The zero season has come to an end, and we're thrilled to dive into the first season of Marvel Rivals! This launch brings a wave of fresh content and critical balance changes to the game. Let's explore the key updates you should know about.
What’s New in the First Season?
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The theme for this season is an undead invasion led by none other than Dracula! To counter this dark force, the Fantastic Four have stepped up. Two members of the team are already in the game, with the rest set to join as the season unfolds.
New Heroes
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Mister Fantastic: A versatile duelist who thrives at medium range. His abilities let him swiftly navigate between foes and allies, deal area damage, and temporarily absorb incoming damage.
Invisible Woman: A strategic mastermind whose attacks not only damage enemies but also heal allies. She can generate shields, manipulate enemy positions with pushes and pulls, and, unsurprisingly, turn invisible.
New Maps and Mode
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Dive into the "Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown" map, featuring iconic locations like Grand Central Terminal in a devastated New York City. Additionally, "Doom Match," a new game mode for 8-12 players, challenges you to reach a knockout threshold, with the top 50% emerging as winners.
Battle Pass
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The first season's Battle Pass is double the size of the zero season's, packed with more content as seasons now last three months. Out of the 10 skins, 8 are premium, with most being visually striking. However, the Blue Tarantula skin for Peni Parker is merely a color swap, lacking significant visual upgrades. Earn Units and Lattice by completing tasks in the free Battle Pass section.
Celestial Rank
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A new "Celestial" rank has been introduced, nestled between "Grandmaster" and "Eternity," with three divisions. While not everyone will reach this new tier, it could make climbing the ranks more accessible. At the start of each season, including this one, your rank resets based on your previous season's end, dropping seven levels. For instance, ending at Platinum I in the zero season means starting at Silver II in the first season.
What Are the Balance Adjustments for Heroes?
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Balancing a game with a diverse roster like Marvel Rivals is no small feat. The first season brings a series of tweaks to ensure a more balanced gameplay experience.
Vanguard
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Captain America: Previously one of the weaker tanks, he now boasts significant buffs. His Shield's cooldown is reduced from 3 to 2 seconds, Rush ability cooldown from 12 to 10 seconds, health increased from 650 to 675, and his Ultimate ability now costs 3,100 instead of 3,400, granting 100 extra health instead of 110.
Doctor Strange: His Maelstrom of Madness and Gamma-version damage decreases by 70% at 8 meters (up from 5 meters), and shield recovery speed drops from 80/s to 70/s.
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Thor: Gains 25 more health and crowd-control immunity during his ultimate, enhancing his survivability.
Hulk: His gamma Shield now grants 200 health instead of 250, a slight nerf to balance his strength.
Venom: Already strong, he now gains more armor based on lost health (coefficient increased from 1 to 1.2), and his ultimate's base damage is up by 10 points.
Duelist
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Black Panther: Reduced extra health from Spirit Rend upgrades from 40 to 30, and maximum additional health from 120 to 75.
Black Widow: Her Edge Dancer's radius increased from 3 to 5 meters, Fleet Foot recovery time reduced from 12 to 4 seconds, and her ultimate's time to reach maximum power shortened from 1 to 0.6 seconds.
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Hawkeye: Slightly nerfed with a narrowed spread angle for explosive arrows, reduced Archer’s Focus activation distance from 60 to 40 meters, and maximum bonus damage from 80 to 70.
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Hela: Health reduced from 275 to 250, yet she remains a top DPS. New Twitch Drops offer a skin and other rewards for Hela, available by watching live streams on Twitch.
Magik: Darkchild form's Umbral Incursion damage increased from 115 to 135.
Moon Knight: His ultimate now generates 14 talons instead of 10, with each claw's blast radius increased from 4 to 5 meters.
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Namor: Adjusted accuracy of throws in his abilities, resembling a bug fix.
The Punisher: Slightly reduced spread for Deliverance and Adjudication.
Scarlet Witch: Chaos Control damage increased from 50/s to 60/s, damage-over-time percentage reduced from 5% to 3%, and Chthonian Burst damage increased from 30 to 35.
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Storm: Enhanced with faster and more damaging projectiles from normal attacks, increased right-click damage, and bonus health from her ultimate increased from 350 to 450, now decaying at 100 per second.
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Squirrel Girl: Squirrels now target the nearest enemy after bouncing, and their tsunami health halved, making them easier to destroy.
Winter Soldier: Health from right-click and E increased from 30 to 40, main attack damage from 70 to 75, area damage reduced from 70 to 65, damage falloff at 40 meters reduced from 65% to 60%, and base health increased from 250 to 275.
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Wolverine: Health increased from 300 to 350, and damage reduction coefficient for Undying Animal decreased from 50% to 40%.
Strategist
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Cloak & Dagger: Dagger Storm cooldown reduced from 15s to 12s, and their ultimate now includes 4 dashes instead of 3.
Jeff the Land Shark: Ultimate range adjusted to a 10-meter cylindrical field with a 5-meter height, and Joyful Splash healing increased from 140/s to 150/s.
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Luna Snow: During her dance, mode change break increased from 0.1s to 0.5s.
Mantis: Acceleration from Nature's Favor reduced from 2.5m/s to 1.5m/s.
Rocket Raccoon: Healing speed in recovery mode increased from 60 to 70 units per second.
Team-Up
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Team-Up adjustments impact the synergy between heroes. Hawkeye and Hela see a 5% reduction in their season bonus. Conversely, Namor, Rocket Raccoon, Magneto, and Storm receive enhancements, boosting their damage or healing capabilities.
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These balance adjustments are relatively minor, with a few characters poised to gain popularity. However, Hela remains a staple ban at higher ranks. The real excitement lies in how the new heroes will influence the meta, and we'll have to wait and see how the power dynamics evolve.
