Before the Marvel Rivals Closed Beta launches, the developers dished out a lengthy set of patch notes to prepare players.

The Marvel Rivals team has come out with patch notes prior to the game's Closed Beta Test. In their Dev Talk series, they typically go over why certain aspects of the game were made the way they are, their thoughts on hero tweaks, and other general insights.

This time, with Dev Talk #6, they have delivered a whole slew of patch notes to prepare us for the Closed Beta Test. You can read their full thoughts, but we've got the highlights of the notes below.

Full patch notes for the Marvel Rivals Closed Beta Test

(Image via Marvel)
(Image via Marvel)

The Marvel Rivals Closed Beta test patch notes begin with the adjustments made to the different heroes in the game:

  • Vanguard
    • Doctor Strange - Recalibrated Doctor Strange's damage capabilities to better resonate with his Vanguard role, enhancing his power on the front lines.
    • Groot - Meticulously balanced Groot's tree wall abilities and their survivability.
    • Magneto - Overhauled Magneto's ability logic, empowering him to generate magnetic barriers (Metallic Curtain) more freely, effectively neutralizing enemy assaults. Furthermore, the metal shield (Metal Bulwark) can now be self-applied, granting him greater agency on the battlefield.
    • Peni Parker - Fine-tuned SP//dr's combat style, notably amplifying the left-click attack speed (Cyber-Web Cluster) to evoke the sensation of unleashing a large weapon. This adjustment will hopefully provide players with a more immersive experience when piloting the mech as Peni.
  • Duelist
    • Black Panther - Amplified Black Panther's prowess in wall climbing and sprinting, elevating his potential to unleash breathtaking combos. Moreover, when Black Panther triggers the Team-Up Ability with Magik, he gains the ability to summon the Limbo Disc portal at will.
    • Hela - Adjusted Hela's mid to long-range capabilities, ensuring a more balanced and compelling combat experience.
    • Iron Man - Enhanced Iron Man's long-range offensive capabilities, giving him more formidable suppressive power. Furthermore, the Gamma energy upgrade of his Team-Up Ability when using Armor Overdrive has been increased.
    • Namor - Adjusted the skill [Blessing of the Deep] so that when it is activated, Namor can freely move in the air. Also, appropriately buffed his damage.
    • The Punisher - Fine-tuned the active use time of his Team-Up Ability with Rocket Raccoon. In this new rendition, each Team-Up Ability window becomes even more precious for the Punisher.
  • Strategist
    • Loki - Heightened the significance of Loki's illusions and slightly balanced his primary form's healing and damage capabilities. In this update, Loki will rely more heavily on his illusions to actively participate in combat, adding depth and strategy to his gameplay.
    • Mantis - Enriched Mantis's ultimate ability, granting her the ability to offer enhanced survival support for the entire team by providing temporary health to already max health allies.

This was then followed by changes based on feedback from the Closed Alpha Test. These are labelled as experiential optimizations:

  • Ability Actions - Meticulously fine-tuned each hero's interrupt and action transitions, aiming to minimize constraints on player actions, empowering them to unleash their full potential.
  • Sound and Visual Effects - Significant adjustments have been made to the sound and visual effects for ability use and impact, ensuring players can distinctly perceive the success and effectiveness of their actions during combat.
  • Ability Camera and Vibration - Enhanced the in-game ability camera performance and vibration feedback to intensify the impact sensation during combat and increase immersion.
  • Wall-Climbing and Collisions - Optimized climbing logic and smoothed out wall collision, ensuring seamless and fluid climbing for players within the game environment.
  • Crosshair Feedback and Combat HUD - Optimized crosshair feedback for hits, added health bar indicators for healing and special states, and improved prompts for taking hits and impending defeat, providing players with clearer battlefield information.

Last up, the Marvel Rivals Closed Beta patch notes discuss the Pick/Ban System they like to call the Cosmic Selection:

  • Competitive Bans - From Diamond III rank and above, matches will feature Cosmic Selection (if all team members meet the requirement). Each team member can vote to Banish one hero to the Ban slot. The more votes a hero has, the higher possibility it will be Banished.  Once a hero is Banished, neither team can select that hero for the match. (Due to the limited roster in this CBT, each team will temporarily only be able to Banish one hero.)
  • Tournament Bans - Cosmic Selection will be implemented in only in Tournaments. Each team will have two Banishes and one Pick, chosen by the team captain. Banished heroes cannot be selected, while Picked heroes are protected from being Banished. The sequence is: Team A Banishes one hero, Team B Banishes one hero and Picks one hero, Team A Picks one hero and then Banishes one hero, and finally, Team B Banishes one last hero.

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