Marvel Rivals Season 6.5 Balance Patch — Every Buff, Nerf, and Team-Up Shake-Up

Marvel Rivals Season 6.5 lands on February 13 with a sweeping set of hero balance changes, a new Duelist in Elsa Bloodstone, and a significant overhaul to several Team-Up Abilities. Maintenance is scheduled to begin at 9:00 AM UTC on February 13 with an estimated two-hour downtime. Here's every confirmed change coming to the game.

Quick answer: The Season 6.5 balance patch adjusts 17 heroes across all three roles, removes the Fantastic Four Team-Up, adds a new Psionic Mayhem Team-Up between Invisible Woman and Doctor Strange, and introduces Elsa Bloodstone as a new Duelist.

New Duelist: Elsa Bloodstone

Elsa Bloodstone joins the roster as a momentum-driven Duelist designed to pressure the front line. She wields multiple weapons, including a signature elephant gun, and builds an Instinct meter through sustained damage output. As Instinct rises, her cooldowns shorten, rewarding aggressive play. She also has a trap that stuns enemies, giving her tools to interrupt pushes or lock down picks.

Her ultimate summons Glartox, a monster that charges through enemy teams. This makes her particularly threatening in objective fights where forcing repositioning can collapse a defensive setup.

Vanguard changes

Doctor Strange's shield regeneration nerf is notable because he's one of only two shield-based Vanguards in the game. The slower recovery makes sustained poke damage harder to absorb, which could further favor ranged compositions that were already dominant in Season 6.

Thor's changes look like a lateral shift on paper — he gains 50 Bonus Health from Hammer Throw but loses 25 per Storm Surge activation. In practice, Storm Surge operates on a much shorter cooldown than Hammer Throw, so his sustained teamfight durability takes a hit while his burst survivability in isolated duels improves slightly.

Rogue receives straightforward buffs. The higher energy conversion on Defensive Stance and the three-second reduction on Fatal Attraction's cooldown both increase her threat level and uptime in engagements.

Duelist changes

The three ultimate cost reductions are the most contentious changes in the patch. Wolverine's Last Stand drops from 3400 to 2800, placing it among the second-fastest charging ultimates in the game alongside Groot, Black Widow, Spider-Man, Moon Knight, The Thing, and Blade. Only Venom charges faster at 2500. Star-Lord and Punisher both receive 300-point reductions, making their already-impactful ultimates available more frequently.

Phoenix's 25 HP reduction brings her from 275 to 250 base health. Given her mobility tools, stun, and self-heal, this is a relatively modest adjustment that may not meaningfully change her dominance in the current meta.

Psylocke's changes are a trade-off rather than a pure nerf. Her Psionic Crossbow retains more damage at range (the falloff ceiling rises from 60% to 70%, meaning she keeps more damage at 30 meters), while her ultimate loses 10 damage per hit. The net effect should reward consistent primary fire play over relying on Dance of the Butterfly for burst.

Storm's mini-rework

Storm receives the most complex set of changes in the patch, with new mechanics layered onto both of her Weather Control auras.

Under the Tornado aura, using Wind Blade and Bolt Rush now grants Storm Bonus Health at a 25% damage conversion ratio, capped at 75. This gives her personal survivability she previously lacked while playing aggressively.

Under the Thunder aura, Wind Blade hits now reduce Bolt Rush's cooldown by 0.5 seconds (once per cast, even against multiple targets). Bolt Rush's spell field radius also increases from 1m to 1.5m. However, the ally damage boost under Thunder drops from 12% to 8%.

A quality-of-life improvement applies to both auras: ally buffs now decay over two seconds after leaving the aura instead of vanishing instantly. Animation end lag on Weather Control switching is also reduced. These changes collectively push Storm toward a more self-sufficient hybrid playstyle, trading some team-wide damage amplification for personal sustain and ability uptime.

Strategist changes

Adam Warlock receives the patch's most celebrated change: a brand-new flight mode. He can now fly at 10 m/s for up to four seconds at full energy, with energy fully recharging from empty in 15 seconds. Additionally, Soul Bond now allows Adam to hover and attack during the ability's duration. Adam was previously the only Strategist with zero mobility options, and this addition fundamentally changes his positioning and escape potential.

Invisible Woman gets a cooldown increase on Force Physics, moving from 8 seconds to 10 seconds. This reduces the frequency of her push/pull utility but doesn't change the ability's power when it is available.

Loki loses two Mystical Missile charges, dropping from 12 to 10. This continues a pattern of incremental nerfs to Loki's healing output across multiple patches. Many players feel Loki is being penalized for the strength of Gambit, with whom he's frequently paired.

Ultron receives a minor range extension on his Imperative: Patch drone detach range, going from 30m to 35m. The practical impact is limited since playing 35 meters from your team or drone is rarely optimal.

Team-Up Ability updates

Removed: Fantastic Four

The Team-Up linking Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Mister Fantastic, and The Thing has been removed entirely. This is a significant blow to Human Torch in particular, who was already considered one of the weakest heroes in the current meta. The Thing, Mister Fantastic, and Invisible Woman all receive new Team-Up connections elsewhere in the patch, but Human Torch does not gain a replacement.

New: Psionic Mayhem (Invisible Woman + Doctor Strange)

Doctor Strange joins forces with Invisible Woman and unlocks the Psionic Vortex ability. This new Team-Up pairs the game's two shield-oriented heroes and gives Strange access to a pull mechanic that also heals him and nearby allies based on damage dealt during the pull.

Updated: Mr. Pool's Interdimensional Toy Box

Elsa Bloodstone joins Deadpool and Jeff the Land Shark in this Team-Up. Through the partnership, Elsa gains the Bloodstone's Boombox Bullets ability.

Updated: Gamma Charge

The Thing is added to the Hulk and Black Panther Team-Up. He gains the Gamma Gauntlets ability, which boosts his attack range and grants Bonus Health while the Team-Up is active.

Updated: Rocket Network

Mister Fantastic joins Rocket Raccoon and Star-Lord. He unlocks the Fantastic Amplifier ability, which allows him to exceed his normal Elasticity cap of 100 and can be manually triggered for burst effectiveness.

What the patch doesn't address

Several heroes that the community has been vocal about remain untouched. Hawkeye, Hela, Bucky, and Gambit receive no changes despite being frequent competitive ban targets. Blade, who was widely considered to have been net-nerfed in Season 6.0, also receives nothing. The lack of adjustments to poke-dominant heroes, combined with Doctor Strange's shield nerf, suggests ranged compositions will continue to define much of the competitive landscape heading into Season 6.5.

The patch leans heavily into faster ultimate availability for Duelists while trimming survivability and healing from Vanguards and Strategists. Whether Adam Warlock's new flight and Storm's reworked auras are enough to shift the meta remains to be seen once the update goes live on February 13.