Best Heroes for New Players

Marvel Rivals is finally releasing, and the game is launching with an impressive roster to pick from! Each character will be free and fully playable at launch, so you don't have any restrictions on who to play as. With so many choices though, who is the easiest to learn for new players trying to learn the game or genre?

Here you can find the best character for beginners in each class! These characters are beginner friendly due to their ease of learning. They are all equally competitive, and arguably some of the best in their class, despite being easier to use. As the game releases new characters and balances existing ones, the best characters are subject to change. As of global launch, however, these are your top character picks for beginners!

The Different Role Options

There are 3 different classes in Marvel Rivals: Duelist, Strategist, and Vanguard. If this seems confusing, it's actually not that complicated. Rivals has renamed 3 classic classes for the established genre.

• Duelist characters are your attacking class. They focus on damage output, flanking behind enemy lines, and keeping your opponent's on constant defense.
• Vanguard characters are your tanks. Their goal is to protect important targets like your moving payload or a capture zone. They can help defenders lock down a zone by providing a body to absorb as much damage as possible for the team. A good Vanguard can also help break through enemy defenses by giving your team footing to push into enemy territory.
• Strategist characters are your healers. Unlike other games of this genre, Marvel Rivals gives healers much more firepower. This gives them more appeal to join the fight, rather than simply hiding and healing your team. Strategists help your team to recover quickly from a tough battle, as well as keep your MVP's alive.

With each class clearly identified, you have an idea of the three kinds of playstyles there are to choose from. Now let's get into the best beginner characters for each of these classes!

Best Beginner Duelist Character (Attacker)

The Punisher is easily the best beginner character for players wanting to be an attacker. He plays similar to many first person shooters, so he offers a familiar way to learn Rivals. If you are familiar with Overwatch, he is the equivalent of Soldier 76: a straightforward, shooter-centered character that doesn't need fancy abilities to be good. With that said, he has a few tricks up his sleave that you can utilize to take advantage of different situations.

His primary weapon has 2 different modes: Adjudication and Deliverance. Adjudication is your assault rifle, which gives you rapid damage at medium to long range. Deliverance is your shotgun mode that focuses on fast damage at close range. You can toggle to either weapon mode at any time.

He also offers a passive ability called Warrior's Gaze. This will highlight enemy player's silhouette after they leave your field of vision. This can help you track down enemy players that are fleeing the battlefield, or trying to flank your team.

The Punisher also has 3 abilities you can use that have a cooldown:

• Smoke Grenade: This is a throwable item that creates a smokescreen where it lands. This can give you the opportunity to blind your opponent's, or give you and your team a cloak to hind behind while you advance.
• Culling Turret: This is a deployable turret that Punisher can climb into. It remains stationary from the point you place it, so your placement is important. While you are immobile, you have a much higher damage output. This can help lockdown a key battle point for your team.
• Vantage Connection: This is a fancy way of saying zip line. You can deploy a zip line that allows you to and your team to quickly traverse to a set point you create. It persists after death, so it is very helpful in establishing a rapid recovery route for you and your team to use to get back into battle.

Finally, The Punisher's ultimate ability is Final Judgement. This gives you a massive missile launcher and duel Gatling guns on your character, but let's you stay mobile. This is your highest damage weapon, allowing you to single-handedly wipe out the entire enemy team. You don't gain extra health, so you can best use this ability while flanking or posting up behind your allied Vanguard.

All of these abilities have a similar, straightforward goal: shoot enemies and be a constant threat of damage. You don't have to worry about advanced tactics or manage when to fight or defend. You just stick with your team and provide massive, ongoing damage. You can also flank behind enemy lines and pose a serious threat to their setup. This can help your team to break through a chokehold.

Best Beginner Vanguard Character (Tank)

If you want to play a tank that supports the team by blocking incoming damage, Magneto is the best, most straightforward option. This isn't a tank you want to be aggressive with. He works best at sticking with the team and providing support. He also has decent damage output, which can help if you need to swap from defense to offense in a hurry.

