diff --git a/agents/rap-node-agent/cmd/rap-node-agent/main.go b/agents/rap-node-agent/cmd/rap-node-agent/main.go
index 8d88258..f5a0773 100644
--- a/agents/rap-node-agent/cmd/rap-node-agent/main.go
+++ b/agents/rap-node-agent/cmd/rap-node-agent/main.go
@@ -5441,7 +5441,9 @@ func mergeEndpointCapacityPressure(primary, secondary map[string]mesh.EndpointCa
 	}
 	for endpointID, pressure := range secondary {
 		existing, ok := out[endpointID]
-		if !ok || pressure.Count > existing.Count || pressure.LastSeenUnixSec > existing.LastSeenUnixSec {
+		if !ok ||
+			pressure.Count > existing.Count ||
+			(pressure.Count == existing.Count && pressure.LastSeenUnixSec > existing.LastSeenUnixSec) {
 			out[endpointID] = pressure
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/agents/rap-node-agent/cmd/rap-node-agent/main_test.go b/agents/rap-node-agent/cmd/rap-node-agent/main_test.go
index d132e38..3a6eb7b 100644
--- a/agents/rap-node-agent/cmd/rap-node-agent/main_test.go
+++ b/agents/rap-node-agent/cmd/rap-node-agent/main_test.go
@@ -1167,6 +1167,24 @@ func TestQUICEndpointCapacityPressureForScoringUsesLiveSnapshot(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestMergeEndpointCapacityPressureKeepsStrongerSignal(t *testing.T) {
+	merged := mergeEndpointCapacityPressure(
+		map[string]mesh.EndpointCandidateCapacityPressure{
+			"node-b-quic": {EndpointID: "node-b-quic", Count: 9, LastSeenUnixSec: 10},
+		},
+		map[string]mesh.EndpointCandidateCapacityPressure{
+			"node-b-quic": {EndpointID: "node-b-quic", Count: 1, LastSeenUnixSec: 20},
+			"node-b-wss":  {EndpointID: "node-b-wss", Count: 2, LastSeenUnixSec: 20},
+		},
+	)
+	if merged["node-b-quic"].Count != 9 || merged["node-b-quic"].LastSeenUnixSec != 10 {
+		t.Fatalf("weaker fresh pressure replaced stronger signal: %+v", merged["node-b-quic"])
+	}
+	if merged["node-b-wss"].Count != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("new pressure missing: %+v", merged)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestMergedEndpointCandidateObservationsKeepsNewest(t *testing.T) {
 	now := time.Now().UTC()
 	merged := mergedEndpointCandidateObservations(
diff --git a/docs/architecture/DISTRIBUTED_FABRIC_NODE_PROTOCOL_PLAN.md b/docs/architecture/DISTRIBUTED_FABRIC_NODE_PROTOCOL_PLAN.md
index 538f3b5..d83e204 100644
--- a/docs/architecture/DISTRIBUTED_FABRIC_NODE_PROTOCOL_PLAN.md
+++ b/docs/architecture/DISTRIBUTED_FABRIC_NODE_PROTOCOL_PLAN.md
@@ -429,6 +429,9 @@ before stream-limit rejection, spreading new sessions away from already busy
 QUIC carriers.
 Per-connection QUIC snapshot entries are sorted by peer and endpoint so
 heartbeats and diagnostics stay stable across reports.
+When local live QUIC pressure and recent capacity-limit counters overlap, the
+ranking input keeps the stronger pressure signal rather than allowing a weak
+fresh sample to hide a saturated endpoint.
 Endpoint ranking treats `capacity_limited` observations as a soft pressure
 penalty instead of a hard recent failure, enabling load spreading without
 marking the carrier unhealthy.