Marvel Rivals Season 9 is live, and NetEase used it to rip up the balance sheet. More than 25 heroes across every role got tuned, the Team-Up system was rebuilt so passive anchor bonuses no longer hand out free stats, and two brand-new global rules change how fast fights end. If your main leaned on a teammate for flat health or damage, that crutch is gone.
Quick answer: Season 9 slows ultimate energy generation for everyone and converts big chunks of many health pools into self-recharging Regenerative Shields. On top of that, Team-Up anchor bonuses (flat health, damage, or healing) are removed, and individual heroes got direct stat buffs or nerfs on damage, cooldowns, and ultimate costs.
Two global changes that hit every match
Before you look at a single hero, understand the two systemic shifts. Ultimates now charge slower across the board, so match-winning abilities show up less often. The exact conversion rates changed like this.
| Energy track | Old | New |
|---|---|---|
| Vanguards & Duelists (damage-to-energy) | 70% | 55% |
| Strategists (healing-to-energy) | 75% | 60% |
| Strategists (damage-to-energy) | 75% | 55% |
The second change is Regenerative Shields (called Regenerative Health on some Vanguards). They behave exactly like base health for anything that scales off health, including percentage-based damage and healing. The difference is recovery. If you avoid taking damage for 5 seconds, the shield refills completely over the next 5 seconds. A 300-point pool comes back at 60 per second, and a 150-point pool climbs at 30 per second. You know it is working when the green or blue portion of your bar starts filling on its own after you break line of sight.
Vanguard changes
Tanks split two ways. Some got big flat health increases to replace lost anchor bonuses, while others traded raw health for Regenerative Shields so they can duck out and recover.
| Hero | Changes |
|---|---|
| Angela | Base Health 450→350, add 200 Regenerative Shield. Remove Team-Up Anchor 100 Bonus Health. |
| Captain America | Base Health 600→300, add 300 Regenerative Shield. Remove 100 anchor health (total 700→600). |
| Deadpool (Vanguard) | Dual Desert Eagles single-shot 34→36 (39→40 upgraded). Deadpool In Your Area upgraded: ally damage reduction 20%→25%, self 30%→35%. Base Health 450→500. Remove 50 anchor health. |
| Devil Dinosaur | Base Health 750→850. Prehistoric Plating crit damage reduction 50%→60%. Enemy/ally ultimate energy reduction 35%→40%. Remove 100 anchor health. |
| Doctor Strange | Base Health 575→650. Shield of the Seraphim 700→850. Remove 100 anchor health. With Invisible Woman, shield gains +150 (total 1,000). |
| Groot | Base Health 700→850. Remove 150 anchor health. |
| Hulk | Heavy Blow 40→45. Base Health 650→400, add 300 Regenerative Shield. Hulk Smash! cost 3,400→3,700. Remove 100 anchor health (total 750→700). |
| Peni Parker | Remove Team-Up Anchor 50 Bonus Health. |
| Rogue | Defensive Stance damage reduction 60%→55%. Southern Brawl max bonus 90→75. Base Health 650→350, add 225 Regenerative Shield (total 650→575). |
| The Thing | Stone Haymaker bonus health cap 100→150. Wider vertical detection on Yancy Street Charge anti-movement zone. Reduced Clobberin’ Time backswing after Battle Blitz or Embattled Leap. |
| Thor | Longer uncharged Storm Surge. Hammer Throw 45→50 on throw, 20→25 on return. Bonus health on hit 50→75. Base Health 600→300, add 300 Regenerative Shield. |
| Venom | Base Health 675→500, add 250 Regenerative Shield. Remove 150 anchor health (total 825→750). |
Duelist changes
Damage dealers lose most of their generic 5% damage anchor bumps and, in several cases, swap base health for Regenerative Shields. That rewards flanks that hit and retreat, and punishes standing in the open. Cyclops and Iron Man took the hardest raw output cuts.
