Written by Season 9.5 isn’t just introducing The Hood to Marvel Rivals. Launching on August 7, the update also brings another round of hero balance changes, with adjustments spread across every role along with several Team-Up abilities.
None of these changes are especially flashy on paper. Even so, many of them target the exact parts of a hero’s kit that you already interact with every match, whether that’s Wolverine’s Rage, Peni Parker’s crowd control, or White Fox’s Ultimate. Here’s everything changing in the Season 9.5 balance update.
Vanguards: Devil Dinosaur | Doctor Strange | Magneto | Peni Parker | Rogue | Venom
Duelists: Black Panther | Cyclops | Elsa Bloodstone | Hela | Moon Knight | Phoenix | Scarlet Witch | Wolverine
Strategists: Gambit | Jubilee | Loki | White Fox
Every Vanguard Buff and Nerf in Marvel Rivals Season 9.5
Peni falls, Devil Dino rises. | Image Credit: NetEase Games
Six Vanguard heroes are receiving adjustments in Season 9.5, with most of the patch focusing on Team-Ups, survivability, and crowd control:
Devil Dinosaur
Devil Dinosaur is receiving buffs to both his overall damage and his Bubble Buddies Team-Up with Jeff the Land Shark:
Increase Maximum Health Percentage Damage dealt by the first four attacks of Frenzied Feast from 5% to 8%, and the fifth attack from 10% to 12%.
When selecting the Team-Up with Jeff the Land Shark, increase Surf & Turf maximum duration from 4s to 5s, and the healing effect on allies from 40 to 60.
Frenzied Feast already gave Devil Dinosaur a strong answer into enemy tanks, and these percentage damage buffs make every bite hurt even more. If you’re running the Jeff team-up, the stronger healing and extra second of duration are also sure to make a difference.
Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange is receiving buffs to both his primary fire and his Gamma Maelstrom Team-Up with Hulk:
Increase Daggers of Denak single-hit damage from 16 to 18 and projectile charges from 10 to 12.
When selecting the Team-Up with Hulk, reduce Gamma Maelstrom cooldown from 8s to 6s.
The extra projectiles will let Strange players keep pressure on enemies a little longer before reloading, while Gamma Maelstrom will now become available much more frequently if Hulk is on your team.
Magneto
Magneto’s Metallic Chaos Team-Up with Scarlet Witch is receiving a small quality-of-life buff:
When selecting the Team-Up with Scarlet Witch, Enhanced Effect: The Metallic Chaos projectile hit now adds a minor Launch Up effect to enemies.
Metallic Chaos is already one of Magneto’s most popular Team-Ups, and this simply gives it a little more utility if you have a Scarlet Witch in your team. Launching enemies into the air creates easier follow-up opportunities for both you and your teammates without increasing the ability’s raw damage.
Peni Parker
Peni Parker is the only Vanguard receiving a sizeable set of nerfs in Season 9.5:
Remove the direct Immobilize effect upon hitting enemies with Cyber-Web Snare. New Effect: Now applies a stack of Web-Tracer and a 30% Slow effect for 1s. The Web-Tracer lasts for 5s. If an enemy with a Web-Tracer is hit by the snare again, they will be Immobilized for 0.7s.
Adjust Cyber-Web Snare to be a charge-based ability, with a maximum of 2 charges.
Reduce Bonus Health cap provided to Peni by Cyber-Webs from 200 to 150.
Landing one snare (secondary fire) is no longer enough to lock someone down immediately. You now have to connect a second shot before the root kicks in, giving opponents more room to react while rewarding accurate Peni players with the new charge system.
Rogue
Rogue is becoming even harder to take down thanks to another pair of defensive buffs:
Increase the damage reduction multiplier while in Defensive Stance from 55% to 60%.
Increase Regenerative Shield capacity from 250 to 275.
Rogue has received several survivability buffs over the past few patches, and NetEase isn’t stopping here. The extra damage reduction helps while you’re actively brawling, while another 25 points of Regenerative Shield gives you a little more health to recover between fights before jumping back in.
