How ranks work in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang

In Mobile Legends, once you reach level eight and have at least six or more heroes, you can start trying your luck at Ranked matches. Playing Ranked means you're ready to take on the best of the best, and thankfully the game’s ranking system makes it easy to just hop in and get going.

In this guide, we'll break down the ranking system in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, from how to get started in the world of Ranked play, and the mechanics put in place to help you earn Stars to rank up faster, or hold on to the Stars you already have. There's a lot to take in, but once you've wrapped your head around it, you’ll see Mobile Legends' Ranked mode is where the real action is.

You may want to jump into Ranked mode as soon as you log into the game for the first time, but that’s not really ideal. If you just jumped right into Ranked mode from the start, you'll continually get stomped by top players, and won't be able to learn the ins and outs of the game.

The Ranked mode is locked until you’ve either reached level 8 or unlocked at least six characters. Spending some time in the casual lobbies, or in one of the other game modes, will do you a lot of good in the long run.

Once you've unlocked Ranked mode, you can start moving up the charts. As you win, you'll earn stars, and with enough stars, you can move up to the next rank. However, losing matches will also mean losing stars and going down in the Ranks, so be careful. There are seven ranks in Mobile Legends, and their hierarchy is as shown here - Warrior > Elite > Master > Grandmaster > Epic > Legend > Mythic.

Each rank has 3-5 divisions, denoted by a Roman numeral next to the Rank name. There’s a set number of stars required for each of these divisions and as you earn or lose stars, your division will rise or fall. Completing all divisions or being demoted from all divisions from your current rank will result in a promotion to the next rank or a demotion to the previous rank.

You can earn stars as you win Ranked battles. Additionally, as you progress, you'll also accrue "Star-raising points". When the star-raising bar reaches 100%, you'll receive an extra star the next time you see the victory screen, helping you rank up even faster and get to the more challenging matches. You know that feeling of "just one more match"? Star-raising makes it even stronger.

On the flip side, you will lose a star every time you suffer defeat in Ranked, and if you lose too much, your rank will suffer as well. You can enable star protection using either a Star Protection Item or by earning Star Protection points. A 100% Star Protection gauge will stop you from losing a star, giving you an extra chance to stay at the rank you worked so hard to achieve.

Think of Star Protection as "rank insurance," as when the meter is filled up, you can lose a match "for free," i.e., without losing a precious star. Just be sure to win the next match after you use the Star Protection meter, or else it'll be less "protection" and more "delaying the inevitable."