Marvel Rivals' Legendary Start: Update Highlights

With the zero season behind us, the first season of Marvel Rivals has burst onto the scene with a fresh wave of content and balance tweaks. Let’s dive into the key updates that are set to shake up the game.

What’s New in the First Season?

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This season's theme is an undead invasion led by none other than Dracula! To counter this dark force, the Fantastic Four have stepped into the battle. Two members of this iconic team are already playable, with the others set to join as the season unfolds.

New Heroes

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Mister Fantastic: As a medium-range duelist, he can swiftly navigate between foes and allies, dish out area damage, and even absorb damage temporarily.

Invisible Woman: This strategist not only heals allies with her attacks but also creates shields, manipulates enemy positions, and yes, she can turn invisible—quite the surprise!

New Maps and Mode

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Explore the new "Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown" map, where superheroes can clash in iconic spots like Grand Central Terminal within a ravaged New York City.

Jump into "Doom Match," a new mode tailored for 8-12 players. When a specific knockout threshold is met, the top 50% of players emerge victorious.

Battle Pass

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The first season's Battle Pass is double the size of the zero season's and future seasons will span three months, offering more content. Out of the 10 skins available, 8 are part of the premium version. While most are eye-catching, the Blue Tarantula skin for Peni Parker merely changes the color of her default outfit, missing out on significant visual upgrades. Completing tasks in the free portion of the Battle Pass still rewards you with Units and Lattice.

Celestial Rank

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A new "Celestial" rank has been introduced between "Grandmaster" and "Eternity," consisting of three divisions. While it's a lofty goal for most players who struggle to leave "Bronze," it could facilitate climbing the ranks in the future.

As with many online games, Marvel Rivals resets ratings at the end of each season. Your starting rank for the first season will be seven levels below your final rank in the zero season. For example, finishing at Platinum I in the zero season means you'll start at Silver II in the first season.

What Are the Balance Adjustments for Heroes?

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Balancing a diverse roster of heroes with unique abilities is challenging, and Marvel Rivals has made several adjustments to address this in the first season.

Vanguard

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Captain America: Previously one of the weaker tanks, he's now received significant buffs. His Shield cooldown has been reduced from 3 seconds to 2 seconds, Rush ability cooldown from 12 to 10 seconds, and his health increased from 650 to 675 points. His Ultimate ability now costs 3,100 instead of 3,400 and grants 100 extra health instead of 110.

Doctor Strange: His Maelstrom of Madness and Gamma-version damage decreases by 70% at a range of 8 meters (from 5 meters), and shield recovery speed reduced from 80/s to 70/s.

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Thor: His health increased by 25 points, and he gains crowd-control immunity during his ultimate ability.

Hulk: His gamma Shield now grants 200 health instead of 250.

Venom: He now gains more armor based on lost health (coefficient increased from 1 to 1.2), and his ultimate ability's base damage increased by 10 points.

Duelist

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Black Panther: The extra health from upgrading marks with Spirit Rend reduced from 40 to 30, and maximum additional health from 120 to 75.

Black Widow: The radius for the first effect of Edge Dancer increased from 3 to 5 meters, recovery time for Fleet Foot reduced from 12 to 4 seconds, and time to reach maximum power for her ultimate ability shortened from 1 second to 0.6 seconds.

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Hawkeye: The spread angle between explosive arrows was slightly narrowed, passive ability Archer’s Focus activation distance reduced from 60 meters to 40 meters, and maximum bonus damage from his passive skill decreased from 80 to 70.

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Hela: Her health reduced from 275 to 250. There are also new Twitch Drops for Hela, including a skin and other rewards, which you can obtain by watching live streams of the game on Twitch.

Magik: Damage to Umbral Incursion in Darkchild form increased from 115 to 135.

Moon Knight: The number of talons generated by his ultimate increased from 10 to 14, and the blast radius of each claw increased from 4 meters to 5 meters.

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Namor: Accuracy of throws in his abilities has been adjusted.

The Punisher: Slightly reduced the spread for Deliverance and Adjudication.

Scarlet Witch: Changed damage of Chaos Control increased from 50/s to 60/s, damage-over-time percentage reduced from 5% to 3%, and damage of Chthonian Burst increased from 30 to 35.

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Storm: Normal attacks now release faster projectiles with more damage, right-click damage increased, and bonus health after using her ultimate increased from 350 to 450, decaying at 100 per second instead of disappearing instantly.

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Squirrel Girl: Squirrels now target the nearest enemy after bouncing, and the health of squirrel tsunami halved, making them easier to destroy.

Winter Soldier: Health provided by right-click and E abilities increased from 30 to 40, main attack damage increased from 70 to 75, area damage reduced from 70 to 65 with damage falloff at 40 meters reduced from 65% to 60%, and base health increased from 250 to 275 points.

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Wolverine: Health increased from 300 to 350, and damage reduction coefficient for Undying Animal decreased from 50% to 40%.

Strategist

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Cloak & Dagger: Cooldown of Dagger Storm reduced from 15s to 12s, and the number of dashes during ulta increased from 3 to 4.

Jeff the Land Shark: Ultimate range adjusted from a 10-meter sphere to a 10-meter cylindrical field with a height of 5 meters, and healing from Joyful Splash increased from 140/s to 150/s.

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Luna Snow: During the dance, the mode change break increased from 0.1s to 0.5s.

Mantis: Reduced acceleration from Nature's Favor from 2.5m/s to 1.5m/s.

Rocket Raccoon: Healing speed in recovery mode increased from 60 to 70 units per second.

Team-Up

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The following changes relate to the benefits heroes receive from Team-Up:

Hawkeye and Hela: Both have their season bonus reduced by 5%.

Namor, Rocket Raccoon, Magneto, and Storm: Namor's monsters deal more damage, Rocket Raccoon heals better, Magneto's projectile damage increased, and Storm's charged storm hits more often and harder.

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These balance adjustments are relatively minor, and while a few characters might see increased popularity, Hela remains a constant ban at higher ranks. The real excitement lies in how the new heroes will influence the meta. Only time will tell how these changes shift the power dynamics.