Marvel Rivals players are concerned that Ultron may be underpowered. Read on to learn more about the community’s thoughts on Ultron and the controversy over Jeff and Thor’s balance updates.
Marvel Rivals Season 2.5 Concerns Before Launch
Ultron May Need Buffs
Marvel Rivals is gearing towards its Season 2.5, which will see the debut of the new playable Strategist, Ultron. However, fans have noticed that the menacing mechanical machine may be too weak and would require immediate buffs once he comes out.
Over at Reddit, user mrdunklestein posted on May 25 and shared his thoughts based on Marvel Rivals’ early access stream for Ultron. In the stream, several content creators had the opportunity to try out the upcoming Strategist ahead of its debut. According to mrdunklestein, Ultron has long-range and high-damage with minimal falloff, good mobility, and offers great healing for his ultimate.
Unfortunately, he has observed that Ultron’s drones have minimal healing that barely outheals the damage from practice bots. He also noted that he had poor shield capabilities, and the damage from his Ultimate does weaker damage compared to a single arrow from Hawkeye. For context, Hawkeye’s normal shot ranges from 8-80 damage depending on charge time.
It is important to note that these are all just based on the early access stream, and numbers may be different once Ultron officially releases. Furthermore, fans have noticed that this may be a recurring pattern for heroes who can fly, releasing "weak" then receiving buffs later on.
In another Reddit post by user RuinedViego16, he claimed that similar instances have happened with heroes like Storm, Human Torch, and others. These flying characters saw significant improvements after being released, and fans stated that NetEase allegedly does this on purpose, as their mobility and flying capabilities are difficult to deal with.
For example, Storm was considered one of the weakest duelists early in the game’s life. After several patches of her receiving buffs, which mostly focused on her primary attack, Wind Blade, she became a constant pick for competitive play. Currently, she has the second-highest win rate for competitive games on PC based on Marvel Rivals’ data.
It is too early to tell whether these observations about Ultron are true. Fans will just have to wait once Season 2.5 launches to try him out, which is just a few days away as of writing.
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Fans Not Happy About Jeff and Thor Changes, NetEase Responds
About a week ago, Marvel Rivals announced the upcoming balance changes the game will have for Season 2.5. Among them, nerfs for Jeff the Land Shark and Thor were included to the dismay of a lot of fans.
In a Reddit post by user DynamoDen_ on May 23, he questioned NetEase’s decision for Jeff and Thor’s changes. Fans also shared the same sentiment and stated that both heroes didn’t need the nerfs, as nobody was complaining about them in the first place.
The nerfs in question for Thor are his Hammer Throw being removed from the shared ability and universal cooldown, and its damage being significantly reduced, while his survivability has been lowered because of the decreased shield value from Thorforce consumption.
Meanwhile, Jeff has received essentially a full rework as all of his abilities’ functions were changed, which many viewed as making him less viable. Jeff already had one of the lowest win rates in the game, so fans are puzzled as to why he would have these changes.
Since the community backlash, NetEase posted on Twitter (X) on May 23 about the new tweaks the developers have made to Thor and Jeff’s abilities. They stated, "We’ve noticed the enthusiastic discussions around Thor and Jeff following the balance update for S2.5. To provide more clarity on our design intentions and showcase their new abilities and performance in the upcoming season, we’ve prepared the following video."
The video showcased what the changes mentioned do on the battlefield. They also provided an extensive explanation to clarify the adjustments they made. For Thor, the changes are aimed towards him being able to stay in his Awakened Rune state longer, allowing him to deal major damage. On the other hand, Jeff’s Joyful Splash can now damage enemies, which gives him the ability to simultaneously heal allies and do damage.
It’s still up in the air whether these changes are enough to suppress the community’s distraught over the initial planned changes. There are only a few days left before the update, so fans would just have to wait and see before then.
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Petition to Revert Changes for Jeff Blows Up
The changes for Jeff have really affected the community, especially with him being a fan favorite since the game’s release. Many are worried that the balance update and rework for the lovable land shark would take a major hit on his playability.
With this, fans made a petition on Change.org to revert his changes and "leave him be". The issue description reads, "Jeff is currently the character with the LOWEST WINRATE in the game (42%). Nerfing him to the GROUND and making him just another BORING HEALBOT is the WORST THING THAT CAN BE DONE. Jeff's current state, although a bit tough, is still REALLY REALLY FUN."
As of writing, the petition has 3,296 signatures and has been growing steadily by the hour. Jeff mains wished that if the developers have no plans of buffing him, the best they can do is just leave him as is.
There has been quite a ruckus within the community based on the planned updates NetEase has for the game. These issues may have been resolved already by the time Season 2.5 rolls out, but nothing is for certain until fans have gotten hold of the update on May 30.
Marvel Rivals is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. To stay up to date with the latest information about Marvel Rivals, check out our article below!
Source:
Hate to judge a book by its cover, but it doesn’t look good for us aspiring Ultron mains
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