Marvel Rivals Beginner Guide
Any hero shooter is tough to get into, and Marvel Rivals is no exception. There are many heroes to learn, maps to get familiar with, and game modes to understand. If you are coming from other hero shooters like Overwatch, the learning curve might not be as steep. But for anyone who doesn’t have a lot of experience with similar games, the Marvel Rivals beginner experience can be daunting.
So, here is a quick starter guide to get you going and some additional tips and tricks to make the learning process easier.
What is a Hero Shooter?
As the name suggests, a hero shooter is a multiplayer shooter with characters with distinct abilities, skills, and classes. You form teams with other players and fight the other team over an objective.
Marvel Rivals is a 6v6 third-person Hero Shooter. More than 30 heroes are divided into three classes: Vanguard, Duelists, and Strategists. Each hero is taken from Marvel Comics, so you will see characters like Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Hulk, and many more. Because every character is from Marvel, it makes familiarizing yourself with the characters much easier.
The Game Modes
Marvel Rivals features a bunch of different game modes both in competitive and casual forms. These can be confusing at first, but once you get familiar with them, these game modes are pretty simple. Currently, these are the game modes available in Marvel Rivals:
Convoy
In Convoy, one team will be the attackers and the other will be the defenders. The attackers’ goal is to escort a vehicle to its destination. You start from the attacker spawn and have to take the vehicle to the defender spawn within the given time. Defenders will have to stop the attackers from doing this.
Once unlocked, the vehicle will move faster depending on how many attackers are near it. If no attackers are near the vehicle, it will stop. Defenders can even push the vehicle back by re-capturing it.
There are checkpoints in the route, and reaching a checkpoint adds a bit of time to the clock.
The defenders spawn 30 seconds earlier so they can go and set up defenses. Usually, this means, defenders will be waiting outside of the attacker’s spawn and attackers will have to push through them.
Domination
Domination is basically king of the hill. In Domination, both teams fight to capture a certain point on the map. If a team is on the point, that team will make progress towards fully capturing said point, but only when no players from the other team are on the point. As such, it’s crucial that you coordinate with your team in order to fully wipe the enemy team so you can get a good amount of uncontested time on the point.
Once a team reaches 100%, it captures the point and the next round starts. There are three rounds on different maps, and the first team to reach 2 captures wins.
Convergence
Convergence is a combination of Domination and Convoy. It’s the same principle as Convoy, with the only difference being that the attackers will have to capture the point first and then the vehicle will be unlocked. From there, just get the vehicle to its destination and you win.
Doom Match
Doom Match is Marvel Rivals’ free-for-all mode and is available as an arcade mode. There are twelve players in total and to win you need to be in the top 50% of the leaderboard. It’s a simple mode made for practicing and warming up. The game ends when one player reaches 16 kills.
Conquest
Conquest is also an arcade mode like Doom Match. It’s basically a team deathmatch mode, where you respawn fast and have to kill enemies to earn Chronovium Orbs. The first to reach the target score wins.
Limited Time Modes
From time to time Marvel Rivals also adds limited-time modes. These are just fun casual modes to mess around with your friends.
Heroes and Roles
Marvel Rivals currently has more than 30 heroes. These heroes are divided into three roles.
Vanguards
Vanguards are tanks. They have a huge health bar and are designed to absorb damage. The main job of the tank is to hold the frontline and stay on the objective. You are a huge meat shield for the team.
Duelists
Duelists are the main damage dealers in Marvel Rivals. It’s the role everyone wants to play. Duelists’ most basic job is to get kills and deal damage. Every duelist has their own way of doing this. For example, snipers like Hawkeye and Black Widow play at the backlines. Then there are dive duelists like Iron Fist and Spider-Man who try to drop in, get a kill, and retreat. There are also duelists like Wolverine and Mr. Fantastic, who can play alongside Tanks to hold the frontline.
Strategists
Strategists are supporters or healers. Their sole purpose is to keep their teammates alive and healed up. Healers are crucial parts of any team, and while they’re not necessarily the most popular roles, a good healer can mean the difference between winning a match and losing a match.
Team Up Abilities
Team Up Abilities are a rather unique feature in Marvel Rivals. Basically, when certain heroes get paired up in a team, they get extra buffs and abilities.
For example, if Iron Man and Hulk are on the same team, Iron Man gets a gamma damage buff. Similarly, if Spider-Man and Venom are on the same team, Spider-Man gets symbiote powers.
There are a lot of different team-up abilities that you can check out in the game. This feature makes team comps a bit more dynamic, and it can add an interesting layer of strategy to the picking phase.
Seasonal Bonus
Every season, some heroes might get a seasonal bonus. These seasonal bonuses are small buffs like damage buffs or movement speed buffs. It’s a cool way to keep the meta changing. The heroes with a currently active seasonal buff are marked with a yellow icon on the character select screen.
Competitive Mode
Competitive Mode is where players who want to really test their skills go. It has the same modes as casual, but there are some changes.
Domination works the same as in casual mode. In Convoy and Convergence, both teams get a chance to be both attackers and defenders. The team that can get the vehicle the furthest wins.
As is the case with most games, Marvel Rivals has its own ranked system. If you’re interested in that, we have an entire article dedicated to it, but we’ll also give you a brief summary.
There are a total of 9 ranks. There’s Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Grandmaster, Celestial, Eternity, and One Above All.
With the exception of the last two ranks, each rank has three subdivisions (III, II, and I). There are no placement matches. You start from Bronze III and win your way up.
Tips and Tricks for Beginners
With the basics of the game covered, let’s move on to some useful tips and tricks to give you a head start.
Configure Your Settings
While Marvel Rivals isn’t a resource-demanding game to run, you still can get huge fps drops during chaotic moments. It’s a good idea to configure your settings so you get the best performance. We already have a detailed guide on it, so feel free to check it out.
Spend Time in The Practice Range
Practice range is your best friend if you are just starting out. It allows you to experiment with heroes, figure out your sensitivity, and hone your skills. For complete beginners, it’s a good idea to just go into the practice range and spend some time trying out every hero. This will make sure you have a decent idea on what’s going on in a match.
Don’t be Hesitant to Switch Heroes
Marvel Rivals allows you to switch heroes during a game. If the hero you chose isn’t working out and you aren’t able to contribute anything to the team, you should try changing your hero. This also means you should also choose to switch roles if the team needs it. Marvel Rivals is a team game. No matter how good you are, if the teamwork isn’t strong you are not going to win.
Don’t Focus On Finding a Main
A common mistake beginners make is selecting a main early on. It understandable that there might be a hero that you enjoy playing and you might even play better with them. But, locking them as your main early on is not a good idea. Instead, you should try to play and experience all the heroes. Then, decide on a handful few to be your best. That way, even if your main gets taken you can play something else.
Communicate With Your Team
Marvel Rivals is a team game, which is why coordination and communication are key. You don’t need to make big strategic calls if you are just starting out. Basic callouts on enemy positions can already go a long way, for example.
Conclusion
Whether you plan to play Marvel Rivals competitively or casually, this guide gives you the basic information to get you started. Marvel Rivals is a ton of fun to play, and even though it might look like a pretty casual game at first glance, you’ll soon find that there’s a lot of depth to games like these.
You can play Marvel Rivals for free on Steam.
