Summary
- Marvel Rivals offers diverse hero selection for various playstyles in PVP.
- Ranged characters like Hawkeye & Black Widow shine with strong abilities & accuracy.
- Human Torch, Squirrel Girl, Hela, Punisher, Moon Knight, & Iron Man excel in combat.
Not every player enjoys putting their character at risk of taking damage by getting up close and personal in a PVP game. Thankfully, Marvel Rivals features more than enough hero diversity to help players choose their own preferred playstyle. While the likes of Wolverine, Captain America, or Spider-Man may excel at getting in close to gradually whittle down an enemy's health bar, ranged characters can pick off key targets in the blink of an eye with their powerful attacks and unique abilities.
Of course, this also means players will need good accuracy to utilize these characters to full effect, but with a little time and practice, they can become a real thorn in the side of the enemy team. When push comes to shove though, this is how the Marvel Rivals ranged heroes rank in terms of reliability and overall potential in combat.
Marvel Rivals: 8 Best Heroes For Defense, Ranked
When it comes to holding down defensive positions, none do it better than these Marvel Rivals heroes and villains.
8 Hawkeye
Consistent Damage & Handy Getaway Abilities
Ranged Abilities
- Hypersonic Arrow: Shoot a Hypersonic Arrow, dealing two instances of damage to enemies in its path and inflicting them with Slow.
- Archer's Focus: Aim at an enemy to improve focus, enhancing the damage inflicted by Piercing Arrow
Though Hawkeye's overall damage has been toned down a little since the game's launch, the Avenger is still more than capable of racking up kills, so long as players can keep a steady hand. Unlike a lot of other ranged heroes, who have AOE abilities or other ways of attacking that don't require so much accuracy, Hawkeye relies on his bow and arrow. This makes him tricky to use, but still a valuable part of a team thanks to his consistent damage output.
With that being said, Ronin Slash does give Hawkeye a nice get-out option whenever he finds himself getting punched by a Hulk or Captain America. Hawkeye can shoot his way through an entire team when used by someone who is accustomed to his kit and unique passive ability, the latter of which is essential to make him useful.
7 Black Widow
Her Two Types Of Weapons Make Her A Versatile Cast Member
Ranged Abilities
- Straight Shooter: Switch the Red Room Rifle to Sniper mode to fire high-energy rounds.
- Electro-Plasma Explosion: Switch the Red Room Rifle to Destruction mode and unleash an electro-plasma blast, damaging enemies within range and leaving plasma on the ground to Slow nearby enemies.
While Black Widow does have a pair of batons she can whip out to deal with anyone who gets too close, her primary form of offense comes from the Red Room Rifle, which can deal a staggering 120 damage with each shot. If players are skilled enough to catch critical hits, they'll be more than capable of annihilating the low-HP heroes and villains.
Black Widow is the sniper character archetype of Marvel Rivals, meaning she can remain out of harm's way while still contributing to the team. Her Electro-Plasm Explosion is one of those ultimate abilities which, while difficult to pull off, can cause real problems for the enemy team thanks to its AOE range and incredible damage.
6 Human Torch
Fiery Abilities Provide Constant Annoyance For Enemies
Ranged Abilities
- Pyro-Prison: Form a fire wall between Fire Fields to burn enemies.
- Supernova: Explode with cosmic fire to deal damage to enemies within range. Upon skill activation, all Flame Fields will transform into Flame Tornadoes, dealing extra damage.
The Human Torch's abilities allow him to control sections of the map, making him a real annoyance for an enemy team, especially with how hard he is to hit. Pyro-Prison, for example, allows Johnny to block off entire areas with walls of lethal flames, which can be used to separate Strategists from the rest of their team, cutting off support.
Marvel Rivals: 8 Best Counters To Emma Frost
Emma Frost, with her hard-hitting and defensive abilities, is a tricky hero to take down, but these characters can counter her in their own ways.
The Human Torch's absurdly strong Supernova allows him to literally rain hell on earth, all while remaining high in the sky to avoid any ground-based ultimates that may interrupt it. His lack of defensive or healing abilities does harm his overall surviability, but it's an otherwise small stain on Johhny's impressive kit.
5 Squirrel Girl
Acorn Splash Damage Allows Her To Pick Off Enemy Healers
Ranged Abilities
- Mammal Bond: Reload Burst Acorns and can use an ability without cooldown once in a short duration.
- Unbeatable Squirrel Tsunami: Summon a horde of squirrels to charge forward, dealing damage while bouncing against structures.
