Marvel Rivals' Latest Patch Makes Strategists More Threatening

NetEase Games has released a new balance patch for Marvel Rivals that significantly changes the game's meta, particularly by empowering Strategist class heroes while reining in dominant Vanguards and Duellists. The update addresses community feedback regarding the vulnerability of support characters and aims to create a more balanced competitive environment

Strategists Receive Major Offensive Buffs

Following community frustration with Strategists' lack of defensive options—an issue NetEase acknowledged in their previous Dev Diary—the development team has opted to give support characters more offensive capabilities to help them survive backline dives from enemy heroes

Key Strategist Changes:

• Adam Warlock: Receives an entirely new mechanic for his Quantum Magic ability, where landing critical hits on enemies reduces the cooldown of Avatar Life Stream by 1 second

• Cloak & Dagger: Damage output increased across both forms—Darkforce Cloak damage rises from 75/s to 80/s when playing as Cloak, while Lightforce Dagger's on-hit damage increases from 15 to 18 as Dagger

• Luna Snow: Light & Dark Ice ability has had its damage falloff adjusted from 60% at 40m to 75%, making her more effective at longer ranges

• Mantis: Life Energy Blast hit damage boosted from 50 to 55, enhancing her offensive threat

Winter Soldier Buffed, Spider-Man Nerfed

The patch also addresses certain "dive characters" that NetEase had previously identified as overpowered:

• Spider-Man: Receives a nerf to his Amazing Combo ability, with damage radius reduced from 5m to 4m, limiting his area of effect damage potential

• Winter Soldier: Gets a significant buff with his Tainted Voltage ability now having 2 charge levels while maintaining the same cooldown time. Additionally, his team-up ability with Captain America ("Stars Aligned") now provides 50 Bonus Health to allies within range when leaping to a teammate with Stellar Impact

Popular Vanguards Receive Adjustments

Season 2's dominant Vanguard heroes have been targeted for balance changes:

• Captain America: Base health reduced from 650 to 600, potentially offset by his new team-up buff with Winter Soldier

• Groot: Ironwood Wall health decreased from 700 to 600, reducing his defensive capabilities.

• Doctor Strange: Ultimate ability (Eye of Agamotto) energy cost reduced from 3400 to 3100, making it more accessible during matches

Impact on Competitive Play

These changes come after observations of the current meta in both casual and esports scenes, where certain heroes had become must-picks due to their overwhelming strength. The adjustments target the right balance between accessibility and competitive depth that NetEase has been working toward since the game's launch

With these changes now live, the competitive landscape of Marvel Rivals is expected to shift significantly. Teams will need to reconsider their compositions and strategies, potentially opening up opportunities for previously underutilized heroes to shine on the professional stage

Players can experience these balance changes immediately, as the patch has already been deployed across all platforms