Let Gn (x) be the distribution of the nth successive maximum of a random walk on the real line. Under conditions typical for complete exponential convergence, the decay of Gn (x) – limn→∞ Gn(x) is asymptotically equal to H(x) γn n–3/2 as n → ∞where γ < 1 and H(x) a function solely depending on x. For the case of drift to + ∞, G∞(x) = 0 and the result is new; for drift to – ∞we give a new proof, simplifying and correcting an earlier version in [9].