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Will Marvel Rivals’ balancing ever please fans?
Image credit: NetEase Games TL;DR Marvel Rivals Season 2 has seen huge changes to the meta. Some of the heaviest Marvel Rivals balancing relates to Duelists and Strategists. Peni Parker and the Hulk have received some of the best buffs in the game. Heroes like Captain America, Star-Lord, The Thing, and Wolverine have been nerfed. … Continued The post Will Marvel Rivals’ balancing ever please fans? appeared first on Esports Insider.
TL;DR
- Marvel Rivals Season 2 has seen huge changes to the meta.
- Some of the heaviest Marvel Rivals balancing relates to Duelists and Strategists.
- Peni Parker and the Hulk have received some of the best buffs in the game.
- Heroes like Captain America, Star-Lord, The Thing, and Wolverine have been nerfed.
- NetEase is working on a mid-season patch, which is said to include Ultron.
- Balancing is a constant challenge for developers, as the team has publicly admitted.
It’s only been four months since the Marvel Rivals release date, and already NetEase’s premier free-to-play hero shooter has endured a litany of changes. The game’s currently in its third season (officially called Season 2: Hellfire Gala), which started on April 11, 2025, and greatly shook up the roster, which we saw in Season 0: Dooms’ Rise and Season 1: Eternal Night Falls, with balance changes abundant, especially with the new heroes brought in.
We’re going through all the Marvel Rivals balancing changes, analysing fan reception, the current roster, and what things could change with the next season.
Marvel Rivals balancing updates and additions for Hellfire Gala
Several Marvel Rivals characters have been impacted by the new balance updates brought in Season 2. Most notably, the biggest changes include Hulk getting faster (with a shorter shield cooldown), Peni Parker receiving huge buffs, including 100 HP extra, Thor’s maximum health increased, and Doctor Strange (among others) being nerfed significantly. We’ve seen Captain America, Magneto, The Thing, Star-Lord, Winter Soldier, and Wolverine equally hit, which could have sweeping effects on the game’s meta. With so many of the previous top-tier characters being hit dramatically, the field is wide open for experimentation now.
| Character | Character class | Changes | Nerfed or buffed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Captain America | Vanguard | Base health reduced from 675 to 650; reduced Living Legend from 400 to 350. |  Nerfed |
| Doctor Strange | Vanguard | Decreased damage of Daggers of Denak from 18 to 16; reduced Maelstrom of Madness damage from 1.3 to 1.2 | Nerfed |
| Hulk | Vanguard | Increase base movement speed from 600 to 650. Reduced cooldown time of Indestructible Guard from 12 seconds to 10. Decreased minimum charge time for Incredible Leap from 0.7 to 0.5 seconds. |  Buffed |
| Magneto | Vanguard | Master of Magnetism slightly decreased. Increased energy cost for Meteor M from 3,100 to 3,400. | Nerfed |
| Peni Parker | Vanguard | Cyber-Web Cluster can now critical, also has a reduced movement penalty. Base health is increased to 750 from 650. | Buffed |
| The Thing | Vanguard | Slight reduction in Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyeed Thing effect. Decreased Embattled Leap damage from 30% to 25%. | Nerfed |
| Thor | Vanguard | Increased base health to 600 from 525 and increased base movement to 650 from 600. | Buffed |
| Black Widow | Duelist | New effect added where Black Widow can shoot after he second kick of Edge Dancer and Electro-Plasma Explosion. | Buffed |
| Hawkeye | Duelist | Reduced the slow effect when charging the bow from 30% to 20%. Increased instances of Hypersonic Arrow damage from 50 to 55. Decreased energy cost for Hunter’s Sight from 3,700 to 3,100 and improved draw speed to 1.5x from 1.35x | Buffed |
| Hela | Duelist | Increased cooldown time for Astral Flock from 12 seconds to 15 seconds. Increased Spell Field Damage of Percing Night to 35 from 30, decreased cooldown timer on Soul Drainer to 10 seconds from 12. | Buffed |
| Human Torch | Duelist | Reduced attack interval for Fire Cluster from 0.6 to 0.5 seconds; primary attack projectile has been enhanced. Increased cooldown for Flaming Meteor by three seconds (up to 15), but now features 75 bonus health. | Buffed |
| Iron Man | Duelist | Slight reduction in hitbox size. Now gains 100 health after activating Armor Overdrive or Gamma. | Buffed |
| Iron Fist | Duelist | Reduced bonus max health from Harmony Recovery from 150 to 100. Lower fixed damage of Yat Jee Chung Kuen by a second (down to nine) and a decreased cooldown for the K’un-Lun Kick by two seconds. | Buffed |
| Mister Fantastic | Duelist | Increased base health from 350 to 375. Boost damage of Stretch Punch, new effect for Flexible Elongation, reduced Elasticity gained from Elastic Strength, new bonus health bumped up to 450 (from 400) and a new Brainiac Bounce feature. | Buffed |
| Moon Knight | Duelist | Increased Crescent Dart projectile speed, new effect for Moon Blade, Moonlight Hook is sped up, extended duration of Hand of Khonshu, and fall speed of talons enhanced. | Buffed |
| Scarlet Witch | Duelist | Removed Chaos Control percentage damage, increased Chthonian Bust projectile damage, and increased the cooldown of Mystic Projection. Reworked the slow effect of Reality Erasure | Buffed |
| Star-Lord | Duelist | Reduced Blaster Barrage damage from 80 to 75. Introduced bullet falloff mechanic. | Nerfed |
