It’s never fun to see your VALORANT rank drop every new Episode. Unfortunately, hard rank resets are inevitable, so being prepared is all we can do. And with Episode Eight’s final Act concluding soon, it’s time to gear up your ranked grind.
If you’re wondering when VALORANT’s Episode Eight, Act Three ends (and Episode Nine, Act One starts), you have come to the right place for an answer.
VALORANT Episode 8, Act 3 end date and time
According to the in-game timer, Act Three of VALORANT Episode Eight ends on June 26, so you only have a few days to reach your goal for this season. The new Episode Nine starts a few hours after Act Three ends.
Like always, Riot Games will disable the ranked queue and conduct server maintenance hours before deploying the patch for the new Episode. The ranked queue is disabled hours before server maintenance begins. You can play modes other than Competitive after the ranked queue ends until the servers are taken down.
For example, the Asia-Pacific region will see the queue end at 7:30pm IST on June 26, while the server maintenance is likely scheduled for around 2:30am on June 27.
You can view the time the queue will end in your region under the Act tab on your Career page. Just hover over the number of days remaining to see it.
Server maintenance will likely last a couple of hours, during which you won’t be able to play the game. You can continue playing after the maintenance ends and download Patch 9.0.
Since it’s a new Episode, expect a full rank reset this time. This means you must play five Competitive matches to unlock your VALORANT rank. Make sure you win as many of these matches as possible to get the highest rank possible. You’ll unlock at least one rank less and up to two ranks less than what you achieved last Act when it’s a hard rank reset. As sad as that sounds, don’t worry.
VALORANT’s rank system is designed to help you return to the Elo you deserve as soon as possible. Wins result in higher RR gain than usual after a hard rank reset, so concentrate on maintaining a positive win rate. You will be back to your highest Elo in no time.
