Look, let us be honest for a moment. The guild known as 'Ringdan', which had been making quite a bit of noise in the Siege integrated score category for SKRB, has climbed all the way to 2nd place just two weeks after breaking into the TOP 3. Even with a slight dip in their score, they managed to leap upwards because 'Romanticism' vanished from the rankings entirely. Hot on their heels is the former TOP 3 regular, 'Indomitable'.

'Ringdan' and 'Indomitable' breach the TOP 3

※ Siege rankings are based on daily TOP 30, and Descent Expedition on TOP 20 data.

Here are the TOP 20 rankings for the Week 1 of September Siege and Descent Expedition in SKRB. While Ringdan and Indomitable climbed to 2nd and 3rd respectively, the positions for 4th through 6th have completely shuffled as well. 'Demolition' grabbed 4th, 'Twilight' took 5th, and 'Journey' landed in 6th. Aside from Twilight, every single one of these guilds saw their ranks rise despite taking a hit to their overall scores compared to last week. I reckon this is probably the lingering fallout of the 'free sweep' mechanic, which tends to yield lower scores than the previous week's efforts.

New faces breaking into the TOP 20 included 'Hwawol', 'Ramming HQ', and 'Cotton Candy'. As for Romanticism, the former runner-up, they suddenly decided to play hide-and-seek and vanished without a trace, despite holding firm right up until Wednesday. We will just have to wait and see if they ever grace the charts again.

The provisional crown for the Descent Expedition goes to 'Punching In'. It has been a minute since this particular guild last graced the mid-term TOP 3. As of September 1, they sat proudly at 133rd in guild wars and secured the upper 8.07% of the Descent Expedition. We can only hope to see them in the final TOP 20 tally. Mid-term results always throw all sorts of wildcard guilds into the spotlight, though very few actually survive until the final whistle. I am certainly curious to see if any fresh blood will manage to leave a lasting mark this time around.

Individual total score smashes past 108 million points

Welcome to the individual score rankings for the Week 1 of September in SKRB. Amidst the relentless dogfight among top Siege rankers for a spot in the TOP 10, the reigning rank-one player, Weed, has officially smashed past the 108 million point threshold. After lingering stubbornly in the 107 million bracket, the player finally pushed the ceiling higher. Meanwhile, certain rankers recorded identical scores to last week, which strongly suggests they made good use of the 'paid sweep' to lock in their previous numbers. On top of that, a few others managed to cling to their ranks despite suffering minor score deductions.

Week 1 of September daily Siege results

These are the daily SKRB Siege results for the Week 1 of September. The Siege guilds have successfully managed to breach the 400 million mark for Monday Siege once again. Aside from Tuesday's Fortress of Podina, scores across all other days saw an increase. Fortress of Podina itself dropped by 12 million points compared to the previous week. Unlike Monday, which saw some tweaks to the composition, Tuesday's lineup has remained completely locked in ever since the arrival of 'Nata'. Until a shiny new hero drops to shake things up, hitting that 400 million milestone on a Tuesday looks like a rather tall order.

This week's Siege picks

Unlike other Siege encounters, Hell's Castle lets you deploy both offensive and magical heroes simultaneously. That is why compositions tend to revolve around a core of 'Sein' and 'Pascal'. As of the Week 1 of September, the peak scoring setup relies on a Sein-centric physical composition. The current meta for the highest score is 'Xiao - Awakened Hevnia - Sein - Biscuit - Pie', though this particular setup requires some careful micromanagement regarding the attack power stats of 'Pie' and 'Hevnia'.'Biscuit's buff targets the two allies with the highest attack power, meaning Pie needs to receive the buff instead of Sein, who sits safely in the back row.

Since Hevnia is a rare hero, awakening her is a walk in the park, but Pie is a mythic hero, making the awakening grind significantly harder. Because most players have lower transcendence on Pie, a stat gap naturally forms. You will need to carefully monitor and adjust Pie's attack power relative to Hevnia's to ensure Biscuit's buff does not accidentally stray over to Hevnia. Make sure to double-check those attack stats for Pie and Hevnia before diving into battle with the high-score setup.