Marvel Rivals Patch Notes Season 2: Emma Frost Arrives, Ranked Reset, Major Hero Balancing & New Map

Marvel Rivals has rolled out its Season 2 patch with many significant updates. The changes improve gameplay balance and introduce fresh features. This article summarizes the key patch notes, based on deep research and community insights.

1. New Content & Features

Heroes and Costumes

• Emma Frost makes her debut as the 38th hero and 10th Vanguard.
• New costumes: X‑Revolution and Blue Sapphire.
• Ultron will join as a Strategist in the mid-season update.

Maps and Modes

• Hellfire Gala: Krakoa – A brand new Domination map replacing Yggsgard: Royal Palace and Tokyo 2099: Shin‑Shibuya in Competitive.
• Optimized settlement logic in Quick Match: substitute players’ victories count normally; losses won’t affect your history.

Battle Pass and Events

• New Battle Pass titled Flower of Krakoa runs from April 11 to June 11, featuring 10 new costume sets.
• Season event Cerebro Database launches, awarding the free Mantis – Flora Maiden costume upon completing specified matches.
• A Twitch Drops event will grant the Namor – Will of Galacta cosmetic bundle.

2. Ranked & Tournament Updates

Ranked Mode

• Rank Reset: Players demoted by 9 divisions from their Season 1.5 rank (e.g., Diamond I becomes Silver I).
• New rewards: Achieve Gold to earn the Emma Frost – Golden Diamond costume; additional Crests of Honor for higher tiers.
• Pick/ban phase now begins at Gold III instead of Diamond tier.
• Teams with players in Eternity/One Above All are limited to solo or duo queuing.

Tournament Changes

• Updated regional classification: NA, EU, and Asia are now grouped as AMERICAS, EMEA, and PACIFIC.
• Revamped Tournament Overview pages, custom Tournament Room options with pause and host transfer features, and enhanced faction search for the Knockout Stage.

3. Hero Balance Changes

Vanguard Adjustments

Captain America:

• Base health decreased from 675 → 650.
• Shield value reduced from 400 → 350.

Doctor Strange:

• Daggers of Denak damage reduced from 18 → 16 per projectile.
• Dark Magic conversion ratio lowered from 1.3 → 1.2.

Hulk:

• Base movement speed increased from 600 → 650.
• Indestructible Guard cooldown shortened from 12s → 10s.
• Minimum charge for Incredible Leap reduced from 0.7s → 0.5s.

Duelist Tweaks
 

Hawkeye:

• Slow while charging bow reduced from 30% → 20%.
• Hypersonic Arrow damage increased from 50 → 55.
• Hunter's Sight energy cost cut from 3700 → 3100, with bow draw speed boost adjusted from 1.35× → 1.5×.

Scarlet Witch:

• Chaos Control percentage damage removed; fixed damage increased from 60/s → 80/s.
• Chthonian Burst and spell field damage increased from 35 → 40.
• Mystic Projection cooldown increased from 8s → 10s; Phased state reduced from 2s → 1.5s; slow effect now begins at 1.5s with a linear buildup to 35% over 3.5s.

(Additional adjustments for other heroes—including tweaks for Iron Fist, Mister Fantastic, Moon Knight, and Winter Soldier—are detailed in the full patch notes.)

4. Team‑Up Ability Changes

 

New Team-Ups:

• Arcane Order (Doctor Strange – Scarlet Witch):
• Doctor Strange (anchor) gains +100 max health.
• Scarlet Witch unlocks the new Mystic Burst ability.
• Stars Aligned (Captain America – Winter Soldier):
• Captain America (anchor) gains +100 max health and +5% damage.
• Winter Soldier unlocks Stellar Impact.
• Mental Projection (Emma Frost – Psylocke/Magneto):
• Emma Frost (anchor) gains +100 max health.
• Magneto and Psylocke receive new abilities (Magnetic Resonance and Soul Resurgence, respectively).

Removed/Adjusted Team-Ups:

• Metallic Chaos (Scarlet Witch – Magneto) and Voltaic Union (Thor – Captain America/Storm) are removed to prevent stacking issues.
• Adjustments made to Ammo Overload, Chilling Charisma, Dimensional Shortcut, and Gamma Charge to refine synergies.

5. Fixes, Optimizations & General Updates

Bug Fixes:

• Notification errors, text glitches, and spectator issues in Custom Games resolved.
• Terrain clipping, collision, and sound issues on maps fixed.
• Specific fixes for hero abilities (e.g., Captain America’s shield, Adam Warlock’s camera angle, Namor's targeting, Winter Soldier’s ultimate sequence, etc.).

Optimizations:

 

• PC: Experimental Switch Shader Compilation Mode reduces shader compilation to one time after updates. Support for AMD FSR 4 added.
• Console: New sensitivity settings for vertical deadzone, acceleration delay, movement stick deadzone, trigger deadzone, and an optimized focus memory feature.

These comprehensive updates are designed to enhance competitive play, improve user experience, and introduce fresh strategies for the new season. Stay tuned to official channels for further updates and additional mid-season tweaks.