Marvel Rivals began season 1 with a powerful roster of 35 heroes (and a few antiheroes and villains), giving gamers loads of choices to select from.
Figuring out the place to begin is likely to be overwhelming for new gamers. Rivals buckets its heroes into roles, however their names aren’t particularly useful — utilizing “vanguard,” “duelist” and “strategist” instead of extra acquainted phrases like tank, harm/DPS and healer/assist. And even inside these roles, heroes play very in a different way.
If you’ve a favourite Marvel hero, that is a terrific place to begin. I instantly locked in Doctor Strange the primary time I performed and had no regrets. If you are extra undecided, do not panic. I’ve performed dozens of hours within the closed beta and have 1000’s of hours in each Overwatch video games, which closely impressed Rivals. I’ll stroll you thru what you should know in regards to the completely different Marvel Rivals heroes and roles and offer you suggestions for each single one. (If you are wanting particularly for the characters that may take over video games, I’ve a separate information for the finest heroes in Marvel Rivals.)
Black Widow stands out as the most acquainted choice for FPS gamers.
Marvel Rivals roles
Rivals divides its roster into three roles, all of which may deal harm and safe kills, however every has a special focus.
You can swap to any unpicked hero in the midst of a match, so you are not restricted to enjoying a single position in the course of the recreation. However, sticking to at least one position (and just one or two heroes) is a good way to study the sport by lowering a number of the variance and chaos from match to match. If you are scuffling with which position to give attention to, listed here are my suggestions.
Doctor Strange has the most important defend within the recreation, which he can use to assist his workforce drive enemies again.
Play vanguards if… you want being the tip of the spear throughout fights otherwise you take pleasure in with the ability to take in harm whereas doling it out.
Vanguards are your tank heroes — characters with giant well being swimming pools and methods to dam or in any other case soak up harm. Sometimes that takes the type of a defend, like those Strange and Magneto wield to carry the entrance line, and generally it reveals up as non permanent overhealth that lets extra cellular tanks like Thor and Venom hold preventing within the again line. Good vanguard play is about claiming and controlling area on the map and commanding consideration from the enemy workforce so your teammates have room to make their very own performs.
Squirrel Girl can rain explosive acorns from a distance and chuck gorgeous acorns at enemies, making them simpler to take out.
Play duelists if… seeing your title dominate the killfeed offers you a dopamine rush, you similar to to level and shoot, otherwise you take pleasure in enjoying heroes with advanced capability combos.
Duelists are your DPS within the recreation — characters who can output excessive harm per second. There are extra duelists than some other position in Rivals, even relative to different hero shooters — the forged is about 55% duelists, in comparison with Overwatch’s roster being about 40% harm heroes.
Each hero has a special model of placing out harm: Spider-Man desires to stand up shut and combo opponents; Hela desires to remain within the backline and click on on heads; Iron Man desires to rain down harm from the skies. Good duelist play is about discovering alternatives to place strain on opponents, taking flanks or excessive floor that allow you to drive the opposite workforce away, ultimately sending them again to the spawn room.
Here are three Lokis capturing at a fourth (enemy) Loki from completely different angles.
Play strategists if… you take pleasure in retaining different gamers alive, you want having talents that do issues apart from harm otherwise you wish to management the battlefield from the again traces.
Strategists are your assist models — characters who can heal different heroes and supply further utility to the battlefield. For instance, Loki can use his Regeneration Domain capability to let teammates survive bursts of in any other case deadly harm, and Luna Snow can freeze enemies for a couple of seconds.
And do not underestimate the offensive capability of strategists: Heroes like Adam Warlock and Mantis could be critically deadly even whereas retaining their groups alive. Good strategist play is about weaving collectively therapeutic with harm and different talents, prioritizing focusing on damage teammates in the very best order and understanding when to make use of your final to disclaim enemy pushes or flip fights.
Who are the very best Marvel Rivals characters for learners?
Matches are typically chaotic, so the very best newbie characters in Marvel Rivals typically have less complicated kits, providing you with much less to fret about on the battlefield. My really helpful beginning factors for brand spanking new gamers are:
- Doctor Strange (vanguard)
- Groot (vanguard)
- Hela (duelist)
- Scarlet Witch (duelist)
- Squirrel Girl (duelist)
- Adam Warlock (strategist)
- Cloak and Dagger (strategist)
Strange and Groot each have fairly giant technique of mitigating harm, making it extra intuitive for them to lock down a selected a part of the map.
