As a strategist main, I’m nervous about Marvel Rivals Season 2. NetEase Games has dropped the balance changes that’ll come alongside all the new content, and healers have been given a real mixed bag. There are some nice buffs tucked away in here, but on the whole I’m worried that the nerfs will give dive characters, Spider-Man especially, open season on all our favorite healers.
I’m going to start with the good; the Marvel Rivals Season 2 release date is right around the corner and it’s absolutely stacked. We’re getting Emma Frost and Ultron, a new map based on Krakoa, and cosmetics themed around the stunning Hellfire Gala. The positives for the multiplayer game start to slip away when you look at the balance changes for strategists, though.
Adam Warlock is the first healer in the firing line, as NetEase Games says it is reducing the frequency of his abilities in Marvel Rivals. While his ult will revive teammates with a flat HP restoration of 30% instead of 100 health (which is good for bulky tanks) his other change isn’t as nice. Warlock’s Soul Bond cooldown is going from 30 to 40 seconds, making his ability to share damage between his allies less effective.
Loki’s Regeneration Domain ability is also having its cooldown increased from 25 to 30 seconds, making it harder for one of the best healers in the game to protect his teammates from oncoming attacks. That’s not all, though, because Invisible Woman’s Shield is going from 300 health to 250, and Mantis’ health pool is dropping from 275 to 250 as well. That said, Mantis can now stack her Healing Flower and Allied Inspiration abilities for a maximum of 16 seconds, so that’s a pretty big trade off.
Rocket Raccoon is also getting some pretty big, and very mixed, changes. While his ultimate will have its damage boost dropped to just 25%, any allies in the vicinity of it will get 100 bonus health a second (capping at 150). This is huge considering Rocket’s ultimate has been sorely lacking any sort of health benefits (depending on who you ask) since the launch of the game. Rocket’s healing orbs are also having their area reduced, but have a one-time healing effect to allies hit. The bad news, however, is that his Jetpack Dash escape is going up to a cooldown of ten seconds, with the range falling to just eight meters down from ten.
Cloak and Dagger, on the other hand, have gotten a nice improvement to their ult. The ability’s first three healing zones will, starting with Season 2, remain active until the forth and final zone ends, giving your team a little more time to get heals from them.
So, while the strategists of Marvel Rivals have some buffs, their survivability, especially against incredibly mobile dive characters, has been hit. I’m not going to start decrying that these changes get reversed just yet, however, because I want to see how they shake out alongside all the other adjustments with Season 2.
If you want to know who’s the best ahead of Season 2, be sure to check out our Marvel Rivals tier list right now. Otherwise, brush up on the Marvel Rivals Twitch drops for some free goodies.
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