Marvel Rivals and Overwatch 2 support players have similar experiences, but Overwatch 2’s more refined elements may help the Strategist experience for NetEase’s hero shooter.
Marvel Rivals Strategist players may not be used to the antics that come from playing the support role in a hero shooter. The lack of peel from teammates, allies pushing out of your line of sight, and susceptibility to dives can make Strategist a frustrating role. Players often voice their frustrations with these issues online with these issues.
As a hero shooter and the former gold standard, Overwatch support players faced many similar issues. However, with the many different format changes and player feedback, Overwatch introduced some quality-of-life features that helped playing support feel less chaotic.
While some of Overwatch’s mechanics won’t fit neatly with Marvel Rivals, the new game on the block can still learn from Overwatch to help improve the experience for Strategist players.
What does Overwatch do better with its support characters?
The issues faced by Strategists in Marvel Rivals aren’t unique to them. Overwatch players have and still face many of these frustrations. However, there are some changes Overwatch has implemented that greatly improved the experience.
Supports should not be immune to enemy divers or attacks, but as chaotic as Marvel Rivals can be, sometimes teammates lose you through a fight. Supports in Marvel Rivals have decent ways to self-peel, such as Luna Snow’s freeze or Mantis’ sleep, but these skill shots can lead to devastating results when you’re unable to get it off.
NetEase GamesIf you’re left at low health after fending off an enemy attack in Overwatch, you’re able to passively regenerate some health after not taking damage for a few seconds. There are many instances where you escape an enemy dive but are forced into a position away from your other Strategists, so this passive would help nicely for some characters who can’t reliably heal themselves.
Strategists might not need this extra power, but there’s still a major issue where teammates push too hard and are unable to receive heals from you. Overwatch generally has a better communications system with pings for this specific scenario.
In fact, Overwatch literally has a “come to me for healing ping” to announce to teammates that they are not in your line of sight. Marvel Rivals has a similar ping, but it’s not that impactful and is harder to hear during a hectic fight.
NetEase GamesTo make matters worse, after a teammate is staggered or after you are staggered from a dive, Marvel Rivals often forces you into a “long spawn” where you’ll have to make the walk of shame back to the point since you did not respawn in time after taking an objective. This is worse on defense since enemies can hunt stragglers down and kill them easily, further increasing the time it takes to regroup.
Overwatch’s fix was simple and graceful, and Marvel Rivals desperately needs this feature. When a new spawn is created after an objective is taken, players have the option to press a button to teleport to the new spawn. This greatly fixes the issue of straggling, and while you might not have to think as hard on avoiding straggles, it was a very welcome quality-of-life change.
Marvel Rivals is shaping up to be the new hero shooter leader, but it still isn’t as graceful or refined as Overwatch. While this is often to its benefit, the game can still take some lessons from the leader that came before it.