Marvel Rivals Season 6 launches today (January 16 UTC) and brings the highly anticipated Deadpool to the roster of heroes in all three roles. There’s also a new Battle Pass, changes to the hero progression system, brand new events and rewards, and a number of seasonal hero balance changes. These Season 6 Hero balance changes made several notable improvements, nerfs, and tweaks to the Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist choices to make them more viable or less overwhelming for the next competitive season. Here are the main changes and which characters they affect.
Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange started out as one of the strongest Vanguards on the roster and has been in a pretty good position ever since. Jedoch, Doctor Strange has fallen somewhat behind compared to the likes of Magneto, Emma Frost, and even Peni Parker (thanks to the Rocket Team-Up), as more Vanguard additions have been added in recent seasons and the META has changed as Poke and Brawl comps have become more popular. To improve Strange’s pick rate and viability across the various competitive ranks and team compositions, he receives several improvements and interesting changes in Season 6.
First, Maelstrom of Madness’s Dark Magic to Damage conversion ratio has been increased from 1.2 Zu 1.3, significantly improving its frontline presence. Doctor Strange also gets a new effect on his Levitation Cloak. Recasting while in use now pauses the ability, maintaining current movement speed and allowing new movement inputs to change trajectory. This will certainly come in handy for repositioning on the fly or even landing hits with his ultimate ability – as a popular tactic is to launch Doctor Strange into the air with Cloak of Levitation and then drop down on enemies with Eye of Agamotto.
Hulk
There’s no denying that Hulk has been pretty disappointing in recent seasons of Marvel Rivals, relying primarily on the team-ups skills he provides to others to be considered a valuable choice. Well, in Season 6, Hulk receives some very significant survivability upgrades that help him take up space on the front lines and attack targets with greater success – ultimately increasing the value he can bring to the team.
The most important/significant of these improvements undoubtedly has to do with his Monster Hulk form (ultimate ability). Now in monster form, Hulk is immune to launch and knockback effects. To put it simply, he can use his ultimate to deal with big bursts of damage and not have to worry about being crowded out by things like Emma Frost’s kick, Angela’s charge/spear, Spidey’s uppercut, Wolverine’s jump, and more. Zusätzlich, Hero Hulk’s Incredible Jump has a reduced minimum charge time from 0.5 Zu 0.4 seconds and a maximum charge time from 2 seconds to 1.7 seconds. As the hero Hulk, Gamma Burst’s cooldown is also reduced from 8 seconds to 6 seconds, with projectile damage increased from 70 Zu 75. To say the least, Hulk will certainly be a much bigger threat in Season 6, as he will be able to jump in and out of the front line and the enemy team much more easily.
blade
Blade has undergone some really interesting new changes for Marvel Rivals Season 6, all of which have to do with additional Daylight Walker effects depending on the choice of weapon you’re currently wielding. When players use the Hunter’s Shotgun, enemies are slowed by 40% for 1.5 seconds. Zusätzlich, Hunter’s Shotgun second hit damage is increased from 20 Zu 50, giving Blade even more potential to secure mid-range picks. Alternatively, if players are wielding Blade’s Ancestral Sword, Slow will be removed from enemies and a healing reduction of 8% per hit will be applied instead, up to a maximum total of 32% if all hits are successful. This effect lasts 3 seconds, while Blade’s damage per hit has been reduced from 15 Zu 8 to accommodate these powerful new effects.
Finally, it has also been adjusted to have one less ammo per round (12 Zu 11), and the damage decay starts at 15 meters instead of 20. At 30 m, the damage decay drops to 50% of the base value, which was 40%. These new bonus effects on Blade’s weapons make him a threat at both close and medium range, and provide the opportunity for some handy combos when switching weapons.
Daredevil
It won’t surprise many players that Daredevil is getting the most significant nerfs of the bunch at the start of Season 6. After all, he was without a doubt the strongest Dive hero since his release and held a particularly strong position in Season 5 and Season 5.5. To put it in the words of the developers: The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen will now be a little less punishing.
First, the heavy damage range of Fel Chain is reduced from 80 Zu 75. Fel Throw’s single projectile damage is also slightly reduced, now at 30 instead of 32.5. This reduces the ability’s total projectile damage from 65 Zu 60 when used on a single target. Finally, the rage gained from Devil’s Latch when grappled to a surface also takes one hit reduced from 2 Zu 1. Overall, these don’t sound like such major changes, but they will make all the difference in keeping Daredevil from feeling overwhelmingly “OP” in the right hands. The damage nerfs and reduced rage also give squishy targets a slightly better chance of fighting back against him before being completely obliterated by one of his deadly targeting combos.
