Marvel Rivals update (10th January): What changes in today's patch notes?

After initially launching in December, the hero shooter has found huge success in hitting 20 million players in no time, and with a big update on the horizon, it should keep the game fresh.

Not only will we cover all of the new features arriving in the game, but we will also take a look at the characters being changed in this update, as well as an extensive over of the complete patch notes.

What's changed in the latest Marvel Rivals update?

The most notable changes in this update will be the new battle pass to celebrate season 1 and the introduction of the Fantastic Four characters, including Mister Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Thing and Human Torch.

On top of all that, we're also seeing new locations introduced, such as a vampire-themed New York City, which aligns with the events of this first season that sees Dracula descend on New York.

Complete character tweaks for Marvel Rivals

The complete list of Marvel Rivals (version 20250110) character tweaks are as follows (as per the Marvel Rivals website); we will update this page further once the complete list of patch notes is released.

VANGUARD

• Captain America
  Steve will receive some enhanced survivability, allowing more frequent entering and exiting of the combat.
  - Reduce the delay time for shield restoration after releasing Living Legend from 3s to 2s.
  - Reduce Liberty Rush cooldown from 12s to 10s.
  - Increase base health from 650 to 675.
  - Reduce the energy cost for releasing Freedom Charge (ultimate ability) from 3400 to 3100; Reduce the additional health provided per second to self after releasing it from 110 to 100.
• Doctor Strange
  Reducing the threat range and increasing the defense window of the Sorcerer Supreme.
  - Add damage falloff to Maelstrom of Madness and Gamma Maelstrom. Starting at 5 meters and reducing to 70 per cent at 8 meters.
  - Slightly decrease the shield value recovery rate after releasing Shield of the Seraphim from 80/s to 70/s.
• Thor
  The God of Thunder could use some slightly increased survivability and improved the success rate to his ultimate ability.
  - Increase base health from 500 to 525.
  - Added immunity to control effects during God of Thunder (ultimate ability).
• Hulk
  Dr. Banner has been dominant, but some decreased sustained combat capability upon entering the battlefield will bring him more in line with other Vanguards.
  - Reduce the Indestructible Guard gamma shield value for Hero Hulk from 250 to 200.
• Venom
  With increased survivability and the threat of his ultimate ability, the symbiote menace will strike fear into the backlines of all enemy teams.
  - Increase the Symbiotic Resilience bonus health ratio gained per lost health point from 1 to 1.2.
  - Increase the base damage of Feast of the Abyss (ultimate ability) from 40 to 50.

