Marvel Rivals season 2: Release date, patch notes and what to expect

So, when does season 2 start, and what’s included? Read on for everything you need to know.

When is the Marvel Rivals season 2 release date?

Marvel Rivals season 2 launches at midnight UTC on Friday 11th April 2025.

The developer, NetEase, made it clear through the game’s official site and the final segment of the trailer presenting the upcoming season that this has been officially verified.

Kicking off a fresh chapter, this major overhaul promises a wealth of topics to explore.

What to expect from Marvel Rivals season 2

The storyline for season 2 is outlined as follows: Following the dramatic events of the Eternal Night saga, which culminated in the defeat of Dracula, Emma Frost organizes a grand celebration. She extends invitations to all, encouraging them to dress elegantly and journey to the Mutant sanctuary, the Living Island Krakoa, for the yearly Hellfire ball.

However, it’s worth noting that true tranquility eludes our heroes. Uninvited, Ultron has gate-crashed the festivities, forcing those present to leap into action and safeguard Krakoa’s most prized asset from his clutches.

It looks like there will be two fresh characters added to our team in season 2: Emma Frost and Ultron.

It’s common knowledge that Emma Frost is joining the team as a Vanguard, which is a role the game has been missing. However, we haven’t learned what category Ultron will fall under yet.

Additionally, we’ll be receiving a fresh map titled “HELLFIRE GALA: KRAKOA,” which is based on the previously mentioned tales and legends.

As a devoted enthusiast, I can’t help but notice that these significant updates are the main attractions, yet they’re not the only improvements being rolled out for the game. There’s an array of smaller tweaks and adjustments still in the works!

As a passionate fan, I’m thrilled to learn that fresh collaborations are on the horizon for our beloved title! Some of the current partnerships might undergo adjustments, while others could even be replaced altogether. Can’t wait to see what these changes bring!

New weekly tasks will be added alongside the daily ones, aimed at aiding players in accessing in-game prizes more frequently.

Of course, with a fresh season comes a brand-new Battle Pass, along with an array of novel outfits for characters throughout the game.

In the end, even though this change won’t impact Season 2, an announcement has been made: starting from Season 3, we’ll be adopting a two-month format. This means that a fresh hero will debut every month.

Marvel Rivals season 2 patch notes

NetEase has shared details about the adjustments in balance for season 2 ahead of schedule, giving us an insight into the modifications that will be implemented this week.

Here are the full patch notes for Marvel Rivals season 2:

Vanguard

As a dedicated gamer, I’m about to go through some tweaks that’ll affect my survivability in the game world. This might mean a slight drop in my overall resilience, but I’m ready for it!

• Reduce base health from 675 to 650.
• Reduce the shield value of Living Legend from 400 to 350.

In the upcoming scenario, Doctor Strange – the supreme sorcerer – will experience a decrease in his offensive potency, thereby restricting his command over the battlefield.

• Decrease Daggers of Denak damage per projectile from 18 to 16.
• Reduce the Maelstrom of Madness conversion ratio of Dark Magic to damage from 1.3 to 1.2.

As a gamer, I’m pumped! When I jump into battle with the Hulk, he’s going to be more agile and tougher than ever before. That’s right, increased maneuverability and durability – I can’t wait to see him take on the competition!

• Increase base movement speed from 600 to 650.
• Reduce cooldown time for Indestructible Guard from 12 seconds to 10 seconds.
• Decrease minimum charge time for Incredible Leap from 0.7 seconds to 0.5 seconds.

Magneto, the Master of Magnetism, is going to see a minor reduction in the use of his ultimate power.

• Increase energy cost for Meteor M (Ultimate Ability) from 3100 to 3400.

Peni Parker is set to experience improvements in the effectiveness of her main attack damage, as well as an enhancement to her durability and overall fighting prowess.

• Cyber-Web Cluster now has a chance to crit; reduce movement speed penalty while firing Cyber-Web Cluster from 40 per cent to 20 per cent.
• Increase base health from 650 to 750.

