Marvel Rivals, before it was launched in 2024, had an enviable number of Heroes to choose from to fill out its roster. Each Hero comes packed with their own way to initiate a Team-Up, attack, and maintain control over the battlefield. In this article we are breaking down the strengths and weaknesses of each Hero, what makes them work and what to look out for.
This article will focus on what makes each Hero tick from a gameplay sense, rather than who they are as characters. Each Hero can be placed into the following in-class categories: Duelist, Strategist, and Vanguard. With a current Hero total of thirty-five (35), there are a lot of Heroes to choose from when you log in, and so making your team composition count when it matters is most important to your team’s chances at victory. So, who are the best Marvel Rivals characters, and what Heroes should you be picking?
Duelist
Black Panther
Black Panther’s main focus should always be his impressive mobility. His lunges, wall jumps, and spirals make him a very hard line-diver to stop, which means that defending intruders in your team’s backline or infiltrating your enemies’ are key to a strong Black Panther play. He is, like many Duelists, great at taking on enemies 1-on-1, and with slightly bumped-up health marks a good turning point for newer players to understand how crucial movement superiority is in-game.
Key Abilities: Spirit Rend, Spinning Kick and Subtle Step allow for great movement options. His Passive called Panther’s Cunning is favourable to an aggressive playstyle, and Bast’s Descent, his Ultimate, is a potential line-breaker if you don’t want to risk diving head-first into a chokepoint yourself.
Black Widow
Black Widow is a decent sniper with the ability to also limit movement options for the enemy through her Ultimate, but is not well equipped at all for the frontline. She is best deployed alongside the supporters in the back to take out single targets who threaten to tip over the team’s push. Black Widow teams nicely with Hawkeye to more effectively damage enemies even as they are moving, but Black Widow’s main purpose is as the marksman of the team rather than any front-foot offense.
Key Abilities: Her Team-Up with Hawkeye should be the priority, as well as using decent damage ranged abilities such as the Red Room Rifle with the Straight Shooter rounds. Only rely on Edge Dancer if surrounded and with backup as a melee with Black Widow can be risky; prioritise repositioning and use her Electro-Plasma Explosion Ultimate for its AoE effects rather than as a weapon.
Hawkeye
Moreso than Black Widow, Hawkeye is the benchmark for snipers in Marvel Rivals. Whilst limited in terms of melee options he can hold his own if needed with his sword, and his options at range are impressive, to say the least. Manoeuvrability is no issue for Hawkeye, meaning this Duelist can be tough to pin down if well-protected by Vanguards. Like Black Widow, his speciality in long-distance DPS means he can sneak under the radar if you come up against him and aren’t careful.
Key Abilities: His afterimage Ultimate is a good kill confirmer. He has a good standard charge attack which should be his bread and butter, and his explosive arrows deal decent spell field damage. For tricky, flying Heroes don’t forget about the Hypersonic Arrow – especially if they are above the frontline. Lastly, if there happens to be a Black Widow on your team, don’t forget about Supersensory Vision as that will help her out massively and form a nice paired sniper team on the backline. Hawkeye has melee options, but he is a great ranged DPS.
Hela
Hela is a formidable Duelist not least of which due to the swarms of crows that she can summon and manipulate in almost any situation. She is a great ambusher with slow fall and stun effects she can utilise, and if picking off stragglers who’ve killed a friendly Thor or Loki, she is one of the few Duelists with revival capabilities – bringing them immediately back to life with boosts to their health. Her damage output and control of the battlefield compared to other Duelists makes Hela a menace on any team, but especially one with other Asgardians.
Key Abilities: Summon out as many Nightswords and Crows and Soul Drainers as you can. Hela makes for a strong backline artillerist, despite her aptitude for melee combat which should be secondary. Her Team-Up with Loki and Thor is absolutely game-changing and is what your team should build their complexion around. Her Ultimate and her crow transformations are a neat touch for closer-range damage and disruption but focus on downing as many enemies with conjurations as possible.
Iron Fist
Iron Fist is built for close-quarters combat, so tight corridors and sudden encounters favour him. His Ultimate provides a dangerous 30% damage boost and has multiple ways of closing gaps or manoeuvring hazards with the likes of wall jumps and triple jumps. Playing aggressively alongside a pushing teammate or two benefits him with bonus health and chances to meditate to heal himself. Lacking any real ranged options to speak of, you play Iron Fist if you want a brawl.
