This guide contains our rankings for the DPS Heroes in Marvel Rivals and, while you can't fairly compare characters between different classes, we are focusing on the Duelist class in this tier list. If you want to see more characters, check out our Strategist Meta Tier List and Vanguard Meta Tier List, where we rank the Supports and Tanks in their own classes!
For any tier list to make sense in this style of game, you need to understand the kind of players this list is designed for. Pro players and casual players will play characters very differently, so their rankings can vastly differ. In these tier lists, we are ranking for the average player. This means not brand new to the game, but not a high ranking player either. Typically this means players between Bronze to Platinum ranks.
If you are interested in seeing a tier list designed for competitive play, check out our Competitive Duelist Tier List!
S Tier
A Tier
B Tier
C Tier
Season 2 Overview
This is a preliminary update to the tier list based on:
- Balance adjustments for Season 2.
- Changes to Team-Ups for Season 2.
- Win Rate and Pick Rate stats at end of Season 1.5.
- New Season 2 Hero: Emma Frost.
A more full update and more in-depth report will follow shortly after the season starts.
Any low tier ratings for characters doesn't mean the character is outright bad. You can play any character in this game, practice them a bunch, and perform well in a match despite a low ranking. For casual players especially, you can dominate with any character if you master them. This list is designed for players looking to play the game without studying and mastering a character.
C Tier
Human Torch is Marvel Rivals' most recent Duelist added in Season 1.5, but even now in Season 2, he has remained a pretty bad character. He doesn't deal nearly enough damage to warrant playing such an exposed character. You deal so little damage most of the time, you can be outright ignored, which is a shame since causal players don't know how to look up. He gets easily countered, but doesn't counter anyone. Right now, there just isn't much reason to play Human Torch.
Black Panther is a all-in combo character. If you aren't doing the combo, you aren't doing anything with the character. You can practice a lot and get good at mastering the spear throw and back and forward dashes, but he is a tough character to pick up and use well. A bad Black Panther will pretty much guarantee his team loses the match, so I would stay clear of him unless you are ready to put the practice time in to learn his combos.
Black Widow can pack a punch with her sniper, but she gets outclassed in every way versus Hawkeye. Besides needing great accuracy, you lose a lot of peripheral view when scoping, making the character difficult to use. If players want the same style, but much easier to use, just use Hawkeye. As previously mentioned though, snipers are not favored in the meta, so both Widow and Hawkeye are bad picks.
Psylocke is a menace at top tier play, but she is is very difficult to use properly. It takes a lot of practice to manage her abilities well enough to rush in, deal quick and high damage, then escape. You could farm her ultimate, which is very strong, by simply landing hits. Ultimately though, the average player will cause the team to fall way behind before that ultimate ability is ready again.
Spider-Man follows a similar path as Psylocke: great for competitive, bad for casual. He can swing in quickly and bounce around, making him hard to hit. For the average player though, you will be more of a nuisance than a real threat. He is one of the most difficult characters to use, and requires a significant amount of practice to make work due to all of the combos you have to master. For the average player, you don't have the time for that kind of mastery. For that reason, Spider-Man ranks in our lowest tier.
B Tier
Iron Fist is another combo style character, but he is a bit less strict than someone like Black Panther. You can use his damage reflect to get in close to opponents, then beat them down with a flurry of attacks. He can be very easily countered, especially if you are trying to learn how to play him, which lands him B-Tier.
Winter Soldier got some impactful nerfs in Season 2. Not only did he lose his unlimited Ammo Overload Team-Up with Rocket, his grapple ability got a big increase in cooldown. This makes him a good deal harder to be successful with. He borders that line of A-Tier, but I think Punisher just does the same job but better in casual play. He's not a bad character by any means though.
Hawkeye is making yet another move in the meta, this time landing in B-Tier. He is easy enough to use, but you have to be good at aiming. He can be a good counter pick for more stationary characters like The Thing or Loki, but he struggles against divers and fast moving characters. Considering the meta is favoring the fast characters, it's hard to justify him being higher than B-Tier.
Magik can be a fun, hard hitting melee character to play with. To really get good use out of her though, you have to target the backing squishy characters like healers. That isn't easy to do in a casual, uncoordinated setting. To really lock in those kills, you need to know her melee cancels out of her abilities, which is a bit advanced for casual play. You can still make an impact with this character, but just not as reliably as other heroes.
