The zero season has wrapped up, and we're diving into the first season of *Marvel Rivals* with a fresh wave of exciting updates and balance changes. Let's explore the highlights of this season's launch.
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?
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This season introduces an enthralling undead invasion theme led by none other than Dracula. To counter this dark force, the Fantastic Four have stepped onto the battlefield. Two members are already playable, with more to join as the season unfolds.
New Heroes
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Mister Fantastic: A versatile duelist who excels at medium-range combat. His abilities enable rapid movement between enemies and allies, inflict area damage, and provide temporary damage absorption.
Invisible Woman: A strategic mastermind whose attacks not only damage foes but also heal allies. She can generate shields, manipulate enemy positions with push and pull mechanics, and, of course, turn invisible. Surprise is her ally!
New Maps and Mode
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Explore the new "Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown" maps, featuring iconic locations like Grand Central Terminal in a devastated New York City. Additionally, the "Doom Match" mode has been introduced, designed for 8–12 players, where the top 50% emerge victorious after a set number of knockouts.
Battle Pass
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The inaugural season's Battle Pass is significantly larger than the zero season's, with subsequent seasons lasting three months and offering even more content. Out of the 10 skins available, 8 are exclusive to the premium version. While most skins boast stunning designs, the Blue Tarantula for Peni Parker might disappoint with its minimal changes. Engage with the free tier to earn Units and Lattice through various challenges.
Celestial Rank
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A new "Celestial" rank has been slotted between "Grandmaster" and "Eternity", comprising three divisions. While it might be challenging for most players to reach beyond "Bronze", this addition could streamline future rank progression. At the end of each season, there's a rating reset, with your starting rank in the first season being seven levels below your zero season's final rank.
What Are the Balance Adjustments for Heroes?
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Balancing a diverse roster of heroes is a challenge, and *Marvel Rivals* has introduced several minor adjustments for the first season to keep the gameplay competitive and fair.
Vanguard
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Captain America: Previously one of the weaker tanks, he's been buffed with a reduced cooldown for his Shield from 3 to 2 seconds, an improved Rush ability cooldown from 12 to 10 seconds, and increased health from 650 to 675. His Ultimate ability now costs less at 3,100 instead of 3,400 and grants 100 extra health instead of 110.
Doctor Strange: Adjustments include a 70% damage reduction for Maelstrom of Madness and Gamma-version at an extended range of 8 meters, and a decreased shield recovery speed from 80/s to 70/s.
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Thor: His health increased by 25 points, and he now gains crowd-control immunity during his ultimate ability.
Hulk: A slight nerf sees his gamma Shield granting 200 health instead of 250.
Venom: Despite being strong, he's been buffed to gain more armor based on lost health, with the coefficient increased from 1 to 1.2, and his ultimate ability's base damage 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, with maximum additional health dropping from 120 to 75.
Black Widow: Improved with an increased radius for Edge Dancer's first effect from 3 to 5 meters, reduced recovery time for Fleet Foot from 12 to 4 seconds, and a quicker time to reach maximum power for her ultimate ability, from 1 second to 0.6 seconds.
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Hawkeye: A slight nerf with a narrower spread angle for explosive arrows, reduced activation distance for Archer’s Focus from 60 to 40 meters, and maximum bonus damage from his passive skill 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 hero. New Twitch Drops for Hela include a skin and other rewards, available by watching eligible live streams on Twitch.
Magik: Damage to Umbral Incursion in Darkchild form increased from 115 to 135.
Moon Knight: Enhanced with an increase in talons generated by his ultimate from 10 to 14, and the blast radius of each claw increased from 4 to 5 meters.
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Namor: Accuracy of throws in his abilities has been adjusted, resembling a bug fix.
The Punisher: Slightly reduced spread for Deliverance and Adjudication.
Scarlet Witch: Enhanced with increased damage for Chaos Control from 50/s to 60/s, reduced damage-over-time percentage from 5% to 3%, and increased damage for Chthonian Burst from 30 to 35.
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Storm: Significant enhancements include faster and more damaging normal attack projectiles, increased damage from right-clicking, and bonus health after using her ultimate increased from 350 to 450, decaying at 100 per second instead of disappearing instantly.
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Squirrel Girl: Squirrels now target the nearest enemy after bouncing, and the health of Squirrel Tsunami has been halved, making them more vulnerable to destruction.
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Winter Soldier: Enhanced with increased health from abilities, from 30 to 40, main attack damage increased from 70 to 75, area damage reduced from 70 to 65, and base health increased from 250 to 275.
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: To enhance their effectiveness, the cooldown of Dagger Storm has been reduced from 15s to 12s, and the number of dashes during their ultimate increased from 3 to 4.
Jeff the Land Shark: The ultimate range has been adjusted to a 10-meter cylindrical field with a height of 5 meters, and healing from Joyful Splash increased from 140/s to 150/s.
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Luna Snow: A slight nerf with a mode change break during her dance 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 bonuses have seen adjustments. Hawkeye and Hela have their season bonuses reduced by 5%, while Namor, Rocket Raccoon, Magneto, and Storm have been enhanced. Namor's monsters deal more damage, Rocket Raccoon heals more effectively, Magneto's projectile damage increases, and Storm's charged storm hits more frequently and with greater impact.
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Overall, these balance adjustments are relatively minor, with a few characters potentially gaining popularity. However, Hela remains a constant ban at higher ranks. The real intrigue lies in how the new heroes will shake up the meta, and only time will reveal the full extent of these changes.
