A surprise mid-season patch forMarvel Rivalscomes with the latest update in Season 2, buffing and nerfing some characters with different balance changes. These come as a direct result of strong feedback from the community, who have clamored for adjustments for those in the Strategist role. However, Strategists aren’t the only ones who have been modified in this unexpected patch.
Unlike thebuffs and nerfs in Season 2that made up a major balance shift when the season dropped, this patch aims to modify specific characters on the roster. For one,many Strategists were made stronger,while some Duelists and Vanguards were given small changes to not make one too powerful. Some character adjustments are significant, but others are merely minor tweaks.
Every Mid-Season 2 Character Buff
Strategist Characters Received Extra Strengths
Four out of the nineStrategist characters inMarvel Rivalswere given powerful buffs in this surprise mid-season patch, along with one Duelist and one Vanguard. Whilesix different characters were buffed, none of them were given more than one substantial change to their abilities. For the most part, you may consider this patch a quality of life for some characters who tend to struggle in certain situations.
Many of the buffs in the mid-season 2 patch are meant to address the growing complaints stemming from the"Support Strike"in the community. As of this time of writing, Strategist players have been"on strike"due to how favored Duelist characters are when given points to rank up in the game’s Competitive mode.
Thesix buffs distributed across the roster are meant to counteract the growing strength of the"Dive"metathat is becoming prevalent in team comps in the game’s life cycle. For example, team comps that feature Spider-Man, Black Panther, or Magik tend to overwhelm some Strategists with limited mobility. This patch is almost in response to the strong community feedback surrounding the game’s balance.
The following table outlines which characters received buffs in this unexpected mid-Season 2 update, including a major bonus to a new Team-UP ability:
Adam Warlock
Strategist
When Adam Warlock lands a critical hit on an enemy with his Quantum Magic attack, it reduces the cooldown of his Avatar Life Stream ability by 1 second.
Cloak & Dagger
As Cloak, the damage of the Darkforce Cloak primary attack increases from 75 damage per second to 80. Additionally, as Dagger, the damage of Lightforce Dagger primary attacks increases from 15 damage on each hit to 18.
Increases the overall damage ofCloak & Dagger inMarvel Rivalsin both of their forms.
Luna Snow
The damage falloff of Luna’s Light & Dark Ice ability is adjusted from 60% at 40 meters to 75%.
Mantis
The damage of Mantis' Life Energy Blast primary attack on hit increases from 50 damage to 55.
Doctor Strange
Vanguard
The total Energy Cost of Doctor Strange’s Ultimate ability (Eye of Agamotto) is reduced from 3400 to 3100.
Allows Doctor Strange to have his Ultimate more often during a match.
Winter Soldier
Duelist
The Tainted Voltage ability of Winter Soldier now has 2 charge levels, giving players multiple uses of it without changing the cooldown time.
Amplifies Winter Soldier’s damage on an ability to make him more effective in battle.
Captain America + Winter Soldier
Team-Up
During theTeam-Up ability inMarvel Rivalsbetween Captain America and Winter Soldier, the Stellar Impact ability of the latter character grants 50 Bonus Health to allies within range when used.
Makes the Team-Up more supportive to allied players, encouraging teammates to use it more often.
While Strategists have been buffed to make up for new weaknesses in the game’s meta, othercharacters were adjusted to tweak modifications made earlier in the Season. For example, Doctor Strange was nerfed heavily in Season 2, with changes that greatly reduced his damage output. As a response, the developers have given the Master of the Mystic Arts a small buff to increase his effectiveness in matches without making him too strong again.
Every Mid-Season 2 Character Nerf
Reduce The Power Of Over-Tuned Heroes
While many characters got some helpful buffs, some of the stronger heroes in the game gained nerfs to adjust their balance compared to others.Three separate characters got nerfed in the mid-Season 2 patch, with two of them being heavily tied to the"Dive"meta’s stronger picks. The characters that have been nerfed had very strong abilities that gave teams a natural advantage in matches, especially when paired together.
While this patch may not see these characters' strengths reduced, it hopefully creates more chances for teams to counter those heroes' options.Other characters may get nerfed in Season 2.5, should the philosophy behind the nerfs in this patch yield some results.
The table below shows which characters have been nerfed, as well as the reasons why their tool kits were balanced in that way:
Groot
Reduced the health of Groot’s Ironwood Wall ability from 700 health to 600.
This makes it harder for Groot to isolate enemies and block damage, allowing for more creative uses of his ability.
Spider-Man
Decreased the range of Spider-Man’s Amazing Combo uppercut ability from a 5-meter radius to 4.
Reduces Spider-Man’s hit-detection range, making it harder for him to easily eliminate some characters without more precision from his attacks.
Groot’s ability to alter environments has been strong since the game’s release, so a nerf on one of the character’s strongest defensive abilities should not come as a surprise. Likewise, thenerfs to Captain America and Spider-Man are to narrow the oppressive aggression both characters usein their gameplay, without taking too much away from what makes them fun to play.
The developers have confirmed that this is not the only balance patch that will occur, as Season 2.5 has planned adjustments for other heroes like Mister Fantastic, Scarlet Witch, and Peni Parker already. That being said, this unexpected mid-Season 2 series of buffs and nerfs inMarvel Rivalsshows that the game’s creators are listening closely to players when it comes to implementing fast changes.
