Hela has been one of the most consistently dominant Duelists in Marvel Rivals since the game launched in December 2024. Her hitscan primary fire, Nightsword Thorn, combined with strong aerial mobility and the powerful Hela-Namor Team-Up, kept her near the top of ban lists for multiple seasons. The February 19, 2026, hotfix — a mid-Season 6.5 emergency balance patch — finally addresses her ranged damage output directly.
Quick answer: Hela's Nightsword Thorn damage falloff at 30 meters now drops to 70% of base damage, down from 80%. Beyond 25 meters, two critical hits will no longer kill a 250 HP target.
What Changed With Hela's Nightsword Thorn
The nerf targets Hela's damage falloff curve specifically. Damage falloff still begins at 18 meters, but at 30 meters the maximum retained damage drops from 80% to 70% of the base value. This is actually a reversion — back in Season 1.5, Hela's falloff was buffed from 70% to 80% at 30 meters. The hotfix rolls that buff back entirely.
The most important breakpoint shift is at range. Previously, Hela could two-tap any 250 HP hero with consecutive headshots from well beyond 25 meters. After the nerf, 29 meters is the cutoff where two critical hits can no longer secure a kill on a 250 HP target. For bodyshots, you now need one additional shot to kill both 250 HP and 275 HP targets at 30 meters.
How Hela Compares to Phoenix After the Nerf
An interesting side effect of this change is that Phoenix now deals more damage than Hela at extended ranges. At 30 meters, Phoenix kills a 250 HP target faster than Hela does, despite Phoenix traditionally being considered the closer-range option of the two. This is partly because Phoenix's Spark explosion does not have damage falloff, which compensates for her steeper 60% falloff floor compared to Hela's new 70% floor.
At point-blank range, Hela still wins. She typically kills 250 HP and 275 HP targets faster than Phoenix at 0 meters. The crossover point where Phoenix begins to outperform Hela on time-to-kill is somewhere around the 25–30 meter mark, depending on whether you're landing headshots or bodyshots.
Hela's Full Balance History in Marvel Rivals
Hela has been through a rollercoaster of adjustments since launch. Understanding the full arc helps put this nerf in context.
| Season | Change |
|---|---|
| Season 0 (Dec 2024) | Hela launches as a Duelist with hitscan primary, aerial glide, and the Queen of Hel Team-Up with Loki and Thor |
| Season 1 (Jan 2025) | Max health reduced from 275 to 250; Queen of Hel anchor bonus reduced from 20% to 15% |
| Season 1.5 (Feb 2025) | Nightsword Thorn damage falloff buffed from 70% to 80% at 30m |
| Season 2 (Apr 2025) | Piercing Night explosion damage buffed from 30 to 35; Astral Flock cooldown increased from 12s to 15s; Soul Drainer cooldown reduced from 12s to 10s |
| Season 2.5 (May 2025) | Nightsword Thorn ammo capacity increased from 8 to 10 |
| Season 3 (Jul 2025) | New Hel Tendrils Team-Up added with Venom and Jeff the Land Shark |
| Season 4.5 (Oct 2025) | Astral Flock cast time reduced and now grants 25 bonus health; Queen of Hel Team-Up removed and replaced with Death Kneel (Namor Team-Up) |
| Season 6 (Jan 2026) | Death Kneel undead monstro spawn damage reduced from 12 to 10 per shot; berserk state damage reduced from 7 to 6 |
| Season 6.5 Hotfix (Feb 19, 2026) | Nightsword Thorn damage falloff at 30m reverted from 80% to 70% |
The pattern is clear: NetEase has been cautious with Hela, often buffing her primary fire and mobility in one patch only to pull back on other aspects later. The Season 1.5 falloff buff that made her long-range poke so oppressive lasted nearly a full year before being reverted.
Why the Namor Team-Up Keeps Hela in the Ban Conversation
Even with the damage falloff nerf, Hela's competitive viability is propped up significantly by her Death Kneel Team-Up with Namor. This passive synergy grants a 15% damage boost as an anchor bonus, lets both heroes summon undead monstro spawns on final blows, and gives Namor the ability to create water columns that reduce enemy healing. The combination of Hela's poke with Namor's zone control makes the duo extremely difficult to deal with in coordinated play.
Many competitive players have noted that even if Hela's individual damage is brought in line, banning her remains necessary as long as the Namor synergy stays this strong. Banning Namor instead is an option, but it forces teams to burn a ban slot on a support-adjacent tool rather than addressing other dominant picks like Gambit or Hawkeye.
Other Heroes Nerfed in the February 19 Hotfix
Hela wasn't the only target. The hotfix also hit three other high-priority heroes that had been dominating Season 6.5.
Hawkeye received substantial damage reductions. Piercing Arrow base damage dropped from 34 to 28, and a fully charged arrow now deals 70 base damage instead of 85. With Archer's Focus active, a charged arrow hits for 160, down from 175. His maximum headshot damage is now 320 (160 × 2), meaning he can still one-shot most 250 HP heroes with a critical hit, but now requires three shots to down most tanks instead of two.
Elsa Bloodstone, the newest Duelist added in Season 6.5, had her ultimate toned down. Glartrox's health dropped from 500 to 400, its dash duration was cut from 6 seconds to 3.5 seconds, and the enemy grab hitbox was reduced from 6m × 6m × 3.5m to 5m × 5m × 3.5m.
Gambit lost 25 base health, going from 275 to 250, and his Breaking Spades damage boost was reduced from 15% to 10%. The community response to these changes has been mixed, with many players arguing that Gambit's real problem — his ultimate, which provides healing, movement speed, damage boost, ultimate charge acceleration, and a cleanse — remains untouched.
What This Means for Hela Players Going Forward
If you main Hela, the practical impact is straightforward: you need to play closer or accept longer kill times at range. The days of comfortably two-tapping squishies from across the map with headshots are over beyond 29 meters. You'll want to position within that 18–25 meter sweet spot where your damage falloff is still manageable, but you're far enough to leverage Hela's aerial advantage.
Hela remains a strong pick at close to mid range, and her kit — Astral Flock mobility, Soul Drainer crowd control, Nastrond Crowstorm passive, and the Goddess of Death ultimate — is fundamentally unchanged. The nerf specifically punishes the passive, long-range poke playstyle that made her so frustrating to face. Whether this is enough to knock her out of perma-ban territory in ranked play will depend heavily on how the Namor Team-Up shakes out in the post-patch meta.