Marvel Rivals’ sweaty summer continues in its season 9.5 update, which kicks off in-game very soon.
Ahead of the launch, NetEase has revealed a ton of what players can expect in the update, including a new hero, a bunch of new sultry costumes to suit the summer season, and other content updates to keep the Marvel fans invested.
Here’s everything we know so far about season 9.5 of Marvel Rivals.
Table of contents
Marvel Rivals season 9.5 patch notes
New hero: The Hood
Marvel Rivals’ newest hero alongside season 9.5 is The Hood, a Vanguard. Parker Robbins was a common criminal who came into possession of demonic gear including a cloak that grants him powers, but he’s also got some big-ass guns to back that up.
In the game, The Hood’s abilities include switching between human and demon forms, dual pistols, and using his cloak to create protective shields for allies. When transforming into his demon form, his dual pistols change his entire arms into assault rifles. Bad-ass.
For his ultimate, The Hood enters full demon state, transforming into “a fully realized Gun Demon” where he fires massive rounds that punch through enemies, shields, and gives bonus health to nearby teammates.
Fun fact: The Hood in Marvel Rivals is voiced by WWE wrestler and New York native Damian Priest. For more detailed info on the villain from the comics and other media, check out Marvel.com’s write-up about him.
Hero nerfs and buffs
Full details about balance changes are forthcoming later today ahead of the update’s launch on Friday, Aug. 7.
New summer skins
A new wave of Swimsuit Special skins will arrive in the shop after the update, including outfits for Star-Lord, Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch, Black Cat, Storm, and Magik, as seen above.
Storage optimization
Marvel Rivals’ file size is getting a re-work in the update, and in the new season, the devs are “implementing a massive texture compression overhaul” to shrink the game’s size on hard drives. PC players can expect a reduction of a whopping 40 GB, while PS5 and Xbox Series X|S will decrease by 15 GB.
This will also require a larger update download than usual, but once it’s downloaded, the game will be way smaller overall. Optimization for the game has been a huge pain point and big request for some time, so this is a big highlight of the new season.
This article is being written and updated in real time as info is revealed via NetEase Games.