Key Abilities: Activate the Living Chi Ultimate whenever you are heading into the thick of combat. Extra damage is crucial if you’re getting in close. Enter Dragon’s Defence if you are focused on tanking damage and retaliate with his Yat Jee Chung Kuen dash attack. Finally, enter Harmony Recovery in pauses between fights – it could quite literally save your life.
Iron Man
A flight-capable, defensive controller with damaging ranged attacks and excellent synergy with the Hulk, Iron Man more than lives up to his reputation as a founding member of the Avengers. With his beams that can be upgraded and recharged, clusters of missiles to bombard enemies in tandem with other abilities, and instant upgrades if Hulk infuses him with Gamma Radiation, Iron Man acts like few other Duelists as more of a controller and push-supporter.
Key Abilities: Pair yourself with a Hulk; recharging and upgrading your Armor Overdrive is absolutely key to unlocking Iron Man’s ability to dictate tempo through AoE damage and control. He is capable of single target takedowns but his Unibeam, Micro-Missile Barrage and his Pulse Cannon Ultimate can all smother areas making it harder for the enemy to advance, or making them think twice. With Hulk, all of Iron Man’s strengths become stronger.
Magik
Magik is very versatile in how she can output damage, aside from her limitations as a strictly-melee only fighter. She can prop up Vanguards as a swift-moving, teleporting, demon-summoning attacker and her Ultimate enhances all of her abilities to make them even more potent. Close range is crucial, as she is the only melee attacker with damage fall-off, but with aggressive frontliners to screen her forwards-pushes she can be the catalyst in breaking through enemy frontlines and eliminating backrow Strategists.
Key Abilities: Stepping Discs are the main method of transport. Magik depends on her Soulsword, Umbral Incursion, and Magik Slash to create space and deal damage, and she gets a use of Eldritch Whirl or a summon when exiting one of these discs. The more damage she deals, the more she heals with Limbo’s Might so it is best for Magik players to cause frontline brawls and dive into the backline when you can to target the ranged priorities.
Mister Fantastic
As close a substitute for a Vanguard as one can find in the Duelists category, aside from a select few. Mister Fantastic has an Ultimate that thrives against an enemy team that is crowded together, excellent damage reduction capabilities, and passive health regeneration with the rest of the Fantastic Four. He is perfect to be a frontline/mid-range hybrid fighter and, in a pinch, a tank when Vanguards are running low.
Key Abilities: Mister Fantastic’s abilities, namely Flexible Elongation and Reflexive Rubber, charge his Passive which can be used to grant even more shield to his allies and deal more damage. He is a good tempo-controller for the team, especially with the damage reduction through his Fantastic Four Team-Up. With his higher health and heightened damage reduction, he makes for an excellent frontlien Duelist especially if he can pull off his Ultimate in a crowd.
Moon Knight
Very few characters in Marvel Rivals, let alone Duelists, excel at close quarters like Moon Knight does. Between his AoE Ultimate ability, his darts that ricochet between enemies, his ability to create space with his truncheon, his line-offense option Moon Blade, and his grappling hook that gives him quick movement options, Moon Knight is very useful when your team is flanked or pinched. His high mobility, very high damage potential, and ability to shut down advances by the enemy team make him a great control option as a Duelist.
Key Abilities: Crescent Darts, Ancient Ankh, his Moon Blade, and his Hand of Khonshu Ultimate all work wonderful with grouped-together enemies. Moon Knight is perfect for disruption to the opposing team’s synergy and combination play. His Moonlight Hook and Night Glider add extra mobility, but it’s the former attacking options that should be the centre of the gameplan.
Namor
Namor functions as a backline guardian and a summoner, with his abilities and his Ultimate enabling him to create monstrous allies to attack whilst at a distance. Powered up by Luna Snow, his standard attacking abilities also deal ranged damage that can potentially buff these spawns. Summon out as many creatures as possible and they will form a strong support network for damage and control for your team.
Key Abilities: The Horn of Proteus Ultimate is the goal but make use of his Aquatic Dominion to flood the battlefield with creatures. Remember, Wrath of the Seven Seas empowers these summons having and Luna Snow on the team allows their Team-Up to make them stronger still. His Trident attacks should all be kept in reserve until you see a kill or need to dish out some skirmishing damage, otherwise Blessing of the Deep should give you enough time to escape if you’re lucky.
