Marvel Rivals has been out for several weeks now and it’s absolutely killing it as the newest Hero shooter. No matter where you look, Marvel Rivals is being touted as the best Hero shooter in the genre and for good reason! There are 33 playable heroes to choose from right now and each one has a distinct playstyle and strategy. If you’re confused about which character and which role to play, don’t worry because we got you. Here’s a quick rundown of the roles and characters in Marvel Rivals.
Vanguard
If you’re an Overwatch 2 player, you’ll know this role as the tank role. Your job as the Vanguard is to create space for your team to push up for objectives and defend the backline from your enemies attacks. Vanguard characters have the highest health in the game in order for them to sit at the frontline and soak up all the pressure and damage for your team. While you may not have the most damage in the game, you are by far the hardest character to kill. If you like standing at the front and being basically unkillable, then Vanguard is the role for you.
There are two kinds of Vanguards in Marvel Rivals. You have the Bodyguards and the Divers. Bodyguard Vanguards sit in front of their Duelist and Strategist and make sure that they don’t get picked off by the enemies and they secure the objective area. Examples of this type are Magneto, Groot, and Dr. Strange. They often have utility abilities that can help peel enemies from your backline or ensure a steady push.
The second type of Vanguards are the Divers. You have characters like Captain America, Venom, Hulk, and Thor who create space for their team by disrupting the backline of your opponent. They are usually harder to play than the Bodyguard but can have the most agency when pushing up. Their main role is to lead the team in a push by making sure the enemy can’t out-damage or out-heal your team. They have a lot of mobility and can oftentimes win a solo fight with the enemy Duelist or Strategist. Playing these types of Vanguards requires a lot more forethought, however. One wrong dive and you get instantly killed by 3 or 4 backline enemies.
Duelist
The Duelist is arguably the most popular role since they’re the kind of characters you expect in a Hero shooter game. Their main role is to apply constant damage and get kills so the team can score objectives. As of right now, there are 18 playable duelists so you have quite the number of choices.
Just like the Vanguard, there are two types of Duelists. I classify them as either Flankers or Dealers. While their goal is relatively the same, the means by which they achieve it is different. Flankers roam away from the main fight and try to find an opening in the enemies back line. They then either assassinate the enemy Strategist or the their Duelist before getting out. They have high mobility and insane burst damage built into their kit.
Alternatively, they can also easily dive the backline with high mobility skills and kill multiple enemies at once. the main downside of Flankers is that they aren’t the best at long range. Examples of Flankers are Psyloche, Wolverine, Iron Fist, Magik, Spider-man, and Black Panther.
Dealers, on the other hand, sit behind the Vanguard and apply constant pressure on the enemies by shooting them from long-range. Unlike the Flankers, their damage does not fall off at long range and are happy to snipe low-health enemies. They are happy to shoot down enemies from far away but have a harder time when being flanked. They usually have and escape button in their kit but are extremely vulnerable when that skill is down. Black Widow is an exception to this as she does have a melee form.
Examples of Dealers in the game are Hawkeye, Black Widow, Star Lord, and Iron Man. Playing Duelist is arguably the most straightforward role but requires you to have really good aim.
Strategist
Strategists are the support characters for Marvel Rivals. They have medium damage but all have innate healing abilities to support their team when they get low health. In addition to this, they have a variety of utility skills like damage boost, damage reduction, and crowd control abilities (CC). I would argue that Strategists are one of the harder roles to play in the game because you need to be constantly proactive when it comes to healing and supporting. You are quite literally the only source of healing outside of medpacks.
Strategists need to have good positioning (Moreso than any other role) and have to be more mindful about their skill cooldowns. In a Hero shooter, it’s tempting to run off and keep clicking away at the enemies but you can’t do that as a Strategist. You win team fights by staying back and keeping your team alive. As a Strategist, timing is everything!
More often than not, their ultimate skills can make or break entire team fights and pushes. As a Strategist, your crowd control skills are usually what keeps you and your teammates alive when being dove by Spider-man or being flanked by Iron Fist Examples of Strategists in the game are Luna Snow, Mantis, Rocket, Adam Warlock, and Jeff! If you played a lot of support in Overwatch 2 like Mercy or Moira, then you’ll enjoy the Strategist role.
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