Namor
Namor is a pretty interesting character. He is a poke duelist who tends to be successful at low Elo due to his monstrous squids with a targeted gun, but drops significantly at higher ranks where the operational skills are easy to master with brilliant aim. Because of his hit-or-miss potential, Namor became the recipient of some of the strongest team-ups in Rivals’ first year. He had Gamma Squids with Hulk and Deep Wrath with Hela – both of which were among the strongest team-ups of their seasons, to the point that Hela and Hulk were both banned as targets in their respective seasons in order to take team-up abilities out of play.
In recent seasons, Namor has often relied on these “overpowered” team-ups to add value to each game. Jedoch, they are so powerful that they have also changed the way people play the poke hero, even opting for aggressive flanking routes or dives. To make Namor a more balanced character, his team-up with Hela is nerfed with longer cooldowns and less damage.
To make up for this, however, Namor’s base set gets some nice little improvements. The time required for Aquatic Dominion to complete a single charge has been reduced from 12 Zu 10 seconds. Default Monstro spawn health increased from 100 Zu 125, and damage increased from 17 Zu 18. Lastly, Enhanced Monstro Spawn damage has been increased from 11 Zu 12. Namor should now function much more smoothly with his classic playstyle, especially since poke comps will remain strong in Season 6.
Cloak and dagger
Cloak and Dagger have always been a popular choice for strategists since the release of Marvel Rivals, as they have a low skill cap but a high skill cap. Jedoch, over the last few seasons, other Strategist heroes have come into the spotlight because they have strong utility in their gear (Gambit) or impressive new buffs (Invisible Woman). Cloak and Dagger now receive some nice improvements, allowing more control over managing your cooldown and allowing players to respond to combat as either a cloak or a dagger with a shared cooldown depending on the situation.
Initially, Dagger Storm’s healing per second has been reduced from 55 Zu 45. Jedoch, the ability now grants a one-time burst heal of 60 upon creation. Other than that, the “window” abilities (Veil of Lightpower for Dagger or Terror Cloak for Cloak) now have two charges but a common cooldown. Each charge requires a 10 second cooldown. Zusätzlich, both abilities have a short 2 second cooldown after use. This is actually a huge change that makes Cloak and Dagger quite viable, as players can now use two windows to pump out large heals to sustain a team fight, or create huge blinds with two Terror Cape windows in a row and still have the ability to alternate them.
Invisible woman
Invisible Woman has definitely highlighted Marvel Rivals Season 5/5.5 as one of the best characters in the META. This is all due to the improvements she received this season, including increased primary projectile range and the ability to shield herself. As a result, the Invisible Woman appeared frequently in almost all games, with competitive teams either immediately banning her (as she ended up being one of, if not the strongest strategists in the game) or banning her (to prevent her from having to play against them in the first place). To bring her into a more balanced situation, she is receiving a few nerfs to her shield.
Firstly, Guardian Shield’s HP has been reduced from 250 Zu 200, which is huge in itself. The shield is incredibly powerful and can be used to block damage or incoming ults, as well as heal nearby allies or yourself. It was such a powerful ability that many Dive characters who thrive in 1v1 situations found themselves in an uphill battle trying to kill Invisible Woman in every team fight. The recovery rate after reclaiming the Invisible Woman’s Shield has also been reduced from 42/s to 34/s, but the overall time remains unchanged. Finally, her shield’s self-healing was halved from 50/s to 25/s.
gambit
Gambit burst into the game in Season 5 and landed right at the top of the META, equipped with a very complex but powerful skill set. As far as strategists go, he is perhaps the pick that offers the most utility in the entire roster, as he has abilities like anti-healing, knockback, and most importantly, cleansing abilities up his sleeve. It won’t be a shock to players that he’s facing a few more nerfs at the start of Season 6, although these are some of the most significant numeric changes in the entire patch notes, so we’ll just have to see how he fares in combat in the new competitive season.
Big Easy Impact’s amount of healing per blast reduced from 25 Zu 15, reducing total damage from 75 Zu 45. Zusätzlich, Ragin’ Royal Flush’s healing is affected and is now 55/s instead of the original 75/s. Finally, Bridge Boost jumps to a single target and is now set to a maximum of 2.