DUELIST

• Black Panther
  We're slightly decreasing T'Challa's combat survivability.
  - Reduce the additional health provided to self after refreshing Vibranium Marks with Spirit Rend from 40 to 30, and the upper limit of additional health provided from 120 to 75.
• Black Widow
  Natasha was very much in need of optimisation when evaluating the release experience of her abilities as well as a slightly increase to the threat of her ultimate ability,
  - Increase the range of the first effect of Edge Dancer from a 3-meter radius to a 5-meter radius.
  - Reduce the time required for Fleet Foot to recover from 0 stamina to full from 12s to 4s.
  - Reduce the time required for Electro-Plasma Explosion (ultimate ability) to reach maximum power from 1s to 0.6s.
• Hawkeye
  Decreasing the medium-long range damage capability, reducing the threatening combat radius, and slightly improving the close combat resistance for the avenging archer.
  - Slightly reduce the spread angle between every two Blast Arrows.
  - Reduce the triggering distance of passive ability Archer's Focus from 60 meters to 40 meters. Reduce the maximum additional damage of the passive from 80 to 70.
• Hela
  The Goddess of Death has been a menace and we'll slightly decreasing her combat strength.
  - Reduce base health from 275 to 250.
• Magik
  The Queen of Limbo needed an Increase to her threat after unleashing her ultimate ability.
  - Increase Umbral Incursion damage in Darkchild form from 115 to 135.
• Moon Knight
  The Hand of Khonshu will receive a slight increase to the threat of his ultimate ability.
  - Increase the number of talons generated by Hand of Khonshu (ultimate ability) from 10 to 14.
  - Increase the explosion radius of each talon from 4 meters to 5 meters.
• Namor
  Optimising the throwing feel of Namor's eggs!
  - Adjust the throwing feel of Monstro Spawn and Frozen Spawn. Now, Namor can more accurately throw them to the desired location.
• Psylocke
  More options for other heroes to counter the demon slayer's ultimate.
  - Now Dance of the Butterfly (ultimate ability) will check for barriers (including Magneto's Metal Bulwark, Hulk's Indestructible Guard, etc.).
• The Punisher
  Slightly increasing the damage capability of Frank's weapons.
  - Slightly reduce the spread of Deliverance and Adjudication.
• Scarlet Witch
  Increasing Wanda's combat strength when she's facing Duelists or Strategists.
  - Increase Chaos Control's fixed damage from 50/s to 60/s.
  - Reduce the percentage damage per second from 5 per cent to 3 per cent.
  - Increase Chthonian Burst's projectile damage from 30 to 35.
• Storm
  The Weather Witch needed an overall increase to her damage capability; We're also optimising the feel of her left-click projectile and the release experience of her ultimate ability.
  - Increase Wind Blade projectile speed from 100m/s to 150m/s and left-click damage from 50 to 55.
  - Increase Bolt Rush damage from 70 to 80.
  - After releasing Omega Hurricane (ultimate ability), the bonus health provided for herself will be increased from 350 to 450. Moreover, following its conclusion, the extra health will no longer vanish instantly but diminish at a rate of 100 per second.
• Squirrel Girl
  Increasing the threat of Doreen and her furry friends in their ultimate ability.
  - Addition of a new effect to the Unbeatable Squirrel Tsunami (ultimate ability): the squirrels will rush towards the nearest enemy after bouncing instead of bouncing randomly.
  - Reduce the squirrel tsunami health from 600 to 300.
• Winter Soldier
  Adjusting Bucky by decreasing his long-range combat strength and increasing his survivability in medium-close range combat.
  - Increase the bonus health provided by Bionic Hook and Tainted Voltage from 30 to 40.
  - Increase Roterstern's projectile damage from 70 to 75.
  - Reduce the area damage from 70 to 65 and reduce damage decay from 65 per cent at 40 metres to 60 per cent.
  - Increase base health from 250 to 275.
• Wolverine
  Logan will receive an increase to basic combat strength, but a slight decrease to the additional survivability after activating Undying Animal.
  - Increase base health from 300 to 350.
  - Reduce the damage reduction ratio provided by Undying Animal from 50 per cent to 40 per cent.

STRATEGIST

• Cloak & Dagger
  Ty and Tandy will receive an increase in their healing capability as well as an expansion to the coverage area of their ultimate ability.
  - Reduce Dagger Storm cooldown from 15s to 12s.
  - Increase the number of dashes in Eternal Bond (ultimate ability) from 3 to 4.
• Jeff the Land Shark
  Adjusting the range for his ultimate ability so it now better fits the warning marker. In addition, we'll also be increasing his healing capability.
  - Adjust It's Jeff! (ultimate ability) range from a 10m sphere to a 10m radius, 5m high cylindrical spell field.
  - Increase the healing of Joyful Splash from 140/s to 150/s.
• Luna Snow
  Made adjustments to Luna's ultimate ability to prevent players from abusing its healing capabilities.
  - Increase the interval for switching between healing and damage in Fate of Both Worlds from 0.1s to 0.5s.
• Mantis
  Making Mantis a bit less fleet-footed, reducing her roaming support capability.
  - Reduce Nature's Favor (passive) movement boost from 2.5m/s to 1.5m/s.
• Rocket Raccoon
  Rocket could use an enhancement to his healing capability.
  - Increase the healing of Repair Mode from 60 per/s to 70 per/s.

