Marvel Rivals' Legendary Start: Update Highlights

The zero season has concluded, and the first season of Marvel Rivals is here, bringing a host of new content and balance changes that are set to shake up the game. Below, we delve into the key updates and adjustments you need to know about.

What’s New in the First Season?

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This season's theme is an undead invasion led by Dracula! To counter this dark force, the Fantastic Four have stepped into the battle. Two members are already playable, with more to be added as the season unfolds.

New Heroes

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Mister Fantastic: A medium-range duelist, his abilities enable swift movement between foes and allies, dealing area damage and temporarily absorbing damage.

Invisible Woman: A strategist whose attacks heal allies upon impact. She can create shields, manipulate enemy positions, and, unsurprisingly, turn invisible.

New Maps and Mode

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Explore the new "Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown" maps, where superheroes clash amidst the ruins of New York City, including iconic spots like Grand Central Terminal.

The new "Doom Match" mode caters to 8–12 players. Once a set number of knockouts is reached, 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. Future seasons will run for three months, featuring more content. Out of the 10 skins available, 8 are part of the premium version. While most skins are visually striking, the Blue Tarantula for Peni Parker only features a color swap, lacking significant visual upgrades. As with the previous season, completing tasks in the free section of the Battle Pass can earn you Units and Lattice.

Celestial Rank

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A new "Celestial" rank has been introduced between "Grandmaster" and "Eternity", comprising three divisions. While not all players will reach this level, it could ease future rank progression. Like many online games, Marvel Rivals resets ratings at the end of each season. Your starting rank in the first season will be seven levels lower than your final rank in the zero season. For instance, ending at Platinum I in the zero season means starting at Silver II in the first season.

What Are the Balance Adjustments for Heroes?

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Balancing a large roster with unique abilities is challenging, and Marvel Rivals has introduced several minor changes for the first season.

Vanguard

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Captain America: Previously one of the weaker tanks, he received significant buffs. The cooldown for his Shield was reduced from 3 seconds to 2 seconds, his Rush ability cooldown dropped from 12 to 10 seconds, and his health increased from 650 to 675 points. The cost of his Ultimate ability was lowered from 3,400 to 3,100, now granting 100 extra health instead of 110.

Doctor Strange: Adjustments include a 70% damage reduction for Maelstrom of Madness and Gamma-version at a range of 8 meters (up from 5 meters), and a shield recovery speed reduction 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, enhancing his resilience.

Hulk: Received a slight nerf; his gamma Shield now grants 200 health instead of 250.

Venom: Already powerful, he was buffed further. 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 decreased from 40 to 30, and maximum additional health reduced from 120 to 75.

Black Widow: Enhanced with a larger radius for Edge Dancer's first effect (from 3 to 5 meters), reduced recovery time for Fleet Foot (from 12 to 4 seconds), and a shorter time to reach maximum power for her ultimate ability (from 1 second to 0.6 seconds).

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Hawkeye: Slight nerfs include a narrower spread angle for explosive arrows and a reduced activation distance for Archer’s Focus (from 60 meters to 40 meters). Maximum bonus damage from his passive skill dropped from 80 to 70, yet he can still deliver a one-shot headshot.

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Hela: Health reduced from 275 to 250, but remains the top DPS. New Twitch Drops for Hela include a skin and other rewards, obtainable by watching streams with enabled Drops.

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

Moon Knight: Enhanced with more talons generated by his ultimate (from 10 to 14) and an increased blast radius for each claw (from 4 to 5 meters).

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Namor: Accuracy of throws in his abilities has been adjusted, seemingly fixing a bug.

The Punisher: Slightly reduced spread for Deliverance and Adjudication.

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

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Storm: Significantly strengthened with faster, more damaging normal attack projectiles, increased right-click damage, and boosted ultimate health (from 350 to 450, decaying at 100 per second).

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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: Enhanced with increased health from abilities (from 30 to 40), main attack damage increased from 70 to 75, and area damage reduced from 70 to 65 with less falloff at 40 meters (from 65% to 60%). Base health also increased from 250 to 275.

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Wolverine: Despite being a top tank, his health increased from 300 to 350, and the damage reduction coefficient for Undying Animal decreased from 50% to 40%.

Strategist

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Cloak & Dagger: To boost effectiveness, the cooldown of Dagger Storm was reduced from 15s to 12s, and the number of dashes during the ultimate increased from 3 to 4, improving mobility.

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

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Luna Snow: Only one change was made: the mode change during her dance now has a 0.5s break instead of 0.1s, maintaining her protective capabilities.

Mantis: Acceleration from Nature's Favor reduced 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 affect the benefits heroes receive from Team-Up:

Weakened Hawkeye and Hela, with their season bonus reduced by 5%.

Enhanced 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 frequently and with greater force.

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These balance adjustments are relatively minor, but they may shift the meta slightly. While Hela remains a dominant force at higher ranks, the impact of the new heroes on the game's dynamics will be interesting to observe. Only time will reveal how these shifts affect the power balance within Marvel Rivals.