The zero season has come to a close, paving the way for the exciting launch of the first season in *Marvel Rivals*. This new season brings a host of fresh content and pivotal balance changes that promise to reshape the gameplay experience. Let's delve into the significant updates that players should keep an eye on.
What’s New in the First Season?
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The theme for this season is an enthralling undead invasion led by none other than Dracula himself! To counter this dark force, the Fantastic Four have stepped into the battlefield. Two members of this iconic team are already playable, with the remaining members set to join the roster as the season unfolds.
New Heroes
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**Mister Fantastic**: This new duelist excels at medium-range combat. His unique abilities allow him to swiftly navigate between foes and allies, unleash area damage, and even absorb damage temporarily.
**Invisible Woman**: As a strategist, her attacks not only deal damage but also heal her allies upon impact. She can generate shields, manipulate enemy positions with pushes and pulls, and, as her name suggests, turn invisible—a tactical advantage you won't see coming!
New Maps and Mode
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Explore the "Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown" map, featuring iconic locations such as Grand Central Terminal in a ravaged New York City. The new game mode, "Doom Match," pits 8–12 players against each other, declaring the top 50% as victors once a specific number of knockouts is achieved.
Battle Pass
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The first season's Battle Pass is double the size of its predecessor and will last three months, offering an array of new content. Out of the 10 skins available, 8 are exclusive to the premium version. While most skins boast striking designs, the Blue Tarantula for Peni Parker is less impressive, featuring only a color swap of the default outfit. Players can still earn Units and Lattice by completing tasks in the free portion of the Battle Pass.
Celestial Rank
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A new rank, "Celestial," has been introduced between "Grandmaster" and "Eternity," divided into three tiers. While reaching this rank might be challenging for most players stuck in "Bronze," it could facilitate future climbs in the rankings. 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 below your final rank in the zero season. For example, ending at Platinum I in the zero season means starting at Silver II in the first season.
What Are the Balance Adjustments for Heroes?
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Balancing a diverse roster with unique abilities is always a challenge, and *Marvel Rivals* has made several adjustments to address this in the first season.
Vanguard
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**Captain America**: Previously one of the weaker tanks, Captain America has received significant buffs. The cooldown for his Shield is now reduced from 3 to 2 seconds, his Rush ability cooldown is down from 12 to 10 seconds, and his health has been increased from 650 to 675 points. The cost of his Ultimate ability has been lowered from 3,400 to 3,100, now granting 100 extra health instead of 110.
**Doctor Strange**: Adjustments have been made to his abilities, with damage from Maelstrom of Madness and Gamma-version decreasing by 70% at a range of 8 meters (up from 5 meters). His shield recovery speed has been reduced from 80/s to 70/s.
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**Thor**: His health has been boosted by 25 points, and he now gains crowd-control immunity while using his ultimate ability, making him less vulnerable during its use.
**Hulk**: His gamma Shield now provides 200 health instead of 250, marking a slight nerf.
**Venom**: Already a formidable character, Venom has been buffed to gain more armor based on lost health (coefficient increased from 1 to 1.2), and his ultimate ability's base damage has been increased by 10 points.
Duelist
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**Black Panther**: The extra health from upgrading marks with Spirit Rend has been reduced from 40 to 30, and the maximum additional health has been lowered from 120 to 75.
**Black Widow**: Several enhancements include an increased radius for the first effect of Edge Dancer from 3 to 5 meters, a reduced recovery time for Fleet Foot from 12 to 4 seconds, and a shortened time to reach maximum power for her ultimate ability from 1 to 0.6 seconds.
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**Hawkeye**: Minor nerfs include a narrowed spread angle between explosive arrows, a reduced activation distance for his passive ability Archer’s Focus from 60 to 40 meters, and a decreased maximum bonus damage from his passive skill from 80 to 70.
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**Hela**: Her health has been reduced from 275 to 250, though this change is unlikely to affect her status as a top DPS character. New Twitch Drops offer a skin and other rewards for Hela, available by watching live streams of the game on Twitch with Drops enabled.
**Magik**: In Darkchild form, her damage to Umbral Incursion has increased from 115 to 135.
**Moon Knight**: His ultimate now generates 14 talons instead of 10, and the blast radius of each claw has increased from 4 to 5 meters.
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**Namor**: The accuracy of throws in his abilities has been adjusted, resembling a bug fix.
**The Punisher**: The spread for Deliverance and Adjudication has been slightly reduced.
**Scarlet Witch**: Her damage from Chaos Control has increased from 50/s to 60/s, damage-over-time percentage reduced from 5% to 3%, and damage from Chthonian Burst increased from 30 to 35.
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**Storm**: Her normal attacks now release faster and more damaging projectiles, right-click damage has increased, and the bonus health after using her ultimate has risen from 350 to 450, decaying at 100 per second instead of disappearing instantly.
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**Squirrel Girl**: Squirrels now target the nearest enemy after bouncing, and the health of the squirrel tsunami has been halved, making them more vulnerable.
**Winter Soldier**: His health from using abilities has increased from 30 to 40, main attack damage has risen from 70 to 75, area damage reduced from 70 to 65 with a falloff at 40 meters reduced from 65% to 60%, and his base health has increased from 250 to 275.
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**Wolverine**: His health has been increased from 300 to 350, and the damage reduction coefficient for Undying Animal has decreased from 50% to 40%.
Strategist
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**Cloak & Dagger**: The cooldown for Dagger Storm has been reduced from 15 to 12 seconds, and the number of dashes during their ultimate has increased from 3 to 4, enhancing their mobility.
**Jeff the Land Shark**: The range of his ultimate has been adjusted from a 10-meter sphere to a 10-meter cylindrical field with a height of 5 meters, and healing from Joyful Splash has increased from 140/s to 150/s.
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**Luna Snow**: A slight nerf includes a mode change break during her dance from 0.1 to 0.5 seconds, though this won't significantly impact her effectiveness.
**Mantis**: Her acceleration from Nature's Favor has been reduced from 2.5m/s to 1.5m/s.
**Rocket Raccoon**: His healing speed in recovery mode has increased from 60 to 70 units per second.
Team-Up
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Changes to Team-Up benefits include a reduced season bonus by 5% for **Hawkeye** and **Hela**. Enhancements have been made for **Namor**, **Rocket Raccoon**, **Magneto**, and **Storm**. Namor's monsters deal more damage, Rocket Raccoon heals more effectively, Magneto's projectiles cause more damage, and Storm's charged storm hits more frequently and with greater force.
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Overall, the balance adjustments in this season are relatively minor, with a few characters potentially gaining popularity. However, Hela remains a consistent ban at higher ranks. The impact of the new heroes on the meta will be fascinating to watch, as time will reveal how these power dynamics evolve.
