Season Zero is over, and the first season of Marvel Rivals has arrived, bringing a wave of fresh content and impactful balance changes. 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 himself! To combat this darkness, the Fantastic Four have answered the call, with Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman arriving initially, with more team members joining later in the season.
New Heroes
- Mister Fantastic: A mid-range duelist with abilities for swift movement between enemies and allies, area damage, and temporary damage absorption.
- Invisible Woman: A strategist whose attacks heal allies, capable of creating shields, manipulating enemies, and—surprise!—turning invisible.
New Maps and Mode
Two new maps, part of the "Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown" set, are now available, featuring locations like Grand Central Terminal amidst a ravaged New York City.
A new game mode, "Doom Match," enters the fray, designed for 8-12 players. The top 50% survive to claim victory after a set number of knockouts.
Battle Pass
The Season 1 Battle Pass is double the size of Season Zero's, reflecting the three-month season length. Of the 10 skins, 8 are premium. While many skins are visually appealing, Peni Parker's Blue Tarantula skin is a simple recolor and lacks significant visual changes. The free track still offers Units and Lattice for diligent players.
Celestial Rank
A new "Celestial" rank has been added between Grandmaster and Eternity, comprising three divisions. Due to the difficulty, it's unlikely all players will reach this new tier, though it might ease future ranking climbs.
A season-end rank reset is in effect, similar to other online games. Your starting rank in Season 1 will be seven levels below your Season Zero ending rank (e.g., Platinum I in Season Zero starts at Silver II in Season One).
Balance Adjustments for Heroes
Balancing a diverse roster is a challenge, and Season 1 introduces several minor hero adjustments.
Vanguard
- Captain America: Received significant buffs, including reduced Shield cooldown (3s to 2s), improved Rush mobility (12s to 10s cooldown), and increased health (650 to 675). His Ultimate ability cost is reduced (3400 to 3100), but now grants 100 extra health (down from 110).
- Doctor Strange: Experienced moderate adjustments, with reduced Maelstrom of Madness damage at close range and slower shield recovery.
- Thor: Received health increase (25 points) and crowd-control immunity during his Ultimate.
- Hulk: Slightly nerfed; his Gamma Shield now grants 200 health (down from 250).
- Venom: Buffed with increased armor scaling based on lost health (coefficient from 1 to 1.2) and increased ultimate damage (10 points).
Duelist
- Black Panther: Reduced extra health from Spirit Rend upgrades and maximum additional health.
- Black Widow: Improved with increased Edge Dancer radius, reduced Fleet Foot recovery time, and faster ultimate charge time.
- Hawkeye: Slightly nerfed with reduced explosive arrow spread, Archer’s Focus activation distance, and maximum passive bonus damage.
- Hela: Health reduced (275 to 250). New Twitch Drops featuring a Hela skin are available.
- Magik: Increased Umbral Incursion damage in Darkchild form.
- Moon Knight: Buffed with increased talons and blast radius in his ultimate.
- Namor: Throw accuracy adjusted.
- Punisher: Slightly reduced spread for Deliverance and Adjudication.
- Scarlet Witch: Enhanced with increased Chaos Control damage and Chthonian Burst damage, but reduced damage-over-time percentage.
- Storm: Significantly buffed with faster and stronger projectiles, increased right-click damage, and improved ultimate health bonus.
- Squirrel Girl: Improved squirrel targeting predictability and reduced squirrel tsunami health.
- Winter Soldier: Enhanced with increased health from abilities, increased main attack damage, and increased base health.
- Wolverine: Buffed with increased health and reduced damage reduction from Undying Animal.
Strategist
- Cloak & Dagger: Dagger Storm cooldown reduced. Ultimate now has four dashes (up from three).
- Jeff the Land Shark: Ultimate range and Joyful Splash healing adjusted.
- Luna Snow: Dance mode change break increased.
- Mantis: Nature's Favor acceleration reduced.
- Rocket Raccoon: Increased healing speed in recovery mode.
Team-Up
Team-Up bonuses adjusted for several heroes; Hawkeye and Hela weakened, while Namor, Rocket Raccoon, Magneto, and Storm enhanced.
These balance changes are generally subtle. While some characters might see increased popularity, Hela remains a top ban at higher ranks. The impact of the new heroes on the meta remains to be seen.
