We're officially in the swing of the faster seasonal update cycle, seeing a brand-new character each and every month, alongside a suite of new, tweaked, and retired team-up abilities. To make matters even worse, it's time for the Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 patch notes to stir the pot even more.
Below, I'll go over all the buffs and nerfs coming alongside the Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 release date on Friday, August 8. Please don't shoot the messenger if your main has been gutted—though they probably deserved it, ok. I'm just pleased that my favourite tank is getting buffed again.
Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 patch notes
The big winners of the 3.5 update are undoubtedly tanks, most of which are seeing some nice upgrades to their kits. Hey, even Thor is getting a buff (including a new anti-air feature like The Thing in the previous update), though it's not going to move the needle in his favour all that much. Sorry, Thor mains.
To all you healers, I'll give you prior warning that Spider-Man and Iron Fist are getting powered up…for some reason. To make matters worse, the pest that is Black Panther is getting a rather meaningless nerf that will only make bad players worse while good ones continue to wipe the floor. Bullying the backline has never been so easy, though maybe that's why tanks got the spotlight in this update.
These are all the balance changes being made to both heroes and team-up abilities in Season 3.5:
Doctor Strange
The Master of the Mystic Arts—and my favourite tank—is getting another batch of buffs to claw back some of his power that was lost in Season 1 and 2:
Groot
Everyone's favourite flora colossus, who was already an incredibly strong tank in the right hands, is being treated to some additional reach. Keep in mind that Groot's also got a new team-up ability with Mantis that causes his walls to heal allies, so he'll be a great pick in Season 3.5:
Magneto
Arguably the most tanky of tanks, Magneto's seeing a slight nerf to his survivability:
Thor
While the God of Thunder is getting a jolt of power in Season 3.5, including a counter to flying heroes (sort of), it's still not enough to make him meta in Season 3.5:
Black Panther
After addressing his hit detection bug in a recent update, T'Challa's actually seeing a slight nerf. However, I don't think it'll make that much of a difference in the hands of a Black Panther main:
Iron Fist
Lin Lie, already the bane of all healers, is getting a handful of buffs to account for the loss of his team-up anchor status in Season 3.5. Iron Fist mains rejoice, I guess? The rest of us will cower:
Star-Lord
Alongside an exciting new team-up ability that lets him teleport like Tracer from Overwatch, Star-Lord is also gaining bonus survivability:
Wolverine
Like music to my ears as a tank main, Wolverine's actually getting hit harder than I thought in Season 3.5, though his team-up with Phoenix still makes him a pain:
Spider-Man
He might not be meta, but Spider-Man is perhaps the most infuriating character to fight in Marvel Rivals. Unfortunately, Peter's being buffed once again. Those skins won't sell themselves:
Adam Warlock
Nerf after nerf, despite not actually being all that meta, it's finally time for Adam to get quite a sizeable upgrade. In fact, his new balance changes also include brand-new effects:
Cloak & Dagger
As one of the most powerful and popular Strategists since launch, Ty and Tandy got off light with just a slight nerf in the upcoming patch notes:
Mantis
In what feels like a very unfair move, Mantis is seeing the nerf hammer strike yet again, thanks to her gaining a new team-up ability:
Ever-Burning Bond team-up
Alongside a host of new and retired team-ups, the Ever-Burning Bond team-up ability between Human Torch and Spider-Man is getting a slight upgrade:
