Season 6.5 of Marvel Rivals launches on February 13, and you can expect a wide range of balance updates across the roster, including a notable adjustment to the Strategist Adam Warlock. The update follows Deadpool’s recent debut, where his ability to switch between Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist roles added a flexible new option to your team compositions.
You will also gain access to a new Duelist, Elsa Bloodstone, built for sustained damage and battlefield pressure. She can swap weapons during combat and summon creatures to disrupt fights, giving you aggressive tools to control engagements, along with a launch skin called Young Blood available at release.
Marvel Rivals Season 6.5 Balance Changes
Season 6.5 launches on February 13 and introduces targeted hero adjustments along with major Team-Up revisions. You will notice immediate shifts in mobility, survivability, and synergy across several roles.
Key Hero Updates
Adam Warlock (Strategist) gains a long-requested mobility tool.
You can now activate a dedicated flight mode, expanding his positioning options and escape routes.
While using Soul Bond, you are able to hover and continue attacking for the duration of the ability. This change allows you to maintain pressure from elevated angles instead of remaining grounded and vulnerable.
Storm (Duelist) receives changes that strengthen her presence during engagements.
When Tornado is active, you gain bonus health through Wind Blade and Bolt Rush, improving your durability during aggressive plays.
Her team buff has also been refined. Instead of ending instantly, the attack and movement speed increase for allies now tapers off over two seconds, giving you smoother transitions in coordinated pushes.
Venom (Vanguard) becomes harder to eliminate in extended fights.
- Base Health increased: 650 → 675
- Feast of the Abyss bonus health conversion: 1.0 → 1.3 damage-to-health ratio
You gain more temporary health from damage dealt during his ultimate, which improves frontline staying power and rewards sustained aggression.
Team-Up Adjustments
Season 6.5 also reshapes several cooperative abilities.
- The Fantastic Four Team-Up has been removed.
- Invisible Woman now partners with Doctor Strange in a new Team-Up called Psionic Mayhem.
- Mister Fantastic joins Rocket Raccoon and Star-Lord in the existing Rocket Network Team-Up.
These changes alter how you build compositions and coordinate abilities. Expect shifts in preferred hero pairings as players test new combinations and adapt to the revised synergy system.
Marvel Rivals Version 20260213 Balance Post
This update reshapes survivability, ultimate uptime, and several team synergies. You will notice tighter defensive windows for some heroes and faster access to high-impact abilities for others.
Developers also adjust multiple auras and team-ups, shifting how you build compositions in competitive play.
Gameplay Changes Overview
This patch focuses on three areas: durability tuning, ultimate energy costs, and team synergy updates. Tanks lose or gain sustain in measured ways, while several damage heroes access ultimates more often.
Support heroes see mobility and cooldown adjustments that affect positioning. Team-up abilities receive both removals and additions, which will influence draft priorities.
Vanguard Updates
Frontline heroes receive targeted survivability changes.
Doctor Strange
- Shield of the Seraphim recovery rate reduced from 70 per second to 60 per second.
You must manage shield downtime more carefully, as recovery now takes longer between engagements.
Rogue
- Defensive Stance energy conversion increased from 0.27 to 0.35.
- Fatal Attraction cooldown reduced from 17s to 14s.
Rogue now gains more value from absorbed damage and can pressure more frequently with her pull.
Thor
- Hammer Throw now grants 50 Bonus Health per throw, triggered once even if multiple enemies are hit.
- Storm Surge Bonus Health reduced from 75 to 50.
Thor gains conditional sustain through accurate throws, but his previous passive durability drops.
Venom
- Base health increased from 650 to 675.
- Feast of the Abyss conversion ratio increased from 1.0 to 1.3 (damage to Bonus Health).
Venom strengthens his frontline presence, especially during his ultimate when you convert damage into extra survivability.
Duelist Adjustments
Damage heroes see both durability nerfs and ultimate cost reductions.
Deadpool
- Pop Quiz! healing increased from 30 to 35, and from 60 to 70 if you succeed.
Deadpool becomes slightly harder to eliminate after activating his ultimate.
Moon Knight
- Moon Blade Bonus Max Health reduced from 100 to 75.
You lose some durability during engagements, making positioning more important.
Phoenix
- Base health reduced from 275 to 250.
Phoenix becomes more vulnerable to burst damage and focused fire.
Psylocke
- Psionic Crossbow maximum falloff at 30m increased from 60% to 70%.
- Dance of the Butterfly single-hit damage reduced from 170 to 160.
Her long-range output weakens, and her ultimate deals slightly less damage per strike.
Squirrel Girl
- Squirrel Blockade projectile speed (uncharged) increased from 20m/s to 30m/s.
You can apply pressure faster in mid-range fights.
Star-Lord
- Galactic Legend energy cost reduced from 3400 to 3100.
You access his ultimate more frequently, increasing mid-fight burst potential.
Storm
Multiple adjustments redefine her aura playstyle:
- Tornado aura: Wind Blade and Bolt Rush now grant Bonus Health (25% conversion, up to 75).
- Thunder aura: Wind Blade hits reduce Bolt Rush cooldown by 0.5s once per cast.
- Bolt Rush radius increased from 1m to 1.5m.
- Ally buffs now decay over 2 seconds instead of ending immediately.
- Thunder damage boost reduced from 12% to 8%.
- Reduced animation recovery after Weather Control.
Storm gains smoother ability flow and limited self-sustain, but her ally damage amplification decreases.
The Punisher
- Final Judgement energy cost reduced from 3700 to 3400.
You reach his ultimate faster, improving objective control.
Wolverine
- Last Stand energy cost reduced from 3400 to 2800.
Wolverine’s ultimate becomes available significantly more often, increasing his threat in extended matches.
Strategist Changes
Support heroes receive mobility tweaks and cooldown adjustments.
Adam Warlock
- New flight mode: Fly at 10m/s for up to 4 seconds at full energy.
- Energy recharges from empty to full in 15 seconds.
- Soul Bond now allows hovering and attacking during its duration.
You gain vertical mobility and sustained offensive presence during key support windows.
Invisible Woman
- Force Physics cooldown increased from 8s to 10s.
Her crowd control and displacement become less frequent.
Loki
- Mystical Missile charges reduced from 12 to 10.
You provide slightly less sustained healing or pressure over time.
Ultron
- Imperative: Patch drone detach range increased from 30m to 35m.
Ultron supports allies from a safer distance, expanding coverage.
Team-Up Ability Revisions
Team synergy receives structural changes that affect composition planning.
These updates remove one long-standing combination, enhance others, and introduce a new pairing.
Modified or Removed Synergies
Fantastic Four Combination
- Removed the shared team-up ability between Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Mister Fantastic, and The Thing.
You no longer gain the unique synergy previously tied to this lineup.
Mr. Pool’s Interdimensional Toy Box
- Elsa Bloodstone now gains Bloodstone’s Boombox Bullets when paired with Deadpool.
This expands her offensive toolkit within that duo.
Gamma Charge
- The Thing gains Gamma Gauntlets when teamed with Hulk.
You unlock enhanced melee impact through this gamma-powered pairing.
Rocket Network
- Mister Fantastic gains Fantastic Amplifier when teamed with Rocket Raccoon.
This synergy adds utility and scaling potential to the duo.
Newly Added Team-Up
Psionic Mayhem (Invisible Woman – Doctor Strange)
- Introduces the Psionic Vortex ability for Doctor Strange when paired with Invisible Woman.
This new combination adds a coordinated control option that strengthens layered crowd control strategies.
These balance changes alter frontline durability, ultimate frequency, and cross-hero synergy. You will need to reassess hero priorities, especially where team-up access and ultimate economy shape match tempo.