Psylocke
A high-damage, high-mobility infiltrator who can enter stealth and dash through enemy lines to disrupt and eliminate opponents. Psylocke may not have the same verticality as other comparable Heroes such as Black Panther, but her crossbow makes her dangerous at range and her Ultimate deals rapid close-quarters damage to an enemy chokepoint. If you can master her movement and figure out the weak points in an enemy line, Psylocke has all the tools needed to exploit it.
Key Abilities: Her Crossbow and Shurikens deal huge damage if all ammo hit the same target, so placing her just behind the frontline to confirm hits is important. Use her Psi-Blade Dash, her Stealth, and her ability to screen behind your infantry to find openings, and build up to trapping as many opponents as possible with Psylocke’s powerful Ultimate.
Scarlet Witch
If you can wrap your head around Scarlet Witch’s Ultimate, she becomes a lot easier to use. Her damage and frontline pressure isn’t bad and powers Magneto with a decent damage boost. The problem lies in her inability to sustain herself in high-pressure situations and her Ultimate, as mentioned, is a huge risk if the enemy team can interrupt her in the whopping four (4) second delay it takes to charge it up.
Key Abilities: Be really, really careful using her Reality Erasure Ultimate. Scarlet Witch is a very adept flier so bombard enemies with Chthonian Bursts and create Dark Seal force fields to stun enemies and disrupt advances.
Spider-Man
Spider-Man, despite his recognition as perhaps the most famous of all Marvel Heroes, is quite a technical choice. He has low durability but one of the best movement loadouts in the game, he can deal high damage through web tracers but this requires set-up to perform, and whilst he struggles heavily on a frontline if he is able to break into an enemy backline he becomes a real nuisance. Teaming with Venom and Squirrel Girl can provide big damage bonuses to the team, but with his single-target hit-and-run playstyle he can be tricky to learn.
Key Abilities: Cyber-Web Cluster is your go-to ability. Place as many Spider-Tracers as you can and burst down targets after-the-fact with enhanced melee and web abilities such as Get Over Here and the Amazing Combo. With his Web Swinging, Wall Crawling and Spider-Sense giving your mobility and information-gathering, you have retreat options after making your advance, but pick your timing carefully as without the Spider Tracers you are significantly weaker.
Squirrel Girl
The arguable breakout star of Marvel Rivals, and a simple Hero to pick up and play with. Her Ultimate, too, needs getting used to but can swarm ground enemies, and she excels at repositioning and mid/long-range target coverage whilst remaining mobile and hard to pin down. Managing Squirrel Girl’s Tail Bounce is crucial to her survival, but her bombardment of acorns can pin down enemies and deal an annoying amount of ranged damage to supplement the frontline fighters. She can take a punch better than most of the other Duellists too, which is handy for newcomers to Marvel Rivals.
Key Abilities: Mammal Bond should be the main resource to manage. A double Tail Bounce for an ambush-getaway combination, or two charged Squirrel Blockades lend Squirrel Girl a good amount of battlefield control. Her Ultimate is guided, so you don’t have to worry too much about aiming; its best used in crowds anyway or as a dispersal attack. Pair with a Spider-Man and use the Team-Up if you want to focus on control, as webbed Burst Acorns are solid ranged options to hit enemies in a radius.
Star-Lord
With the highest rate-of-fire for any standard attack in the game, a very slippery movement style and ability to fly, and decent AoE damage, Star-Lord is actually best deployed on the backline. His ability to react to the fights around him make him a great supporting damager, and with Adam Warlock paired with him he can respawn potentially anywhere on the map to keep assaults active or maintain defensive solidarity. Star-Lord struggles at close range, but his distanced options allow him to dictate the tempo.
Key Abilities: Strafe with Stellar Shift and Rocket Propulsion as his lightning-quick Element Guns only have a 10-metre range before they become unreliable due to their fire-rate and damage drop-off. Galactic Barrage makes this issue so much easier as the guns lock-on and he can free fly with them, making this Ultimate a potential line-breaker if needed.
Storm
Few Duelists have access to abilities as strong as Storm’s Goddess Boost, making her almost like a Strategist hybrid. She can summon out lightning strikes to pressure enemy attackers, has formidable AoE damage, and her Ultimate can completely flip the momentum of a skirmish in an instant. Her Goddess Boost is critical, though, making every Vanguard and frontline Duelist even more of a headache to deal with. Storm is an excellent choice, and one your teammates will appreciate even if she isn’t as strong damage-wise or defensively.
Key Abilities: As mentioned above, bring tanks to make the most of her boost. Her Weather Control is a great ongoing buff but remember that during her Ultimate it becomes disabled, so when using Omega Hurricane it is best deployed as a finisher rather than a fight-starter since your buffs to teammates are the key to making Storm as effective as possible. Wind Blades and her Bolt Rush should only be used if out of options or whittling down opponents passively, as her support abilities are her greatest quality.
The Punisher
The Punisher was made to be strong in any combat situation, with each of his offensive options covering the different ranges he would be fighting at. His Passive makes him a good tracker, especially if you have voice chat with the rest of your team. He can summon out turrets that make him immune to most conditions, he can zipline around the battlefield if he is chasing down a target or trying to retreat, and his smoke grenade can be a nuisance to deal with too. If provided with sufficient cover, as melee may be his weakest range of offense, The Punisher can whittle enemy health down very quickly through a very versatile selection of methods.
Key Abilities: Utilise Warrior’s Gaze to its full effect with clean communication and another high-mobility fighter to finish off retreating enemies. Remember, Smoke Grenades don’t affect this ability and if they cant see you then it makes it easier to reposition to a closer range for additional damage with your primary. His turret should be placed in the mid-ranks of your team, but whilst on it your health increases by 600 and the damage falloff doesn’t affect it so it can theoretically work at any range.
Winter Soldier
The real main weakness of the Winter Soldier is his limited mobility options. This is mitigated massively with his ability to control ranks of enemies with versatile fighting methods. He is capable of splash damage, single-target dash-launches, pulling enemies in with a grappling hook, and even maintaining health regeneration with the use of his Bionic Arm. His arm is his main method of attacking, but the Winter Soldier can absolutely rupture a frontline and devastate isolated enemies, making him one of the best attackers in the game.
Key Abilities: Use the Bionic Arm as much as possible. It reloads your primary, grants bonus health through Trooper’s Fist and his Kraken Impact Ultimate, and doesn’t even need to connect with an enemy to stack these boosts. This potential longevity allows for a more aggressive deployment of Roterstern. Paired off with a Rocket Raccoon, Winter Soldier’s possible invulnerability through the healing he will receive makes him a no-brainer for either a tank or lead infantry.
Wolverine
Wolverine might be the best Vanguard eliminator in a vacuum, with his damage scaling with the target’s maximum hit points. He is best played as a hyper-aggressive fighter to keep his rage going, with a need to deal damage as constantly as possible to increase damage or create a potentially life-saving healing pool to draw from. His low-mobility and short-ranged attacks make him a slow-moving, predictable target, but if he can be sent into the thick of battle via a Hulk cannonball or by playing it smart, he can get the ball rolling on his rage and deal some game-changing damage.
Key Abilities: Build up the rage as much as you can. If you’re reduced to 0 hit points it will build you back up again, so you need not be risk averse when playing him, and the damage stacks to potentially one-hundredfold. His Feral Leap and Vicious Rampage are great diving abilities to close gaps or break through lines, acting almost as pure movement options. You can even tech-cancel the Feral Leap with Undying Animal to leap and reduce damage simultaneously.
Strategist
Adam Warlock
Starting off the Strategist category with the best DPS in-class, Adam Warlock can launch ranged projectiles that can hit single targets or larger groups. He can mitigate damage with his very impactful Soul Bond which heals them over time and provides damage transfer and can set up a second healing stream with Avatar Life Stream. Even after dying, he can enter a cocoon and respawn at a chosen spot to become a great ambusher or cavalry-healer. Adam Warlock, like other Strategists, relies heavily on his team to set up his healing streams to keep everyone alive, even if he is better at defending himself than most others
Key Abilities: Avatar Life Stream and Regenerative Cocoon have a very long cooldown each, so Soul Bond and his Karmic Revival Ultimate are your key playmakers. Quantum Magic is a great lance attack and should be your main offence unless the enemy is grouped together tight enough to warrant a Cosmic Cluster. As soon as it is charged, Avatar Life Stream is excellent healing and is your main failsafe.
Cloak & Dagger
Two characters in one, Cloak & Dagger debuff and protect as and when they require. With Cloak’s ability to hide enemy teammates away from crowd control and damage, and his better damage output he is incredibly versatile in offensive and defensive situations. Dagger can send out bursts of healing to allies and has a decent self-sustaining pool between her Dagger Storm and their shared Ultimate which can also deal environmental damage. Their differing utility and the option to swap strategies mid-combat alone make Cloak & Dagger arguably the single most versatile character in Marvel Rivals, and complimentary to every team lineup you find yourself in if you know what you’re doing.