In simpler terms, the impact of The Thing’s shield that lessens damage taken will experience a minor decrease.

• Decrease Embattled Leap’s damage reduction effect for himself and teammates from 30 per cent to 25 per cent.

Thor – The Mighty Thor will receive an increase in survivability.

• Increase base health from 525 to 600.
• Increase base movement speed from 600 to 650.

Duelist

Black Widow – Natasha is receiving optimisations to her shooting experience.

• Added a new effect where Black Widow can directly shoot after releasing the second kick of Edge Dancer and after using Electro-Plasma Explosion (Ultimate Ability).

In our latest update, we’re boosting Clint’s agility during archery movements, amplifying his battle prowess, and elevating the potency of his Ultimate Skill.

• Reduce the slow effect while charging the bow from 30 per cent to 20 per cent.
• Increase both instances of damage for Hypersonic Arrow from 50 to 55.
• Decrease energy cost for Hunter’s Sight (Ultimate Ability) from 3700 to 3100 and improve the bow draw speed increase from 1.35x to 1.5x.

In the upcoming changes, the Goddess of Death, Hela, is expected to experience a decrease in her movement capabilities, but her offensive strength is set to receive a slight boost.

• Increase cooldown time for Astral Flock from 12 seconds to 15 seconds.
• Increase Spell Field Damage of Piercing Night from 30 to 35.
• Decrease cooldown time for Soul Drainer from 12 seconds to 10 seconds.

Improvements for Human Torch (Johnny) – We’re boosting Johnny’s offensive responses and durability to make him more effective in a wider range of battle situations.

• Reduce attack interval for Fire Cluster from 0.6 seconds to 0.5 seconds; the launch timing of the primary attack projectile has been advanced.
• Increase the cooldown for Flaming Meteor from 12 seconds to 15 seconds, but add a new effect: After releasing Flaming Meteor, immediately gain 75 Bonus Health, which will start to falloff 3 seconds later at a rate of 30 per second.

Iron Man – Iron Man is seeing improvements to his mid-range combat effectiveness.

• Slightly reduce Iron Man’s hitbox size.
• New feature: Gain 100 Bonus Health activating Armor Overdrive or Gamma Overdrive that will start to falloff 5 seconds later at a rate of 30 per second.

In the beginning of a battle, Lin Lie’s Iron Fist ability will boost his fighting efficiency versus Vanguards, enhance his movement to some extent, but slightly diminish his resilience or durability.

• Reduce the Bonus Max Health gained from Harmony Recovery from 150 to 100, but slow the falloff rate of that health from 25 per/s to 15 per/s.
• Lower fixed damage of Yat Jee Chung Kuen from 10 to 9, but increase the percentage damage of the enemy’s Max Health per strike from 1.7 per cent to 2.1 per cent.
• Decrease the cooldown for K’un-Lun Kick from 12 seconds to 10 seconds.

Let’s improve Reed Richards’ abilities, fine-tune his ultimate energy charge speed, grant him more control options, and enhance the delivery of his Ultimate Skill for a better user experience.

• Increase base health from 350 to 375.
• Boost the damage of Stretch Punch from 60 to 65 and from 75 to 80 while in Inflated state.
• Flexible Elongation New Effect: Enemies within range now suffer a 35 per cent slow effect; reduce Flexible Elongation cooldown time from 10s to 8s.
• Reduce the Elasticity gained from Elastic Strength (passive ability) from 30 to 20, while the Elasticity provided by Stretch Punch is increased from 5 to 8. After entering the inflated state, the Bonus Health provided to self has been reduced from 450 to 400.
• New Feature: When Mister Fantastic uses Brainiac Bounce (Ultimate Ability), immediately gain Bonus Health equal to that gained when entering inflated state.

