Marvel Rivals Update: Legendary Hero Debut

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
• 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! The Fantastic Four are here to save the day, with Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman already available, and more heroes joining the fight as the season progresses.

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 available, 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 after a certain number of knockouts.

Battle Pass

This season's Battle Pass is double the size of Season Zero's, reflecting the three-month season length. Of the 10 skins, 8 are premium. While most skins are visually appealing, Peni Parker's Blue Tarantula skin is a simple color swap. The free track still offers Units and Lattice for completing tasks.

Celestial Rank

A new "Celestial" rank has been added between "Grandmaster" and "Eternity," consisting of three divisions. Due to its difficulty, not all players will reach it.

As with many online games, a rating reset occurs at the end of each season. Your starting rank in Season 1 depends on your Season Zero rank, with a seven-level drop (e.g., Platinum I in Season Zero starts at Silver II in Season One).

Balance Adjustments for Heroes

This season features several minor balance adjustments to various heroes.

Vanguard

• Captain America: Received significant buffs, including reduced cooldowns for his Shield and Rush abilities, and increased health. His Ultimate ability now costs less but grants slightly less health.
• Doctor Strange: Saw adjustments to his Maelstrom of Madness damage and shield recovery speed.
• Thor: Received increased health and crowd-control immunity while using his ultimate.
• Hulk: Received a slight nerf to his gamma Shield health.
• Venom: Received buffs to his armor and ultimate ability damage.

Duelist

• Black Panther: Received nerfs to the extra health gained 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, offering a skin and other rewards.
• Magik: Deals increased damage with Umbral Incursion in Darkchild form.
• Moon Knight: Received buffs to his ultimate ability's talons and blast radius.
• Namor: Received adjustments to the accuracy of his throws.
• Psylocke: Her ultimate skill now correctly checks for opponent barriers.
• 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, but a reduction in damage-over-time.
• Storm: Received significant enhancements to her normal attack projectiles, right-click damage, and ultimate ability health bonus.
• Squirrel Girl: Received adjustments to squirrel targeting and tsunami health.
• Winter Soldier: Received buffs to his health, main attack damage, and base health.
• Wolverine: Received increased health and a reduction in his Undying Animal damage reduction.

Strategist

• Cloak & Dagger: Received a reduction to Dagger Storm's cooldown and an increase in the number of dashes in their ultimate ability.
• Jeff the Land Shark: Received adjustments to his ultimate range and healing from Joyful Splash.
• Luna Snow: Received a slight nerf to her dance break time.
• Mantis: Received a reduction to 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 buffing Namor, Rocket Raccoon, Magneto, and Storm.

These balance adjustments are mostly minor, and while some characters might see increased popularity, the impact on the meta remains to be seen.