Key Abilities: Dagger’s primary is super versatile for healing and damage, and her Veil and Dagger Storm abilities make her the key healer despite the name. Cloak is more situational, but excels in those situations. Dark Teleportation will save your allies’ lives though making them invisible, and Terror Cape is a horrible set of conditions for enemies to deal with. They share an Ultimate, too, which deals damage and heals like most of their abilities. For more defensive strategies Cloak is arguably the best choice, with Dagger lending herself as a backline supporter for offensive pushes. They can obviously switch between each other with Light’s/Shadow’s Embrace at the click of a button, so pick your moment.
Invisible Woman
Invisible Woman gets her name from her unique ability to infiltrate and escape with nearly impossible to trace stealth. She can even heal and shield her allies whilst invisible, and she turns invisible with her Passive making her incredibly hard to deal with. Her Ultimate, however, is an incredibly unique control method of making all Heroes in her force field become invisible, defending allies and rendering enemies immune to their teammate’s support. She is a remarkable healer, a the most consistent stealth option in Marvel Rivals, and an amazing disruptor if she times her ultimate properly.
Key Abilities: Covert Advance makes her invisible and grants her self-healing and immunity to auto-targeting. Double Jumping does the same thing, with Guardian Shield and her Ultimate being key protective zones to deploy. Psionic Vortex is no joke, either, acting as a great control and disruption method to isolate enemies. Her primary has very short range, however, so her repositioning tools are key to her damage output with it.
Jeff the Land Shark
No Ultimate strikes fear into the hearts of Marvel Rivals players quite like Jeff the Land Shark’s. Players have obviously used this Ultimate to grief their own team in fringe instances, but the passive healing and enemy removal is objectively game-changing when used correctly. Jeff does struggle against ranged fighters due to his bigger headshot range, and his healing – whilst potent – really struggles if teammates aren’t hunkered down together in a way Jeff can reach them easily. He is best used as an offensive Strategist rather than a defensive one, or in a team complexion where he doesn’t have to do the heavy lifting in teams of support.
Key Abilities: His Ultimate is fantastic removal, granting him fast full-covered movement and wall-crawling. His healing is targeted, so if you are playing as a healer then pairing him with Rocket and Groot allow him to focus on the big guy and have ways to sustain himself. For a shark, his damage is generally low such as with his Aqua Burst, and his Passive only mitigates so much damage, so he works best as a back-to-front driver the moment you recharge that Ultimate.
Loki
The priority when playing as Loki should always be to summon out as many clones as possible to maximise damage output and healing potential. Whilst they are active, the enemy team will soon have no choice but to eliminate them before them become overwhelmed. Without these illusions, he cannot heal to nearly the same degree, and his damage output despite having the very situation Backstab is quite low. His Ultimate does turn him into an ally or enemy Hero to help cover temporary weakness in a team’s complexion though, making Loki a high-skill ceiling, high-reward character to play if you invest the time.
Key Abilities: Doppleganger is Loki’s core mechanic, and through Devious Exchange he can switch places with them to befuddle enemies and draw fire. His Deception secondary is a great indefinite invisibility condition for when he is surrounded, and obviously his Ultimate is an unprecedented utility tool since turning into any other character allows an infinite amount of team restructuring and gameplay alterations. Backstab shouldn’t be the main strategy, it is situational and only necessary if chasing down fleeing enemies or if you’ve flanked your opponents.
Luna Snow
Luna Snow’s Ultimate is the single-most powerful healing ability in Marvel Rivals, and is a reason why many teams win when she is in the lineup. Every ability she has balances perfectly along the lines of either dealing damage or healing an ally, making her inclusion on any team a welcome one. She is no pushover though she can be outflanked by high-damage attackers if isolated, but when positioned correctly she can become the spine of any winning team.
Key Abilities: Share the Stage is a great funnel for healing and buffs to a single, important target. Her Ice Arts enhances her primary if she needs to be more offensive, and she can move or retreat quickly since she speeds up on her Skates if she continuously moves. Her Ultimate is her single best ability, even amongst the others, as it does the most significant healing and protection to allies in moments where the outcome determines winning or losing a match. Use the Ultimate wisely, and don’t waste it.