As a dedicated Moon Knight gamer, I’m all about fine-tuning the Moon Blade’s rebound response for better control, enhancing my Ultimate Ability’s impact, and boosting my durability in the heat of battle to stay alive longer!

• Increase Crescent Dart projectile speed from 120m/s to 150 m/s.
• Moon Blade New Effect: Gain 25 Bonus Health with each enemy hit, up to a max of 100. 3 seconds after the Bonus Health stops increasing, it will start to falloff at a rate of 20 per second.
• Speed up Moonlight Hook pull startup time after hit from 0.4 seconds to 0.15 seconds.
• Extend the duration of the Hand of Khonshu (Ultimate Ability) from 3.5 seconds to 4.5 seconds, and increase the number of talons generated during this period from 14 to 18. Additionally, the fall speed of the talons has been slightly enhanced. A new damage falloff mechanic for the spell field has been added, beginning at 1.5 metres from the center and reaching a maximum reduction of 70 per cent at 5 metres.

Scarlet Witch – Let’s make Wanda less resilient, yet more formidable against Strategists and Duelists, all while enhancing the way her ultimate ability is triggered.

• Remove Chaos Control percentage damage while increasing fixed damage from 60/s to 80/s.
• Increase Chthonian Burst projectile damage from 35 to 40 and spell field damage from 35 to 40.
• Increase the cooldown of Mystic Projection from 8 seconds to 10 seconds, and reduce Phased state time from 2 seconds to 1.5 seconds.
• Rework the slow effect of Reality Erasure to start at 1.5 seconds instead of starting immediately, with a linear increase to a 35 per cent slow over 3.5 seconds.

Star-Lord – We’ll decrease Peter’s capacity for inflicting damage and the speed at which his ultimate ability gets ready to use.

• Reduce Blaster Barrage damage from 80 per second to 75. Introduce a new damage falloff mechanic, starting at 4 metres and maxing out at 80 per cent reduction at 8 metres.

Winter Soldier – We’re decreasing the danger level that Bucky poses towards Vanguards, and minimizing the room for mistakes when using his Ultimate Skill.

• Increase the cooldown time for Bionic Hook from 8 seconds to 12 seconds.
• Reduce base damage of Kraken Impact (Ultimate Ability) from 100 to 80, but lower the culling threshold from 20 per cent of maximum health to 15 per cent.

For Wolverine, we’re adjusting the speed at which he triggers Logan’s Rage and reducing his grip on opponents during battles.

• Increase Rage gained from Savage Claw hits from 7 to 10, while Rage gained from Berserk Claw Strike has been decreased from 7 to 5. Reduce Rage gained from Feral Leap from 20 to 10, and from Vicious Rampage from 20 to 15. However, Rage gained from taking damage has been increased from 3 to 5.
• Reduce the time an enemy is knocked down after impact from Last Stand (Ultimate Ability) from 1 second to 0.75 seconds.

Strategist

As an ardent admirer, let me share this: I’m tweaking the usage of Adam Warlock’s powers a bit – cutting down on how often his abilities manifest, and modifying the healing effectiveness of his Ultimate Ability when reviving teammates.

• Increase the cooldown for Soul Bond from 30s to 40s.
• Karmic Revival (Ultimate Ability) now restores 30 per cent of a fallen ally’s maximum health instead of a fixed 100 Health.

Cloak and Dagger – We’re optimizing the logic of this dynamic duo’s Ultimate Ability

• After activating Eternal Bond (Ultimate Ability), the duration of the first three healing zones will no longer be calculated separately; instead, they will remain active until the duration of the final healing zone ends, at which point all will be removed together.

Improving Susan’s Shielding Abilities – We are making adjustments to enhance Susan’s shielding skills for a more tactical and enjoyable gaming experience.

• Decrease the shield value of Guardian Shield from 300 to 250.

Regarding Loki: To even out Loki’s impact during games, we are planning a minor tweak to the rate at which one of his crucial skills becomes available.