Venom
Venom is receiving a pair of nerfs aimed at his survivability and mobility:
Reduce the Bonus Health provided by Symbiotic Resilience from 120% of lost health to 110%.
Increase Venom Swing cooldown from 8s to 10s.
While the Bonus Health reduction is noticeable, the extra two seconds on his Swing may end up having the bigger impact. Whether diving into the backline or trying to escape after baiting a cooldown or two, Venom players will have to be much more deliberate about when they commit.
Every Duelist Buff and Nerf in Marvel Rivals Season 9.5
Bub gets even angrier. | Image Credit: NetEase Games
Nine Duelists are receiving changes in Season 9.5, with buffs outweighing the nerfs this time around. The patch also revisits several Team-Ups introduced with Season 9, trimming a few of the strongest while giving others another reason to equip them:
Black Panther
Black Panther’s Damisa-Sarki Team-Up with Storm is receiving a small nerf:
When selecting the Team-Up with Storm, reduce the area damage to enemies from 40 to 30, and increase the cooldown from 12s to 15s.
Damisa-Sarki has made it much easier to set up Black Panther’s near-instantaneous combos, so this adjustment doesn’t come as a surprise. The Team-Up still gives T’Challa another way to engage, but you’ll have to be a little more selective about when you use it now that it’s available less often.
Cyclops
Cyclops is receiving buffs to both his base kit and his Team-Up with Gambit:
Increase cooldown reduction provided to Ricochet Force per Optic Blast hit from 0.15s to 0.25s.
When selecting the Team-Up with Gambit, increase the Concussive Beam Attack Frequency boost from 10% to 15%.
Landing your primary fire will now reward you with even more cooldown reduction for Ricochet Force (E ability), while Gambit’s Team-Up will help you squeeze extra damage out of Concussive Beam.
Elsa Bloodstone
Elsa Bloodstone’s Devil Dinosaur Team-Up is being toned down:
When selecting the Team-Up with Devil Dinosaur, reduce the health of an activated Smoky Snare trap from 100 to 50, and its Control duration from 1.5s to 1.2s.
Smoky Snare was often difficult to remove once it became active. Cutting both its health and control duration gives players caught in it a much better chance to deal with the crowd control effect.
Hela
Hela’s Deep Wrath Team-Up with Namor is receiving a small damage nerf:
When selecting the Team-Up with Namor, reduce Undead Monstro single-hit damage from 15 to 10.
Deep Wrath has been one of the strongest Duelist Team-Ups since Season 9 launched, especially in the hands of mechanically skilled Hela players. This doesn’t change how the ability works, but it does lower the extra damage by a substantial 33.33%.
Moon Knight
Moon Knight is receiving one of the larger sets of Duelist buffs in Season 9.5:
Adjust Crescent Dart and Moon Blade bounce damage decay from 30% to 20% per bounce.
When selecting the Team-Up with Cloak & Dagger, reduce Luminous Moon cooldown from 15s to 12s.
Base Effect: Increase dash duration from 0.3s to 0.35s and dash distance from 12m to 15m.
Enhanced Effect: Moon Knight gains a 3s healing effect of 20 Health/s after leaving the Phased state.
Moon Knight has fallen out of favor a bit since Season 9 launched, with pick rates in Competitive below 4% for Platinum and above (via NetEase Games), and these buffs should help him claw back some of that lost ground.
Phoenix
Phoenix is getting buffs to both her base kit and her Rogue Team-Up:
Increase the damage dealt when detonating Sparks from 35 to 40, and increase the area damage from 12 to 15.
When selecting the Team-Up with Rogue, increase Telekinetic Beatdown damage dealt from 45 to 55.
Phoenix already excelled at punishing grouped enemies once her Sparks started chaining. Higher detonation damage makes those explosions even deadlier, while the Rogue Team-Up gives Telekinetic Beatdown another noticeable bump in damage.
Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch’s Team-Up with Doctor Strange is receiving a quality-of-life rework:
When selecting the Team-Up with Doctor Strange:
Base Effect: The ability has an 8s cooldown and 8s duration. When activated, Chthonian Burst is replaced with Mystic Burst, allowing magic missiles to be fired freely with no energy cost.
Enhanced Effect: Becomes a toggle-type ability. When toggled on, Mystic Burst replaces Chthonian Burst, allowing magic missiles to be fired freely with no energy cost.
Instead of giving you a bigger Chaos Energy pool and faster energy generation, this Team-Up now removes Chaos Energy management altogether while Mystic Burst is active. If you are playing Wanda with a Doctor Strange in your team, you’ll be able to spend far more time firing missiles instead of worrying about conserving energy, with the Enhanced Effect going a step further by turning it into a toggle instead of a temporary buff.
Wolverine
Wolverine’s Rage mechanic is receiving several buffs:
Increase Rage gained per hit taken from 5 to 8.
Adjust Rage decay timer from starting after 4s of no Rage gained to after 5s.
At maximum Rage, reduce the decay rate from 15/s to 10/s.
In other words, landing attacks now builds Rage 60% faster, and once you’ve reached maximum Rage, it’s much easier to stay there. Logan is already one of the best answers into tank-heavy team comps, and these buffs should help him keep that pressure up more consistently throughout a fight.
Every Strategist Buff and Nerf in Marvel Rivals Season 9.5
Support heroes aren’t left out. | Image Credit: NetEase Games
Five Strategists are receiving changes in Season 9.5, including buffs for Jubilee, Loki, and White Fox, alongside another Team-Up adjustment for Gambit:
Gambit
Gambit’s Team-Up with Magneto is receiving a small nerf:
When selecting the Team-Up with Magneto, adjust the Launch Up Frequency of the spell field from 0.5s to 1s.
If you’ve ever tried fighting inside this spell field, you’ll know how disruptive it could be. Enemies will now spend much less time getting bounced around, giving them more opportunities to actually fight back instead of waiting for the next Launch Up.
Jubilee
Jubilee is receiving buffs to one of her core abilities:
Increase Energy Plasmoids single-hit damage from 10 to 11 and single-hit healing from 14 to 15.
A one-point increase may not sound like much, but Energy Plasmoids are something you’re constantly throwing out during a match. That means both your healing and damage see a small boost every time you use them.
Loki
Loki’s Mystical Missile is getting faster:
Increase Mystical Missile Projectile Speed from 100m/s to 120m/s.
Projectile speed buffs are always welcome. Loki players can expect to spend less time leading their shots, making it easier to pressure fast-moving Duelists without changing how you play.
White Fox
White Fox is receiving buffs to Kumiho Unleashed:
Reduce the energy cost of Kumiho Unleashed (Ultimate Ability) from 4800 to 4300.
After casting, automatically apply the Blessed by the Nine effect to all allies within a 10m radius for 3s.
This is probably the biggest Strategist buff in the patch. A cheaper Ultimate means you’ll see Kumiho Unleashed more often, while automatically applying Blessed by the Nine removes one more thing you previously had to do yourself after casting.
Here is a quick summary of every Marvel Rivals Season 9.5 balance change at a glance:
Buffed:• Devil Dinosaur• Doctor Strange• Magneto (Team-Up)• Rogue• Cyclops• Moon Knight• Phoenix• Scarlet Witch (Team-Up)• Wolverine• Jubilee• Loki• White FoxNerfed:• Peni Parker• Venom• Black Panther (Team-Up)• Elsa Bloodstone (Team-Up)• Hela (Team-Up)• Gambit (Team-Up)
Read the full Marvel Rivals Version 20260807 Balance Post here.
Which change stands out to you the most? Are you looking forward to Wolverine, White Fox, and Moon Knight’s buffs, or do you think Peni Parker and Venom got hit a little too hard? Let us know your hot takes in the comments below!
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
