VALORANT players missing ranked gun buddies at start of Episode 6

The start of a new episode of VALORANT is supposed to represent a fresh start, and Episode Six looks to do exactly that with a new three-site map in Lotus, the return of Split, and more. Unfortunately for the game’s dedicated ranked player, though, there’s a missing piece.

Several players who loaded into VALORANT at the start of Episode Six, Act One today were expecting to receive their ranked gun buddy, which prominently features the highest rank they achieved during the previous episode. Except it’s not there. There are a handful of different posts on the main VALORANT subreddit about missing ranked gun buddies.

Typically, players receive their ranked gun buddy at the end of an episode, with the same color as the rank they achieved. There’s no special task needed at the start of the episode; the ranked gun buddy should appear right in your collection.

Episode Five officially came to a close on Jan. 10, with Episode Six starting the next day. Starting in Episode Six, the rank rating gains and losses mechanic is getting altered, with wins and losses and individual performance affecting rank rating changes more than round differential going forward.

The issue is most likely a bug or mistake, and there’s no reason to believe players won’t eventually receive their ranked gun buddy. Episode Six also launched without the Lotus-only queue turned on at first. In this scenario, players should just be patient. But if they still don’t have their ranked gun buddy after a few days into the episode, they should contact Riot support.