Big Tank Changes and Team Up Reworks Teased in Season 1 Part 2 Patch Note Leak

It looks like some dataminers may have gotten ahold of the next Marvel Rivals patch a bit earlier than we expected, leaving some messily translated hints at what meta changes are hitting the game in Season 1 Part 2. 

Marvel Rivals Season 1 Part 2 drops on Feb. 21, adding Human Torch and The Thing to the game as playable characters. Even more important than that, however, is a new balance patch for the existing roster that will shift how the game is played around them. 

In an AI translated version of the Chinese patch notes that several dataminers shared online, there are dozens of very important changes coming to heroes across the roster. This includes many of the most powerful and highly used characters, like Doctor Strange and Invisible Woman. 

For Vanguard players, Venom is getting a buff to his Ultimate charge and his main dive ability will no longer knock enemies vertically like it did before. Thor and Groot are also getting slight buffs, with Thor’s “Rune Awakening” having its global cooldown removed and Groot getting a boost to his Thorn Wall’s placement distance. 

The biggest changes are coming to Captain America and the most highly used tanks in the game, Magneto and Doctor Strange. 

Cap is getting a boost to his Ultimate charge, his shield throw is faster across the board, and one of his shield abilities can be used while jumping. Strange’s health is dropping from 650 to 600, while Magneto’s shield duration is shorter to pair with his basic attack doing slightly more damage. 

Duelists appear to have the most changes coming, which checks out since it is the biggest class in the game. Starting with Iron Fist getting some major updates as his main attacks will now do less damage across the board and take slightly longer to perform, though he can gain more HP by blocking moves or using his self heal—and his base health is up to 300 from 250. 

Mister Fantastic is getting some much needed improvements too, starting with his grapple ability allowing him to latch on further and knocking back enemies. His Ultimate will cost more and has a smaller window before damage fall off happens, though the damage overall is being increased.

Here are some other key Duelist changes based on this leak: 

For some reason the devs are buffing Iron Man too, increasing the damage his unibeam does in both normal and Hulk-boosted modes.

Strategists saw some big changes too, with one leak showing Luna Snow and Loki getting reduced Ultimate charge and Mantis having less overall survivability when using her Ultimate.

Adam Warlock will do more damage but have increased falloff at distance, whil his healing has increased with Soul Bond. Invisible Woman’s Ultimate will charge slightly slower but her overall kit appears to be untouched. 

Cloak and Dagger saw the most changes in this section, with their Ultimate now having a much longer charge time but the time between each dash is shorter, camera controls have been unlocked while using it, and the move now applies one healing area instead of a stacking one. 

Lastly, a few Team Ups appear to have been reworked entirely:

This list of patch notes is incomplete and pulled from various dataminers. None of this information is official and should be taken very lightly until the full balance adjustment post is made by the official Marvel Rivals account later this week.

With a new vanguard on the way, this patch seems tailor-made to vastly increase the pool of usable tanks in pro play beyond the standard Dr. Strange/Magneto meta. Esports teams will need to quickly adapt to a more diverse option set if they hope to stay ahead as more tournaments arise for the most popular new esport.

Team Up reworks also change the incentives to pair certain heroes together, further diversifying the preferred picks for pro teams at the highest level. It looks like Marvel Rivals Season 1 Part 2 is going to give fans a whole new look at the meta for esports tournaments.