Marvel Rivals Update Unveils Legendary Beginnings

The zero season has wrapped up, and now we're diving into the exciting first season of Marvel Rivals. This new season brings a host of fresh content and crucial balance changes that every player should know about. Let's explore the significant updates in detail.

What’s New in the First Season?

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This season introduces a chilling theme: an undead invasion led by none other than Dracula! To counter this dark force, the Fantastic Four have stepped into the battle. Two members are already playable, with the rest set to join as the season unfolds.

New Heroes

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Mister Fantastic: A versatile duelist who excels at medium range. His abilities enable rapid movement between allies and foes, inflict area damage, and allow him to absorb damage temporarily.

Invisible Woman: A strategic mastermind whose attacks not only heal allies but also create shields, manipulate enemy positions, and, of course, turn invisible. Her strategic presence can be a game-changer in battles.

New Maps and Mode

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Explore two new maps under the "Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown" banner, featuring iconic locations like Grand Central Terminal in a ravaged New York City. Additionally, "Doom Match," a new game mode for 8–12 players, challenges you to reach a knockout threshold, with the top 50% emerging victorious.

Battle Pass

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The first season's Battle Pass is significantly larger than the zero season's, with subsequent seasons lasting three months and offering more content. Of the 10 skins available, 8 are premium, with most being visually stunning. However, the Blue Tarantula skin for Peni Parker is simply a color swap of the default, lacking significant changes. As with the previous season, the free portion of the Battle Pass rewards Units and Lattice upon completing various tasks.

Celestial Rank

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A new rank, "Celestial," has been introduced between "Grandmaster" and "Eternity," comprising three divisions. While most players may remain in "Bronze," this addition could facilitate climbing the ranks in future seasons. As with many online games, Marvel Rivals resets ratings at the end of each season. Your starting rank in the first season depends on your final zero season rank, dropping seven levels. For example, 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 diverse roster of heroes with unique abilities is always challenging, and Marvel Rivals has made several minor adjustments this season to ensure a more balanced gameplay experience.

Vanguard

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Captain America: Previously one of the weakest tanks, Captain America has received substantial buffs. The cooldown for his Shield has been reduced from 3 seconds to 2 seconds, enhancing his defensive capabilities. His Rush ability's cooldown has been shortened from 12 to 10 seconds, improving mobility. His health has been increased from 650 to 675 points, making him more resilient. Additionally, the cost of his Ultimate ability has been lowered from 3,400 to 3,100, now granting 100 extra health instead of 110.

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

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

Hulk: A slight nerf sees his Gamma Shield now granting 200 health instead of 250.

Venom: Despite already being strong, Venom has been buffed. He gains more armor based on lost health (coefficient increased from 1 to 1.2), and his ultimate ability's base damage has been increased by 10 points.

Duelist

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

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

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Hawkeye: A slight nerf has adjusted the spread angle between explosive arrows and reduced the activation distance of his passive ability Archer’s Focus from 60 meters to 40 meters. The maximum bonus damage from his passive skill has also decreased from 80 to 70.

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Hela: Her health has been reduced from 275 to 250, but she remains a top DPS character. New Twitch Drops offer a skin and other rewards for Hela, available by watching live streams of the game on Twitch with Drops enabled.

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

Moon Knight: Already strong, Moon Knight now generates 14 talons with his ultimate (up from 10), and the blast radius of each claw has increased from 4 meters to 5 meters.

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Namor: The accuracy of throws in his abilities has been adjusted.

The Punisher: The spread for Deliverance and Adjudication has been slightly reduced.

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

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Storm: Her normal attacks now release faster and more damaging projectiles. Right-click damage has increased, and the bonus health granted after using her ultimate has risen 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 the squirrel tsunami has been halved, making them easier to destroy.

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

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Wolverine: His health has been increased from 300 to 350, and the damage reduction coefficient for Undying Animal has decreased from 50% to 40%.

Strategist

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Cloak & Dagger: The cooldown of Dagger Storm has been reduced from 15s to 12s, and the number of dashes during the ultimate has increased from 3 to 4, enhancing mobility.

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

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

Mantis: Acceleration from Nature's Favor has been reduced from 2.5m/s to 1.5m/s.

Rocket Raccoon: Healing speed in recovery mode has 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:

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 has increased, and Storm's charged storm hits more often and harder.

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Overall, these balance adjustments are relatively minor. While a few characters may see increased popularity, Hela remains a constant ban at higher ranks. The introduction of new heroes will undoubtedly impact the meta, and only time will reveal how these power dynamics shift.