 | October 31, 2026 Epic ELO Explainer
ELO Explainer
Since we introduced ELO in the most recent update, we've stirred a lot of curiousity in how it works. As of this update, 1v1 and 2v2 ELO ratings should display in the in-game character pages.
Starting Rating, Floor and Peak:
- Starting (new player) rating: 800
- Floor: Technically no floor; enough losses can take a player below 0.
- Peak: There is no cap. A rating can climb as high as the results take it, but the "no gain for punching down" rule means the top is limited by strength of opponent.
Gaining or Losing 0 ELO:
- Can you gain 0 for beating a much lower-rated opponen? Yes. The pure math never gives exactly 0.
- The favorite's gain is K × (1 − E), which shrinks toward 0 without reaching it: Stored ratings keep 2 decimals, so a gain only rounds to 0.00 at a gap of about 1,450 points.
- Ratings are shown as whole numbers, so a gain under 0.5 looks like no change once the gap passes about 640 points (1v1, K=20). The decimals still add up behind the scenes.
- Anti-farm rules force 0 in these cases:The 400-point rule: if you're 400+ points above your opponent (team averages in 2v2), you gain nothing. The pure math would have given you about +1.8.
- New accounts: you're established and the other side has a player still in their first 15 games.
- Dummmies (feeders): the loser was flagged as a dummy (feeder) in the last 30 days.
Can you lose ELO by losing to a much higher-rated opponent?
- Almost never. The 400-point rule only blocks the winner's gain. The underdog still loses their small amount: about −1.8 at a 400 gap and −0.6 at 600. In whole numbers that looks like 0 past about 640 points, the same rounding as above.The one real 0-loss case is the new-account rule: an established player beaten by a player still in their first 15 games loses nothing (both in 1v1 and 2v2).
- This one-sidedness is deliberate: farming a much weaker account gives nothing, but the weaker account still loses a little. It's also part of why the average sits below the starting rating.
- The same rules apply to 2v2 with K = 16 and the team averages. Players in their first 15 games use K = 40, so their swings are twice as big.
Automod Explained
By now enough of you have seen the Automod messages in game that they merit a more detailed explanation. Automod is an automated message that asks 1 of many randomly generated questions to verify the player is actually controlled by a human and not an automated 3rd party program. These questions are translated based on your language in Settings. It typically triggers after a number of battles in any mode, but also checks for total time online outside of battle to target fame botters (now VERY important since fame can be given hourly).
Automod DOES NOT AND CANNOT BAN. If you receive a punishment, it's because your case was reviewed and met the criteria for punishment by an actual human moderator. Flubbing a question a couple times or leaving your session open while you get a snack is not nearly enough to meet the criteria for a ban.
An Automod message DOES NOT mean you've broken any rules. Simply receiving a message is not a punishment or an indication you have been flagged as a cheater. It's simply a friendly check to see if there's an actually a human behind the keyboard or touchscreen. If you're a legit player, you have nothing to fear from this. If you're using a 3rd party program to play, you should be very, very concerned. Not just because of bans: many of these programs contain malware like keyloggers that can feed your info directly to program's creator.
Some people have also noticed they cannot earn rewards for battle for some reason. This feature has been disabled as this was due to automation limiting battle rewards for players with "suspicious" dueling patterns. This was too vague and had too much potential to punish players erroneously.
There has also been concern that remote reporting using /report is being abused. Based on all we've seen, it has not. Reports with no context or supporting evidence are never enough to warrant a punishment. Also, EpicDuel already has many safeguards against mass reporting, including limiting visibility of reports from players found to be abusing the system. Once again, punishments are not issued automatically: Every mute/ban/reset is only issued after a human review. Tags: Nightwraith |
