Marvel Rivals Update Unveils Legendary Beginnings

With the zero season now behind us, the first season of *Marvel Rivals* has burst onto the scene, bringing with it a fresh wave of content and crucial balance updates. Let's delve into the key highlights that players should be aware of.

What’s New in the First Season?

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This season's theme revolves around an epic undead invasion led by none other than Dracula! To counter this dark force, the Fantastic Four have stepped into the battle. Currently, two members of this iconic team are playable, with the rest set to join the fight as the season unfolds.

New Heroes

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Mister Fantastic: This duelist excels at medium-range combat. His abilities allow for swift movement between enemies and allies, dealing area damage and temporarily absorbing incoming damage.

Invisible Woman: As a strategist, her attacks not only deal damage but also heal her allies. She can create protective shields, manipulate enemy positions with push and pull effects, and, as her name suggests, become invisible—adding a layer of surprise to her gameplay.

New Maps and Mode

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

The "Doom Match" mode has been introduced, accommodating 8–12 players. The objective is simple: reach a specific number of knockouts, and the top 50% of players will emerge victorious.

Battle Pass

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The first season's Battle Pass is significantly larger than its predecessor, offering double the content. With a duration of three months for subsequent seasons, expect even more rewards. Out of the 10 skins available, 8 are exclusive to the premium version. While most skins are visually striking, the Blue Tarantula for Peni Parker may disappoint with its minimal changes from the default outfit. The free portion of the Battle Pass still offers valuable rewards like Units and Lattice through completing various tasks.

Celestial Rank

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A new rank, "Celestial," has been added, positioned between "Grandmaster" and "Eternity," comprising three divisions. While most players may not reach beyond "Bronze," this addition could facilitate climbing the ranks in future seasons. As with many games, Marvel Rivals resets player ratings at the end of each season. Your starting rank in the first season will be seven levels below your final rank in the zero season.

What Are the Balance Adjustments for Heroes?

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

Vanguard

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Captain America: Previously one of the weaker tanks, he's received several buffs. The cooldown for his Shield is now reduced from 3 seconds to 2 seconds, enhancing its utility. His Rush ability's cooldown has dropped from 12 to 10 seconds, improving his mobility. His health has been increased from 650 to 675, making him more durable. The cost of his Ultimate ability is now 3,100 (down from 3,400), and it grants 100 extra health (down from 110).

Doctor Strange: Adjustments have been made to balance his power. The damage for Maelstrom of Madness and Gamma-version now decreases by 70% at a range of 8 meters (up from 5 meters). His shield recovery speed is now 70/s (down from 80/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, enhancing his survivability.

Hulk: A slight nerf has been applied; his Gamma Shield now grants 200 health instead of 250.

Venom: Already a strong character, he's been further 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 been decreased from 120 to 75, making him less resilient.

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

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Hawkeye: While still retaining his strengths, he's been slightly nerfed. The spread angle between explosive arrows has been narrowed, the activation distance for his passive ability Archer’s Focus reduced from 60 meters to 40 meters, and the maximum bonus damage from his passive skill decreased from 80 to 70.

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Hela: Her health has been reduced from 275 to 250, though this is unlikely to significantly impact her dominance as the best DPS. New Twitch Drops for Hela include a skin and other rewards, available by watching live streams of the game on Twitch with Drops enabled.

Magik: In Darkchild form, her damage to Umbral Incursion has increased from 115 to 135.

Moon Knight: Already strong, he's been further enhanced. The number of talons generated by his ultimate has increased from 10 to 14, and the blast radius of each claw has increased from 4 to 5 meters.

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Namor: The accuracy of throws in his abilities has been adjusted, resembling a bug fix.

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

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Scarlet Witch: Enhanced with several changes. The 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: Significant enhancements have been made, potentially increasing her popularity. Normal attacks now release faster, more damaging projectiles. Damage from right-clicking has 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: Changes have made her abilities more predictable, with squirrels now targeting the nearest enemy after bouncing. The health of her squirrel tsunami has been halved, making them easier to destroy.

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Winter Soldier: Enhanced with several buffs. 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.

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Wolverine: The leader among tanks, his health has been increased from 300 to 350, despite being high for a damage dealer. The damage reduction coefficient for Undying Animal decreased from 50% to 40%.

Strategist

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

Jeff the Land Shark: The range of his ultimate has been 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: A minor nerf has been applied; during her dance, the mode change now has a break of 0.5s instead of 0.1s.

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

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

Team-Up

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

The season bonus for Hawkeye and Hela has been reduced by 5%. In contrast, Namor, Rocket Raccoon, Magneto, and Storm have been enhanced. Namor's monsters deal more damage, Rocket Raccoon heals better, Magneto's projectile damage has increased, and Storm's charged storm hits more frequently and with greater impact.

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Overall, these balance adjustments are relatively minor. While a few characters may see a slight increase in popularity, Hela remains a constant ban at higher ranks. The introduction of new heroes will undoubtedly influence the meta, and it will be fascinating to see how the power dynamics evolve over time.