The zero season has come to an end, marking the exciting launch of the first season in Marvel Rivals. This new season brings a plethora of fresh content and crucial balance changes designed to enhance the gameplay experience. Let's dive into the significant updates that players should take note of.
What’s New in the First Season?
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The theme of the season is an undead invasion led by none other than Dracula himself! To counter this dark threat, the Fantastic Four have stepped into the battle. Two members of the team are already playable, with the rest to be introduced as the season unfolds.
New Heroes
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Mister Fantastic: A versatile duelist who excels at medium-range combat. His abilities enable him to swiftly navigate between enemies and allies, inflict area damage, and even absorb damage temporarily.
Invisible Woman: A strategist with unique abilities that heal allies upon impact. She can generate shields, manipulate enemy positions by pushing or pulling, and, of course, turn invisible—a strategic advantage you won't see coming!
New Maps and Mode
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Explore the new map, "Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown," featuring iconic locations like Grand Central Terminal in a devastated New York City, where superheroes clash in epic battles.
The new game mode, "Doom Match," is designed for 8-12 players. Once a set number of knockouts is achieved, the top 50% of players emerge as victors, adding a thrilling competitive edge to the game.
Battle Pass
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The first season's Battle Pass is significantly larger than the zero season's, and future seasons will span three months, offering even more content. Out of the 10 skins available, 8 are exclusive to the premium version. While most skins boast impressive designs, the Blue Tarantula skin for Peni Parker offers only a color swap, which might not satisfy everyone's visual expectations. As always, completing tasks in the free portion of the Battle Pass can earn you valuable Units and Lattice.
Celestial Rank
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A new rank, "Celestial," has been introduced, positioned between "Grandmaster" and "Eternity," and is divided into three tiers. While most players might struggle to climb out of the "Bronze" division, this addition could ease the path to higher ranks in future seasons. As with many online games, Marvel Rivals resets ratings at the end of each season, and 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 heroes 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 has received significant buffs. The cooldown for his Shield has been reduced from 3 seconds to 2 seconds, enhancing his defensive capabilities. His mobility has improved with the cooldown of his Rush ability dropping from 12 to 10 seconds. To increase his survivability, his health has been increased from 650 to 675 points. The cost of his Ultimate ability has been lowered from 3,400 to 3,100, now granting 100 extra health instead of 110.
Doctor Strange: His Maelstrom of Madness and Gamma-version abilities now deal 70% less damage at a range of 8 meters (up from 5 meters). The shield recovery speed has also 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 while using his ultimate ability, making him less vulnerable during its execution.
Hulk: His gamma Shield now grants 200 health instead of 250, a slight nerf to balance his defensive capabilities.
Venom: Despite being already strong, he has been buffed. He now gains more armor based on lost health (coefficient increased from 1 to 1.2), and the base damage of his ultimate ability 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 lowered from 120 to 75, making him less durable.
Black Widow: Several small changes have improved her performance. 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 been applied. The spread angle between explosive arrows has been narrowed, the activation distance for his passive ability Archer’s Focus has been reduced from 60 meters to 40 meters, and the maximum bonus damage from his passive skill has 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 choice. New Twitch Drops are available, including a skin and other rewards for Hela, which can be earned 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, though this won't make her more resilient.
Moon Knight: Already strong, he has 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 grown from 4 meters to 5 meters.
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Namor: The accuracy of throws in his abilities has been adjusted, which seems more like a bug fix.
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, making her more effective at lower ranks. The damage-over-time percentage has been reduced from 5% to 3%, and the damage of Chthonian Burst has increased from 30 to 35.
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Storm: Her normal attacks now release faster and more damaging projectiles. The damage from right-clicking the mouse button has increased, and the bonus health granted after using her ultimate has risen from 350 to 450, now decaying at 100 per second instead of disappearing instantly.
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Squirrel Girl: Squirrels now target the nearest enemy after bouncing, adding predictability. The health of the squirrel tsunami has been halved, making them easier to destroy.
Winter Soldier: His health provided by right-click and E abilities has increased from 30 to 40. Main attack damage has risen from 70 to 75, while area damage has been reduced 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, despite being high for a damage dealer. The damage reduction coefficient for Undying Animal has decreased from 50% to 40%.
Strategist
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Cloak & Dagger: To enhance their effectiveness, the cooldown of Dagger Storm has been reduced from 15s to 12s. The number of dashes during their ultimate has increased from 3 to 4, improving their mobility.
Jeff the Land Shark: The ultimate range has been adjusted from a 10-meter sphere to a 10-meter cylindrical field with a height of 5 meters. Healing from Joyful Splash has increased from 140/s to 150/s.
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Luna Snow: A minor nerf has been applied, with the mode change during her dance now having a break of 0.5s instead of 0.1s, though this won't significantly impact her protective capabilities.
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 heroes receive from Team-Up:
Hawkeye and Hela: Both have had 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 frequently and with greater impact.
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Overall, these balance adjustments are relatively minor, and 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 only time will reveal how these power dynamics evolve.
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