Summer’s heating up and fireworks are popping off in Marvel Rivals—and we have a particular mutant to thank for that.
Fan-favorite X-Men member Jubilee is the latest hero to join the game’s growing roster. The Strategist will be the first of two new characters added to the game this summer, with The Hood joining in August at mid-season.
But more importantly, season nine of Marvel Rivals is full of some pretty substantial changes to things like Team-Up Abilities, a re-work for an Avenger Duelist, and the addition of Regenerative Shields for HP.
Here are all the details on Marvel Rivals’ big summer season, The Mystery of Thebes, kicking off on July 10.
Table of contents
Marvel Rivals season 9 patch notes
New hero: Jubilee
The spunky X-Men member is a Strategist, and in her Marvel Rivals’ iteration, it’s the version of the hero who’s also a vampire (she has a life-steal attack) and a Horseman of Apocalypse. Jubilee uses her fireworks-like abilities to both heal allies and deal damage to enemies, and a movement ability where she can dash.
New hero: The Hood
Parker Robbins AKA The Hood will join season nine in its midseason update. It’s been rumored for some time that the hero is a Vanguard.
Black Widow re-work
One of the game’s weakest and worst-performing heroes has had her kit changed up quite a bit. Her hipfire is now a full-auto attack, her ultimate ability contains six powerful sniper shots that can pierce enemies, and she has a new, airborne dive attack.
Team-Up Abilities overhaul
Team-Up Abilities have been changed in a very big way, in what NetEase is calling an “epic evolution” of the mechanic. The re-work of Team-Ups is substantial, granting all heroes a “more engaging combat experience” that includes selectable, passive Team-Up Loadouts with base effects (always equipped) and enhanced effects (depending on if a team-up hero is also on the team).
For example, Hulk has two base loadouts: one inspired by Captain America where he can slam the ground, and one inspired by Wolverine that buffs his movement speed and attack speed. Having those heroes on the team buffs the abilities further.
You can get a look at all of the new and returning team-ups in the videos posted on X/Twitter below.
- New and returning Team-Ups
- Vanguards
- Duelists
- Strategists
Hero nerfs and buffs
NetEase explained that this is the largest balancing update yet, allowing for more flexibility…like DPS heroes being able to deal burst healing. More detailed info is coming soon, but here’s a bit of what to expect: 80 percent of the roster is being changed.
- Buffs
- Vanguard
- Angela
- Reduced base health from 450 to 350. Add 200 Regenerative Shield.
- Remove the Team-Up Anchor 100 bonus health.
- Captain America
- Reduce base health from 600 to 300. Add 300 Regenerative Shield.
- Remove the Team-Up Anchor 100 bonus health.
- Deadpool (Vanguard)
- Increase Dual Desert Eagles (Vanguard) single shot damage from 34 to 36 (standard) and from 39 to 40 (upgraded).
- Deadpool In Your Area – Upgraded (Vanguard): Increase the damage reduction provided to allies from 20 percent to 25 percent and from 30 percent to 35 percent for Deadpool
- Increase base health from 450 to 500.
- Remove the Team-Up Anchor 50 bonus health.
- Devil Dinosaur
- Increase base health from 750 to 850.
- Increase the critical hit damage reduction provided by Prehistoric Plating from 50 percent to 60 percent.
- Remove the Team-Up Anchor 100 bonus health.
- Increase the reduced Ultimate energy gain for enemies damaging or allies healing Devil Dinosaur from 35 percent to 40 percent.
- Doctor Strange
- Increase base health from 575 to 60.
- Increase the shield value of Shield of the Seraphim from 700 to 850.
- Remove the Team-Up Anchor 100 bonus health.
- When Invisible Woman is selected as a Team-Up partner, Doctor Strange’s Shield of the Seraphim gains an additional 150 shield value.
- Groot
- Increase base health from 700 to 850.
- Remove the Team-Up Anchor 150 bonus health.
- Hulk
- Increase Heavy Blow damage from 40 to 45.
- Increase the energy cost of Hulk Smash! from 3,400 to 3,700.
- Reduce base health from 650 to 400. Add 300 Regenerative Shield.
- Remove the Team-Up Anchor 100 bonus health.
