Marvel Rivals Season 9.5 balance pass touches 18 heroes on Aug. 7

Marvel Rivals receives a balance pass on Aug. 7 covering 18 heroes across all three roles, alongside changes to a number of Team-Up abilities, according to patch notes published by Dot Esports. Luna Snow, one of the game’s most-picked Strategists, is not adjusted at all.

On the Vanguard side, Peni Parker takes the most structural change. Cyber-Web Snare no longer immobilises on a first hit; it instead applies a stack of Web-Tracer and a 30 percent slow for one second, with the tracer lasting five seconds. A second snare on a tracked enemy immobilises them for 0.7 seconds. The ability also becomes charge-based with a maximum of two charges, and the bonus health Cyber-Webs grant Peni falls from 200 to 150.

Venom is reduced in two places: Symbiotic Resilience now returns 110 percent of lost health as bonus health rather than 120 percent, and Venom Swing’s cooldown rises from eight seconds to 10. Rogue moves the other way, with Defensive Stance damage reduction going from 55 to 60 percent and Regenerative Shield capacity from 250 to 275. Doctor Strange gains damage and charges on Daggers of Denak, and Devil Dinosaur’s Frenzied Feast deals more maximum-health percentage damage on every hit.

Duelist changes

Wolverine’s Berserker Rage is retuned rather than simply buffed: rage gained per hit taken rises from five to eight, the decay timer starts after five seconds without rage gain instead of four, and decay at maximum rage slows from 15 per second to 10. Phoenix deals more damage on detonated Sparks, up from 35 to 40, with area damage rising from 12 to 15, and Moon Knight’s Crescent Dart and Moon Blade lose less damage per bounce, with decay cut from 30 percent to 20.

Cyclops sees a larger cooldown reduction on Ricochet Force per Optic Blast hit, from 0.15 to 0.25 seconds. Several Duelist Team-Ups are trimmed instead: Black Panther’s pairing with Storm deals less area damage on a longer cooldown, Hela’s Undead Monstro with Namor drops from 15 to 10 damage per hit, and Elsa Bloodstone’s Smoky Snare trap with Devil Dinosaur loses both health and control duration.

Strategist changes

White Fox receives the clearest Strategist gain, with the energy cost of the Kumiho Unleashed ultimate falling from 4,800 to 4,300 and the cast now applying Blessed by the Nine to allies within 10 metres for three seconds. Jubilee’s Energy Plasmoids gain a point of damage and a point of healing per hit, and Loki’s Mystical Missile projectile speed rises from 100 to 120 metres per second. Gambit’s Team-Up with Magneto is slowed, with the spell field’s launch-up frequency moving from every 0.5 seconds to every second.

Team-Up abilities account for a large share of the pass overall. Dot Esports lists Devil Dinosaur, Doctor Strange, Magneto, Cyclops, Moon Knight, Phoenix and Scarlet Witch as receiving Team-Up buffs, with Scarlet Witch’s pairing with Doctor Strange reworked so that Mystic Burst replaces Chthonian Burst and magic missiles fire at no energy cost — as a timed window in its base form, and as a toggle when enhanced.