The zero season of *Marvel Rivals* has come to an end, paving the way for the thrilling first season. This new season brings a host of fresh content and crucial balance adjustments to the game, enhancing the overall gameplay experience. Let's dive into the details of these exciting updates.
Table of Content ---
- 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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The theme of the first season is an epic undead invasion led by none other than Dracula! To counter this dark force, the Fantastic Four have stepped into the battle. Two members are already available, with the rest set to join as the season unfolds.
New Heroes
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Mister Fantastic: As a medium-range duelist, Mister Fantastic can swiftly navigate between enemies and allies, deal area damage, and even absorb damage temporarily.
Invisible Woman: A strategist who not only heals allies with her attacks but can also create shields, manipulate enemy positions, and, of course, turn invisible, adding a strategic edge to your team.
New Maps and Mode
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Explore the new "Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown" map, featuring iconic locations like Grand Central Terminal in a ravaged New York City. Additionally, the new "Doom Match" mode caters to 8–12 players, declaring the top 50% as winners once a knockout threshold is met.
Battle Pass
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The first season's Battle Pass is significantly larger than its predecessor, with subsequent seasons lasting three months and offering even more content. Out of 10 skins, 8 are exclusive to the premium version. While most skins are visually stunning, the Blue Tarantula skin for Peni Parker merely swaps colors with the default outfit. Engage with the free portion of the Battle Pass to earn Units and Lattice by completing various tasks.
Celestial Rank
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A new rank, "Celestial," has been introduced between "Grandmaster" and "Eternity," featuring three divisions. While most players may not reach beyond "Bronze," this new rank could facilitate climbing the ranks in future seasons. As with many online games, Marvel Rivals resets ratings at the end of each season. Your starting rank in the first season will be seven levels lower than your final rank in the zero season. For instance, a Platinum I finish in the zero season translates to a Silver II start in the first season.
What Are the Balance Adjustments for Heroes?
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Balancing a roster of heroes with unique abilities is always challenging, and Marvel Rivals has implemented a series of minor adjustments to maintain fairness in the first season.
Vanguard
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Captain America has been significantly buffed to address his previous weaknesses as a tank:
- Shield cooldown reduced from 3 seconds to 2 seconds.
- Rush ability cooldown decreased from 12 to 10 seconds.
- Health increased from 650 to 675 points.
- Ultimate ability cost reduced from 3,400 to 3,100, with an extra 100 health instead of 110.
Doctor Strange received reasonable adjustments:
- Damage for Maelstrom of Madness and Gamma-version reduced by 70% at a range of 8 meters (from 5 meters).
- Shield recovery speed decreased from 80/s to 70/s.
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Thor has seen improvements:
- Health increased by 25 points.
- Gains crowd-control immunity during his ultimate ability.
Hulk was slightly nerfed:
- Gamma Shield now grants 200 health instead of 250.
Venom, despite being strong, was buffed:
- Gains more armor based on lost health (coefficient increased from 1 to 1.2).
- Base damage of his ultimate ability increased by 10 points.
Duelist
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Black Panther has seen adjustments to his health gain:
- Extra health from upgrading marks with Spirit Rend reduced from 40 to 30.
- Maximum additional health decreased from 120 to 75.
Black Widow received several small enhancements:
- Radius for the first effect of Edge Dancer increased from 3 to 5 meters.
- Recovery time for Fleet Foot reduced from 12 to 4 seconds.
- Time to reach maximum power for her ultimate ability shortened from 1 second to 0.6 seconds.
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Hawkeye was slightly nerfed:
- Spread angle between explosive arrows narrowed.
- Archer’s Focus activation distance reduced from 60 meters to 40 meters.
- Maximum bonus damage from his passive skill decreased from 80 to 70.
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Hela's health was reduced from 275 to 250. New Twitch Drops include a skin and other rewards for Hela, available by watching live streams with Twitch Drops enabled.
Magik deals more damage in Darkchild form, increasing from 115 to 135.
Moon Knight has been enhanced:
- Number of talons generated by his ultimate increased from 10 to 14.
- Blast radius of each claw increased from 4 meters to 5 meters.
For Namor, the accuracy of throws in his abilities has been adjusted.
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Psylocke's ultimate skill now checks for barriers against opponents, akin to a bug fix.
The Punisher has a slightly reduced spread for Deliverance and Adjudication.
Scarlet Witch has been enhanced:
- Damage of Chaos Control increased from 50/s to 60/s.
- Damage-over-time percentage reduced from 5% to 3%.
- Damage of Chthonian Burst increased from 30 to 35.
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Storm has been significantly strengthened:
- Normal attacks now release faster projectiles with more damage.
- Right-click damage increased.
- 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 changes:
- Squirrels now target the nearest enemy after bouncing.
- Health of squirrel tsunami reduced by half.
Winter Soldier has been enhanced:
- Health provided by right-click and E abilities increased from 30 to 40.
- Main attack damage increased from 70 to 75.
- Area damage reduced from 70 to 65, with damage falloff at 40 meters reduced from 65% to 60%.
- Base health increased from 250 to 275.
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Wolverine, the leader among tanks, received a boost:
- Health increased from 300 to 350.
- Damage reduction coefficient for Undying Animal decreased from 50% to 40%.
Strategist
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Cloak & Dagger adjustments:
- Cooldown of Dagger Storm reduced from 15s to 12s.
- Number of dashes during ultimate increased from 3 to 4.
Jeff the Land Shark changes:
- Ultimate range adjusted from a 10-meter sphere to a 10-meter cylindrical field with a height of 5 meters.
- Healing from Joyful Splash increased from 140/s to 150/s.
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Luna Snow has one minor nerf:
- Mode change break during dance increased from 0.1s to 0.5s.
Mantis was weakened:
- Acceleration from Nature's Favor reduced from 2.5m/s to 1.5m/s.
Rocket Raccoon has an increased healing speed in recovery mode from 60 to 70 units per second.
Team-Up
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Changes to Team-Up benefits:
- Hawkeye and Hela have their season bonus reduced by 5%.
- Namor, Rocket Raccoon, Magneto, and Storm have been enhanced. Namor's monsters deal more damage, Rocket Raccoon heals better, Magneto's projectiles do more damage, and Storm's charged storm hits more often and harder.
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These balance adjustments are subtle but impactful. While a few characters might see a surge in popularity, Hela remains a constant ban at higher ranks. The introduction of new heroes will undoubtedly influence the meta, and we'll have to wait and see how these shifts play out.