Since the game's launch, players have begun realizing how powerful this ranged shaprshooter truly is. Squirrel Girl can't do much in a fist fight, but because her Burst Acorns have such a wide AOE range, all she needs to do is sit in the backline, take potshots every now and again, and watch the hitmarks fly.
Of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg of what she can do. Her ultimate ability is also a crucial part of her kit, and has become especially useful for locking aggressive enemies down with the game's current dive meta. Squirrel Girl may seem a little light on the number of abilities she can use, but in the right hands, she can become a terrifying foe.
4 Hela
Remove Someone From The Battlefield With A Handful Of Shots
Ranged Abilities
- Piercing Night: Fire multiple Nightsword thorns that detonate after a delay.
- Goddess Of Death: Soar into the sky and unleash Nastrond Crows from each hand at will.
Hela has long been one of the most feared and dangerous Duelists in the game. Though she does have her drawbacks, they don't matter much, since her damage potential is what many people play her for. Hela's Nightsword Thorns deal 70 points of damage each, making them ideal for sweeping out weak healers. Meanwhile, Piercing Night can break down shields or skewer a helpless Duelist who's been separated from the team.
Hela's main form of mobility, Astral Flock, has a pretty lengthy cooldown, meaning Hela must remain stationary when firing her shots. With that being said, her damage per second is off the charts, even as a ranged character who is designed to fend off her foes from a distance.
3 The Punisher
Nobody Spits Out As Much Lead
Ranged Abilities
- Culling Turret: Deploy a Culling Turret that grounds Punisher and blocks damage from the front while dealing massive damage.
- Final Judgment: Unleash two gatling guns and missiles to attack enemies.
"Judge, Jury, Executioner" remains the scariest line in Marvel Rivals, as it's the Punisher's way of announcing his immensely powerful ultimate ability, Final Judgment. When focusing his fire on a single target, Punisher can delete a person's HP in one or two seconds with his gatling guns, but his primary Adjucation rifle is still plenty strong, especially since it has such a generous drop-off range.
This isn't even mentioning his Culling Turret, which is essentially a mini-version of his ultimate attack that can tear a shield to pieces in the blink of an eye. Punisher does still have a shotgun in case anybody tries to flank him, but the Scourge Grenade ensures he can always obscure his identity in case anyone tries challenging him from afar.
2 Moon Knight
A Formidable Duelist Thanks To His Lethal Ability Set
Ranged Abilities
- Moon Blade: Launch forward a Moon Blade that can bounce between enemies and Ankhs, dealing damage to enemies.
- Ancient Ankh: Fire an Ankh to launch up enemies within its radius towards the center.
Thanks to his Rising Leap and Night Glider, Moon Knight can easily reach a high vantage point, giving him free rein to chip enemy health bars from above with the use of his Crescent Darts. His Moon Blade and Ankh abilities are handy for racking up damage in quick succession, and with a grappling hook on him at all times, Moon Knight can afford to keep his distance from his healers for a little bit, since he always has a backup plan.
12 Best Duelists In Marvel Rivals, Ranked
These Duelists stand out from the rest as the best heroes in Marvel Rivals to ensure that players are always dominating the competition.
Moon Knight's ultimate ability has been tinkered with more than anything else in the game, but it remains absurdly strong. Anyone caught in the center of the blast is obliterated if they don't have the movement to get out in time. Moon Knight can assist his team with effective firepower, while still being easy to play.
1 Iron Man
Explosive Abilities & High Mobility Make Him Tricky to Take Down
Ranged Abilities
- Repulsor Blast: Fire nano pulse cannons forward.
- Pulse Cannon: Fire a devastating pulse cannon in the targeted direction, delivering catastrophic damage to the targeted area upon impact.
As one of the few heroes in the game who can remain permanently airborne, Iron Man can effortlessly dodge enemy projectiles and abilities while dishing out small bursts of damage from his Repulsor Blast and Unibeam. What makes him so effective, though, is how he forces the enemy team to direct their attention away from Tony's allies.
This can result in the opposing team becoming disorganized, with the Vanguards having to decide where to put their barrier, and the Duelists splitting their firepower between ground and air. Iron Man is also incredibly mobile thanks to Hyper-Velocity. Eith an ultimate ability that can one-shot-kill the weaker Duelists and Strategists, there's no wonder why the flying Avenger is so popular.
Marvel Rivals
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 78 /100 Critics Rec: 84%
- Released
- December 6, 2024
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Violence
- Developer(s)
- NetEase Games
- Publisher(s)
- NetEase Games
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter, Action, Multiplayer
