Hela is finally human. Sorta.
If you've spent any time in the Season 0 trenches, you know the absolute dread of hearing that metallic "clink" of a nightsword before your screen goes gray. For months, the Goddess of Death was basically an administrative delete button for anyone with less than 300 HP. But with the massive dump of the Marvel Rivals Season 1 patch notes, NetEase is finally pulling the emergency brake on the "death from a mile away" meta.
Honestly, it's about time.
The shift into Season 1 isn't just a few number tweaks. It’s a fundamental rework of how we’re going to play the game in 2026. We're talking about the Fantastic Four finally arriving, a massive Hulk glow-up, and a series of nerfs to the "Sniper Row" (Hela and Hawkeye) that might actually let Strategist players breathe for more than four seconds.
The Hulk is Actually a Monster Now
Let's talk about the big green elephant in the room. For a long time, playing Hulk felt like being a giant, angry balloon. You'd jump in, get CC'd (crowd controlled) into oblivion, and then awkwardly limp back to a health pack while Bruce Banner screamed at you.
The newest patch notes change the game for Vanguard mains. Monster Hulk is now immune to launch and knockback effects.
Think about that. You can't just Boop him away anymore. If a Monster Hulk is coming at you, he is coming at you. On top of that, they shaved the charge time off his Incredible Leap.
- Minimum charge: 0.5s down to 0.4s.
- Maximum charge: 2.0s down to 1.7s.
- Gamma Burst cooldown: 8s down to 6s.
- Projectile Damage: 70 up to 75.
It's a "gamma boost" that actually makes him feel like a threat rather than a target dummy.
The Sniper Nerfs: Hela and Hawkeye Take a Hit
If you're a Hela main, I'm not sorry. You've had your fun. The patch notes have officially dropped her base health from 275 down to 250. It sounds small, but in a game where damage breakpoints are everything, this is huge. Spider-Man can now actually finish his combo on her without her just walking away.
Her damage falloff is also steeper now. You can't just sit in the back of the Yggsgard map and delete people with zero risk.
Hawkeye got it just as bad. His bow now takes a full 2.5 seconds to fully charge for a max-damage shot. His passive, Archer’s Focus, had its triggering distance slashed from 60 meters to 40 meters. Basically, if you want to do "real" damage, you have to put yourself in the danger zone. No more sitting on a skyscraper in Tokyo 2099 and sniping people from across the zip code.
The Fantastic Four Join the Fray
We knew they were coming, but seeing the kits for Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman in action is a different story.
Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) is a Vanguard who plays more like a disruptor. His "Flexible Elongation" (essentially a chest bump) has had its range doubled to 5 meters. He’s designed to throw people around and mess up their positioning. He’s a hard counter to Iron Man's ultimate, which is a hilarious bit of lore-accurate bullying.
Sue Storm, on the other hand, is a Strategist's dream—or a nightmare if you're trying to kill her.
- Guardian Shield value: 250 down to 200 (they realized she was too tanky in the dev build).
- Shield restoration: 42/s down to 34/s.
- The invisibility factor: She can literally turn her team into ghosts.
Later this season, we’re getting Human Torch and The Thing, but for now, the "First Family" vibe is already shifting the meta toward high-shield, high-sustain compositions.
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Captain America: The Living Legend (Finally)
Steve Rogers was always "okay," but he lacked the staying power of someone like Magneto. The devs clearly wanted him to be a more active presence. They bumped his health to 675 and dropped the cooldown on his Liberty Rush from 12s to 10s.
But the real kicker? He can now melee while his shield is thrown.
Previously, if you threw the shield, you were basically a sitting duck until it bounced back. Now, you can keep swinging. It makes his close-quarters combat feel much more fluid. Plus, they reduced the energy cost for his ultimate from 3400 to 3100. You'll be hearing "Avengers Assemble!" a lot more often.
The Weird Stuff: Pym Sandwiches and Lady Loki
Look, I love the weirdness of this game. The Pym’s Test Kitchen food truck in the Quantum Realm map has been "upgraded." The cooldown on the food truck is down to 30 minutes (real-time in the hub/game logic) and the visual effects of eating the Pym-ini Sandwiches are fixed.
Also, the Lady Loki skin had a weird bug where she'd turn back into "Default Loki" in the combat stats after using her ultimate. That’s gone. If you're playing as Lady Loki, the game will actually acknowledge you as Lady Loki now.
Strategist Shakeups: Cloak & Dagger vs. Gambit
The support role is undergoing a massive identity crisis. Cloak & Dagger's ultimate, which was basically a "win the fight" button, has been toned down. The dash lanes no longer stack healing. If you dash over the same spot twice, you don't get double the HP. It's a fair change, considering how unkillable a team could become inside those light trails.
Then there's Gambit. The King of Cards took a hit to his "Big Easy" healing.
- Healing per explosion: 25 down to 15.
- Ultimate healing: 75/s down to 55/s.
He’s still a great hybrid Duelist/Strategist, but you can't rely on him as a solo healer anymore. You need a Luna Snow or an Adam Warlock to pick up the slack.
Actionable Tips for Season 1
If you want to actually climb the ranks (especially now that they've added the Celestial Rank between Grandmaster and Eternity), you need to change your habits.
Stop solo-queuing Hela. With the health nerf and the falloff changes, you will get dove by Black Panther and Spider-Man. If you don't have a peel (someone to protect you), you're going to spend half the match respawning.
Abuse the Hulk buff. Seriously. If the enemy team is running a high-knockback comp (like Star-Lord or Iron Fist), pick Hulk. Being immune to those effects while in Monster form is a massive advantage that most people aren't exploiting yet.
Practice the Reed Richards "Stretch." Mister Fantastic’s ability to pull enemies out of cover is going to be the meta-defining move for Season 1. Learn the physics of his grab. If you can pull a Strategist out from behind a Magneto shield, the fight is basically over.
The Marvel Rivals Season 1 patch notes represent a shift toward a more brawly, high-mobility game. The era of sitting in the back and clicking heads is fading. It's time to get in close, use your environment, and actually play as a team.
Next steps: Jump into the Practice Range and test the new falloff distances for your main. The 20-meter mark is the new "sweet spot" for most Duelists, and knowing exactly where that is will be the difference between a kill and a wasted cooldown.