Inside Marvel Rivals' Disastrous 6.5 Balancing Pass: What Went Wrong

Although there's no denying it Marvel Rivals kicked off Season 6 on the right foot — Rivals' version of Deadpool filling all three roles was a great surprise, and the Collector's Museum map is largely fun – Season 6.5 is treading difficult waters. Yes, Elsa Bloodstone looks fun to play and acts as a mix between Magik and MonitoringIt's Ashe, but there's no denying that she's a lesser-known character and can't bring in as many eyeballs as Deadpool did. Add the return of the controversial gacha mechanic for Mr. and mrs. X-skins, not to mention Monitorings hugely successful relaunch of Season 1, and there was more pressure than ever for Season 6.5 to be a big win for balancing. Unfortunately, the opposite has happened.

Marvel Rivals has been struggling with balance for a while now, as it feels like NetEase is unsure of what strategy they want to bring to their game. Some changes feel aimed at low ELO casual fans while others seem to be based only on high ELO stats, and some tweaks feel completely random. Overpowered heroes often go unchecked for far too long, leaving players frustrated, and based on reactions on social media, this patch may just be a breaking point. There's one particular meta that's been straining lately, as well as a handful of heroes in desperate need of a shakeup. Unfortunately, the update fails to address these complaints, which has led to a large number of players threatening to quit or at least take time off from the game. And with Monitoring looks so attractive that frustrated Rivals fans at the moment, there is something to worry about.

Some players are even calling for the demotion of NetEase developer and lead battle designer Zhiyong. While this is obviously harsh, he is essentially the target of all the outrage as he handles the balancing segment of Dev Visions.

Marvel Rivals 6.5 Balancing Patch fails to hit Poke Damage or Triple Strategist Comps

While the arrival of Deadpool and Marvel Rivals' Kingsman drama briefly distracted from the complaints, the triple Strategist meta has been criticized constantly for months now. A natural consequence of the lack of role queue, players will find unexpected strategies that feel unfair, and it's a developer's job to keep these compositions in check. While Monitoring had the infamous GOAT's meta for a while, RivalsThe most frustrating playstyle to date has seen players triple healers. This essentially leads to fights that feel endless, constantly drawn out by Strategist scores that heal through all the damage players can lay down. It also feels restrictive, as any team that refuses to run triple strategist in response to a team that embraces it will be rolled.

Find all 10 pairs

If players have to play triple strategist to compete with triple strategist, role queuing might as well exist, since players aren't as free with their team comps as they should be. However, this is not the only solution to the problem, as NetEase can limit it to where there are no more than two strategists on a given team, lower the total healing effect of each hero in the roster, or find another out-of-the-box solution that regular players wouldn't think to concoct. Unfortunately, all of the tweaks to strategists in Season 6.5 are pretty minor, with the only major change being Adam Warlock's new ability to fly. And while this extra movement is both welcome and more accurate, it feels like NetEase has really dropped the ball on hero changes overall.

The other massive issue with Marvel RivalsThe latest balancing update is that it leaves so many overpowered heroes broken or with a slap on the wrist that doesn't fix the problem. These problematic, yet strong, heroes include:

Pheonix (a health nerf is something, but does nothing to prevent her high damage)
Winter Soldier (no changes)
Full (no changes)
Hawkeye (projectile size intact)
Gambit (no changes)
Star-Lord (an ultimate buff the hero didn't need)

Marvel Rivals players annoyed by poke damage are really out of luck with the 6.5 update, as they can expect more of the same in the coming weeks. Some of these characters that remain unchanged are also puzzling; Gambit was considered too strong when he first released, yet has remained meta ever since his debut. He's basically an insta-ban, which is frustrating for Gambit mains who want to use him in comp and for any character that relies on his team-ups. Having characters that feel like mandatory bans also takes up a ban slot, which is all the more frustrating when there are multiple characters that feel too strong at the moment (and given how teams can double up on bans and leave more OP characters unmarked).

Marvel Rivals needs to rethink its patch balancing strategy

What is frustrating about Marvel Rivals The update for season 6.5 is that there are some good changes here. The aforementioned Adam Warlock buff, as well as Storm's much-needed tweaks, are commendable, as is the decision to go back and add VFX options for some existing cosmetics like Sue and Reed's wedding outfits. Still, there's so much wrong and so many odd tweaks (Loki's changes are brutal, as he reloads stocks all the time now), that it's clearer than ever that NetEase needs to rethink its approach to game balance.

First of all, clearer communication is a must. Regardless of whether players agree with every change—and they often don't— Monitorings major patches include explanations for each hero tweak. This way, players know exactly what the developers were thinking when they made changes and can properly discuss them using this extra insight. Rivals' updates, on the other hand, come with funny little jokes about things like NetEase's Luna Snow favoritism. While these should be charming, they can be tone-deaf, as they should come in addition to a detailed explanation for whatever changes are made, not fill in for that kind of commentary entirely.

Second, there's a case to be made for a “reset season” too Marvel Rivalssimilar to what happened to Rainbow Six Siege's 'Operation Health.' While two heroes per season is a big selling point for the game and helps Rivals compete with Monitoringa one-off season where there's only one character (or even none) might be the best way forward at this point. Instead of heroes and maps, frequent balance updates can be made to satisfy frustrated players. Overhauling the healing of every strategist, geeky characters that players have been asking to see changed, and properly reworking characters like Black Widow who need something extra in their kits could be huge for the game in the long run. It might not be the best time to lighten up the content now Monitoring have their foot on the pedal, but somewhere down the road, a Season of Health might be worth the investment. And for now, more detailed insight through patch notes and a better grasp of nerfs the community actually wants to see is important.