based on number of kills using a player rating and ship formula)
​

So there is some kind of bonus for "harder" kills.

So what exactly does this all mean? For example, is it worth my time killing ranks lower than me?

Currently my SOP is to kill all ranks if they have a bounty (I need the money) plus any ship on my rank or higher, even if they are clean.

However, I noticed that it's taking me a couple hundred kills more per rank than the Cmdr that got to Elite by letting the cap ships do most of the work.

So, is something in my methodology adding some drag?

 

[Googol]

...Currently my SOP is to kill all ranks if they have a bounty (I need the money) plus any ship on my rank or higher, even if they are clean.

...

I know that player murders do not count towards ranking, maybe killing clean ships is the source of your drag if FD have extended it to NPCs?

 

[Avnas]

i went from novice to competent really fast killing mostly anacondas in conflict zones

idk if ship size/rank has any effect but it seemed faster to go conflict zones for rank than navpoint/extraction site

expect the gap between levels to increase each rank, i think elite is like 6000 kills or something. its not the same number of kills for everyone either, the same goes for the other two ranks.

i have a feeling how you kill, how fast you kill and what you kill has an effect but i can't verify this.

i don't think "no-ship-destruction" or killstolen gives you points.


yeah so killing elite anacondas at conflict zones is THE FASTEST POSSIBLE WAY to rank up - because the enemies spawn constantly.

 

[CMDR i Tetsuo]

it's a mixture between kill count and the skill level difference between attacker and target acting as a +/- multiplier, maybe bounties earned and probably a few other elements thrown in for good measure too. It's not really documented and I think that's to stop players meta-gaming their advancement. They don't want to give too much away whilst there's a competition running for lots of money.

 

[OnePercent]

We will never know unless a DEVELOPER who has knowledge in this field of implementation actually tells us. So far from CORRELATION ALONE it SEEMS that killing Elite rated NPC's up your rank faster than Harmless rated NPC's.

I do not know if them having a bounty or is clean contributes more or less to your rank.

 

[Alcran Zularn]

I've killed around 500 elite Anacondas and my rank hasn't changed. :/

 

[Avnas]

I've killed around 500 elite Anacondas and my rank hasn't changed. :/

the ranks are different for everyone too (IE different killcount. )

question: what weapons? - gimballed or static?

also, what rank are you right now?

past competent the xpgap is way larger, i think around dangerous its 1000+kills/rank

 

[Frewq]

the ranks are different for everyone too (IE different killcount. )

question: what weapons? - gimballed or static?

also, what rank are you right now?

past competent the xpgap is way larger, i think around dangerous its 1000+kills/rank

Took me almost 1,300 kills to get to Master so I am expecting Dangerous to be between 2,500 and 3,000.

 

[Avnas]

hmm, if you use a worse ship do you rank up faster? IE if i was using an eagle rather than a cobra

 

[Frewq]

From the non-authoritative answers here it seems the general opinion is that using a weaker ship and taking on higher ranks is the way to go.

 

[Conestoga]

My guess isn't worth the paper it's written on (har har), but here it is. I think kills award "Experience Points" based on the enemy killed's rating. I don't think it matters what kind of ship you are in, or what kind of ship they are in. An elite NPC is an elite NPC. So if you see some brave/stupid Elite NPC flying one of those silly Imperial Fighters, think of it as a gift.

I think the idea is that it takes 10,000 "average" kills to reach Elite. Maybe 15,000 mostly harmless or 7,500 dangerous-plus? I honestly don't know. I also don't know whether turning in combat bonds or claiming bounties has an effect, or whether it's just the kill.

 

[Whiterose]

It is purely based on the size of your dumbfire

 

[remosito]

I know that player murders do not count towards ranking, maybe killing clean ships is the source of your drag if FD have extended it to NPCs?

source for that?

if it's the patch notes from a few patches ago, then a dev clarified it was oddly written and misinterpreted.

what the patch notes wanted to say is that rank progression is no longer calculated in the part of the code that deaals with murder. but elsewhere. and that any kills count, whether they have a bounty or not!

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Took me almost 1,300 kills to get to Master so I am expecting Dangerous to be between 2,500 and 3,000.

for me master was 1400. and dangerous was 4200!

but I fought at RES with master/expert cobras and had kws. if a kill had bounty from 2 factions. the counter goes up by 2!

 

[Frewq]

source for that?

if it's the patch notes from a few patches ago, then a dev clarified it was oddly written and misinterpreted.

what the patch notes wanted to say is that rank progression is no longer calculated in the part of the code that deaals with murder. but elsewhere. and that any kills count, whether they have a bounty or not!

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -



for me master was 1400. and dangerous was 4200!

but I fought at RES with master/expert cobras and had kws. if a kill had bounty from 2 factions. the counter goes up by 2!

1,400 with no kills on ranks lower than yours? Wow! You're right about that double increment if there are two bounties, I'd noticed that but hadn't thought about what it meant. Duh!

 

[remosito]

1,400 with no kills on ranks lower than yours? Wow! You're right about that double increment if there are two bounties, I'd noticed that but hadn't thought about what it meant. Duh!

up to master a lot of the kills where random USS. didn't pay a lot of attention back then. but I think a lot of low ranked NPCs in there. Only after switched to Cobra RES.

 

[sbdags]

I have 215 kills and just got Competent! I have mainly focused on bounty hunting for those 200+ kills. I have been stuck on Novice for the last 120 or so.

 

[Googol]

source for that?

if it's the patch notes from a few patches ago, then a dev clarified it was oddly written and misinterpreted.

...

My source is here and I've been through the entire thread and can't find any dev clarification. Must have been in a different thread, do you have your source out of interest? Note: not saying you are wrong, but I wouldn't mind reading it myself

 

[Zeeman]

About 600 kills got me to Expert. I suspect you can roughly double where you achieved your current rank as where you'll qualify for the next.

Z..

 

[Frewq]

My source is here and I've been through the entire thread and can't find any dev clarification. Must have been in a different thread, do you have your source out of interest? Note: not saying you are wrong, but I wouldn't mind reading it myself

Sandro clears it up here.

Interestingly here he specifically says:

So, with regards to combat rating: you make bigger gains when you destroy ships with a higher combat rating than yourself.

Legality does not factor into this equation: a pirate who kills lots of ships with higher rank will increase their rank appropriately. What makes them a pirate is their ability to steal and sell cargo from other vessels.​

 

[Googol]

Sandro clears it up here.

Interestingly here he specifically says:

So, with regards to combat rating: you make bigger gains when you destroy ships with a higher combat rating than yourself.

Legality does not factor into this equation: a pirate who kills lots of ships with higher rank will increase their rank appropriately. What makes them a pirate is their ability to steal and sell cargo from other vessels.​

Interesting, thanks. I had to go back to the first page of the thread to see what Sandro meant by ships with a higher combat rating/rank. This rather confusingly implies that it is relative ship combat performance that counts, although he is actually quite clear in his first post in the thread that:
-

Your Pilot's Federation Combat Rank increases based on rank disparity

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It's a pity in some ways that simple PKing in non-anarchy systems isn't treated differently, with no rank increase for such killings. Anarchies are an entirely different matter, as the name implies anything goes and clean non-combat oriented players should genuinely fear to tread there (at the moment they don't). A player-driven campaign to clean out such a system if it was on a strategic trade route would be a marvellous enterprise, particularly if enabled by missions for a local "lawful" faction and opposed by PKers who want to preserve their hunting grounds.