Marvel Rivals has just released volume 4 of its hugely popular Dev Vision series, which teases us with a bunch of exciting new features and additions arriving with Season 1.5. That’s effectively the second half of season 1, for those unaware.
We have two powerful new heroes joining the roster, a brand new map, and the first ever official esports tournament, Marvel Rivals Championship, is drawing nearer and nearer. For the competitive types, there’s also new rewards for those who enjoy ranked.
There’s also a ton of balance changes arriving soon. The three Strategist setup that’s become so powerful is getting a bit of a nerf, while many Vanguards and Duelists are getting buffed to, hopefully, increase their pick rate.
Let’s take a look at everything Marvel Rivals announced. We’ll also embed the video in case you’d rather watch it in that form.
Marvel Rivals Dev Vision Vol. 04
You can either watch the video above or scroll down to the section you’re more interested in,
New Heroes: The Thing and Human Torch
There are two new characters arriving with Marvel Rivals season 1.5: The Thing and Human Torch.
As you can probably expect, The Thing is a Vanguard who acts as a combination of tank and melee DPS. We’ll have to wait and see where they fall in the meta, but we imagine they’ll pack a serious punch.
Meanwhile, the Human Torch is a Duellist that specialises in fire damage. You can also fly around with wild abandon, so if you like heroes like that, give them a try when they arrive.
New Map: Empire of Eternal Night
Empire of Eternal Night is a brand new map that brings you face to face with Dracula and his minions. It also provides two new goals for you to work towards while playing on the map.
You have to rescue Ratatosk, the Asgardian Squirrel God, as well as raid Dracula’s Castle to defeat him and his minions once and for all.
Season 1 and 1.5 Ranked Rewards
With Season 1 officially drawing to a close on February 21, you will receive your Ranked rewards on that date. These include:
- A new Gold Rank costume
- Top 500 and Grandmaster Crests of Honor
Then, Season 1.5 kicks off, introducing a new series of rewards to work your way towards. Your rank won’t reset either, so you don’t have to put all of that work in over again to earn the new rewards.
Instead, you merely have to complete ten matches before Season 2 to get the rewards when they arrive. They include:
- Another new Gold Rank Costume
- Crests of Honor for the following ranks:
- Grandmaster
- Celestial
- Eternity
- Top 500
New Use For Chrono Tokens
The Marvel Rivals development team has stressed that they hear you: you want something to do with your excess Chrono Tokens. Well, the solution is better than you’d have imagined: you can convert them into your favourite units.
Marvel Rivals Esports Tournaments
Marvel Rivals is inching ever close to its first ever official esports tournament, the Marvel Rivals Championship.
In fact, excitement seems to have reached fever pitch, as registrations for the North America variant has already maxed out. NetEase is planning on increasing this after the update.
Also, a series of Marvel Rivals Invitationals will begin at the end of February, running through into March. That will give you an opportunity to test yourself against the best players.
Balance Adjustments
Lastly, expect a ton of balance adjustments to arrive within the game, most of which aim to tackle the three Strategist playstyle that’s currently dominating the experience.
First of all, most Strategists are getting a nerf, with Cloak and Dagger seemingly getting the biggest changes. We know that energy costs for many Strategist Ultimates are going up to prevent spam.
Meanwhile, many Vanguards and Duelists are getting a buff, with Ultimate energy costs decreasing. That should help increase their pick rate.
Vanguards will also get a bit of a movement speed increase to help them remain in the battle.
However, it’s not all good news. We know that Storm and Moon Knight are just two of a select few Vanguards and Duelists who will receive nerfs as they’re currently too strong.
