Power level



Power level, also known as Splatfest Power, League Power or X Power, is a rating feature introduced in Version in Splatoon that replaced the vibe meter during Splatfests.

The concept of power level was extended to all multiplayer battle modes in Splatoon 2.

Splatoon
Before, for the Japanese Splatfests, Top 5 of each team were the MVP of that Splatfest and were announced in official Japanese Splatoon website.

In Version, the power level feature was added to replace the vibe meter during Splatfests.

Previously, Splatfest matchmaking favored grouping players with similar play styles. After Version, players were more likely to play with those of similar Splatfest power level.

The top 100 players in each team are titled as the "Splatfest Top 100". Rankings were based on players' Splatfest Power earned throughout the duration of Splatfest.

The player with the highest Splatfest Power on the winning team received a slightly larger boost to their Splatfest Power than their teammates after the match. The higher a team’s average Splatfest Power level, the more Splatfest Points they earned after winning.

The initial Splatfest Power level depended upon the player's current Ranked Battle rank, and their Splatfest Power level changed depending on wins or losses during Splatfest Battles.


 * Notes

In Version, the initial Splatfest power of players who were in Rank S+ was changed from 1600 to 1700, and the initial Splatfest power of players below Level 10 was changed from 800 to 1000.

The Splatfest Top 100 rankings were announced at the official Japanese Splatoon website for Japan, Live from Squid Research Lab for North America and SplatoonUK for Europe and Oceania.

In the lobby, at the top-left corner of the box showing the player's Splatfest Power was a pair of eyes representing the Squid Sister they had sided with: players on Callie's team saw scowling eyes and those on Marie's team saw more laid-back eyes. Both versions had their signature pupils, but with a dark red color instead of the usual gold.

Splatoon 2
In Splatoon 2, The power rating got changed to Glicko-2 rating system. The power level rating had expanded to all multiplayer battle modes of Splatoon 2.

The opponents' power ratings are put together as a single value and used when calculating a new rating power for the player.

After a win or a loss, the rating doesn’t always go up or down by the same amount. A few things can affect how much the player's rating changes after they play a game. Some things that can affect this are:


 * 1) The difference in rating between the player and their opponent
 * 2) How confident the system is of the player's rating
 * 3) How confident the system is of the opponent's rating

Number one is, if the player wins against a team who has a much higher rating than them, their rating will go up by a higher amount than if they win against a team of the same rating, or of a lower rating.

Similarly, if they lose against a team with a lower rating, their rating will go down more than if they lost to someone with a higher rating.

Numbers two and three on the list are about confidence. Confidence in the rating is the main reason for big changes in the player's rating after a game.

Part of the Glicko-2 system is a number called a 'rating deviation' or RD, which measures how confident the system is of what the player's rating is. The lower the number, the more certain the system of what the player's rating is. The RD itself decreases after playing a game, but it increases slowly over time of inactivity.

Another part of this system is the 'rating volatility' or RV, which measures the degree of expected fluctuation in a player's rating.

Regular and Splatfest Battles
Regular Battle has an internal power level that is not exposed to the player. The initial Power is 1,600, with 250 RD and 0.6 volatility. The rating affects the initial starting values of the Splatfest Power level.


 * More Splatfest Power is gained if the opposing team had a higher average Splatfest Power.
 * Since Version, Splatfest Power was no longer displayed in Normal mode, only in Pro mode. However, the game still keeps track of it internally, even in Normal mode, to determine how much a team gets for a winning bonus.
 * As of Version, the names and levels of all players in a match were removed from the lobby waiting screen and replaced with question marks if the player's Splatfest Power was above 2,200. Due to this, players were made able to battle against people blocked in their Nintendo Switch system settings as long as their power was also this high.

The Splatfest Top 100 rankings are announced in SplatNet 2.

Ranked Battle


The player has a power level for each Ranked mode, although it is never exposed to the player until they reach Rank X. The initial Power is 1,600, with 250 RD and 0.6 volatility. There are ten calculation matches and after that, the player can see in the bottom left corner before every match, the power level of the lobby.

The game has a list of target power levels - one for each rank. If the player's power exceeds one of these thresholds when they rank up, the game skips them to that rank.

X Rank
With the addition of Rank X at version, the rank bar was replaced with an "X Power" level. Each month, X rank players get their power level reset. The power level is exposed after the calculation period that lasts 10 matches. After every month, for each of the 4 different Ranked Battle modes, 500 players with the highest X Power are announced on SplatNet 2 alongside their most used weapon in the last 50 matches in that mode.


 * The starting X Power seeded for the initial calculation is between 2,000 and 2,300. The initial 'rating deviation' or RD, is 250.
 * If the player ends up below 2,000 power at the end of the month, they rank down to S+9.
 * If the power is revealed to the player and is below 1,900 power during the month, they get "Danger" warning. If they lose while they are in danger, they rank down to S+9.
 * X rank players can not rank down during the calculation period, this may lead to:
 * Players getting significantly below 1,900 power if following initial calculation matches places them there.
 * Players ranking down at the end of the month instead.
 * As of Version, like with Splatfest Power, the names and levels of all players in a match were removed from the lobby waiting screen and replaced with question marks. Due to this, players were made able to battle against people blocked in their Nintendo Switch system settings as long as they are in the top 2,000.

League Battle
The initial starting values of League Power is based on the players' Ranked Battle power. The players' power ratings are put together as a single value and used when calculating a new rating power for the team. Players get their League Power revealed to them in the lobby after seven matches. Only the League Power of the enemy team can be seen before the match begins. Every change of rotation, the mode and stages change and with that the League Power resets.

Groups whose League Power is high enough receive commemorative medals, either Gold Medals,  Silver Medals , or  Bronze Medals and the top 100 of the rotation are displayed in past records.

Since February 2019, every month there is a scheduled League Battle rotation announced on @SplatoonJP Twitter for Team of four with set mode and stages. The top three teams, plus one additional team, receive a unique picture of their characters with their weapons and gear at one of the stages played. The criteria for the additional team cycles every month, alternating between being the 101st team, the team with the median score overall, and the highest-scoring bronze team.

Trivia

 * The promotional images for Splatfest Power show the Cats vs. Dogs and Rice vs. Bread Splatfest Tees and ink colors despite it having not existed when they were used.