| Hero | Changes |
|---|---|
| Black Cat | Base Health 275→150, add 125 Regenerative Shield. Fortune cap 1,000→1,200. Higher high-payout odds on Tablet of Destinies. Remove 5% damage anchor. |
| Black Panther | Base Health 275→150, add 125 Regenerative Shield. |
| Cyclops | Optic Blast 25→21. Ricochet Force 80→70. Propulsion Burst and Optic Ascent cooldown 12s→15s. Remove 5% damage anchor. |
| Daredevil | Base Health 300→150, add 150 Regenerative Shield. Remove 5% damage anchor. |
| Deadpool (Duelist) | Remove 5% damage anchor. |
| Elsa Bloodstone | Double-Barrel Blaster ammo 8→12 shells. Helix Advance cooldown 10s→11s. With Devil Dinosaur, pellet damage 4.5→5. |
| Hawkeye | Higher Piercing Arrow damage scaling while charging (max unchanged). Base projectile speed 120→130 m/s, max 180→195 m/s. |
| Hela | Nightsword Thorn 70→80. Falloff now starts at 18m and drops to 75% at 35m. Astral Flock allows free flight in any direction. Remove 15% damage anchor. |
| Human Torch | Remove 5% damage anchor. |
| Iron Man | Single-hand Repulsor Blast field 50→45, dual-hand 55→50. Armor Overdrive Repulsor field 65→60. Unibeam 190→180/s. Remove 5% damage anchor. |
| Magik | Base Health 250→150, add 125 Regenerative Shield (total 250→275). |
| Moon Knight | Crescent Dart 23→25. Hand of Khonshu cost 2,800→3,100. Remove 5% damage anchor. |
| Phoenix | Endsong Inferno explosion 140→150. Remove 10% damage anchor. |
| Psylocke | Psionic Crossbow 12→13. Base Health 250→150, add 100 Regenerative Shield. With Emma Frost, Wing Shurikens bonus health 10→15. With Cloak & Dagger, crossbow 13→14. |
| Scarlet Witch | Dark Seal can be cast during Mystic Projection, which cancels the projection. |
| Star-Lord | Remove 25 bonus health from Stellar Shift. Base Health 250→150, add 100 Regenerative Shield. |
| Storm | Wind Blade 55→60. Remove 5% damage anchor. |
| The Punisher | Adjudication 20→19, Deliverance 10→9.5. With Daredevil, Adjudication +1 (19→20) and Deliverance +0.5 (9.5→10). |
Note: The Punisher’s base numbers only return to their old values when you run the Daredevil pairing, so his loadout choice directly decides his damage.
Strategist changes
Supports feel the ultimate slowdown hardest because their damage-to-energy rate dropped the most. Healing anchor bonuses are gone too, so raw healing was raised on several kits to compensate. Rocket Raccoon and White Fox saw their ultimates reined in the most.
| Hero | Changes |
|---|---|
| Adam Warlock | Base Health 250→275. Cosmic Cluster 38→35. With Ultron, Quantum Magic ammo 15→25. |
| Cloak & Dagger | Lightforce Dagger direct hit 12→15, lingering field 20→25. Veil of Lightforce 45→50. Dagger Storm 45→50/s. Remove 15% healing anchor. |
| Deadpool (Strategist) | Remove 5% healing anchor. |
| Gambit | Kinetic Cards healing 28→30. Remove 5% healing anchor. |
| Invisible Woman | Orb Projection healing 45→50 outgoing, 35→40 on return. Remove 15% healing anchor. |
| Luna Snow | Number One Idol loses its 10% damage boost; healing boost 10%→20%. Idol Aura attach healing 35%→40%. Remove 15% healing anchor. |
| Mantis | Remove 10% healing anchor. With Star-Lord, Healing Flower goes from 10 + 2.5% max health/s to 15 + 3% max health/s. With Adam Warlock, Natural Anger self-healing 12.5→17.5/s while active. |
| Rocket Raccoon | Repair Mode orb healing 50→55. C.Y.A. cost 4,000→4,300 with distance falloff: damage boost and bonus health decay from 8m, maxing at 60% reduction at 20m. Remove 5% healing anchor. |
| Ultron | Imperative: Firewall drone area healing 30→35/s. |
| White Fox | Spirit Sanctuary cooldown 12s→15s. Remove 10% healing anchor. Kumiho Unleashed total health 900→1,200. |
What to change in your loadout first
The removal of anchor bonuses means teammate proximity no longer pads your stats, so build around the specific synergies that survived. Psylocke wants Emma Frost or Cloak & Dagger, The Punisher wants Daredevil, Elsa Bloodstone wants Devil Dinosaur, and Adam Warlock wants Ultron. Heroes now sitting on Regenerative Shields (Thor, Hulk, Angela, Captain America, Rogue, Venom, Black Cat, Black Panther, Daredevil, Magik, Psylocke, Star-Lord) reward using cover, since standing in the open forfeits the free recovery. And because every role charges ultimates slower, count on landing fewer game-ending abilities per match and value the ones you do get.
These adjustments arrive alongside Jubilee joining as a new Strategist and a ground-up rework of Black Widow, both of which sit outside the standard buff and nerf list. Expect win rates to move sharply as players adapt to slower ultimates and self-healing shields.
