A new Marvel Rivals hero balance patch is coming soon, with improvements for one healer alongside mixed results for two aerial duelists.
NetEase Games details the imminent Marvel Rivals Season 1.5 mid-range patch, and it's making some big changes to a handful of heroes. The Rivals meta is constantly shifting, so NetEase is doing what it can to keep team compositions, bans, and the most overpowered characters in a constant state of flux. As a result, I'm coming to you with good news and bad news, because, while some picks are going to be more viable than ever, one is getting downright punished.
If, like me, you've lamented how low the Human Torch currently falls on many Marvel Rivals tier lists, I've got good news. His ult combo with Storm shreds the enemy team to pieces, but he could use some work in one-on-one situations. That's why NetEase has increased his Fire Cluster projectile speed from 120m/s to 150m/s and the projectile count from 12 to 14. The Human Torch's ult energy cost has gone from 3,400 to 4,000 in the multiplayer game, however, but Flame Tornado damage has risen to 120 per/s while activation wave damage has gone up to 80, too.
On the other end of the Marvel Rivals aerial duelist spectrum, Iron Man isn't looking as good. His stage-one and two Repulsor Blast direct hit damage is down from 55 to 40, with stage-three direct hit damage down from 65 to 50. His direct Repulsor Blast damage during Armor Overdrive has also been dropped from 55 to 50, meaning any perfect shots will hit less hard than before.
It's not all bad, because the best (read: my favorite) strategist is getting a nice buff. Cloak and Dagger's healing effect from Lightforce Dagger is going up from ten to 16 when hitting allies, while the spell field healing amount is also dropping to 16 as well.
There's even more coming in the new patch, as NetEase has an array of fixes for maps, modes, and heroes planned. This won't be the biggest patch in the world, but the hero changes to the Human Torch should give him much better one-on-one potential, which has been my biggest problem when playing as him.