The Legendary Beginning of Marvel Rivals: what the Update brought

Season Zero is over, and the first season of *Marvel Rivals* has arrived, bringing a wave of new content and balance adjustments. Let's dive into the significant updates.

Table of Contents

• What’s New in the First Season?
• New Heroes
• New Maps and Mode
• Battle Pass
• Celestial Rank
• What Are the Balance Adjustments for Heroes?
  • Vanguard
  • Duelist
  • Strategist
• Team-Up

What’s New in the First Season?

This season's theme? An undead invasion led by Dracula himself! To combat this darkness, the Fantastic Four have joined the fight. Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman are available now, with more Fantastic Four members to be added throughout the season.

New Heroes

• Mister Fantastic: A mid-range duelist with abilities for quick movement between enemies and allies, area damage, and temporary damage absorption.
• Invisible Woman: A strategist whose attacks heal allies. She can create shields, manipulate enemies, and, of course, turn invisible.

New Maps and Mode

Two new maps, part of the "Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown," are now live, featuring locations like Grand Central Terminal in a ravaged New York City.

A new game mode, "Doom Match," is designed for 8-12 players. The top 50% survive to win once a certain knockout threshold is reached.

Battle Pass

Season One's Battle Pass is double the size of Season Zero's. Unlike Season Zero, future seasons will last three months, resulting in larger, more content-rich Battle Passes. The premium version boasts 8 out of 10 skins, many highly appealing. However, Peni Parker's Blue Tarantula skin is a bit underwhelming, offering only a color change. The free track still offers Units and Lattice for completing tasks.

Celestial Rank

A new rank, "Celestial," has been added between "Grandmaster" and "Eternity," comprising three divisions. While many players may find themselves stuck in Bronze, this addition might ease future ranking progression.

As with many online games, a rating reset occurs at the end of each season. Your starting rank in Season One depends on your Season Zero rank, with a seven-level decrease (e.g., Platinum I in Season Zero starts at Silver II in Season One).

What Are the Balance Adjustments for Heroes?

Balancing a large roster is a challenge, and Season One introduces several minor adjustments to various heroes.

Vanguard

• Captain America: Received significant buffs, including reduced cooldown on his Shield and Rush abilities, and increased health. His Ultimate ability now costs less but grants slightly less extra health.
• Doctor Strange: Saw moderate adjustments to his damage and shield recovery speed.
• Thor: Received health increases and crowd-control immunity during his Ultimate.
• Hulk: Received a slight nerf to his Gamma Shield health.
• Venom: Received buffs to his armor gain and Ultimate ability damage.

Duelist

• Black Panther: Received nerfs to his extra health gain from Spirit Rend.
• Black Widow: Received improvements to her Edge Dancer radius, Fleet Foot recovery time, and Ultimate ability power-up time.
• Hawkeye: Received slight nerfs to his explosive arrow spread, Archer's Focus activation distance, and passive skill bonus damage.
• Hela: Received a health reduction. New Twitch Drops are available, including a skin.
• Magik: Deals increased damage with Umbral Incursion in Darkchild form.
• Moon Knight: Received buffs to his Ultimate ability talon count and blast radius.
• Namor: Received accuracy adjustments to his throw abilities.
• Psylocke: Her Ultimate now correctly checks for barriers against opponents.
• Punisher: Received slight reductions to the spread of his Deliverance and Adjudication abilities.
• Scarlet Witch: Received enhancements to her Chaos Control damage and Chthonian Burst damage.
• Squirrel Girl: Received adjustments to her squirrel targeting and tsunami health.
• Winter Soldier: Received enhancements to his health gain from abilities, main attack damage, and base health.
• Wolverine: Received a health increase and a reduction in his Undying Animal damage reduction.

Strategist

• Cloak & Dagger: Received a reduction in Dagger Storm cooldown and an increase in dashes during their Ultimate.
• Jeff the Land Shark: Received adjustments to his Ultimate range and healing from Joyful Splash.
• Luna Snow: Received a slight nerf to her dance mode change break time.
• Mantis: Received a nerf to her Nature's Favor acceleration.
• Rocket Raccoon: Received an increase in his healing speed in recovery mode.

Team-Up

Several Team-Up bonuses were adjusted, nerfing Hawkeye and Hela, while enhancing Namor, Rocket Raccoon, Magneto, and Storm.

These balance changes are relatively minor, with some heroes potentially becoming more popular. The impact of the new heroes on the meta remains to be seen.