Currently featuring the biggest roster inMarvel Rivals, Duelists have many heroes to choose from. Ranged, melee, hitscan-based, or projectile-based, the choice is yours. Whichever playstyle you’re comfortable with, there’s a hero for that.
Being such heavy hitters, people expect them to do the most damage on the team and help push an objective to completion. That’s why it’s important to know which ones are the chosen ones that can lead you to a flawless victory.
Let’s review all the duelists inMarvel Rivalsthat even beginners can play.
A Very Niche Pick
Description
Omega Hurricane
Transform into a hurricane to draw in nearby enemies and deal damage
Weather Control
Switch to Movement or Damage boost
Goddess Boost
Buff Storm with Damage boost or Movement boost
Unleash a lightning bolt forward
I’ve watched plenty of X-Men movies, and it’s good to see some original characters in the game. What I like the most is that characters receive abilities that resonate with their lore, like Storm, whose abilities are related to weather.
What I like about Storm is herwind-piercing blades, which can travel through enemiesand deal damage in succession. She canbuff her teammate’s abilitieswith the Weather Control and help them get eitherMovement Boost or Damage Boost.
However, there are a few problems with how she’s designed. You get to see her buff’s effective range around you. However, as soon as you fly upwards, the range diminishes. Sure, you’re able to target Iron Man in the air, but that nullifies one of her abilities: supporting her team.
Withno evasion skills in her kit, you’re almost stuck in front of flankers, and they can easily target you. I honestly think her movement is finicky, as you’re gliding in the air, and it’s tough to navigate her model.
A silver lining about her abilities is herultimate ability, which can shred enemies.You get a massive chunk of Bonus Health in her ultimate and can funnel enemies into your ult to deal damage to them.
Besides that, I feel she’s quite underwhelming to play against many heroes and requires a lot of support from strategists to keep up with her abilities.
17Wolverine
High Risk, High Reward
Last Stand
Knock enemies ahead airborne and spiral through the air, sweeping enemies along the path and delivering an impact at the landing point
Feral Leap
Leap to snatch the fist enemy on impact and Smash them to the ground
Undying Animal
Unleash a fierce howl to reduce incoming damage briefly
Vicious Rampage
Dash forward and unleash a Claw strike
It seems like Storm wasn’t the only member of X-men at the bottom of the pit. We have another contender with her, and that’s well-known Wolverine.
I’ve loved Wolverine since I first saw him in X-Men. Aggressive, stylish, and quite daring. You would think this surely goes hand in hand with how he’s portrayed in the game, but he’s not as badass as he was in the movies.
Wolverine’s playstyle is the most aggressive in the game. Unlike other melee characters who can straight-up dive into the enemies and chip their HP bar, Wolverineneeds to stack Rage to buff his damage. His abilities look really good on paper. However, the cooldowns hold him back.
He can get Bonus Health when he’s about to die. However, the cooldown is around 90 seconds, so you cannot initiate risky flanks without your Strategists.
Other characters like Iron Fist, Magik, and Spider-Man outplay Wolverine for the same reasons. Unless you’re in people’s faces, there’s a chance that you may not be able to contribute anything to the team.
The only situation whereWolverine excels is when rushing along with tanks, where you can also get heals from your strategists. Without your feral leap, your attacks don’t benefit from an attack speed boost, and a vicious rampage is the only option you’ve left to evade a trap.
16Black Widow
Sharpshooter
Electro-Plasma Explosion
Unleash an electro-plasma blast, damaging enemies within range and applying slow effects.
Fleet Foot
Dash forward and enable a powerful jump
Edge Dancer
Unleash a spinning kick to knock enemies airborne
Straight Shooter
Switch to sniper mode to fire high-energy rounds
From X-men to an Avenger who is always there with her tactical prowess protecting our beloved planet Earth.
Her damage with thesniper rifle isn’t that bad at all. I don’t agree with the idea that a sniper-based character should be able to one-shot enemies. That’ll make them too overpowered. However, having decent evasion skills in their kit is something you can’t compromise.
Black Widow’s damage is on par with decent DPS characters. However, you have to be a good shot to hit them. If you’ve been playing with sniper characters in other games, you’ll be good with landing your shots. However, you’re out of options if a flanker like Black Panther, Spider-Man, Iron Fist, or Magik comes your way.
Herdash resembles Captain America’s and has a spinning kick to knock backenemies. But that’s not enough to get anyone off your tail. In a game where enemies have enough mobility to close the distance between their opponents in a few seconds,Black Widow can’t escape flankers.
You have to stick close to your Strategists and ensure no one’s planning to chase you. Lastly,her ultimate feels quite underwhelmingsince most enemies can survive it or just evade it with their skills.
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15Scarlet Witch
Stay Away From Her
Reality Erasure
Engage in free-flight while charging energy, then unleash it to deal massive damage.