- Thor
- Reduce base health from 600 to 300. Add 300 Regenerative Shield.
- Slightly increase the travel distance of an uncharged, quick-cast Storm Surge.
- Increase the damage of Hammer Throw from 45 to 60 on throw and increase the damage on return from 20 to 25.
- Increase bonus health provided upon hit from 50 to 75.
- The Thing
- Increase bonus health cap provided by Stone Haymaker from 100 to 150.
- Slightly reduce the backswing animation time when using Clobberin’ Time immediately following Battle Blitz or Embattled Leap.
- Slightly increase the vertical detection height of the anti-movement zone generated at the end of Yancy Street Charge to prevent launched enemies from unexpectedly being able to use their movement abilities.
- Angela
- Vanguard
- Duelist
- Black Cat
- Reduce base health from 275 to 160. Add 125 Regenerative Shield
- Increase maximum Fortune cap from 1,000 to 1,200.
- Increase the odds of securing a high Fortune payout when using the Tablet of Destinies.
- Remove Team-Up Anchor bonus five percent damage boost.
- Black Panther
- Reduce base health from 275 to 150. Add 125 Regenerative Shield.
- Daredevil
- Reduce base health from 300 to 150. Add 150 Regenerative Shield.
- Remove Team-Up Anchor bonus five percent damage boost.
- Elsa Bloodstone
- Increase Double-Barrel Blaster ammo capacity from eight to 12.
- Increase Helix Advance cooldown from 10 seconds to 11 seconds.
- When Devil Dinosaur is selected as her Team-Up partner, increase Double-Barrel Blaster individual pellet damage from 4.5 to 5.
- Hawkeye
- Slightly increase the damage scaling of Piercing Arrow while charging, though the maximum fully-charged damage remains unchanged. Increase Piercing Arrow’s base projectile speed from 120m/s to 130m/s, and its maximum projectile speed from 180m/s to 195m/s.
- Hela
- Increase Nightsword Thorn base damage from 70 to 80.
- Adjust the damage falloff from starting at 18m and reducing to 70 percent at 30m, to starting at 18m and reducing to 75 percent at 35m.
- Astral Flock: Hela can now fly freely in any direction while in Crow form.
- Remove Team-Up Anchor bonus 15 percent damage boost.
- Magik
- Reduce base health from 250 to 150. Add 125 Regenerative Shield.
- Phoenix
- Increase Endsong Inferno explosion damage from 140 to 150.
- Remove Team-Up Anchor bonus 10 percent damage boost.
- Psylocke
- Increase Psionic Crossbow single-hit base damage from 12 to 13.
- Reduce base health from 250 to 150. Add 100 Regenerative Shield.
- When Emma Frost is selected as her Team-Up partner, increase the bonus health granted to Psylocke upon hitting an enemy with Wing Shurikens from 10 to 15.
- When Cloak & Dagger are selected as her Team-Up partners, increase Psionic Crossbow single-hit base damage from 13 to 14.
- Scarlet Witch
- Dark Seal can now be cast while Mystic Projection is active, though doing so will prematurely cancel the Mystic Projection.
- Storm
- Increase Wind Blade base damage from 55 to 60.
- Remove Team-Up Anchor bonus five percent damage boost.
- Black Cat
- Strategist
- Adam Warlock
- Increase base health from 250 to 275.
- Reduce Cosmic Cluster projectile damage from 38 to 35.
- When Ultron is selected as his Team-Up partner, increase Quantum Magic ammo capacity from 15 to 25.
- Cloak & Dagger
- Increase Lightforce Dagger direct-hit healing from 12 to 15. Increase the lingering spell field healing from 20 to 25.
- Increase the one-time healing amount of Veil of Lightforce from 45 to 50.
- Increase Dagger Storm healing output from 45 per second to 50 per second.
- Remove Team-Up Anchor bonus 15 percent healing boost.
- Gambit
- Increase Kinetic Cards single-hit healing output from 28 to 30.
- Remove Team-Up Anchor bonus five percent healing boost.
- Invisible Woman
- Increase the healing provided by an outgoing Orb Projection from 45 to 50, and the healing the return from 35 to 40.
- Remove Team-Up Anchor bonus 15 percent healing boost.