TEAM-UP ABILITIES

• Hawkeye – Black Widow
  To further tone down Hawkeye's oppression, we'll be reducing his seasonal buff.
  - Reduce Hawkeye's season bonus from 20 per cent to 15 per cent.
• Hela – Thor – Loki
  Much like Hawkeye, Hela's overwhelming power will be receiving a slight reduction.
  - Reduce Hela's season bonus from 20 per cent to 15 per cent.
• Luna Snow- Namor
  Increasing the threat of Namor's Frozen Spawn.
  - Increase Frozen Spawn damage from 25 to 27.
  - Increase Frozen Spawn slowing effect applied to hit enemies from 25 per cent to 30 per cent.
  - Increase berserk state Frozen Spawn damage from 16 to 18.
• Rocket Raccoon – The Punisher – Winter Soldier
  One of Rocket's best tools will be available more often!
  - Reduce the cooldown of Ammo Invention from 45s to 40s.
• Scarlet Witch - Magneto
  A bit underwhelming, the damage capability of this father-daughter Team-Up ability will be enhanced.
  - Increase Metallic Fusion projectile damage from 55 to 60.
  - Increase Metallic Fusion spell field damage from 30 to 35.
• Thor – Storm – Captain America
  Enhancing the damage capability of Storm's side of this Team-Up ability.
  - Reduce the cooldown of Charged Gale from 20s to 15s.
  - Increase the damage of Charged Gale from 50 to 55.

Some of the above changes are well-needed, and we can't wait to see how some of these characters work now they've had a bit of a buff; it should also help keep lobbies varied with the characters being used.

Thankfully, Storm, Black Widow and Captain America have received the most notable boosts, whilst Hela and Hawkeye have been toned down slightly after they dominated the last season.

Some of the Team-Ups being tweaked is also welcome, and once the full patch notes are released we can have an even deeper look into what's new.

Marvel Rivals patch notes

New Content

All Platforms

Heroes and Costumes

• Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman join Marvel Rivals!
• New Costumes: Mister Fantastic - The Maker; Invisible Woman - Malice!

Maps and Modes

• Explore the new Convoy map - Empire of Eternal Night: Midtown.
• Prepare for the thrilling arcade mode (Doom Match) and its map (Sanctum Sanctorum): 8-12 players will engage in battle, with the top 50 per cent emerging victorious.
• New feature: In Convoy and Convergence, both sides can transition to the next spawn room sometime after the attacking side completes the current target.
• Enhanced feature: During the loading phase of a Quick Match, you can now view the Nameplates of both sides.

Season & Store

• Unlock a dazzling shiny new Battle Pass featuring 10 brand new sets of heroic costumes!
• Embark on the first thrilling half of the Midnight Features Season Event!
• Dive into the latest Twitch Drops event, featuring rewards such as the Hela - Will of Galacta costume. (Stay tuned for official announcements for specific times)
• We have revised the refresh times for various in-game content. Beginning with Season 1, the unlock time for daily missions, the availability of new items in the store, and the start time for most events have been adjusted from 7:00 (UTC+0) to 9:00 (UTC+0).
• Additionally, we have optimised the mission types and removed some of the more challenging ones.

Ranked

• Introducing the Celestial Rank, a tier above Grandmaster and below Eternity, consisting of three divisions.
• Rank Reset: based on your final Season 0 rank, ranks will be demoted by 7 divisions. For example, if you ended Season 0 at Platinum I, your Season 1 journey begins at Silver II.

Tournaments

• Newly added automatic follow function for tournament sign-ups: Faction members can opt to follow the captain on the sign-up page. When the captain/coach initiates or cancels the sign-up process, following members will automatically confirm. Please note, this feature, once activated, is effective for the current season only.
• New faction reporting function: Report factions for perceived misconduct in the same tournament within the past 90 days.

General

• Streaming Mode: In Settings - Social, new settings have been added under the social setting allowing streamers to conceal their name as needed (only effective locally; other players in the same match can still see it).
• New spectating channel: Chat in real-time with fellow rivals while spectating the same match.
• When spectating, the target player's hotkeys and crosshair settings will be prominently displayed.
• New setting option: Block all active invitations and faction join requests.

