Marvel Rivals Dev Plans to Enhance Strategist Experience After Support Player Strike

NetEase Games, the developers behind Marvel Rivals, have recently announced plans to ease the burden on Strategist players following a community-initiated Support strike. Season 2 of Marvel Rivals has been largely successful, introducing new characters, maps, and modes, and promising faster seasons with a growing roster of playable heroes. However, the balance adjustments have sparked new challenges, particularly for the Strategist class, which serves as the game's Support pool. These players have found themselves struggling against the increasingly dominant Vanguards and Duelists.

Since the launch of Season 2, the community has been vocal about the declining viability of the Support class. Strategist players have reported facing not only tough matches but also toxic environments, where they are often blamed by teammates in text and voice chats. The frustration reached its peak this week, with hundreds of players taking to social media to announce a strike, vowing to avoid the healer role until NetEase addressed the issues.

"We just want basic respect," a Reddit user commented. "We’re not asking to be glorified or seen as the ‘hardest’ role - because I don’t think we are. We just want basic respect. It’s tiring to be called brain dead or worthless when your stats are solid and you’re playing your role the way it’s meant to be played."

I Need Healing

In response, NetEase has committed to taking action. In a Dev Talk post published today, the developer outlined a two-pronged approach to alleviate the pressure on Strategists. This includes buffing the Support role and enhancing the rewards in the Competitive mode.

The upcoming patch will elevate the "threat levels" of Strategists, potentially boosting heroes like Invisible Woman and Jeff the Land Shark. Meanwhile, Vanguards such as Captain America and Groot may see nerfs to their survivability, and Spider-Man's Amazing Combo ability will have its damage range reduced. NetEase aims to keep these changes minimal to avoid drastically altering the game's meta, with more comprehensive adjustments planned for Season 2.5, which will introduce Ultron and new Team-Up Ability adjustments.

In Competitive mode, NetEase has acknowledged the slight disadvantage faced by Vanguards and Strategists in performance ratings compared to Duelists. To address this, they plan to adjust the performance rating calculations to ensure fairness across all heroes. The developers remain committed to refining the game balance and rank adjustments, acknowledging the challenges involved but promising to respond promptly to player feedback.

Season 2 of Marvel Rivals introduced Emma Frost as a new Vanguard hero, with Ultron set to join the roster in Season 2.5. As the community awaits the impact of these upcoming balance changes, there's also buzz about potential new content, including a collection of swimsuit skins teased by Marvel.