Hela and Scarlet Witch each have easy-to-learn kits that embody escape talents, which makes them extra forgiving than different duelists. Squirrel Girl’s major fireplace is a slower-moving projectile, however its explosion radius is beginner-friendly, as is her capability to stun enemies with a large acorn.
Adam Warlock requires first rate goal mechanics, however his core gameplay loop is fairly easy, whereas different strategists have extra to juggle throughout fights. Cloak and Dagger do require you to deal with two separate varieties, however Dagger’s mechanics are fairly forgiving for brand spanking new gamers.
Which Marvel Rivals heroes to play
Curious about particular person heroes? Here are my fast suggestions about why you is likely to be taken with every hero.
Vanguards
Captain America: Cap’s defend can deflect harm and ultimates, and he is good for individuals who wish to sprint round, main their groups till they’re up in opponents’ faces and pummeling them with melee assaults and defend tosses.
Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme has a slow-but-steady playstyle that may attraction to individuals who wish to set up a sturdy entrance line and block tons of incoming harm with Strange’s defend.
Groot: This colossal Guardian excels at locking down areas with partitions that both deal harm or grant bonus well being, making him a superb match for gamers who like Fortnite’s constructing components or who need their Rocket-playing buddy to take a seat on their shoulder.
Hulk: Hulk bounce in. Hulk punch. Hulk bounce out. Hulk make everybody flip round and panic, letting Hulk’s workforce push ahead and shoot without spending a dime. HULK SMASH.
Magneto: The grasp of magnetism is an efficient selection for gamers who need a number of methods to dam incoming harm and negate enemy ultimates whereas nonetheless placing out loads of damage.
Peni Parker: Peni and her SP//dr mech are nice if you wish to run across the battlefield laying traps that buff you and hinder enemies, making you’re feeling like a spider weaving an online to catch your opponents.
Thor: Play the god of thunder when you benefit from the minigame of managing world cooldowns and constructing Thorforce for future payoffs. (The payoff is punching individuals within the face with lightning.)
Venom: The deadly protector is all about swinging behind the enemy workforce, attacking them from someplace sudden till he is nearly useless, gaining a billion overhealth and escaping to do all of it once more.
Duelists
Black Panther: The king of Wakanda is an efficient selection for gamers who wish to prowl across the battlefield, marking enemies from an sudden place earlier than dashing in for a fast kill.
Black Widow: Natasha can defend herself in shut quarters with stun batons and a kick-plus-grapple combo, however her actual worth is scoping in and capturing individuals within the face for enormous harm (however not fairly sufficient to kill in a single shot) — a superb match for snipers from first-person shooters.
Hawkeye: The Avengers’ archer is all about his bow, which requires a charge-up time and fixed crosshair monitoring to succeed in max harm, however he can one-shot many of the roster, making him a superb hero for projectile goal lovers (i.e. Hanzo mains).
Hela: If you simply wish to click on heads, the goddess of loss of life must be your go-to choice; her major fireplace offers immediate harm and might devastate the enemy workforce when you’re capable of constantly hit headshots.
Iron Fist: Lin Lie likes to stand up shut and private with enemies earlier than pummeling them to loss of life and parrying harm, and his wall-run and triple-jump talents will even attraction to anybody with an affinity for platformer video games.
Iron Man: If you want being a flying arsenal as you soar across the battlefield, you may deploy pulse cannons, missiles and beams from the sky as Tony Stark.
Magik: The Soulsword is the center of Magik’s playstyle, giving her overhealth as she damages enemies, making her a superb choice for individuals who take pleasure in brawling in melee fight towards different heroes.
Moon Knight: The Fist of Konshu has a package that requires some setup along with his ankhs, however as soon as issues are in place, he can deal main area-of-effect harm along with his ricocheting projectiles — good for individuals who prefer to arrange dominos earlier than toppling them.
Mister Fantastic: Reed Richards is a tanky duelist who’s a good selection for individuals wanting to hang around on the frontlines, consistently hitting enemies along with your noodly arms and producing bonus well being.
Namor: If you want deployables, you would possibly benefit from the Sub-Mariner’s capability to toss out two octopus allies that may persist with partitions and auto-target enemies — or his final, which simply chucks a whale at your opponents.
