On 10 July, the team behind Game of Thrones: Kingsroad announced a 'rally of the banners' via a developer note. The strategy involves grouping players based on their previous season performance to ensure everyone starts on a level playing field. It is a fresh slate designed to keep the competition fair every season. With a seismic shift in the rankings expected next week, let us take a closer look at the current data.

Could the update shift the job meta?

While the current job hierarchy seems static, the 15 July update has opened the door for a massive shake-up. The developers rolled out significant balance adjustments, tweaking skill damage and giving a much-needed boost to character traits and weapon specialisations. Notably, the mercenary's Achilles' heel—that sluggish charge time—has been trimmed down. It will be interesting to see how this affects the leaderboard next week.

The widening chasm of power

If you have been eyeing the recent power rankings, you might have noticed the gap is growing quite wide. Over the five weeks since 17 June, the distance between the top 10 and the bottom 10 has become glaring. The culprit? Material acquisition. The top-tier players are juggling three classes to hoard resources, while the average player is stuck grinding a single main, inevitably leading to a disparity in progression speed.

The latest patch attempts to bridge this by lowering the acquisition difficulty for crafting materials and slashing the time required for daily chores. We are keeping a close eye on whether these quality-of-life changes will actually shrink that widening power gap, so stay tuned for future Meca Ranking updates.

What is the benchmark for seasonal tokens?

Season 1, 'Northern Banner Selection: Frost and Steel', asks you to pledge allegiance to one of three houses and fight for their honour. Your competitive score is tied to 'Coastal Watcher Iron Shards'—seasonal tokens earned by grinding through repeated expeditions, challenges, and field bosses.

So, how much do you need to grind to contribute to your house? Looking at previous data gives us a clue. Take 'Faction Hideouts', for instance. Because it resets daily, the gap remains manageable; the top 30 players cleared every hideout for 6,370 points, while those in the top 100 hovered around 2,000. It is a mere three-fold difference.

However, for content with shorter refresh cycles, the situation is rather absurd. The gap for 'World Bosses' is 25 times larger, and for 'Fierce Beasts', it exceeds 31 times. Even more ridiculous is 'Weirwood Memories', where the gap between the first and hundredth player is over 100 times. That is quite the mountain to climb.

Of course, since you need to spend RP to earn these tokens, the actual barrier to entry will be much lower. We shall see how the house rankings shift next week.