Hero Proficiency and Rank in Marvel Rivals: Two Different Tracks

Two numbers move when you play a hero in Marvel Rivals, and only one of them is your rank. This is what the other one is, what a proficiency order actually delivers, and why it is sold by the hour instead of by the tier.

Proficiency is a per-hero track

Rank is one number for the account. It is earned in competitive, it moves on wins and losses, and it belongs to you rather than to any character. Proficiency is a separate track for each hero, it fills by playing that hero, and it does not care whether the match was won.

That single difference explains most of what follows. A proficiency track fills from participation, so it climbs in the modes that count toward it at a pace the scoreboard does not change. The badges and cosmetic rewards attached to the levels are the visible part, and which reward sits at which level is exactly the sort of thing a season patch moves, so read the hero's own screen for the current list rather than trusting any article, this one included.

What a proficiency order delivers

A proficiency order is hours on one hero, played to move that hero's track. In practice the order names three things.

• The hero. One character per track, because that is how the game counts it. Several heroes means several tracks and several orders.

• The modes. Most proficiency work happens in the unranked modes, where a loss costs nothing but the time. Competitive counts as well, and some players specifically want it done there.

• Where it starts and where it is going. Your current level on that hero, and the point on the track you want reached.

What it does not deliver is rank movement. A proficiency order played in unranked modes never touches your competitive number, in either direction. If you want the rank moved too, that is a second service running next to this one.

Why it is priced by time and not by tier

A rank boost has a defined endpoint. You name a target, the games run until the account is there, and however many games that takes is the job.

A proficiency track has no equivalent endpoint anybody can honestly quote in games, because it fills from participation rather than from results. The only real unit is the time it takes to fill, so time is the unit the order is written in. That is also why the order can be sized to what you are actually after, whether that is one badge, a level threshold, or simply a block of hours on the hero you plan to main next season.

Running it with a rank boost

The two combine well, and the combination is common enough to be worth describing properly.

The usual arrangement keeps them in separate queues. Proficiency work goes into the unranked modes, the rank boost runs in competitive, and neither one costs the other anything. A rough game in quick play is just a game. A rough game in competitive is rating.

Ordering both also changes what you should ask for in the order chat. Say which hero the competitive games should be played on if you care, because a rank boost is normally played on whatever wins, and a proficiency target is played on one character by definition.

Booster tip: if you are buying both, let the competitive work go first and fill proficiency around it. The season is the thing with a date attached. A hero track waits.

The same idea in other games

Per-character progress sitting apart from ladder progress is not unique to Marvel Rivals. League of Legends has had it for years as champion mastery, and a mastery boost there answers the same want, which is a number next to a character you play rather than a number next to your name.

If you have bought one, the other will feel familiar. The unit is time on the character, the reward is attached to the character, and the ladder is somewhere else entirely.

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