Scarlet Witch: Wanda has a forgiving major fireplace beam and is an efficient selection for learners or anybody in search of much less demanding goal necessities or a free-flight escape button capability.
Spider-Man: The pleasant neighborhood webhead will attraction to anybody who enjoys excessive mobility and fast bursts of melee combos — he is sooner than Black Panther and Magik, however he has much less endurance than they do.
Star-Lord: If you take pleasure in spraying down enemies with bullets, the chief of the Guardians is one among your solely choices right here, and he is a terrific selection for individuals who wish to zip across the battlefield in search of duels.
Storm: This iconic X-Men member will attraction to individuals who need slightly utility with their harm — she will be able to pace up or damage-boost close by allies — or who wish to chuck projectiles by teams of enemies.
Psylocke: The psyblade-wielding ninja is one other highly effective flanker whose invisibility and sprint talents will attraction to individuals who need the hero fantasy of utilizing stealth and positioning to get rid of enemies earlier than they even knew what hit them.
Punisher: If you are within the “simply shoot issues” camp however one gun is not sufficient, you is likely to be drawn to Punisher’s loadout of assault rifle, shotgun, smoke grenade launcher, zipline launcher, stationary turret and his double-Gatling-guns final capability.
Squirrel Girl: Another hero for individuals who need easy kits with minimal talents, Squirrel Girl’s slingshot will attraction to gamers who take pleasure in explosive weapons, and her stun capability might be good for individuals who like shutting down pesky enemy flankers.
Winter Soldier: Bucky’s a superb choice for gamers who need a mixture of midrange and melee fight — his talents let you reel individuals in and end them off with a couple of photographs and skills, however you will typically want to make use of his major to melt up targets first.
Wolverine: Look, bub, when you’ve got a bunch of pent-up rage and wish to be all up in somebody’s enterprise, you are gonna like Wolverine’s berserker rage passive that enhances his harm and self-healing, and the three completely different talents (together with his final) he can use to stand up shut and shred individuals (particularly vanguards).
Strategists
Adam Warlock: If you want therapeutic however you want capturing much more, Warlock is likely to be your finest guess for strategist — his therapeutic talents are fairly easy, permitting you to spend most of your time clicking heads whereas additionally retaining teammates alive.
Cloak & Dagger: Managing two totally completely different kits is on the core of of this hero’s gameplay — utilizing Cloak to heal up teammates and Dagger to wreck enemies and defend allies — so examine them out if that form of back-and-forth appeals to you or if you wish to wield a variety of utility.
Invisible Woman: Susan Storm has a really energetic play model that permits her to defend teammates, push or pull allies, drop a harmful vortex and make herself invisible, which turns her into a superb decide for strategists who wish to have a number of affect on the battlefield.
Sue may even safe eliminations by knocking individuals off the map.
Jeff the Land Shark: Most gamers will decide Jeff the Land Shark as a result of he is a cute li’l land shark named Jeff, however his gameplay is sweet for individuals who wish to arrange areas of security along with his therapeutic bubbles or who wish to cruise across the terrain along with his Hide and Seek capability.
Loki: The god of mischief can arrange copies of himself that harm the enemy or heal the ally he is at the moment focusing on, and he can swap locations with any of them, making Loki a superb match for individuals who benefit from the technique of intelligent map setups (or anybody who desires to quickly develop into copies of different gamers with Loki’s final).
Luna Snow: A Marvel newcomer, Luna has a reasonably easy package that focuses on capturing enemies and allies alike, which implies she’s one other sensible choice for individuals who take pleasure in aim-based therapeutic.
Mantis: My private vote for many enjoyable strategist, Mantis is a reasonably high-damage hero with the flexibility to damage-boost herself or allies and quickly put enemies to sleep, making her a superb match for individuals who wish to management the tempo of the sport from the backlines.
Rocket Raccoon: Groot’s BFF is likely one of the most cellular strategists, with a jet pack and a wall climb capability, and he can deploy a resurrection beacon to carry again the following enemy that dies — he is a superb choice for gamers who wish to scurry round and bounce therapeutic orbs.
And that is all 35 heroes. My greatest recommendation is to experiment till you discover one thing that feels enjoyable and manageable.
For extra on Marvel Rivals, take a look at my information to getting began and my early hands-on with Bucky and Cap.
