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Marvel Rivals season 2 is approaching its midseason update next week, and we've gotten our first glimpse of some of the changes coming to the game.
The Marvel Rivals Season 2.5 update is a much-needed refresh for Rivals, which has struggled with declining Steam player numbers all season (not the full picture, but currently down to about one-third of the average players compared with January) and a player base that's grown increasingly frustrated with one another.
What's the cure for all this? The game hopes it's adding one of the most-anticipated new heroes and also leaning full bore into the zaniness by letting Storm and Jeff the Landshark team up to create a Jeff-nado.
Here's what we learned about the Marvel Rivals season 2.5 update from the latest developer vision video.
Marvel Rivals season 2.5 start date
Season 2.5 kicks off next Friday, May 30, UTC. We don't have an exact start time, but for these major season updates the game tends to go offline in the middle of the night ET/PT and come back online in the wee hours of the launch date.
New hero: Ultron
Officially announced at the start of season 2, Ultron joining the roster as a strategist might have been the most well-known "secret" that Rivals has been hiding since launch. If you'd asked me last year which role Ultron was most likely to slot into, I would've guessed duelist or vanguard, but a free-flying strategist with unique healing mechanics is a welcome change of pace for the role.
Ultron's video preview shows us a few details about the hero's kit: His primary fire shoots a quick beam pulse with considerable range. He can free-fly and activate an 8-second dash of some sort. His alternate fire grants overhealth to allies in sight. He has another ability that appears to toggle between two different modes, though the video doesn't make the effects clear. And his ultimate summons a squad of Ultron bots to temporarily boost his offensive and healing capabilities.
I'd love to see more strategists with unique mechanics like Loki's clones or Invisible Woman's shields -- as much as I enjoy the shoot-to-heal strategist gameplay, I think the game's in a better place when there's more variety in the roster. So I'm likewise glad to see that Ultron's ultimate isn't another variation of "big heals in a circle" like most strategists' ultimates -- instead Ultron shoots a series of rapid-fire beams that heal allies and damage enemies.
It's no Loki Doppelganger, but it's something different.
New map: Arakko
As usual, the midseason update adds a new map alongside the new hero -- this time, we're getting Arakko, the former sister island of Krakoa (season 2.0's new map), which has been mechanized by X-tron, the version of Ultron that was reborn through Krakoa's resurrection chamber. The map appears to be a convergence map, with heroes escorting the objective toward a X-tron waiting on his throne.
A bunch of new team-ups and balance changes
The Rivals midseason patch is surprisingly hefty, according to the latest developer vision video. The game is adding six new team-ups, including a new one between Iron Man and Ultron, as well as two new team-ups for Jeff -- the aforementioned Jeff-nado, plus the ability to use Venom's symbiote to shoot healing tendrils onto (into?!) allies. Luna Snow can also give Hawkeye a stunning ice arrow; Rocket and Peni power up each other's deployable abilities; and Punisher gives Black Widow's rifle a piercing upgrade.
In exchange, season 2.5 will say goodbye to four previous team-ups, including the notorious Symbiote Bond wherein Venom players gave Spider-Man and Peni Parker an extra damage burst to help melt your backline. Also leaving are Luna Snow and Jeff's ice combo, Hawkeye and Black Widow's afterimage team-up and Ammo Overload for Rocket and Punisher. In addition, Iron Man will no longer benefit from a team-up with Hulk (though Namor still does).
Rivals devs also addressed the current metagame, framing it as a "rock-paper-scissors dynamic" among mobile dive compositions (Cap, Iron Fist, Human Torch), wall-and-brawl comps (Groot paired with other mid- to close-range heroes like Thing, Winter Soldier and Mister Fantastic) and triple-strategist compositions. It doesn't feel like the fairest analogy, as the devs pointed to both of the latter comps as countering the high mobility comps, rather than being a true (theoretical) rock-paper-scissors where each composition is strong against one alternative and weak against another.
Still, the developers are shaking things up in season 2.5 with balance changes, including "reworks" (or at least kit tweaks) for Thor and Jeff. Thor will be able to more reliably charge Thorforce as his Hammer Throw loses the Thorforce costs, becomes a regular, rather than global, cooldown and grants a Thorforce for every enemy hit. As a result, he should be able to charge his Awakening Rune more consistently, including from rage. And if the Jeff-nado team-up wasn't enough, devs are changing Jeff's primary fire to now pierce allies for healing while also damaging any enemies hit. His Aqua Burst secondary fire is now a charge-based ability that holds three charges, deals slightly more damage and tosses enemies slightly airborne.
For Vanguards, Strange gets improvements to his damage falloff and Magneto's rings charge slightly faster, while Groot loses some damage and gets a substantial cooldown nerf on his Ironwood wall, Cap loses some health and gets a shield cooldown nerf, and Emma Frost trades more range on her primary fire for a weaker shield and Diamond Form. Mobility-focused duelists Iron Fist, Human Torch and Psylocke are getting nerfs, while Punisher, Storm and Squirrel Girl will receive "modest" buffs. The only strategist mentioned in the dev vision video's upcoming balance tweaks was Luna Snow, whose ult charge gets another nerf, offset by a "mild boost" to her other abilities -- more healing from her primary fire and bonus health for frozen enemies.
It's a bit perplexing that Rivals devs seem focused on increasing ult charge requirements for Luna Snow instead of just making it last less than an eternity, but the season 2.5 balance changes feel generally in the right direction, knocking down overperforming heroes and giving underperforming ones buffs.
That said, it's a little wild to me to see Rocket escape with no nerfs -- he's currently the hero with the highest win rate across all ranks (55%) and the second-highest pick rate among all heroes (22%, trailing only Cloak & Dagger's 28%). His win rate drops a little bit at the highest ranks but is still in line with heroes like Iron Fist and Human Torch, who received nerfs, and his pick rate similarly drops slightly but is still third overall and second among strategists.
Other changes: New tactics mode, emoji
Perhaps the biggest surprise in the season 2.5 announcement was the addition of a new experimental mode called Ultron's Battle Matrix Protocol. It's an autobattler that lets you choose a team of six heroes, enhance their abilities, and unleash them against opposing teams. I have zero experience with autobattlers like Teamfight Tactics of Hearthstone Battlegrounds, but it was as fun watching a massive Venom looming over the battlefield as it was seeing a Namor with six (I counted) active turrets.
The game is also introducing emoji, finally allowing you to nonverbally express your disdain for the teammates begging for healing while Spider-Man and Iron Fist treat you like a punching bag.