Mantis
Mantis is frail, which isn’t unexpected of a Strategist. Despite this, she makes for a fantastic backline disruptor with her ability to put enemies to sleep. She is fantastic at providing healing to low-hit point, high mobility characters as her healing abilities are over time rather than in bulk. Her self-healing capabilities are very strong when given Life Orbs, and her damage isn’t as low as it could’ve been. Mantis is a great all-rounder and lends herself surprisingly well to the thick of combat or stalker a rogue Vanguard to put them to sleep.
Key Abilities: Spore Slumber is incredible single-target isolation and best used on separated opponents. Life Orbs can be consumed with Allied Inspiration and Healing Flower to boost allied Heroes and increase her movement, the abilities of which share their cooldown with Natural Anger. The latter, though, isn’t necessarily the best option as Mantis isn’t the best damage dealing, so focus on the other two for damage and healing boosts respectively. Her Ultimate is obviously great field healing, even granting over-heal for encounter-imminent protection.
Rocket Racoon
Underwhelming at launch, Rocket Raccoon has since come into his own. He is now much better than before at healing at long range, has great revival capabilities in a pinch with his B.R.B., and fantastic mobility for a Strategist especially when Groot is around. The Achilles’ heel of Rocket has always been his Ultimate, which does too little to be the crux of why you should pick him. If you want to pick him, do it because his range of healing and ability to quickly grab far-away allies and boost them up is very handy in tight situations.
Key Abilities: Pairing with Groot makes Rocket much quicker and more effective, and pairing with Winter Soldier in particularly (though Punisher is still decently affected) does the same for them too. Rocket’s primary deals decent mid-range damage but he is best suited for the backline through his Repair Mode secondary and B.R.B. revivers. His Ultimate is short range for what it is, and is static too, so is best deployed on control points or in the thick of fights but away from potential AoE since it does have hit points.
Vanguard
Captain America
In the current meta, Captain America might be one of the weakest Vanguard choices to pick from. It is a shame, as projectile deflection sets him up to be a strong mid-range Vanguard, but he simply cannot deal enough damage or defend well-enough against incoming damage to justify picking him over the others. He is complemented very nicely by another tank being there so that the onus isn’t all on him, but compared to the sky-high potential of other Vanguards he isn’t the best choice right now.
Key Abilities: Leading the line with Living Legend is the obvious primary strategy for Captain America, as since he is a Vanguard he can tank more damage than most. His primary throws his shield every second punch allowing for aggressive pressure, and the shield can be manually hurled as a ricochet projectile via Vibranium Energy Saw. Thor pairs very well if you’re playing as the Captain, since his Thorforce infuses him via their Team-Up with passive damage to nearby enemies making his pressurising more effective.
Doctor Strange
The portals created by Doctor Strange have the potential to crack games wide open, with its power limited only by the imagination and creativity of the player. Ambushes, retreats, even traps set for the enemy team are all possible with this ability. His flight offers other unique movement potential and lends itself well to setting up his debilitating Ultimate which stuns enemies en masse in a radius. He is a great protecter and transporter for your team, but his predictable attack style can leave him vulnerable in one-on-one situations.
Key Abilities: Pentagram of Farralah lasts for a staggering 20 seconds and can be repositioned and used as funnels for projectiles and Ultimates. This is one of the best abilities in the game and can constitute entire gameplans. Don’t let too much Dark Magic build up unless you are playing around Maelstrom of Madness which allows you to deal a short-range radius of damage per point, but its is recommended to build up the stacks as high as you can before you activate it.
Groot
In the worst case scenario, Groot can actually be a detriment to his own team. He is slow, a big target, and his walls can completely block his allies and prevent them from advancing. He also struggles in Convoy objectives specifically due to all of the above. In the right hands, he might be the hardest Vanguard to play around for the opponent. Those same walls can cut off enemy retreats, he has great defence with an enormous health pool, he can pull enemies in with his Ultimate and leave them stunned, and can deal decent damage at ranged with projectiles. With careful communication and team synergy, Groot can render entire sections of enemy territory useless and leaves many opponents easy pickings for your team.
Key Abilities: Groot is very slow and hard to handle, meaning practice with his Ironwood and Thornlash Walls is vital to maximising him and his ability to cut off retreats. These walls can even block Ultimates if used right. Alternate between his primary and his Furious Flora attacks to maximise output, and his Ultimate can be placed on one of his walls to pin an enemy to it as an additional method of control.
