Now that the game has been out for a month now, we can finally give a guide on Marvel Rivals. I’ve spent a good amount of time ranking and watching videos and these are the agreed on fundamentals every Marvel Rivals player needs to know.
Always Target the Strategist
As a Strategist main, this hurts me to my very core to say but everyone should absolutely go for the Strategist when you can. Strategists have the most busted ultimates in the game and can make or break team fights. They’re the reason why you find it hard to kill the enemy Vanguard and why you think your DPS aren’t getting any kills. If you go for the Strategist when you can, then the enemy team loses all sustain and has to either fall back or stop the push.
If you’re a Duelist, you need to stop unloading all your damage into the tank all game and focus the enemy healer. I promise you, if you make the enemy healer have a bad time all game, the enemy team won’t be able to push or hold a point. This is a fundamental concept that I’ve seen so many players overlook. Yes, the game is a shooter game and the point is to kill the enemy on sight, but your kills need to impact the game. What makes Marvel Rivals so fun is that it’s a team objective game that haoppens to be a shooter. You win by taking objective and not just killing.
Know Your Role
This should be a given. It pains me that this is evidently not a given, especially in the silver and bronze lobbies. I have seen way too many Luna Snow players forget to put their healing orb on their teammates and just act as a third or fourth DPS instead of healing. Sure, your job as a Strategist is not to just healbot the whole game, but your main role is to keep your teammates alive. Shoot the enemies when you can but it shouldn’t come at the cost of your tank dying.
As for the Vanguards, your role as tank is rather straightforward but pretty nuanced. While your job is to tank most of the damage for your team and create space for the push, that doesn’t mean running into the enemy and dying instantly. Play around your cooldowns and play with your healer.
The same goes for dive vanguards who run in, dive the enemy backline and die while pinging your healer. Don’t push up alone and play to the tempo of your team. If you see them not pushing, play defensively and wait for ultimates before making a push. I know Captain Americas who will run in, jump, and dive the backline only to get killed by the DPS and enemy tank.
If you’re a Duelist, you either need to keep picking off the enemy Strategist or apply constant pressure with damage. Now, that doesn’t mean focusing the enemy tank and damage farming. It means keep shooting the enemy backline and force the Tank to reposition or make them group up. If you’re playing a flanker like Psylocke or Black Panther, play around cooldowns and have a plan to get out. That means keeping track of your cooldowns and the enemy’s.
Have Good Positioning
In Marvel Rivals, this is especially important in for Vanguards and Strategists. Good positioning can make or break pushes and holds. The first thing you need to know is the layout of the map; where the enemy usually holds and where you can push. Secondly, be aware of where your Strategist is (Your tank if you’re the Strategist), and where the enemy is positioned. Take for example on Shin-Shibuya where you have to capture point to push. Most tanks will walk directly out into the open and waste their shield by being shot for free. The correct move is to hug the far wall and only use your shield when you no longer have natural cover.
As for Strategists, play around the tank and natural cover. It’s awfully tempting to just move forward for kills and hit the enemy. However, that’s how you get killed instead of kills. If you’re positioning agressively for no reason, then you’re going to get picked off easily. Play around natural cover and position agressively only for securing point or keeping your tank alive. However, that doesn’t mean you should play passively as a healbot. Don’t be afraid to follow your tank to help him win the 1v2 as long as you aren’t compromising point or it means you’re going to die if the tank dies.
As for DPS, you have to know when to split off, when to push with the team, and how to positiong agressively while still having an escape route. This is especailly important for flanking DPS. You need to position properly so you can get a pick and you don’t get killed for free. This involves knowing the map and where the enemy backline is positioned. This also means knowing your effective range and we’ll talk about that next.i
Play to Your Effective Range
Knowing your effective range is key. Heroes in Marvel Rivals like Psylocke are strong because she can two-tap most squishies at close range. It makes no sense to keep peppering the enemy from afar when you have one of the strongest burst combos in the game. The same goes for players who main Punisher. You need to play to your range and not just sit in the back like a Black Widow. You have a shotgun that can two-tap squishies and low-health tanks. Don’t just sit back with your turret or rifle and hold down left-click.
I see players that are either too close or too far. Know the enemy range and your range and play to that. This is part of the last section as well on positioning. Once you understad this concept, you’ll win more of your 1v1 duels.
Improve your Aim and Movement
It goes without saying that aim and movement is absolutely important in a shooter game. Having bad aim and then locking in Scarlet Witch or Moon Knight isn’t going to help you improve. If anything, it’s fostering bad habits and doesn’t solve the problem. Sure, these heroes are meant to be the accessibility point for players new to the game, but if you want to improve, then you need to work on your aim. I listed Moon knight as an example also because I know there are MK players who prefer to hit the ankh and not the enemies in the ankh radius. You deal way more damage when shooting enemies compared to the ankh.
If you want to improve at the game, you need to improve your aim. Marvel Rivals is a shooter game and the main fundamental of shooters is having good aim. Take it slow. You don’t need to have god-like aim from the get go. All it takes is a bit of time and understanding what you’re lacking.
So there you have it. These are, in my opinion, the most important fundamentals to work on if you want to improve at Marvel Rivals. Take time to learn and practice each one before moving on to more nuanced techniques and aspects of the game. Good luck and happy ranking!
Wanna Know which Marvel Rivals Hero to Play? Here are some guides for you!
