NetEase Games is releasing the Marvel Rivals Season 9.5 update on Aug. 7, 2026, bringing balance adjustments to 18 heroes spanning Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist roles. The patch covers a mix of buffs, nerfs, and Team-Up ability tweaks designed to shift the current meta.

Quick Facts

  • Release Date: August 7, 2026
  • Total Heroes Adjusted: 18 characters across Vanguards, Duelists, and Strategists
  • Unaffected Heroes: Luna Snow has no changes in this patch

Vanguard Adjustments and Peni Parker Nerfs

Vanguards see significant adjustments in this update, notably for Peni Parker, whose control and survivability are being toned down. NetEase noted that her Cyber-Web Snare provided an Immobilize effect that was too frequent and oppressive for opponents.

  • Devil Dinosaur: Frenzied Feast maximum health percentage damage increased from 5 percent to 8 percent for the first four attacks, and from 10 percent to 12 percent for the fifth attack. Surf & Turf Team-Up with Jeff the Land Shark duration increased from 4s to 5s, with ally healing boosted from 40 to 60.
  • Doctor Strange: Daggers of Denak single-hit damage increased from 16 to 18, and projectile charges raised from 10 to 12. Hulk Team-Up Gamma Maelstrom cooldown reduced from 8s to 6s.
  • Magneto: Scarlet Witch Team-Up enhanced effect now adds a minor Launch Up effect to enemies on a Metallic Chaos projectile hit.
  • Peni Parker: Cyber-Web Snare no longer applies an immediate Immobilize effect. Instead, it applies a Web-Tracer and a 30 percent Slow effect for 1s. Snaring an enemy already marked with a Web-Tracer applies a 0.7s Immobilize. The skill is now charge-based with a maximum of 2 charges, and the bonus health cap from Cyber-Webs drops from 200 to 150.
  • Rogue: Defensive Stance damage reduction multiplier increased from 55 percent to 60 percent. Regenerative Shield capacity boosted from 250 to 275.
  • Venom: Symbiotic Resilience bonus health provided from lost health reduced from 120 percent to 110 percent. Venom Swing cooldown increased from 8s to 10s.

Duelist Balance and Team-Up Buffs

Several Duelists receive enhanced Team-Up potency, while characters like Cyclops, Moon Knight, Phoenix, and Wolverine receive direct tweaks to their baseline kits.

  • Black Panther: Storm Team-Up area damage reduced from 40 to 30, and cooldown increased from 12s to 15s.
  • Cyclops: Ricochet Force cooldown reduction per Optic Blast hit increased from 0.15s to 0.25s. Gambit Team-Up Concussive Beam attack frequency boost raised from 10 percent to 15 percent.
  • Elsa Bloodstone: Devil Dinosaur Team-Up Smoky Snare trap health reduced from 100 to 50, and control duration shortened from 1.5s to 1.2s.
  • Hela: Namor Team-Up Undead Monstro single-hit damage reduced from 15 to 10.
  • Moon Knight: Crescent Dart and Moon Blade bounce damage decay adjusted from 30 percent to 20 percent per bounce. Cloak & Dagger Team-Up Luminous Moon cooldown reduced from 15s to 12s, dash duration increased from 0.3s to 0.35s, and dash distance raised from 12m to 15m. Enhanced effect grants a 3s healing effect of 20 Health/s after leaving the Phased state.
  • Phoenix: Sparks detonation damage increased from 35 to 40, and area damage increased from 12 to 15. Rogue Team-Up Telekinetic Beatdown damage increased from 45 to 55.
  • Wolverine: Berserker Rage gains increased rage per hit taken from 5 to 8. Rage decay timer delay starts after 5s of no rage gained instead of 4s, and max rage decay rate drops from 15/s to 10/s.
  • Scarlet Witch: Doctor Strange Team-Up base effect allows Chthonian Burst to be replaced with Mystic Burst for 8s of free energy-cost magic missiles on an 8s cooldown. Enhanced effect makes Mystic Burst a toggle-type ability.

Strategist Updates

Strategists receive minor quality-of-life adjustments to projectile speed, energy costs, and damage scaling.

  • Gambit: Magneto Team-Up spell field Launch Up frequency adjusted from 0.5s to 1s.
  • Jubilee: Energy Plasmoids single-hit damage increased from 10 to 11, and single-hit healing increased from 14 to 15.
  • Loki: Mystical Missile projectile speed increased from 100m/s to 120m/s.
  • White Fox: Kumiho Unleashed ultimate energy cost reduced from 4800 to 4300. Casting automatically applies the Blessed by the Nine effect to allies within a 10m radius for 3s.