PC

Graphics and Settings

• Enhanced and optimised graphics settings for improved performance:
  · New: Added a new "Off" option under "Anti-Aliasing".
  · New: Included a "Performance" option for "Model Detail".
  · New: Integrated a new "Off" option under "Global Illumination".
  · New: Added a new "Off" option for "Reflection Quality".
  · Optimization: Adjusted and optimised various parameters within the graphics settings.
• Mouse Settings: Under Settings, the Keyboard - Combat category now includes new settings for mouse smoothing and mouse acceleration, enabling customization as required.
• Support Intel® XeSS 2: With Intel® Xe Super Sampling 2 (XeSS 2), experience faster, smoother gameplay with higher image quality and a more connected playing experience with Intel® Xe Frame Generation (XeFG), Intel® Xe Low Latency (XeLL).

Fixes and Optimisations

All Platforms

General

• Resolved numerous issues related to notifications.
• Rectified various text errors.

Maps and Modes

• Solved several terrain issues causing characters to become stuck or move to unusual locations. Such issues will continue to be monitored and addressed. We have also added a "get unstuck" feature: if a character is stuck in terrain for a specific duration, you can now control it to return to the spawn room.
• Fixed various issues including floating broken objects, collision errors, etc.
• Fixed various map sound problems.
• Resolved an extremely rare issue where overtime couldn't be triggered or wouldn't end.
• Also resolved an exceptionally rare abnormal draw occurrence issue.

Heroes

• Corrected minor movement ability discrepancies for certain heroes (like Doctor Strange and Magik) at both low and high frame rates.
• Addressed occasional malfunctions with, or inability to use Wolverine's team-up ability.
• Fixed occasional incorrect resets of Winter Soldier's ultimate ability.
• Fixed an issue where the Winter Soldier's ultimate ability would sometimes fail to hit targets within its range.
• Corrected instances where Iron Man's ultimate ability would sometimes pass through Hela during her ultimate ability.
• Resolved occasional synchronization issues for Venom and Spider-Man after swinging and wall-crawling.
• Rectified a situation where Rocket Raccoon, while on Groot's shoulders, could irregularly place Battle Rebirth Beacons (B.R.B.) in abnormal map locations, trapping teammates after revival.
• Fixed occasional camera irregularities after Loki transformed into certain characters during his ultimate ability.
• Fixed a visibility issue that could sometimes occur when Adam Warlock/Mantis/Star-Lord were in soul form within the mist on Wakanda maps where they couldn't see or be seen by others.
• Rectified instances where Squirrel Girl's ultimate ability could get stuck on specific terrain.
• Fixed occasional damage loss in Rocket Raccoon's primary attack.
• Addressed irregularities and occasional failure to end Wolverine's Feral Leap, along with occasional abnormal behavior.
• Resolved instances where Luna Snow's ultimate ability occasionally failed to heal teammates.
• Fixed occasional sound irregularities that could occur after being consumed by the Jeff the Land Shark's ultimate ability.
• Addressed various ability sound and voice errors for several heroes.
• Optimised the playback rules for hero ability voices during combat to reduce auditory confusion.
• Resolved an issue where, while airborne, if Spider-Man used Amazing Combo to interrupt the wind-up of a normal attack, the attack would incorrectly continue and still inflict damage.

Console

• Resolved an issue where after console matchmaking, teammates on Xbox were incorrectly shown as muted on other platforms, necessitating manual unmuting to remove the status display.
• Rectified instances where for some heroes, when the Field of View changed, the auxiliary sight intensity and crosshair sensitivity did not adjust accordingly.
• Resolved an issue where certain button settings were not taking effect as intended.
• The global focus switching algorithm has been optimised for smoother overall operation.

Read more on Marvel Rivals:

• Marvel Rivals codes - full list and how to redeem
• Is Marvel Rivals free? - what you can pay for
• Marvel Rivals characters - full list of playable heroes and villains
• Marvel Rivals crossplay - is it cross-platform?
• Marvel Rivals Twitch Drops - how to claim
• Marvel Rivals team-ups explained - all combinations
• Will Marvel Rivals be on PS4? - platforms explained

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