All Marvel Rivals Season 1.5 Hero changes, buffs and nerfs explained

The Marvel Rivals 1.5 update is just around the corner and players could not be more excited for the arrival of both the Human Torch and The Thing. But as always, the new faces will also come with a new wave of balance changes.

Here are all Marvel Rivals Season 1.5 Hero changes explained so you can see who were the biggest winners of 1.5 and whether or not your main got lucky.

All Vanguard buffs and nerfs in Marvel Rivals 1.5

To accommodate The Thing's arrival into the Marvel Rivals roster, the midseason update is set to bring a few big buffs to heroes like Captain America. If you are a Penny main like me, you will also have reasons to be both relieved and concerned, as her kit remains untouched. You can check out an overview of all Vanguard balance changes below, based on the info shown in the version's official balance notes.

Captain America

• Can now shield himself with Living Legend while leaping.
• The speed of his Vibranium Energy Saw projective has been boosted to 80m/s. The ricochets can now boost it up to 150m/s.
• The cost of Freedom Charge has been reduced from 3100 to 2800 Energy.
• Sentinel Strike is now counted separately from his regular melee strikes.

Doctor Strange

• Base Health reduced from 650 to 600

Groot

• The maximum placement range of his Thornlash Walls was increased from 15 to 18 meters.

Magneto

• Iron Volley's damage has been increased from 35 to 40.
• Metallic Curtain will now consume 65 Energy per second. The shied's maximum uptime has also been reduced from 2 to 1,5/s.

Thor

• Awakening Rune will no longer trigger a shared cooldown.

Venom

• Frenzied Arrival will now trigger an inward knockback effect (at a 75-degree angle) instead of a vertical one.
• His Ultimate (Feast of the Abyss) cost has been reduced to 2500 from 2800.

All Duelist buffs and nerfs in Marvel Rivals 1.5

Apart from Johnny Storm's arrival, the duelist class is set to get quite the shake-up once 1.5 drops, with the highlight being the much-needed buffs given to Black Widow. Hawkeye and Iron Fist are also among the patch's biggest winners. Here are all duelist changes set to take effect in Marvel Rivals 1.5.

Black Widow

• Red Room Rifle magazine size increased to 15 bullets.
• The slow effect of Electro-Plasma Explosion was changed from 80% to 55%. Enemies affected will also receive a 15% Vulnerability debuff for 4 seconds.

Hawkeye

• Base health increased to 275.
• His Blast Arrow projective damage has been decreased from 20 to 15 while its spell field damage was boosted from 25 to 32.
• Crescent Slash's CD has been reduced to 12 seconds.
• Clint will now draw his bow faster during Hunter's Sight. The Ultimate's DMG multiplayer has also been increased to 1.35x.

Hela

• The damage falloff of Nightsword Thorn has been changed from 70 to 80% when at 30 meters from your target.

Iron Fist

• The damage of his first, second, and third Jeet Kune Do strikes has been reduced to 30. The fourth and fifth hits will now deal 15 DMG and the sixth 50.
• Dragon's Defense's CD reduction has been increased to 1,5s
• Each hit of Yat Jee Chung Kuen will now deal 10 flat DMG. To make up for that, all strikes will also trigger an extra hit dealing damage equal to 1.7% of your target's maximum HP.
• Harmony Recovery can now recover up to 150 health. Once the skill ends, the gained health value will be decreased by 25 per second.
• Dragon's Defense can now convert blocked damage into up to 200 health.
• Base health increased to 300.

Iron Man

• His Unibeam damage has been increased to 140 DMG/s. While at Armor Overdrive, the skill will then deal 190 DMG per second instead of 180.

Magik

• Demon's Rage DMG has been reduced to 72 DMG/s.
• Darkchild will now cost 3400 instead of 3700 Energy.

Mister Fantastic

• The range of Flexible Elongation has been increased to 5 meters. The skill will also generate a knockback and launch enemies, although at the cost of having a longer single-use CD (10 seconds).
• Reed's first Brainiac Bounce hit will now deal 70 DMG. In exchange, the Ultimate will now cost 3400 Energy.
• Brainiac Bounce will now be subjected to a decay mechanic, reducing its damage by up to 50 at 10 meters.

Moon Knight

• The talons created by Hand of Khonshu will now fall slower. The Ultimate's damage has also been adjusted to 150 DMG per hit, no matter your placement in its AoE.

Scarlet Witch

• Wanda will now get a 100 health bonus during the buildup of Reality Erasure. After the Ultimate is either performed or interrupted, the extra health will be consumed at a 50 HP per second speed.

Spider-Man

• Web-Cluster's cooldown has been reduced from 3 to 2,5 seconds.

Star-Lord

• Rocket Propulsion can now gather up to 1800 energy, thus boosting its uptime.

Storm

• Wind Blade's damage falloff has been changed to 60% at 30 meters.
• Weather Control (Thunder) will now boost Storm's damage by 12% instead of 16%. The boost offered to allies, however, has been increased from 8 to 10%.
• Enhanced Thunder's DMG boost has been reduced to 25%

All Strategist buffs and nerfs in Marvel Rivals 1.5

To the despair of all strategist mains, the boost in the energy cost of most of their Ultimates makes the class the biggest casualties of the new balancing patch. As you can see below, Adam Warlock was the only one to be spared, and instead, he received a few welcome buffs that were sure to help him become a viable pick.

Adam Warlock

• Quantum Magic's damage was increased to 60. The skill's damage falloff has also been changed to 60% at 40 meters.
• The healing over time effect of Soul Bond has been boosted to 15 health per second.

Cloak & Dagger

• Eternal Bond will now cost 4000 Energy, with each dash healing 250 health per second. The Ultimate's healing will no longer stack.
• The duration of the AoE effects of Eternal Bond has been reduced to 8 seconds and the interval between each dash was decreased from 1 second to 0.67s.
• Players can now freely work the camera during Eternal Bond.
• Terror Cape will now apply 28% Vulnerability.

Invisible Woman

• Invisible Boundary will now cost 4300 Energy.

Loki

• God of Mischief will now cost 4000 Energy.
• Mystical Missile now has 12 charges.

Luna Snow

• Fate of Both Worlds will now cost 4500 Energy, making it the most expansive Ultimate in the game.

All team-up ability changes in Marvel Rivals 1.5

Going past the character-focused changes, a few team-up abilities are also set to get a few big changes with the debut of the midseason update, with the biggest one being the way both Spider-Man and Peni Parker will become invulnerable while performing Symbiote Bond's Suit/Armor Expulsion. You can check out all of the team-up changes below:

• Atlas Bond (Luna Snow + Iron Fist)
  • Frozen Chi will now heal 70 HP and apply 30% slow on those hit.

• Dimensional Shortcut (Magik + Black Panther/Psylocke)
  • Psionic Disc and Wakandan Master's Rewind Time have been reduced to 3 seconds.
  • The health-to-armor conversion rate of the ability was increased to 0.8

• Gamma Charge (Hulk + Doctor Strange/Iron Man)
  • When in Gamma Overdrive, Unibeam's DMG has been decreased to 200/s.
  • Hulk will now only receive 100 Health from the team-up.

• Lunar Force (Moon Night + Cloak & Dagger)
  • Moon Knight will now be healed by 25 health per second when in the ability's AoE.

• Symbiote Bond (Venom + Spider-Man/Peni Parker)
  • Spider-Man: Suit Expulsion will now last for only 1 second. Spidey is now invulnerable during its duration.
  • Peni Parker: Armor Expulsion will now last for 2 seconds. Peeny is also invulnerable during its use.

With the balancing changes taken care of, don't forget to also check out How to play all Vanguards. If you are late to the party or looking to return to the grind once 1.5 drops, make sure to also check out our Marvel Rivals DPS tier list to know which way the wind blows.

The post All Marvel Rivals Season 1.5 Hero changes, buffs and nerfs explained appeared first on Destructoid.