The latest edition of Marvel Rivals Dev Talk has shed light on a bunch of changes coming to the hero shooter with its mid-season update, and there are some huge announcements for fans to check out.
It hasn’t been long since the Marvel Rivals Season 2 update hit the live servers. The highly anticipated update added a plethora of new content to the NetEase title, including a fresh Battle Pass, tons of free cosmetics, and a ranked reset. However, a portion of the community was still unsatisfied with the update due to the drastic hero changes it introduced, which many players felt disrupted the game’s balance and favored certain characters over others.
It seems that NetEase has taken note of players’ concerns, as the new Marvel Rivals Dev Talk has offered insight into their upcoming plans to address the game’s balance issues.
Marvel Rivals Dev Talk: Hero Changes
Strategist mains, rejoice! In the latest Dev Talk, NetEase has revealed that they’re planning to buff multiple Strategists in the upcoming Marvel Rivals update.
“In this fierce environment, Strategists face increased pressure, needing to monitor teammates’ health closely while carefully using their key abilities and being mindful of their positioning on the map,” the devs said in a statement. “In the upcoming patch, we will enhance the damage capabilities of certain Strategists to elevate their threat levels, which in turn, will increase team composition possibilities.”
While Strategists are set to receive some juicy buffs in the mid-season update, some Vanguards and Duelists might not be so lucky.
Alongside revealing the Strategist buffs, the devs have also confirmed that Groot and Captain America will have reduced survivability in the next patch. Additionally, Spider-Man will also see a notable nerf, with his Amazing Combo damage range being reduced.
Marvel Rivals Dev Talk: Competitive Adjustments
Other than the aforementioned hero changes, adjustments to the competitive game mode are also on the menu for the Marvel Rivals midseason update.
Moving forward, hero performance ratings will be calculated based on the average key combat data for a hero at the player’s current rank. The more a hero’s stats exceed the baseline during a match, the higher their performance rating will be — and conversely, falling below the baseline will result in a lower rating.
“We’ve noticed that, compared to previous seasons, a small number of Duelists have a slight advantage in performance ratings in Season 2.0, while some Vanguards and Strategists face a slight disadvantage,” the devs said. “However, most heroes remain balanced. In the upcoming patch, we will optimize the performance rating calculations based on the latest data to ensure fairness across all heroes.”
The Marvel Rivals Season 2.5 update is expected to launch around May 30, 2025. It will bring with it the new Strategist hero Ultron, alongside all the aforementioned changes.