Marvel Rivals' May Eventually Be Forced to Embrace a Dead…

The success of Marvel Rivals has proven that the hero shooter is here to stay, with no signs of slowing down. With new maps and cosmetics added to the game often, Marvel Rivals players have something new to look forward to each time they log in.

Though the game does try to innovate, Marvel Rivals takes a lot of inspiration from Overwatch with its character abilities and game modes. However, there is one Overwatch mechanic that was dropped early in its lifespan that Marvel Rivals may need to make use of.

Overwatch 2 May Not Be Able to Beat Marvel Rivals in One Race, But It Can Lap it in Another

Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals are competing for the top spot in the hero shooter genre, and while Rivals is winning one race, OW2 could win another.

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By Cameron Swan

Marvel Rivals Has an Interesting Approach to Character Classes

Overwatch established the framework for future hero shooters to follow, and Marvel Rivals took this foundation and expanded on it. Like the current version of Overwatch, Marvel Rivals’ roster is separated into three subtypes, albeit with different names. In Marvel Rivals, Tanks are called Vanguards, Support has been given the label Strategist, and Damage characters are Duelists.

Each of the game’s Marvel heroes and villains fit into one of these roles. The classes assigned to some of these characters are to be expected, such as Spider-Man being one of the game’s most mobile Duelists and Hulk obviously fitting the Vanguard archetype. There are some that are unexpected choices in Marvel Rivals, though, but the creativity woven into their kits makes them work very well. Rocket Raccoon’s love of weapons and Loki’s selfish tendencies make them odd choices for Strategists, and yet, they both fit their assigned role.

Marvel Rivals is still in its early stages of its life, but it is not short of content. It has been less than a year since the game initially launched, and it has nearly caught up with Overwatch 2’s roster already, with the promise that more will arrive with each season. Marvel Rivals’ expansive roster is great for Marvel fans wanting to play as their favorites, but it could present a problem that Overwatch may have once had the solution to.

Marvel Rivals Stolen Overwatch 2 Feature Its Own

With the Right Changes, Marvel Rivals Can Make a Stolen Overwatch 2 Feature Its Own

A recent Marvel Rivals leak suggests the superhero hero shooter could be borrowing an Overwatch 2 feature, and it could easily make it its own.

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By Cameron Swan

Marvel Rivals Might Need To Use Overwatch’s Cut Defense Role

Overwatch Stepped Away From the Concept

When Overwatch initially released, its roster of playable heroes was divided into four classes: Tank, Support, Offense, and Defense. Characters who were very agile and had higher fire rates were given the role of Offense, whereas Defense characters were typically those who had to hold certain positions, like Torbjorn with his turret, or control space to slow the enemy team down, such as with Mei’s Ice Wall. This is how it remained for the first couple of years of the game’s life before Overwatch’s Offense and Defense roles were merged into the Damage class.

The eventual removal of the Defense class from Overwatch was a major benefit to the game’s roster because it wasn’t a good fit for many of the playable characters. Some of the strongest DPS characters in Overwatch, like Widowmaker and Junkrat, were initially given the Defense role despite their high offensive output and impressive mobility options.

The names of these roles also caused problems with how players selected their characters. Most Overwatch maps divide players into Attack and Defend teams, and these can seem to align with the Offense and Defense roles. As such, players would often pick heroes from the role that correlates with which side they’re on, forming team strategies around this. Attacking teams with too many Defense heroes didn’t always sit well with some online players, even though some of the best Overwatch team comps made use of them. The class names were narrowing player strategies, and the removal of the distinction between Offense and Defense gave players more freedom in their choices and tactics.

A New Role Would Benefit Marvel Rivals’ Roster

There are plenty more Duelists than any other role in Marvel Rivals, and it doesn’t seem like this will change any time soon. Jean Grey is set to join the roster on July 11, with Blade being added later in Marvel Rivals’ Season 3.5. Both of which are Duelists, adding to the potential bloat this role already faces. If 12 characters are planned to release each year, it may become more difficult to navigate through the roster.

A solution to this issue may be to adopt the Defense role that Overwatch dropped, dividing the cast into more even groups. Duelist is a very popular role, and as such, it can have somewhat of a bad reputation because of those who insta-lock their Marvel Rivals main before considering what would work best for the team. By splitting this role in two, there could be less stigma towards this class and make team comps feel more balanced.

One of the main issues Overwatch faced with its Defense role is its name. The class was a source of confusion as some of the characters in the Defense class could deal more damage per second than Offense heroes in the hands of the right players, and could actively push objectives. This is a problem that Marvel Rivals already has a solution to with its naming conventions. Characters like Marvel Rivals’ Ultron proves Strategists aren’t just healers, and the role’s name never implied this. It’s likely that a Marvel Rivals Defense class would similarly be called something broader to categorize the playstyle of its heroes without restricting when they should be picked.

Adding a Defense role to Marvel Rivals could help to make the addition of new characters feel more varied and stop the roster from becoming too cluttered. However, it could also be beneficial to move some of the characters already in the game to this new category. As Marvel Rivals’ sniper characters, Black Widow and Hawkeye would immediately fit into the Defense role, but so too could characters like Moon Knight and Hela, who stay out of sight and make space for the team. Namor’s Aquatic Dominion ability also makes him a good pick for this class, as the Monstro Spawn can prevent enemies from flanking or regrouping.

While Overwatch set the hero shooter genre up to become what it is today, Marvel Rivals is taking it to new heights. By going against expectations and fixing problems Overwatch has, Marvel Rivals has set itself up to succeed. The distinction between Offense and Defense didn’t work out for Overwatch, but it seems like it could be a necessity for Marvel Rivals, especially if it fulfills its promise to release new characters frequently. Establishing a new role now could break the roster up and make it easier for players to manage.