Marvel Rivals Drops Major Balance Patch Before Season 1

Developer NetEase has released a significant balance patch for Marvel Rivals ahead of the launch of Season 1 on January 10.

This patch brings a variety of buffs, nerfs, and adjustments to characters, abilities, and team-up bonuses, setting the stage for the Fantastic Four-themed season.

Key Updates

The patch makes changes across all hero categories, including Duelists, Vanguards, and Strategists.

Players can expect reworked abilities, adjusted health stats, and updated team-up bonuses. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the updates:

Duelist Changes

• Black Panther:
  • Reduced additional health from Vibranium Marks with Spirit Rend (40 → 30).
  • Upper limit of additional health reduced (120 → 75).
• Black Widow:
  • Increased range of Edge Dancer’s first effect (3m → 5m).
  • Reduced Fleet Foot recovery time (12s → 4s).
  • Reduced Electro-Plasma Explosion charge time (1s → 0.6s).
• Hawkeye:
  • Slightly reduced Blast Arrows’ spread angle.
  • Reduced Archer’s Focus triggering distance (60m → 40m).
  • Maximum additional damage reduced (80 → 70).
• Hela:
  • Base health reduced (275 → 250).
• Magik:
  • Increased Umbral Incursion damage in Darkchild form (115 → 135).
• Moon Knight:
  • Increased talons from Hand of Khonshu (10 → 14).
  • Explosion radius of talons increased (4m → 5m).
• Namor:
  • Improved accuracy for Monstro Spawn and Frozen Spawn.
• Psylocke:
  • Dance of the Butterfly now interacts with barriers like Magneto’s Metal Bulwark.
• The Punisher:
  • Slightly reduced spread of Deliverance and Adjudication.
• Scarlet Witch:
  • Chaos Control fixed damage increased (50/s → 60/s).
  • Percentage damage per second reduced (5% → 3%).
  • Chthonian Burst projectile damage increased (30 → 35).
• Storm:
  • Wind Blade projectile speed increased (100m/s → 150m/s).
  • Bolt Rush damage increased (70 → 80).
  • Omega Hurricane bonus health increased (350 → 450), with gradual depletion post-use.
• Squirrel Girl:
  • Squirrels in Unbeatable Squirrel Tsunami now target enemies directly.
  • Squirrel tsunami health reduced (600 → 300).
• Winter Soldier:
  • Bonus health from Bionic Hook increased (30 → 40).
  • Roterstern projectile damage increased (70 → 75).
  • Area damage reduced (70 → 65).
  • Base health increased (250 → 275).
• Wolverine:
  • Base health increased (300 → 350).
  • Undying Animal damage reduction ratio decreased (50% → 40%).

Vanguard Changes

• Captain America:
  • Shield restoration delay reduced (3s → 2s).
  • Liberty Rush cooldown reduced (12s → 10s).
  • Base health increased (650 → 675).
  • Freedom Charge energy cost reduced (3400 → 3100).
• Doctor Strange:
  • Damage falloff added to Maelstrom of Madness.
  • Shield recovery rate reduced (80/s → 70/s).
• Thor:
  • Base health increased (500 → 525).
  • Added control effect immunity during God of Thunder.
• Hulk:
  • Indestructible Guard gamma shield value reduced (250 → 200).
• Venom:
  • Symbiotic Resilience health ratio increased (1 → 1.2).
  • Feast of the Abyss base damage increased (40 → 50).

Strategist Changes

• Cloak & Dagger:
  • Dagger Storm cooldown reduced (15s → 12s).
  • Eternal Bond dashes increased (3 → 4).
• Jeff the Land Shark:
  • Adjusted It’s Jeff! range to a cylindrical field (10m radius, 5m height).
  • Joyful Splash healing increased (140/s → 150/s).
• Luna Snow:
  • Fate of Both Worlds interval for switching effects increased (0.1s → 0.5s).
• Mantis:
  • Nature’s Favor movement boost reduced (2.5m/s → 1.5m/s).
• Rocket Raccoon:
  • Repair Mode healing increased (60/s → 70/s).

Team-Up Ability Changes

• Hawkeye & Black Widow:
  • Season bonus reduced (20% → 15%).
• Hela, Thor & Loki:
  • Season bonus reduced (20% → 15%).
• Luna Snow & Namor:
  • Frozen Spawn damage increased (25 → 27).
  • Frozen Spawn slowing effect increased (25% → 30%).
• Rocket Raccoon, The Punisher & Winter Soldier:
  • Ammo Invention cooldown reduced (45s → 40s).
• Scarlet Witch & Magneto:
  • Metallic Fusion projectile damage increased (55 → 60).
• Thor, Storm & Captain America:
  • Charged Gale cooldown reduced (20s → 15s).
  • Charged Gale damage increased (50 → 55).

What’s Next?

With these changes, Marvel Rivals Season 1 is shaping up to deliver a dynamic and competitive experience.

Fans are eagerly awaiting the arrival of The Fantastic Four and the exciting gameplay possibilities they’ll bring.