Buffed and Nerfed Characters for Season 8.5! The new season is arriving shortly and you know what this means, so much information to take in all at once. Want to know if your favourite characters have been changed this season? Don’t worry! I have broken down and simplified every change hitting Marvel Rivals on Friday 12th June for Season 8.5
You can check out the official Balance Post here, although it can get a bit wordy.
As a whole, this is one of the strongest balance patches that I have seen from the Rivals devs. Many players were getting extremely frustrated with the potency of dive characters ,like Black Cat and Moon Knight, along with other Duellists that have overperformed this patch like Star-Lord and Phoenix. And that DAMN Dinosaur. Obviously, there are areas missing but the most problematic characters have been addressed.
Nerfs:
- Devil Dinosaur
- Black Cat
- Daredevil
- Moon Knight
- Phoenix
- Starlord
- Gambit
- Ultron
- Gambit/Rogue/Magneto Teamup
Buffs:
- Angela
- Magneto
- Rogue
- Blade
- Elsa Bloodstone
- Human Torch
- Namor
- Adam Warlock
- Cloak and Dagger
- Deadpool
Vanguards
Angela has felt relatively weak for a while, rather like an annoying squishy moth flying around in the air, so it’s great to see receive some buffs. Devil Dino has been a constant annoyance that dominates lobbies if he is allowed through the ban phase, these changes should nerf his absolute reign of terror. Rogue also has some nice tanky buffs.
Angela
- Dash Cooldown Lowered by 2 Seconds
- Shield Value Increased by 50
- Shield Recovery Rate Increased By 10 Per Second
- Casting Shield AGAIN Is Now 0.5 Seconds Faster
Devil Dinosaur
- No Long Knocks Down Enemies With Impact Beam
- Shield Cooldown Increased By 2 Seconds
- Percentage Bleed Damage Reduced From 3% to 1.5% Per Second
Magneto
- Ultimate Maximum Duration Increased By 1 Second
- Fully Charged Ultimate Damage Increased From 300 to 350
Rogue
- Fatal Attraction Cooldown Reduced By 2 Seconds
- Reduced Energy Consumption in Defensive Stance From 60/s to 50/s.
- Increased Absorbed Damage Conversion Ratio From 35/s to 55/s
Duellists
Black Cat has been absolutely GUTTED, many players will be happily dancing on her grave right now. Moon Knight, Phoenix and Star-Lord have had their damage capability reduced as the dominant Duellists. Blade finally receives some love, and some random sneaky buffs for Namor and Elsa …
Black Cat
- Removed 2nd Dash Charge (only 1 dash charge remains)
- Dash Damage Reduced by 10
- Dash Cooldown Reduced By 2 Seconds
- Reduced Phantom Pursuit Damage By 5 (Immunity Frame Attack)
- Increased Fortune Cost to 300 for Chernobog’s Crystal, Ring of Zona, Mento-Fish and Faltine Flame
- Faltine Flame No Long Reveals Enemies Behind Objects
- Ultimate Ability Targeting Distance Decreased From 60m to 40m
- Eliminations No Longer Refresh Ultimate Duration But Each Elimination Adds 3 Seconds Instead, to a Maximum of 10 Seconds
- Increased 2nd Ultimate Damage Instance From 30 to 70 But Removed Percentage Damage – Overall Nerf, Total of 100 Damage to 250 Health Heroes Instead of 110 – Total of Damage to 600 Health Heroes Instead of 180.
- Reduced Fortune From This Attack to 200
Blade
- Increased Unstoppable Duration After Deflecting From 0.4s to 1s.
- In Sword Stance, Increased Initial Damage of Dash By 10
- Increased Damage Per Spin From 8 to 10 = Combined Damage Increased From 72 to 100
Daredevil
- Reduced Radar Sense’s Maximum Detection Range From 50m to 40m
- Reduced Dash Targeting Distance From 20m to 12m
- Reduced Parry Duration From 1.5s to 1.2s
Elsa Bloodstone
- Increased Passive Charge Rate From 1667 Damage Required to 1111
Human Torch
- Reduced Flaming Meteor Cooldown By 5 Seconds (Ground Pound Ability)
- Reduced Dash Charge Time By 2 Seconds
Moon Knight
- Reduced Primary Fire Damage From 25 to 23
- Reduced Secondary Fire Damage By 10
- Reduced Bouncing Damage Modifier From 80% to 70% Per Bounce
Namor
- Increased Cooldown Reduction For Squids Per Auto Attack Hit From 1s to 1.3s
Phoenix
- Reduced Healing Over Time AFter Spark Detonation From 10/s to 5/s
- Increased Primary Fire Damage Falloff By 10% at 30m – Reduced Distance To K.O. Enemy With 2 Headshots From 18m to 16m – Number of Body Shots Required To K.O. Has Increased From 5 to 6
Star-Lord
- Increased Primary Fire Damage Falloff at 25m From 65% to 50%
Strategists
It’s a huge mistake for Ultron to be nerfed but we cheer for Adam and Deadpool buffs. Everyone expected Gambit nerfs but they aren’t huge enough to take him out of relevance.
Adam Warlock
- Increased Cooldown Reduction of Heal When Volley Attack Hits Enemies From 0.48s to 0.6s
Cloak and Dagger
- Reduced Single-Target Healing By 4 But Increased AoE Healing By 4 (More AoE Healing)
- Increased Healing Boost Ratio With Dagger’s Veil By 5%
Deadpool
- In Gun Form, Increased Bouncing Bobblehead Spell Field Healing From 40/s to 50/s (standard) and from 50/s to 55/s When Upgraded
Gambit
- Reduced Ultimate Damage Multiplier From 25% to 20%
- Reduced ultimate Movement Speed Bonus From 40% to 30%
Ultron
- Reduced Maximum Drone Attach Distance From 35m to 30m
- Increased Bonus Health Buff Cooldown By 2s
- Increased Ultimate Energy Cost From 4000 to 4300 (takes longer to charge)
White Fox
- Smaller Hitbox For Charm and Invincibility Effects of Spectral Surge, From 0.8m to 0.6m
Team-Ups
Explosive Entanglement (Gambit – Magneto/Rogue)
- Reduced Rogue’s Spell Field Healing Per Attack From 55 to 25
- Reduced Rogue’s Damage Per Attack From 3% to 2%
Overall, a pretty solid patch from Rivals. There are noticeable absences from Storm, Scarlet Witch, Mister Fantastic and Black Widow who have struggled in the meta for multiple seasons in a row without receiving much love. Luna Snow also managed to scrape by after terrorising each lobby with her overtuned damage numbers that renders her more effective than actual Duellists. It’s also surprising that Venom didn’t receive any nerf at all since he dominates most lobbies with his anti-heal, damage output, sustain and mobility.
What are the Main Changes?
Black Cat and Daredevil are hard nerfed, along with smaller nerfs to other strong characters like Phoenix, Star-Lord, Gambit, Devil Dino and Moon Knight.