• Increase Regeneration Domain cooldown from 25 seconds to 30 seconds.

Mantis – To emphasize strategy over speed, we’re modifying Mantis’ health and buff mechanics.

• Reduce base health from 275 to 250.
• Effects of Healing Flower and Allied Inspiration can be stacked, up to a maximum of 16 seconds.

Rocket Raccoon – Changes are being made to improve Rocket’s healing capabilities, focusing on boosting team resilience, all while maintaining a good balance with his movement speed.

• Decrease the healing area of Repair Mode spheres from 70 health/s to 50 health/s, but add a new effect of one-time healing of 55 health to allies hit. Projectile speed reduction increased from 4.5 m/s to 7 m/s.
• Extend cooldown for Jetpack Dash from 6 seconds to 10 seconds; reduce dash distance from 10 metres to 8 metres.
• Reduce C.Y.A. (Ultimate Ability) damage boost from 40 per cent to 25 per cent, but add a new effect: during the ability’s duration, linked allies will receive an additional 100 Bonus Health points per second, capping at 150. After breaking the link, this bonus starts to falloff after 1 second at a rate of 75 per/s. Additionally, increase the energy cost from 3700 to 4000.

New Team-Up Abilities

Arcane Order (Doctor Strange – Scarlet Witch)

This mystical duo is set to enhance their powers!

• As the Team-Up Anchor, Doctor Strange gains a maximum health increase of 100.
• Scarlet Witch unlocks a new magical Mystic Burst ability through her team-up with Doctor Strange.

Stars Aligned (Captain America – Winter Soldier)

A classic partnership now with added strength!

• As the Team-Up Anchor, Captain America gains a maximum health increase of 100 and a 5 per cent boost in damage output.
• Winter Soldier unlocks the devastating Stellar Impact ability through his team-up with Captain America.

Mental Projection (Emma Frost – Psylocke/Magneto)

A powerful trio that connects minds and abilities!

• As the Team-Up Anchor, Emma Frost gains a maximum health increase of 100.
• Magneto receives the Magnetic Resonance ability through his team-up with Emma Frost.
• Psylocke receives the Soul Resurgence ability through her team-up with Emma Frost.

Adjusted or Removed Team-Up Abilities

Ammo Overload (Rocket Racoon – Winter Soldier)

A slight change for this battle-hardened hero!

• Winter Soldier loses the Infinite Grit ability he once had through his team-up with Rocket Raccoon.

Chilling Charisma (Luna Snow – Namor)

Things are heating up as synergies change!

• Namor has lost the Frozen Spawn ability from his team-up with Luna Snow.

Dimensional Shortcut (Magik – Psylocke)

A temporal reconfiguration for these powerful souls!

• Psylocke has lost the Psionic Disc ability previously attained from her team-up with Magik.

Gamma Charge (Hulk -Doctor Strange/Namor)

Changes in synergy for these heavyweights!

• Doctor Strange loses the Gamma Maelstrom ability previously gained from his team-up with Hulk.
• Namor now gains the Gamma Monstro ability through his team-up with Hulk.

Metallic Chaos (Scarlet Witch – Magneto)

A disconnect in family synergy!

• The Team-Up Anchor enhancement effect for Scarlet Witch has been removed, along with the Metallic Chaos Team-Up Ability.
• Magneto loses the Metallic Fusion ability he had through his team-up with Scarlet Witch.

Voltaic Union (Thor – Captain America/Storm)

A shift in electrical dynamics for this trio!

• The Team-Up Anchor effect for Thor has been removed, along with the Voltaic Union Team-Up Ability.
• Captain America loses the Charged Aegis ability from his team-up with Thor.
• Storm loses the Charged Gale ability gained from her team-up with Thor.

• Marvel Rivals tier list: The best characters
• Marvel Rivals trophy guide: Full list of achievements
• Marvel Rivals player count: How many have picked it up?
• Will Marvel Rivals come to Switch: Director comments on handheld options