| Winter Soldier | Duelist | Increased the cooldown time for Bionic Hook. Based base damage of Kraken Impact from 100 to 80. Lowered culling threshold from 20% to 15%. | Nerfed |
| Wolverine | Duelist | Increased Rage gained from Savage Claw from seven hits to 10, decreased Rage gained from Berserk Claw Strike. Reduced Rage from Feral Leap and Vicious Rampage. Reduced time an enemy’s knocked down after Last Stand. | Nerfed |
| Adam Warlock | Strategist | Increased the cooldown of Soul Bond from 30 seconds to 40. Karmic Revival now restores 30% health instead of 100 HP. | Nerfed |
| Cloak and Dagger | Strategist | The first three healing zones of Eternal Bond are no longer calculated separately and will remain active until the zone ends. | Nerfed |
| Invisible Woman | Strategist | Decreased Guardian Shield from 300 to 250. | Nerfed |
| Loki | Strategist | Increased Regeneration Domain cooldown from 25 seconds to 30. | Nerfed |
| Mantis | Strategist | Reduced base health from 275 to 250. Healing Flower and Allied Inspiration can be stacked for 16 seconds. | Buffed |
| Rocket Raccoon | Strategist | Decreased healing area of Repair Mode spheres, but added a new effect. Extended cooldown for Jetpack Dash. Reduced C.Y.A. damage boost from 40% to 25%. Increased energy cost from 3,700 to 4,000. | Nerfed |
Source: Marvelrivals.gg
Fanbase reaction to the Marvel Rivals balance changes
The Marvel Rivals balance changes have been met with scepticism, as many heroes have seen major buffs, and others have been nerfed heavily. It resulted in a call to arms from fans for the development team to prioritize Strategists over Duelists and Vanguards. Adam Warlock, Cloak and Dagger, Invisible Woman, and Loki were all hit with hurtful changes. In a new blog post, NetEase Games explained how things are changing: “We will enhance the damage capabilities of certain Strategists”, and “Since this is a mid-season balance adjustment, we aim to be cautious, keeping changes minimal to enhance the experience of certain heroes without drastically altering the overall meta”.
Why is it hard to get Marvel Rivals’ balancing right?
As the Marvel Rivals patch notes have shown, getting the balancing right for a massively popular free-to-play game like this isn’t easy. Since Season 2 launched, we’ve already seen minor mid-season adjustments with minor buffs looking to cater to the fanbase. NetEase is aware of this and is trying to steer the ship, but we likely won’t see any sweeping changes until Season 3 launches soon, which we’re hoping will add cross-progression in addition to crossplay. Then we have to remember the fact that the game is less than six months old; esports games (typically) take a year or so to find their footing, and it’s still early days with this game.
Marvel Rivals’ future roadmap
NetEase Games has already hinted towards the future of Season 2.5 with Ultron hitting the scene, new Team-Up adjustments, and “more comprehensive balance changes”. The development team has directly addressed the difficulties it has had so far, stating: “Balancing the game and rank adjustments is a challenging endeavor, and we can’t guarantee perfection 100% of the time.” Its transparency is to be admired, hinting that sweeping changes could be on the way with the half-seasonal update before Season 3 rolls around. It claims that it “will remain humble and attentive, striving to address issues promptly and enhance your experience”, so clearly, we’ll see more than just character buffs and Marvel Rivals rank changes soon.
More Marvel Rivals characters are on the way
While NetEase is currently turning its attention to Season 2.5, that hasn’t stopped some online sources from looking ahead to what could be in store for Season 3. Marvel Rivals leaks currently include the likes of Blade, Professor X, Deadpool, Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Captain Marvel, with others allegedly “found in the game files”, such as Daredevil, Hive, MODOK, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Angela, and Hive. The game currently has 38 heroes to play as, which is no easy feat to balance. Should these leaks be true, the next season could bring the total up to 45, further complicating matters.
Conclusion
Marvel Rivals balancing is a complicated issue. The game is still in its infancy, only in its third proper season, and NetEase games has already made changes to its current mid-season run in a bid to please the fans. With more characters rumored for the next season (bringing the total up even higher), it will become more challenging to accurately get Vanguard, Strategists, and Duelists right in the game. The development team has acknowledged it won’t get things right all the time, so we’ll have to see how changes influence the meta. One thing’s for sure, you certainly can’t please everyone.
FAQs
After sweeping changes were introduced in Season 2, NetEase Games decided to focus on buffing Strategists with its upcoming 2.5 mid-season update.
Many Marvel Rivals characters have been nerfed this season, with the most impacted being Captain America, Magneto, The Thing, Star-Lord, Winter Soldier, and Wolverine.
The best Marvel Rivals characters in Season 2 currently are Cloak and Dagger, Invisible Woman, Groot, and Magneto.
References
- https://marvelrivals.gg/ (MarvelRivals)
- https://x.com/RivalsAlerts/status/1910553202765734318 (X)
- https://www.marvelrivals.com/devdiaries/20250426/40954_1230856.html (MarvelRivals)
- https://marvelrivals.gg/upcoming-characters/ (MarvelRivals)
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