A Tier
Hela can dish out a lot of damage, but she doesn't offer the same top level gameplay as the other DPS. Her crow's flight lets you get access to unique vantage points, or escape from near-death situations. Her ultimate is one of the best in the game since it lets you soar above the battlefield and rain hellfire down without any risk to yourself. Her drawback is just not having much utility and being reliant on good aim and her ultimate to be good.
Star-Lord has gotten some nerfs and buffs leading up to Season 2, but he now has a solid moveset. He has very high damage output, which is great for countering Doctor Strange's shield or aggressive tanks. His spinning attack makes locking in kills on dodgy characters really easy. His ultimate is stellar, giving you auto-aim and rapid fire. His biggest limitation is simply a skill curve. He's good at a base level, but really great once you put the time in to master his nuances.
Storm is another character that has moved up and down through the different seasons. Now in Season 2, she has landed as a solid alternative to Iron Man. Casual players do not like to look up, so it's very easy to hover above them and land some easy hits. Her ultimate is incredible at wiping teams who don't have a healing ultimate ready, which casual players tend not to hold onto for very long. The only thing holding her back from S-Tier is simply being outclassed by Iron Man.
Squirrel Girl is a ranged character that doesn't mandate accuracy. You can launch bouncy area of effect projectiles into a general area and land hits. Her super jump let's her quickly dip out of bad combat situations, or get better angles for her shots. After her ultimate buff, she now can make a much bigger impact by herself than she could before. The only drawback she has is learning how to bounce your shots to make them explode near opponents more often, which can take quite a bit of practice. Without that, you may struggle to land consistent hits.
Mister Fantastic is a Duelist-Vanguard hybrid with abilities that make him great for casual players. His attacks are simple but effective. His abilities help you to get close and keep pressure up, which let's him beef up into a DPS monster. His damage Absorbing ability is also perfect to allow you to escape or stall the match for your team to back you up. He's all around a solid character that is easy to use.
Wolverine is your atypical brawler that gives you some unique utility. He is strong enough to solo take down a tank, and his regeneration lets you retreat much more often than other divers. His move set and ultimate do require a little practice to understand how they work, but after you get the hang of it, you can become a real menace very quickly.
S Tier
Iron Man has received multiple buffs leading into Season 2. The amount of damage you can output with his Unibeam is incredible, and it lasts for an eternity. Since casual players don't know how to look up, you should have a fairly easy time getting kills and chipping away an opponent's health. His ultimate is strong enough to kill through any healer ultimate, which makes him extremely valuable.
Scarlet Witch is one of the best characters for casual players. She doesn't need to reload, she doesn't have to aim, and she can vanish and fly away at any time. She can terrorize the enemy team, and most casual players don't know how to deal with her lock on attack. Her ultimate is loud and has a long windup, but will often team wipe in casual settings. She's just a great "turn your brain off and play" kind of character.
Moon Knight has been the most surprisingly strong character. His ability to leap and glide let's him easily reposition himself and flank the enemy team. The grapple helps to jump into and out of battle quickly. His Ankh really lets him give you extreme accuracy without having to try much at all. Casual players tend to ignore these laying around the map, so you can often melt through opponents before they know what is happening. His ultimate is also infamously strong, letting you rain down instant death to whatever area you seem to be the death zone.
Namor has finally made it to the casual S-Tier ranks. It's very easy to throw an auto-aim turret on the ground or at a wall. It's difficult for casual players to spot it and shoot it though. It's as if they are completely invisible to them half the time. Because of that, it's super easy to use Namor to get some easy kills and damage. His bubble shield is also a nice, easy way to dodge ultimates without needing to run away or get help from your team. His ultimate is a nice, quick burst of damage that you can drop onto unsuspecting healers. Best of all, he's a great option to counter those annoying divers. Protecting your backline from divers is a great way to quickly climb ranks.
Finally, we have The Punisher, who has been one of the top characters for obvious reasons. A simple character that's easy to learn, easy to play, and packs an enormous punch. His turret mount can single handedly hold down locations, turning him into a borderline stationary tank. His ultimate ability has so much firepower, you can easily team wipe, especially if you have a good Vanguard supporting you.
Wrap Up
That's it for our Duelist Tier list! As new characters are added and balance changes are made, we will release updated tier lists for these characters. If you haven't already, be sure to check out our tier lists for Vanguards and Strategists!
