Marvel Rivals Devs Comment on Support Strike, Tease Much-Needed Balance Updates
- Marvel Rivals developers address the ongoing Support Strike.
- Certain heroes like Spider-Man will see balance adjustments coming soon.
- Competitive Performance Points are being optimized.
The Marvel Rivals development team is once again proving that they have their fingers on the pulse of the game’s community, announcing a set of upcoming changes to the game that will address multiple serious issues popping up in Season 2.
A “Support Strike” has gained momentum in various parts of the Marvel Rivals community recently, leading to a more toxic queuing experience and more backlash. In an effort to improve the game as Season 2 approaches its halfway mark, the developers have announced key balance adjustments and changes to the game’s competitive performance points.
Marvel Rivals Developers Address Support Strike With New Hero Changes
Over the last week or so, Marvel Rivals has faced a “Support Strike” at varying scales due to a number of reasons. Part of the problem is how lackluster it feels to play certain Strategists and the lack of options in a meta where they are constantly faced with pressure from diving heroes, while the rest falls purely on how Season 2’s competitive performance points seem to punish good Strategist play.
The strike has slowly gained more attention, recently getting top players and streamers to start commenting on the hate surrounding Season 2, but now the developers have even weighed in by announcing an upcoming midseason patch to address both sides of the problem.
According to the most recent Dev Diary, a new midseason patch is coming to Marvel Rivals that will focus on balance adjustments and balancing the game’s competitive performance points yet again.
“In previous seasons, the focus was on key abilities and energy management for ultimate abilities, resulting in a more stable combat pace. However, Season 2.0 shifts the spotlight to coordinated attacks and focused targets, along with the necessary collective protective strategies and counterattacks which has led to a more intense combat rhythm,” NetEase Games said. “In this fierce environment, Strategists face increased pressure, needing to monitor teammates' health closely while carefully using their key abilities and being mindful of their positioning on the map. Meanwhile, Vanguards and Duelists must not only attack effectively but also provide better protection for their Strategists to achieve victory.”
To adjust, the new patch will buff some Strategists by enhancing their damage output while also making the following changes, with more details to come with the actual patch:
- Captain America Nerf: Reduction in survivability.
- Groot Nerf: Reduction in survivability.
- Spider-Man Nerf: Decreased damage for the Amazing Combo uppercut.
- Doctor Strange Buff: Charge time for Ultimate reduced.
- Winter Soldier Buff: Tainted Voltage Ability and Team-Up enhancements.
This is not every change that will be included in the midseason patch, but the Rivals team is purposefully going to keep changes to a minimum this time so the game’s meta is not completely overhauled so close to the release of Season 2.5.
Marvel Rivals Announces More Competitive Performance Changes for Season 2
At the start of Season 2, Marvel Rivals updated its ranked mode to include more variation in the competitive points given or taken at the end of a match based on individual player performance.
We don’t know the exact specifics, but many players feel like the changes benefited Duelists while Strategist and Vanguard players suffered due to how the algorithm might take into account key stats. NetEase has provided a bit more context and will adjust things moving forward.
According to the developers, “a small number of Duelists” were discovered to have a slight advantage in performance ratings upon further review. Additionally, some Vanguards and Strategists faced similar disadvantages in the updated Season 2 format, though it wasn’t widespread. As a result, further optimizations will be made in the midseason patch to help balance things out and fix the issues highlighted by the community.
“Balancing the game and rank adjustments is a challenging endeavor, and we can't guarantee perfection 100% of the time,” NetEase said. “However, we remain humble and attentive, striving to address issues promptly and enhance your experience. Stay tuned for official patch announcements for more updates. Thank you for your support and patience!”
Marvel Rivals Support Strike and Competitive Balance Esports Impact
Even if these changes all end up making the game worse, the level of attention and communication shown by the Marvel Rivals development team when it comes to community feedback and issues is worth highlighting.
Season 2 has been out for just over two weeks, and the biggest complaints about ranked and support play have only recently started causing widespread issues with the game. And, as soon as things started to become more problematic, the developers stepped in with an update, acknowledging the key issues and openly explaining how they plan to approach introducing improvements.
Based on the Dev Diary, it sounds like this midseason patch will at least mitigate several ongoing complaints with the game in a positive way. We will have to wait for the actual update for more details, but the proposed adjustments will likely help casual and competitive play substantially.
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