Mystic Projection
Enter the phased state for a free flight. Press again to exit early
Land a hit on a target or the scene, or press E to generate a force field that periodically stuns enemies within range.
Chthonian Burst
Consume chaos energy to fire explosive magic missiles, damaging enemies
I loved Wanda’s role in Avengers: Age Of Ultron, where she joined forces with the Avengers and put Ultron’s minions to rest. It feels like the game did her justice here by only giving her close combat abilities.
She’s really good in low ELO matches where people don’t know what they’re doing. You cansneak up behind enemies, pop off your ultimate, and get an easy team killwithin a few seconds.
She’s aclose-to-mid-range herowho does damage over time with her primary attacks and has a secondary attack that does the same but with a better range.
If enemies are close enough to you, you may use the Mystic Projection to go intoa phased state and evade a potential flank.
However, when you’re against a coordinated team, they’ll slay you in your ultimate, potentially bricking your chances to secure any kills. The phased state doesn’t give you enough mobility to avoid fast-paced heroes like Black Panther, Iron Fist, Magik, or Spider-Man.
Eventually, you have to do damage with your primary attacks, which suffer from range. With few long-ranged skills, you must stick close to your team and protect your Strategists from flankers.
14Squirrel Girl
Quite Jolly
Unbeatable Squirrel Tsunami
Summon a horde of squirrels to charge forward, dealing damage while bouncing.
Tail Bounce
Rocket upwards with a bounce of her tail
Mammal Bond
Reload Burst Acorns and use an ability without cooling down once in a short duration.
Squirrel Blockade
Launch an acorn to unleash Squirrel Guards, Imprisoning the first-hit enemy.
Unlike the Scarlet Witch, Squirrel Girl isn’t beholden by short-range attacks, which is better since it’s easy to counter Scarlet Witch at long range.
She gives meOverwatch’s Junkrat vibes. Herbasic attacks have an area-of-effectflavor to them, and you may instantlyreset cooldowns with one of her skills. I’m not very fond of her ultimate, but it can help counter a group of enemies in tight corners.
What I like the most about her is the Imprison ability, which works in tandem with the cooldown reset ability. you may imprison two enemies and focus fire on them. If you’re not good at aiming and want to spam, she’s your pick.
Although it may seem good on paper, her projectiles' trajectory takes time to get used to. There’s adelay until the projectile reaches the target, so you have to do some guesswork to pinpoint their location. That’s why Hitscan Heroes got her beat here. They can lock onto Squirrel Girl and melt her in a few seconds.
The damage is a slow burn, and god forbid, aMagik, Iron Fist, or Spider-Manis coming for you. You’re going back to spawn, my friend.
13Iron Man
I Am Iron Man
Invincible Pulse Cannon
Fire a devastating pulse cannon in the targeted direction
Armor Overdrive
Activate the armor overdrive state, enhancing the damage to Repulsor Blast and Unibeam.
Micro-Missile Barrage
Launch missiles when Hyper-Velocity or Armor Overdrive is used
The flamboyant Tony Stark is here to save the world once again. A billionaire who wants to do good for the people and has an army of robots to go against evildoers. So, basically, Elon Musk, but not a lizard in disguise.
If left unchecked, Iron Man will melt your entire team. Those Repulsor Blasts aren’t for showcasing. He’s quite agile andcan glide in the air to reach any part of the map.
Being a character withboth AoE and tracking attacks, you can switch between both and play with whatever suits you. You can shoot missiles at enemies while in the air; however, they don’t do much damage.
If you’re chasing someone with low HP, those missiles may do the trick, but they don’t pack enough heat. As for the Armor Overdrive skill, that’s where Iron Man’s potential shines.
Activating it boosts your basic attacks, enhancing both Unibeam and pulse cannons' damage. Your AoE attacks effective range increases, and you can target enemies in congested spaces.
Finally, theultimate is pretty broken in itself.You can wipe off multiple enemies in one go. Anyone caught in his ultimate suffers severe damage and perishes.
However, it takes time to navigate the gliding mechanic. You can’t expect to run away from an Iron Fist chasing your armor, plus the damage isn’t that great when compared to other DPS characters. It takes quite a while to kill enemies with Iron Man. You havearea-of-effect attacks, but the damage is a slow burn.
If the enemy team has Hit-scan characters like The Punisher, Black Widow, or Hawkeye, it’s best to change your hero because they’re not letting you take the sky.
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12Iron Fist
Living Chi
Boost speed, damage, and attack range, and deliver stronger punches while reducing the cooldown of Dragon’s defense.
K’un-Lun Kick
Deliver a flying kick to deal damage
Harmony recovery
Cross legs and channel chi to gain Bonus health
Dragon’s Defense
Block incoming attacks, gain damage reduction, and strike back with Yat Jee Chung Kuen.
If you’re unable to take him out while he’s using his ultimate, your entire team is going back to the spawn point. Iron Fist hasone of the best mobility skillsin the game.
