Summary
- Some Marvel Rivals characters need buffs for more viability in the game.
- Captain America needs a damage buff to be more threatening in battles.
- Scarlet Witch, Peni Parker, Mister Fantastic, Black Widow, and Spider-Man all require enhancements for better gameplay.
Marvel Rivals is a game that will continue to evolve over time. Not only are new heroes and stages being added with each season, but to ensure players can enjoy an even playing field when jumping into battle, there are also many characters who will receive nerfs and buffs too. This is in order to keep them balanced so that they can be a viable member of their team, without also being overpowered at the same time.
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While there have been some alterations made to characters with Season 1, admittedly, there are still a handful of heroes and villains in Marvel Rivals who could really do with a little more strength, speed, and durability. It's not that these heroes are doing badly in Season 1, just that they could be performing much better and would be more comparable to their peers if they were boosted just a little bit for the hotly-anticipated second season of this immensely popular online hero shooter.
7 Captain America
While Cap Can Be A Real Thorn In The Side Of An Enemy Team, He Would Be Far More Dangerous With A Damage Buff
Captain America is classed as a 'mobile Vanguard' in Marvel Rival s by the developers, meaning he is easily able to dive into firefights while still having tons of HP and durability to keep him alive when things get messy. However, while Cap can help to divert attention away from his own team, his overall damage output does leave a little to be desired, which is one area of the Avenger that NetEase decided not to buff in the latest Season 1 patch.
Granting just a little extra power to Captain America's base attack, along with his shield toss ability, could see him become much more threatening and widely used by Vanguard players. Of course, since he's a tank-based character, he shouldn't have the damage output of a Duelist, but he definitely needs something to compete with his fellow class counterparts.
6 Scarlet Witch
The Queen Of Chaos Deserves A Boost To Her Mobility And Damage Output
Despite receiving a few small buffs in Season 1, primarily in terms of her damage, Scarlet Witch still feels a little tricky to use effectively. The truth is, Wanda is lacking a bit in the mobility department, and while she does have two charges of Mystic Projection, these only last a brief period and also come with a lengthy cooldown.
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Extending the time of this technique could help to make it much easier to keep her alive, but another handy buff would be to speed up the recharge of her Chthonian Burst attacks just a little bit so that she can provide more consistent damage for her team. Though she's certainly not in a bad spot, it does feel as though many other Duelists are leaving Scarlet Witch behind, so nudging her back up to speed would be much appreciated.
5 Peni Parker
The Quirky Member Of The Spider Family Could Do With Some Extra Durability
Every Vanguard in the game possesses abilities that can either grant them extra health at the click of a button or allow them to throw out quick bouts of damage with a single attack. Peni is a little different, as her abilities are instead focused on map control through the use of mines and bombs, but admittedly, this can just make her an easy target for the enemy team to take down.
Since she doesn't have a shield like Strange or Magneto, along with only a single web ability, it means her health bar can be melted quite easily when the whole team is focusing fire at her. A decent health buff could definitely improve Peni, along with potentially extending the range of her Cyber-Bond to help her get away from dangerous situations much more easily.
4 Mister Fantastic
One Of The Newest Members Of The Cast Would Be Much More Intimidating If He Had Some Extra Speed
Considering Mister Fantastic was only added to the game with the launch of Season 1, NetEase hasn't yet had the opportunity to fine-tune him. The truth is, he's not in an awful place, but his spotlight is already being overshadowed by many other Duelists who tend to be much faster and more reliable overall.
While Fantastic has excellent basic attack range, his punches are very slow, and this also applies to a few of his abilities, especially Distended Grip. If Fantastic were a bit faster on the attack, it would allow players to combine their abilities much easier to create deadly combos to catch the enemy by surprise before they even know what hit them.
3 Black Widow
Black Widow Needs To Carve Out A Role For Herself On The Team
Black Widow's main gameplay gimmick is that she can switch between ranged and melee weapons with the press of a button. Though this does make her versatile, she doesn't quite have the long-range effectiveness of Hawkeye and lacks the damage output of other melee-based heroes like Wolverine and Psylocke.
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As a result, she really needs something extra to make her unique, but also a reliable pick. One way to do this would be by allowing her to get in and out of combat faster, maybe with a new hook shot ability or even a wall jump, since she only has a total of 2 abilities right now which ends up making her much less interesting in comparison to other Duelists.
2 Spider-Man
With No Buff In Season 1, It Seems Likely Spidey Will Receive Some Enhancements Next Time Around
Spider-Man is one of the only Duelists to have not received any buffs or nerfs in Season 1, but this has meant that he's started lagging behind a little when compared to his counterparts. While skilled Spider-Man players will still be able to cause some real problems for an enemy team by flanking them from behind, it's still all too easy to shoot him out of the sky with only a few shots, especially for hitscan characters like Star-Lord and Punisher.
Simply put, Spider-Man is a bit floaty, primarily because of how unpredictable his Web-Swing can be. Gifting the hero a ground pound, similar to Venom's but with less damage, would make it easier for Spider-Man players to navigate around the map without being shot down too quickly, but granting him a small HP buff would also do the trick.
1 Adam Warlock
Adam Warlock Would Greatly Benefit From A Boost to His Abilities So He Can Be A More Consistent Healer
Adam Warlock is a pretty complex character to get used to, but while he has plenty of amazing abilities, including his ultimate, which can revive an entire team, his base healing isn't as reliable as the other Strategists. Since Adam can't heal with his basic attack, it means he needs to rely on his Soul Bond and Avatar Life Stream, both of which come with short cooldowns.
This can be a real issue when the team is engaged in a chaotic battle for an objective where every healer on the team needs to be pumping out consistent HP for their teammates to keep them alive. Lowering the cooldowns of these abilities, or even granting a healing effect to his Quantum Magic staff, would put Warlock in a much better position.
Marvel Rivals
- Released
- December 6, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- NetEase Games
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter, Action, Multiplayer
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