Hulk
Bruce Banner is relatively weak, which makes sense considering his alter-ego. His ranged attacks aren’t fantastic and as a Vanguard he is not good at taking damage. Hulk, however, is a solid Vanguard option who plays exactly how you think he would. He is at his best when wading in with his jumping abilities and transforming into a larger and larger form. He makes Doctor Strange and Iron Man a lot better when on the field, and his survivability is incredible especially when transforming with his Ultimate. Don’t waste your time with Banner unless you have a specific trap-based plan, Hulk provides exactly what you’d want from a tank.
Key Abilities: Transform as early as possible; Hulk is more useful than Banner is. Pairing him with Iron Man allows Hulk to be let off the leash with his Incredible Leap and strong primary attack whilst Iron Man peppers enemies from range and provides covering fire. Cycle as quick as you can to his second Ultimate to maximise his damage reduction capabilities and status-shields through his Radioactive Lockdown. Lastly, he can throw Wolverine with his Team-Up to set up a one-two punch or grant a flanking opportunity.
Magneto
Magneto offers great damage reduction capability, shielding allies and himself with his twin Bulwark abilities and blocking enemy projectiles with his Metallic Curtain. His Ultimate, when used properly, is a simultaneously offensive and defensive must-have. Magneto might not be as offensively dangerous as other characters in the general game state, but with this Ultimate he can take the risk to step out from the mid-range and help with pushes. Otherwise, Magneto is a great focal point to position your team around in combat.
Key Abilities: His Bulwark abilities share a cooldown, so determine quickly whether you’re the one in the firing line or if your allies are. This charges his Mag Cannon which can deal decent damage with enough Iron Rings charged through his Bulwark abilities. His complicated Ultimate absorbs projectiles and launches his own that can self destruct if you aren’t careful, but remember that it isn’t the projectile that deals damage – it is the area around it.
Peni Parker
Success with Peni Parker depends on whether you can bait out opponents into stepping on your mines. Her Spider-Nest makes ambushes by Heroes such as Jeff risky at best, and she can deploy mines at a rapid rate with her Ultimate and Arachno-Mine abilities. She can control the battlefield well if given time to create these defences, but offensively she doesn’t have the same punching power as other Vanguards.
Key Abilities: Set your Spider-Nests behind cover if you can as they are a great ward against advancing enemies. Set Arachno Mines and create as many Cyber-Webs as you can since the passive damage and healing respectively complement Peni’s ‘moving fortress-like’ playstyle. This means activating her Ultimate in areas of high foot traffic or key defensive points as the launches and mine deployment can completely reroute your enemy.
Thor
More than Loki due to his proximity to the frontline, Thor synergises with Hela exceptionally well. His attacks provide offensive mobility very nicely, and his runes allow him to keep himself up. His Ultimate is on the weaker side though, with the charge-up and range giving opponents time to react or clear the area before it can go off. Building up charges and utilising his above average (for a Vanguard) mobility are the keys to using Thor correctly. He becomes a lot better with Hela in the team, though.
Key Abilities: Play alongside Hela wherever possible. The three children of Odin’s Team-Up ability makes them incredibly difficult to deal with if Thor leads the line and Hela sweeps up. Awakning Rune is able to deal passive damage whilst granting him a consistent ranged option and faster movement, and Storm Surge is his main method of quick movement as his dash attack. Thor thrives on the frontline as more damage charges more Thorforce which benefits not only his own abilities but Storm and Captain America if they are there.
Venom
A hyper-mobile backline attacker who thrives on picking off low hit-point Duelists and Strategists, Venom is best used as an ambusher and flanker. Paired with another diver or with several strong frontline attackers scattering opponents, Venom can take some getting used to as if he is isolated in enemy territory, he is a big target and doesn’t have the survivability of other Vanguards. Heal up when you can, pick your spot, and try to only use his Ultimate when there are teammates nearby as it is only going to halve enemy HP rather than kill outright.
Key Abilities: Symbiotic Resilience and Venom Swing are absolutely crucial to Venom’s playstyle. Venom Swing into Frenzied Arrival to create ambushing opportunities, though do bear in mind the latter can only be activated in the air. Cellular Corrosion requires Venom to be in close range to slow them, and Feast of the Abyss – his Ultimate – can be risky on his own. Use these abilities to pick off isolated enemies rather than crowd control as he just isn’t built for it.
