
Characters in Marvel Rivals.
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General
Vanguards
The tank heroes. Known for their massive health pools and abilities to block or mitigate damage, Vanguards lead the charge, absorbing enemy fire and holding the frontline. This makes them essential for controlling objectives and key positions. Abilities like Magneto's Metallic Curtain, Doctor Strange’s Shield of the Seraphim, and Hulk’s Indestructible Guard offer powerful protection, allowing them to outlast opponents in battle. Vanguards also excel at environmental control, with heroes like Peni Parker and Groot creating hazards and barriers that disrupt enemy movements and provide strategic advantages. Others, like Venom and Thor, specialize in direct combat by overpowering opponents in one-on-one situations. Overall, Vanguards are the backbone of any team’s offense.
- The Big Guy: Vanguards are all about being in the thick of a fight, pummeling enemies up close while tanking damage to keep their squishier teammates alive
- Boring, but Practical: The main reason why Vanguards are not commonly picked as much as other roles is because Strategists and Duelists are designed with tangible reward/s when accomplishing their objectives * whereas a good Vanguard player needs to have a good sense of awareness on the field state, which has a lot more subtle reward of taking up space. That said, by running the numbers as well as checking the statistics, is still highly recommended, bordering on being required, to have at least one Vanguards per one team.
- Close-Range Combatant: Their durability naturally lends well to close-up skirmishes, with their abilities all being tailored to control that range. A good number of them have melee attacks as their primary fire, and they generally struggle against long-ranged units like snipers who can fight them a safe distance. Their close-ranged nature means that other heroes have to be careful to position themselves around the Vanguard to benefit from their utility, especially because Vanguards' mobility often suffers as a tradeoff of their power.
- Made of Iron: Their job is to mitigate or absorb damage for their team, and so are designed to be durable enough to take the brunt of the enemy fire.
- Mighty Glacier: To balance out their durability and emphasis on close-ranged pressure, Vanguards are generally outpaced in maneuverability by the other two classes. Their movement speed is consistent with other heroes, but their movement abilities overall have higher cooldowns or are more limited in application. The big exceptions being Angela, Captain America and the Hulk, who are easily the most mobile of the Vanguard class and capable of zipping around the battlefield as a frontline force.
- Stone Wall: Most of them don't have the sheer destructive firepower of Duelists, but they make up for it by being extremely bulky and capable of taking a lot of damage before going down, with high health bars and powerful defensive abilities that can protect themselves and their teammates. Even the characters built around one-on-one combat, such as Captain America and Hulk, primarily win their confrontations by outlasting their opponent through sheer attrition instead of killing them quickly like a Duelist would.
- Victory by Endurance: Their win condition in general. They will almost always have enough HP to kill either of the 2/3 of their opponent team of their choice on a direct 1v1 face-off, which is how they usually create space for their teammates.
Duelists
The DPS heroes. Designed for maximum damage output, Duelists focus on personal power rather than team support. They excel when positioned behind Vanguards or flanking enemies, capitalizing on opportunities to deal heavy damage. Their ultimates are all about securing eliminations. Since Vanguards often block direct attacks, Duelists thrive on off-angles where their damage is harder to counter. The game offers a diverse roster of Duelists, more than any other role, and they can be roughly categorized by their combat style: Projectile, Flying, Flank, and Melee. Projectile heroes like Hela, Namor, and The Punisher attack from a distance, while Flying heroes like Iron Man and Storm deliver death from above. Flankers like Star-Lord and Scarlet Witch strike from unexpected angles and escape after securing a kill, while Melee heroes like Black Panther, Magik, and Spider-Man get up close and personal. Each Duelist’s kit is optimized for a particular playstyle, making them both versatile and specialized in how they deliver damage.
- Confusion Fu: Duelist is a rather generic class, as it essentially means they simply excel in doing damage compared to the other two classes, but what that entails can vary greatly: They could be up front fighters, flying attackers, or flankers, etc. and as such, it can be hard to know what to expect from the class.