Magneto has 2 different ways to deal damage. First, he has Iron Volley. This is your primary attack method, which fires magnetic orb projectiles. It has no cooldown, so it will be the main way you fight. Your second option is the Mag-Cannon. This is a charged ability that converts the Iron Rings you create into a heavy projectile. The bigger the ring you convert, the higher the damage! You also gain knockback with higher charges. But how do you gain Iron Rings?

Magneto has 3 abilities that provide defense for you and your team. 2 of these abilities will give you more Iron Rings.

• Metallic Curtain: This ability creates a barrier in front of Magneto that blocks all incoming damage. This ability loses charge as it takes damage, and it will break temporarily after losing the entire charge. It regenerates when no damage is being blocked. This is your primary way to tank for your team, as you can protect against damage, but your team can shoot through it to deal damage to the enemy team! The shield is also capable of blocking damage from ultimates, which can protect your entire team!
• Metal Bulwark: This ability let's you create a personal shield around a single ally. Like the Metallic Curtain, this bubble can only withstand so much damage before breaking. Any damage that the bubble takes will be converted into Iron Rings for Magneto to utilize!
• Iron Bulwark: Similar to the Metal Bulwark, this ability creates a protective bubble, but only around Magneto. This can give you the opportunity to fight back, while still tanking for the team. All absorbed damage will convert to Iron Rings.

For Magneto's Ultimate ability, you have Meteor M. Upon activating, you will fly into the air and create a huge iron meteor. You can briefly aim this with a target on the ground below you. When it fires, you release the meteor to create a massive damage impact zone. This is great for targeting groups of enemy players. You are vulnerable while in the air, so you have to be careful when you choose to activate it.

Magneto also has a passive ability that allows you to glide through the air. You simply hold the jump button and he will float down until you let go of jump or he touches the ground.

All of Magneto's abilities makes him the most simple but effective tank there is in Marvel Rivals. Just stick with your team and offer as much protection as you can through the shield barrier and shield bubble. When the moment is right, help the push or fight back with your attacks. You don't need to flank or try to solo fight the team with Magneto. This makes him a great pick to support your team well, while learning more about the game.

Best Beginner Strategist Character (Healer)

If you aren't the best at combat, but still want to get into Rivals, there is the perfect character for you... Jeff the Baby Landshark! Jeff is an all-in healers, meaning he worries less about fighting and cares more about keeping the team alive. He is the only healer than can provide constant healing to a single target, or rapidly heal the entire team without having to manage cooldowns.

Jeff's primary fire mode is actually a healing water beam. It doesn't do any damage to opponent's with it, making him focus mostly on healing. The beam can go through multiple teammates, making him very effective at healing if you get the angle right. His secondary fire mode let's him shoot slow, single shots that damage opponents. It isn't very effective at killing, but it does give you some option to defend yourself.

Jeff has a passive ability called Oblivious Cuteness. This reduced damage that can be taken from critical hits, which can help keep you alive a bit longer. He also has a fun team up option with Groot! He can climb onto Groot's shoulder, which provides him reduced damage. You can also utilize this to focus specifically on healing without needing to walk around yourself.

Jeff's two abilities continue to focus on evasiveness and team support. His Healing Bubble ability let's you place literal healing bubbles around the map that heal your team when they walk through them. This can be especially handy at giving your team a designated healing point if you aren't there to help them.

Jeff also has the Hide and Seek ability. This allows Jeff to dive under the ground with increased movement speed, exposing only his fin, to allow you to sneak by enemies to move to your team. In this mode, you can also climb walls, which can grant you access to unique locations that you can heal from. You can still be damaged in this mode though, so be cautious where you venture.

For Jeff's Ultimate ability, you dive underground and select a target point. When you activate, you create a huge whirlpool that sucks in allies and enemies alike! Once the whirlpool stops, you then briefly can move around with everyone still in your mouth. You can choose to spit out teammates with one trigger, and enemies with another trigger. This can be handy to save your team from a bad situation, gather the enemy team to let your team push, or forcefully split both teams up! You can utilize this ability to throw opponent's off the map as well!

As you can tell, Jeff is all-in with healing. He cares very little about fighting, but loves to support his team. For players wanting to support their team without needing to win firefights, Jeff is a solid pick. For beginners, Jeff's kit is especially simple, making him easy to pick up with very little complicated things to learn.