At a high level, players will now earn medals by defeating other players in their rank and above. Medals denote your position on the leaderboard for your rank. At the end of a season, prizes are awarded based on leaderboard ranking, and players are moved up or down ranks based on their performance.

Medals are no longer transferred between players. They are simply earned by defeating a player in the same rank or higher. The better the victory the more medals earned. The chart below indicates the number of medals earned in the various situations.

There are also new battle results like Defender Victory, Draw, or Attacker Crushing Victory that will show in your battle log! Importantly, it will now highlight when the attacker retreated in your battle log.

The full list of possible battle outcomes is as follows:

Note:

• Full Base Smashes - We’ve heard lots of players ask for this: You can now completely wipe out a base! After earning 3 stars, the battle won’t end right away. You can choose to keep going or hit “Leave”, which won’t count as a retreat.

• No damage is recorded or base protection granted unless the attacker earns at least 1 star.
• If a player retreats, they earn no medals, and no damage is recorded on the defender.
• If the defender destroys the attacking fleet, the defender earns a medal.

Base damage is only recorded if the attacking player earns at least 1 medal and does not retreat. Building repair times have also been significantly reduced, with no building taking longer than 8 hours to repair.

• Blue bubbles now only last 8 hours, which is sufficient to cover your base repair. (Changed from 2-Hours)
• Red bubbles now last 48 hours instead of 5 days (except during Vengeance).
• Red bubbles are gained if the attacker achieves any star win, they retreat 5 times, or the attacking fleet is destroyed
• If you have a red bubble against someone, and you attack them, your red bubble is removed.
• Medal earning is now entirely independent of bubbles.

Players will be divided across 5 ranks in PvP, based on their current medal score. In the first season, no players will be in the top rank, Diamond. For season 2, we’re adjusting how many players are in each rank to make battles feel more competitive and fair. The initial seeding overpopulated some ranks, so you will see many players move down to ensure a better spread and tighter competition in the top ranks.

• Diamond will now include up to 300 players.
• Other ranks (Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze) are getting updates too for better balance.

* Bronze and Silver do not have fixed Populations, instead, any players in Silver who do not attack another player will be demoted to Bronze, and any player who does attack in Bronze will move up to Silver.

You can see your current rank in the top left of the HUD in your base. You will also be able to see the ranks of other players on the worldmap, next to their name. You can see your current position in your rank on the leaderboards, as well as look at the other leaderboards.

Note: We have removed level restrictions on attacking another player base. With the coming of ranks, fledgling bases should be fairly well protected while opening up more opportunities to hit where appropriate in the higher ranks.

A new season begins at the end of the  Vengeance event and runs for approximately 1 month to the end of the next Vengeance event. When a season finishes, rewards are paid according to a player's rank and position, and players are promoted/demoted depending on their ranking at the end of the season. Medals are then reset to ensure a level playing field for each rank in the new season.

1. Can I attack players who are not in my rank?
   Answer: You can still attack players of any rank, however the medals earned will be based on the lowest-ranked player.
2.  I have more medals than a player in a higher rank, am I guaranteed to be promoted?
   Answer: Medals only determine your position in your own rank. The number of people demoted and promoted is a fixed amount, as there are fewer players in higher ranks and it may be harder for them to earn the same volume of medals as a lower rank.
3.  If the attacker retreats just before they are destroyed, I won’t get my defending medal?
   Answer: Not nessicarily, if the attacker uses 3 or more ships, and you are able to prevent them from completing two of the objectives, you gain 1 medal. If you are also able to damage those 3+ ships 80%, you will get a second medal.
4. Does each individual warehouse count as a separate objective? Or do all of them collectively count as 1 objective? Basically, I am trying to figure out if my base has 4 objectives or 8.
   Answer: A base has 4 objectives - the warehouses must all be destroyed to complete that objective.
5. If I don't have a radio tower/warehouses/other buildings built, does that mean the attacker can't complete the objectives? 
   Answer: No, Buildings, or objectives, that are not built in a base will count as automaticlly defeated. You are only helping the attacker reach their goal by not building all available structures.