Marvel Rivals Season 1: Balance Updates Unveiled

Summary

• NetEase has released a new balance patch for Marvel Rivals before Season 1 launches on January 10.
• Fans are thrilled with the buffs to Storm's abilities, as she was considered one of the least effective Duelists.
• Several other tweaks have been made to the various team-up abilities in Marvel Rivals.

NetEase has unveiled a comprehensive balance patch for Marvel Rivals just ahead of the game's much-anticipated Season 1, set to launch on January 10. This patch introduces a series of nerfs, buffs, and other adjustments to characters like Black Panther, Hawkeye, Namor, and Psylocke. As players gear up for the new season, these changes promise to shake up the meta and offer fresh strategies to explore.

Launched towards the end of 2024, Marvel Rivals has quickly risen to prominence as one of the standout new releases in the hero-shooter genre. Boasting an impressive lineup of iconic characters, the game captures the essence of team-oriented shooters with elements like payloads, capture points, and powerful abilities. With Season 1 focusing on The Fantastic Four, anticipation is high. However, before diving into the new season, players should take note of the latest balance patch from NetEase.

The new patch brings changes across all hero categories in Marvel Rivals. Among the Duelists, Black Panther, Hawkeye, Hela, and Scarlet Witch have seen minor nerfs, while characters like Black Widow, Magik, Moon Knight, Wolverine, and Winter Soldier have received buffs, including health boosts and reduced cooldowns. Notably, Storm, previously considered one of the weaker Duelists, has received significant enhancements. Her Bolt Rush now deals 80 damage, up from 70, and her Wind Blade's projectile speed has been increased from 100m/s to 150m/s.

In the Vanguard category, buffs have been applied to Venom, Thor, and Captain America. Both Thor and Captain America have increased health, while Venom's Feast of the Abyss now delivers higher damage. For the Strategists, adjustments include a reduced cooldown for Cloak & Dagger's Dagger Storm from 15 seconds to 12, an increase in Jeff the Land Shark's Joyful Splash healing from 140/s to 150/s, and an uptick in Rocket Raccoon's repair mode from 60 per/s to 70 per/s.

The patch also refines various team-up abilities in Marvel Rivals. These unique synergies between certain heroes have been tweaked, with some team-ups like Hawkeye and Black Widow, and Hela, Thor, and Loki seeing their season bonuses reduced to 15%. Meanwhile, cooldowns for team-ups involving Rocket Raccoon, The Punisher, and Winter Soldier have been shortened, as have those for Thor, Storm, and Captain America.

Marvel Rivals Season 1 Balance Patch Notes

Duelist

Black Panther

• Reduced additional health from refreshing Vibranium Marks with Spirit Rend from 40 to 30, and the upper limit from 120 to 75.

Black Widow

• Increased Edge Dancer's first effect range from 3 meters to 5 meters.
• Reduced Fleet Foot stamina recovery time from 12s to 4s.
• Reduced Electro-Plasma Explosion's time to reach maximum power from 1s to 0.6s.

Hawkeye

• Slightly reduced spread angle between Blast Arrows.
• Reduced Archer’s Focus triggering distance from 60 meters to 40 meters, and maximum additional damage from 80 to 70.

Hela

• Reduced base health from 275 to 250.

Magik

• Increased Umbral Incursion damage in Darkchild form from 115 to 135.

Moon Knight

• Increased Hand of Khonshu's talons from 10 to 14.
• Increased each talon's explosion radius from 4 meters to 5 meters.

Namor

• Improved Monstro Spawn and Frozen Spawn throwing accuracy.

Psylocke

• Dance of the Butterfly now checks for barriers like Magneto’s Metal Bulwark and Hulk’s Indestructible Guard.

The Punisher

• Slightly reduced spread of Deliverance and Adjudication.

Scarlet Witch

• Increased Chaos Control’s fixed damage from 50/s to 60/s.
• Reduced percentage damage per second from 5% to 3%.
• Increased Chthonian Burst’s projectile damage from 30 to 35.

Storm

• Increased Wind Blade projectile speed from 100m/s to 150m/s and left-click damage from 50 to 55.
• Increased Bolt Rush damage from 70 to 80.
• Omega Hurricane now provides 450 bonus health, up from 350, with health diminishing at 100 per second post-ultimate.

Squirrel Girl

• Unbeatable Squirrel Tsunami now directs squirrels towards the nearest enemy instead of random bouncing.
• Reduced squirrel tsunami health from 600 to 300.

Winter Soldier

• Increased Bionic Hook and Tainted Voltage bonus health from 30 to 40.
• Increased Roterstern’s projectile damage from 70 to 75.
• Reduced area damage from 70 to 65 and damage decay from 65% at 40 meters to 60%.
• Increased base health from 250 to 275.

Wolverine

• Increased base health from 300 to 350.
• Reduced Undying Animal's damage reduction from 50% to 40%.

Vanguard

Captain America

• Reduced shield restoration delay after Living Legend from 3s to 2s.
• Reduced Liberty Rush cooldown from 12s to 10s.
• Increased base health from 650 to 675.
• Reduced Freedom Charge energy cost from 3400 to 3100.
• Reduced additional health per second after Freedom Charge from 110 to 100.

Doctor Strange

• Added damage falloff to Maelstrom of Madness and Gamma Maelstrom, starting at 5 meters and reducing to 70% at 8 meters.
• Slightly decreased Shield of the Seraphim's shield value recovery rate from 80/s to 70/s.

Thor

• Increased base health from 500 to 525.
• Added immunity to control effects during God of Thunder.

Hulk

• Reduced Hero Hulk's Indestructible Guard gamma shield value from 250 to 200.

Venom

• Increased Symbiotic Resilience bonus health ratio from 1 to 1.2.
• Increased Feast of the Abyss base damage from 40 to 50.

Strategist

Cloak & Dagger

• Reduced Dagger Storm cooldown from 15s to 12s.
• Increased Eternal Bond dashes from 3 to 4.

Jeff the Land Shark

• Adjusted It’s Jeff! range from a 10m sphere to a 10m radius, 5m high cylinder.
• Increased Joyful Splash healing from 140/s to 150/s.

Luna Snow

• Increased Fate of Both Worlds switching interval from 0.1s to 0.5s.

Mantis

• Reduced Nature’s Favor movement boost from 2.5m/s to 1.5m/s.

Rocket Raccoon

• Increased Repair Mode healing from 60 per/s to 70 per/s.

Team-Up Abilities

Hawkeye – Black Widow

• Reduced Hawkeye’s season bonus from 20% to 15%.

Hela – Thor – Loki

• Reduced Hela’s season bonus from 20% to 15%.

Luna Snow- Namor

• Increased Frozen Spawn damage from 25 to 27.
• Increased Frozen Spawn slowing effect from 25% to 30%.
• Increased berserk state Frozen Spawn damage from 16 to 18.

Rocket Raccoon – The Punisher – Winter Soldier

• Reduced Ammo Invention cooldown from 45s to 40s.

Scarlet Witch – Magneto

• Increased Metallic Fusion projectile damage from 55 to 60.
• Increased Metallic Fusion spell field damage from 30 to 35.

Thor – Storm – Captain America

• Reduced Charged Gale cooldown from 20s to 15s.
• Increased Charged Gale damage from 50 to 55.