- Luna Snow
- Remove the 10 percent damage boost from Number One Idol. Increase the healing boost from 10 percent to 20 percent.
- Increase the healing boost provided to an attached ally via Idol Aura from 35 percent to 40 percent.
- Remove Team-Up Anchor bonus 15 percent healing boost.
- Mantis
- When Star-Lord is selected as her Team-Up partner, enhance the healing output of Healing Flower from 10 + 2.5 percent of target’s max health per second to 15 + 3 percent of target’s max health per second.
- When Adam Warlock is selected as her Team-Up partner, the Nature’s Favor passive effect is enhanced. After casting Natural Anger (and only while it’s active), increase her self-healing from 12.5 per second to 17.5 per second.
- Remove Team-Up Anchor bonus 10 percent healing boost.
- Ultron
- Increase the area healing output of the Imperative: Firewall Drones from 30/s to 35/s.
- Adam Warlock
- Nerfs
- Vanguard
- Peni Parker
- Remove the Team-Up Anchor 50 bonus health.
- Rogue
- Reduce the damage reduction provided by Defensive Stance from 60 percent to 55 percent.
- Reduce the maximum bonus damage added to Southern Brawl at full energy from 90 to 75.
- Reduce base health from 650 to 350. Add 225 Regenerative Shield.
- Venom
- Reduce base health from 675 to 500. Ad 250 Regenerative Shield.
- Remove the Team-Up Anchor 150 bonus health.
- Peni Parker
- Duelist
- Cyclops
- Increase the cooldowns of Propulsion Burst and Optic Ascent from 12 seconds to 15 seconds.
- Reduce Optic Blast single-hit damage from 25 to 21.
- Reduce Ricochet Force damage from 80 to 70.
- Remove Team-Up Anchor bonus five percent damage.
- Deadpool (Duelist)
- Remove Team-Up Anchor five percent damage boost.
- Human Torch
- Remove Team-Up Anchor five percent damage boost.
- Iron Man
- Reduce the spell field damage of a single-handed Repulsor Blast from 50 to 45.
- Reduce the spell field damage of a dual-handed Repulsor Blast from 55 to 50.
- Reduce Unibeam (Armor Overdrive) damage from 190/s to 180/s.
- Remove Team-Up Anchor bonus five percent damage boost.
- Moon Knight
- Increase Crescent Dart damage per hit from 23 to 25.
- Increase the energy cost of Hand of Khonshu (Ultimate) from 2,800 to 3,100.
- Remove Team-Up Anchor five percent damage boost.
- Punisher
- Reduce Adjudication damage per hit from 20 to 19.
- Reduce Deliverance damage per hit from 10 to 9.5
- When Daredevil is selected as his Team-Up partner, increase Adjudication single hit damage by 1 and increase Deliverance single hit damage by 0.5.
- Star-Lord
- Remove the 25 bonus health gained upon using Stellar Shift.
- Reduce base health from 250 to 150. Add 100 Regenerative Shield.
- Cyclops
- Strategist
- Deadpool (Strategist)
- Remove Team-Up Anchor bonus five percewnt healing boost.
- Rocket Raccoon
- Increase the healing amount when a Repair Mode orb passes through an ally from 50 to 55.
- Increase the energy cost of C.Y.A. (Ultimate) from 4,000 to 4,300. Add distance-based fall-off logic to C.Y.A.: its damage boost and bonus health generation will begin decaying at 8m, maxing at 60 percent reduction at 20m.
- Remove Team-Up Anchor bonus five percent healing boost.
- Deadpool (Strategist)
- Vanguard
New mechanic: Regenerative Shields
Taking another cue from Overwatch, Regenerative Shields are coming to a number of dive and mobile heroes. If they take damage, a percentage of their HP pool can regenerate (after not taking damage for five seconds) without being healed, alleviating pressure from healers on their team, and making life hell for healers on the other team.
New map: Thebes
A new Convoy map is going live on July 23, set in Apocalypse’s Egypt.
New Battle Pass
This season’s battle pass is decidedly Egyptian-themed, fitting Apocalypse’s appearance. Skins for new heroes include Deadpool, Elsa Bloodstone, Namor, Cloak & Dagger, Rocket Raccoon, and more.
