How to Play Marvel Rivals, Beginners Guide and Tips 2025

Marvel Rivals is a 6v6 hero shooter developed by NetEase Games. Released on December 6, 2024, for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PC, it boasts over 40 million players in a short span. If you are a beginner looking to play this game, this guide will help you understand the basics of Marvel Rivals and its game modes, help you select the best hero, and share the best tips and tricks to dominate it like a pro. You can also get help from our Marvel Rivals rank boost services to ace this game.

Introduction to Marvel Rivals

Marvel Rivals is a free hero shooter on Steam featuring all the story gods we know and love from the Marvel franchise. Each of the heroes in the game has a powerful journey, unique abilities, and a devastating ultimate that can have a massive impact on the six opponents. Heroes and villains are categorized into three roles depending on their skill set. Each of these archetypes has a vital role to play in every game. You can enjoy the game solo orally with up to five other friends. The Marvel Rivals roster featured 33 heroes upon release. However, five more heroes were added later. You can play Marvel Rivals on Steam. All you need is a stable internet connection so you do not have connectivity issues, space for game files, and an Intel Core processor (when playing on PC).

How to Play Marvel Rivals

Marvel Rivals is split into four game modes for you and your friends to play in two teams. It also offers various seasonal challenges in destructible environments.

i) Quick Match is an instant and fun way to get into the action. You get a taste of what the game offers in a controlled and casual environment. It features short matches across eight maps with objectives like Domination (control points), Convoy (escort a payload), and Convergence (capture and then escort).

ii) The idea behind Conquest mode is to put you in an arena-style death match where you focus on eliminations, with the first team to hit fifty claims victory.

iii) Once you reach level 10, you can unlock Competitive Match mode. It is a ranked mode where your performance will decide whether you climb or fall the rank ladder.

Selecting Your Marvel Rivals Hero

With 38 characters in the Marvel Rivals roster, choosing a hero can be overwhelming if you are a beginner. However, before making a choice, you must first understand the three leading roles in the game.

Vanguard: Vanguard heroes like Hulk and Doctor Strange are your frontline. They are capable of taking a hit and protecting your team. They have the best health of all heroes available, and their job is to push the team forward safely. This is done through abilities like shields, barriers, or disrupting the enemy.

Duelist: As the name suggests, duelists are damage dealers capable of dealing damage quickly and efficiently. They achieve this in various ways. Some duelists use ranged combat, some use melee, while some are best on the frontline alongside vanguards. Duelist heroes like Spider-Man and Iron Man secure kills on the battlefield to weaken the enemy team.

Strategist: They are utility-based heroes, usually fulfilling some support role. Strategists like Rocket Raccoon and Adam can heal injured teammates, while some have powerful abilities that can disrupt the enemy team with crowd control effects. They also help to push their team further with various buffs.

So, how do you choose the best hero for yourself? First, you must decide whether you want to act as a vanguard, duelist, or strategist. Each role is equally important, and your team must have a good mix of all three. Consider your team’s combination before making a choice. You can also experiment in the Practice Range with various heroes and find the one that clicks with you.

Developing Game Strategy and Skills

Marvel Rivals is more than just aiming or shooting in one game. You have to use perfect game strategies and develop skills to progress. Here is how you can do this.

Managing Resources

You must deal with resources smartly during the battle, whether health, ability, cooldowns, or ultimates. You must coordinate with teammates to maximize impact, such as combining ultimates for devastating effects. Moreover, focus on using hero abilities efficiently and avoid wasting them.

Focus on Objectives

Some players get distracted by side skirmishes and chase kills. However, staying on task wins games, capturing a point in Domination, or pushing a convoy. You must always prioritize map goals over chasing kills unless they directly affect your goals.

Positioning Yourself During the Battle

The way you position yourself during the gameplay determines your success. If you are a Vanguard, you must be upfront to take the damage. Strategists must be behind to give support and avoid the enemy's line of sight. You can dictate the fight by controlling high ground or choke points worldwide. Moreover, regrouping helps to prevent chaos within the team.

Mastering Skills

The key to dominating Marvel Rivals is to improve through constant practice. If you can get a hang of a hero's abilities, combos, and timing, you will enjoy success. Watch enemy ultimates using their charge meter on the HUD to anticipate their launch moves. Moreover, if you are fully aware of the map, you can predict enemy movements and flank routes.

Tips for Beginners

Here are five tips and tricks to dominate Marvel Rivals like a pro.

i) Remember that Marvel Rivals is a team game. The best way to be effective is to play to your team’s strengths and cover their weaknesses. You can do this in many forms, such as combining abilities. For instance, Scarlet can one-shot everyone in the range but is vulnerable when charging at the enemies. So, you can use abilities like Magneto’s Bulwark to keep her safe.

ii) Being smart about your team’s composition is another thing to remember. While locking into your favorite hero is always tempting, you can not select a duelist hero if four people in your team have already chosen duelists. You will have a much better chance of winning if at least one of each role is playing in your team.

iii) You must understand how to use line of sight to your advantage. You do not want to be in the sight of an enemy’s duelist if you are playing as a strategist. This is because you can effectively heal your team from behind a corner, a wall, or a barrier.

iv) Line of sight is equally essential when asking for heals. If you are pushed deep into the enemy’s lines, your healer might be unable to heal you. Your best chance will be to get out alive and approach them.

v) Never be afraid of switching heroes in the middle of a match if it’s just not working out. Some heroes will do well against one team and terribly against another. Check out the enemy’s team composition before playing vulnerable characters like Iron Man or Storm.