- Flying Firepower: A select few Duelists (Iron Man, Storm, and the Human Torch) fall under the subclass of "Flier", a Mechanically Unusual Fighter that is always airborne and can freely maneuver in any direction. This means they don't jump like grounded heroes, nor are they affected by gravity which eliminates environmental kills as a counter, save for certain abilities that have such an effect.
- Fragile Speedster: Many of the Duelists have excellent mobility on top of their damage, making them particularly useful in diving the enemy backline. However, a good player can easily repel them as they lack the staying power to continue their assault when properly dealt with. There are some exceptions of Duelists who trade mobility for raw power, however, such as the Punisher, Magik, Namor, and Mister Fantastic.
- Glass Cannon: Being the team's source of damage is balanced by Duelists overall having the weakest sustain of the classes. They can't all heal themselves like Strategistsnote , nor are they as bulky as Vanguards. And health is generally average-to-below-average with only a few examples being tougher in HP. The main exceptions to this are Mister Fantastic (easily the tankiest Duelist in the class), Wolverine and Magik (the latter two having passives specifically dedicated to endurance and keeping them in the fight as long as possible).
Strategists
The support heroes. Strategists focus on enabling and boosting their team from the backline. While other roles can heal, Strategists excel in this area, with abilities like Luna Snow’s and Mantis’ ultimates that provide massive healing, keeping teammates alive through heavy damage. However, their true power lies in their ability to combine various supportive abilities, such as damage boosts and crowd control. Heroes like Mantis, Rocket Raccoon, and Adam Warlock can empower allies, stun enemies, or even resurrect fallen teammates, making them invaluable in critical moments. The name "Strategist" is apt, as the effective use of their abilities, tailored to the situation, is crucial for turning the tide of battle.
- Combat Medic: Being a hero shooter means the gameplay necessitates every character having some means to deal damage and defend themselves, so while Strategists are mainly in charge of healing and supporting, they also all possess potent damage of their own. This is mainly via their primary fire, which allows Strategists to balance between damaging enemies and healing allies, with many even benefiting from landing headshots. That all being said, they're still balanced around their support capabilities, and can't outmatch the other two classes when it comes to dealing damage.
- Fragile Speedster: Most Strategists are built for mobility over muscle—able to zip around the battlefield to support teammates or retreat when needed, but not built for high damage output or taking hits. The big exceptions are Adam Warlock and Cloak & Dagger, the Mighty Glaciers of the class. They trade speed for staying power, excelling in prolonged frontline engagements rather than quick repositioning.
- Good Thing You Can Heal: Every Strategist possesses not only some way to heal their allies, but also to heal themselves as well, which makes it all the easier for them to stay in a fight.
- Long-Range Fighter: Most of the class are designed around mid-to-long-ranged combat, the intent being that Strategists fight from the back line and rely on their allies to take the brunt of the damage which they can then heal. The exception to this being Rocket Raccoon — while he's capable of dealing damage at range, his Bombard Mode is much deadlier up close.
- Shoot the Medic First: Strategists are vital in keeping the team alive, so the best strategy usually involves taking them out of the game as soon as possible.
- Simple, yet Awesome: Most Strategists, with Loki and Adam Warlock being the notable exceptions, are designed to be simple to use, both to encourage newer players to use Strategists and to allow Strategist players to focus on macro-managing the state of the battlefield; the only time they have to micromanage their character is when they're being targeted by divers.
- Squishy Wizard: Zig-Zagged; as a whole, the class has average health and are bested in damage by the other two classes, theoretically making it easy to kill Strategists. But each Strategist still has at least an ability or two that gives them a fighting chance, as well as some tool for self-sustaining, so it ultimately comes down to how well a player can use what they have to survive one-on-one encounters.
- Support Party Member: Strategists are responsible for keeping the other two classes alive and active, be it through healing, disabling or stunning enemies, or boosting teammates' stats.
Hero Roles
- Vanguardsnote
- Duelists
- Strategistsnote
Non-Playable Characters
- Othernote