You have three jumps that you can use, run along the wall, and have a kick that can also help you target heroes vertically. The melee range is decent enough to shoot Iron Man flying in the sky and chase him back to the spawn.
With Harmony Recovery, you canrestore health in the middle of the battleand get damage reduction with Dragon’s Defense. Overall, he’s a solid character who, if pocketed by a healer, can turn the tide of the match.
He’s a menace to deal with in low-rank matches because enemies usually don’t check their flanks, and you can do a wall run to get behind them and take out that annoying Jeff or Adam Warlock.
However, once you’re in their backline,you’re prone to stun, meaning they can pin you down instantly.
That’s not the problem with other flankers like Black Panther because they can be stunned, but their attacks don’t take long to kill enemies. You need to trade some blows to take down an enemy, where Iron Fist loses its value.
11Moon Knight
Ice Cold Drip
Hand Of Khonshu
Open a portal that allows Khonshu to bombard enemies with his talons
Night Glider
Enter a gliding state
Ancient Ankh
Fire an Ankh to Knock enemies within its radius airborne towards the center.
Moonlight Hook
Launch a frontal grappling hook that pulls Moon Knight toward it
Moon Blade
Launch forward a Moon Blade that can bounce between enemies and Ankhs, dealing damage to enemies.
Personally, I find Moon Knight to be one of the coolest heroes ever. I love how he throws Moon Blades, which can target multiple enemies simultaneously. He’s gotbasic attacks that bounce between enemies;that’s the definition of meta.
Throw in an Ankh in the pot, and you have one more point from where your basic attacks can bounce off. Since yourblades can bounce off an Ankh, you’re able to ignore an enemy and focus on the Ankh itself.
The Blades willautomatically target enemies in its range. On top of that, his jumping skill can help you reach pristine spots from where you can easily snipe enemies.
However, there’s quite adelay until his Moon blades reach enemies. It feels like a budget version ofGenji’s shurikens thattakes a little bit longer to hit enemies.
Moreover, if theenemies destroy your Ankhs, the only option to bounce Blades off your enemies is to hit them with your basic attacks, which gives you a reality check of your aiming talent.
10Star-Lord
Tracer-Like
Galactic Legend
Engage in free-flight and lock onto enemies in sight
Rocket Propulsion
Consume energy to gain a Movement boost and soar forward
Blaster Barrage
Fire a frenzy of shots, causing damage to enemies within range
Stellar Shift
Dodge in the direction of movement and swiftly reload
Star-Lord isn’t a complex character to play. He’s got simple abilities that are easy to learn andhelp him move around the mapas much as he wants.
you may flank enemy Strategists and come back to your team for heals. Unlike Iron Fist, who has self-heal ability, nothing like that exists for Star-Lord; that’s why you have to play a bit near health packs that you can pick up anytime.
With hisultimate, you can even melt tanksthat are in full health. His skill,Stellar Shift, helps him to reload his gun instantly,complementing his tracking playstyle.
If you’re good with tracking enemies with your gun, you’ll do wonders with Star-Lord. You have anauto-attacking ability that can be used as a finisherand reload your gun up to two times, giving you more than a hundred ammo.
However, his gun’s fire rate can work against him if you miss your shots. The gun can deplete ammo quickly, leaving you vulnerable during the reload stance. Plus, theauto-attacking ability doesn’t make you immune, which means you can be taken down during the ability.
I’d say the skill ceiling is high with Star-Lord because when you use Stellar Shift to refill your ammo, you have to get back to tracking an enemy as soon as possible. There’s quite a chance that you may suffer DPS loss against long-range enemies since their hitbox will be smaller.
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9Spider-Man
You Get A Web! And You Get A Web!
Spectacular Spin
Launch Web-Clusters all around to damage and Stun enemies
Get Over Here!
Shoot webbing to reel in the hit enemy.
Amazing Combo
Launch an enemy upward, dealing extra damage to the enemy with a Spider-Tracer.
Hands down, Spider-Man is the toughest hero to play in the game. I used to think that Iron Fist was tough, but Spider-Man takes the crown. You canfly across the map, spot enemies, gather intel on their team positions, and relay it to your team.
He’s a solid character who excels in duels with Strategists and can carry the match if played right. However, the skill ceiling is quite high. You must adapt to his combos to defeat enemies and learn to evade in dire situations.
I highly recommend tuning your reticle to a smaller size and having a precise aim with him. His ultimate can really clutch the match and stun enemies. However, as good as he sounds, you must practice him a lot to get good and help your team in ranked matches.
Since you’re trying to fight close to enemies, you have tobeware of stun and crowd control. You have to work on your spatial awareness and then take your position accordingly. Lastly, I don’t like having only one skill that can pull an enemy. Punching feels satisfying, but I can’t do it multiple times with Get Over Here!
Turn off motion blur if you’re feeling nauseous while playing Spider-Man.
