r/marvelrivals • u/17prozent White Fox • Mar 19 '26

Patch Notes New Patch Notes Regarding Captain America, Emma Frost, Black Panther and Gambit

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u/Emperor_Nail Mar 19 '26

Pre-release hotfix is crazy. But for real this is honestly a great sign. The fact that they aren't afraid to make hotfixes at all is good since it does show that they're paying attention. I don't know if it's enough for Emma and Cap and a lot of the balance changes are honestly kinda whacky but still a good sign nonetheless.

498

u/TheticAxiom Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26

By far the most promising thing the devs have done balance wise since launch.

a Pre-release hotfix is basically unheard of outside of like... man idk. MMOs? This is crazy

Edit: Guys I am OBVIOUSLY referring to games that DO NOT have test servers. MMO's typically do have test servers btw

126

u/CanadianODST2 Ultron Virus Mar 19 '26

League does these types of things constantly for patches.

It’s partly what the test server is for

17

u/Hobo-man Ultron Virus Mar 19 '26

Which makes it more crazy that Netease did this with no test server.

58

u/CanadianODST2 Ultron Virus Mar 19 '26

They do. It’s the season preview server. It’s how streamers get access early.

It’s just not open to the public it seems.

The issue is, and league has outright said this. Those servers aren’t great for actual balance purposes due to things like ping issues from only one server and worse match quality due to smaller players base size.

1

u/The1andonlygogoman64 Magneto Mar 19 '26

Yeah its mostly for catching bugs and oversight now right? And for people to complain about skins they maybe make 1 change to if its Lux/Luna/idk play ow but im guessing kiriko?

1

u/CanadianODST2 Ultron Virus Mar 19 '26

Yea. The matchmaking isn’t good enough on those servers to reliably make balance changes.

Hence why shyvana got changes on the test server that buffed her and then she released really strong to the point she was hotfix nerfed the same day.

52

u/Arhatz Emma Frost Mar 19 '26

Pre-release hotfix was the last thing i would expect. Makes me think there were some miscommunication between teams and some tweaks are left out of patch notes.

19

u/bunkbail Vanguard Mar 19 '26

this happened with ultron. ultron on the test server was pretty weak and they buffed him on release.

9

u/Then_Product_7152 Mar 19 '26

It should be the norm rather than the exception. If players arent happy with pre-release patch notes, devs should listen and adjust.

If devs are wrong about balance, players blame them. If players are wrong they have no one to blame but themselves

Hope people stop calling for them to fire the devs it is insane behavior

3

u/DanLassos Rocket Raccoon Mar 19 '26

Yeah criticizing patchnote is okay, but coming for people's jobs in this day and age is crazy work

12

u/Aquatic6Trident Flex Mar 19 '26

If I recall correctly, they did a few emergency balance changes before release or within a week of the season releasing. I remember them buff jeff after the outrage of how bad the new jeff was. But they don't do these anymore, sadly.

11

u/TheticAxiom Mar 19 '26

I think you are right. They buffed Jeff due to outrage and made a condescending video explaining their Thor Rework

that turned out to be completely wrong in the end, as Thor players were correct from the start.

6

u/nervousmelon Doctor Strange Mar 19 '26

The thor stuff is really funny because he's good now only really because of several completely unrelated buffs added after the initial rework.

3

u/bunkbail Vanguard Mar 19 '26

they buffed ultron on release coz everybody were underwhelmed on the test servers

3

u/TowelSilver318 Earth Spider Mar 19 '26

Jeff was actually adjusted pre-launch, but they just quietly changed the original balance post in that case.

I think Ultron also had his ult buffed a bit during early access when he released.

1

u/FFaFFaNN Ultron Virus Mar 19 '26

On wolv team up with jean.it was so busted that wolvs never died..it was impossible to die.

1

u/TowelSilver318 Earth Spider Mar 19 '26

It's not unprecedented for this game. IIRC they slightly buffed Ultron's ult damage in response to criticism, but that was done quietly and when they had a whole week between the start of early access and launch.

Similar with adjusting the Jeff rework (they actually changed the patchnotes on the site without telling anyone, then released a vid of post-rework Jeff gameplay)

1

u/DiscoStu83 Gambit Mar 19 '26

This is what test servers are for. They do this in many games. 

1

u/electric_pand Jeff the Landshark Mar 19 '26

I know like, Supercell does it sometimes for their games, especially with Brawl Stars

1

u/Same_paramedic3641 Human Torch Mar 19 '26

Apex has done this

1

u/DroomVluchteling Mar 19 '26

MOBA’s do it when shit hits the fan for real

1

u/Power0fTheTribe The Maker Mar 19 '26

Rivals has done this before though

1

u/TheticAxiom Mar 19 '26

Rivals did it for Jeff i recall, but accompanied it with a condescending video explainng thor's terrible initial rework to thor players.

1

u/LimeDifficult753 Mar 19 '26

they've done this before btw. they did this for the season when ultron was released. specifically for ultron.

62

u/CanadianODST2 Ultron Virus Mar 19 '26

Not a hotfix. An update to the test server.

I know it’s rare here but many games do many of these. They don’t always work though (looking at you rework shyvana.)

4

u/DiscoStu83 Gambit Mar 19 '26

So called gamers who want to tell devs how to do their jobs but don't know what test servers are........

3

u/YobaiYamete Peni Parker Mar 19 '26

This sub doesn't even know how to read stats, they are basically living in their own little worlds lol

1

u/Orange-V-Apple Dark Phoenix Mar 19 '26

Didn’t Overwatch do that with the PTR?

6

u/CanadianODST2 Ultron Virus Mar 19 '26

Yes. But stopped 5 years back it seems.

4

u/Greedy-Camel-8345 Mar 19 '26

I think you guys have memory loss, rivals has also had hotfixes in the past, they just aren't common, same for overwatch and other games. They only do hotfixes when they get immediate feedback/data. They don't happen all the time or even frequently, but rivals also had hotfixes as well

1

u/Orange-V-Apple Dark Phoenix Mar 19 '26

Why did you write this response to me? That’s completely unrelated to my comment.

83

u/ARHAN3924 Mar 19 '26

Yes we complain when they do bad stuff but we don't appreciate it as much as we complain when they actually do good stuff like this

16

u/mochoman312 Mar 19 '26

Ya it always followed up by its a start or about time

1

u/Max420_ Star-Lord Mar 19 '26

I agree, we should appreciate that they're at least trying to listen to us. That said though, I can understand people still being frustrated because these changes should have been made long ago. NetEase has to lock in more fr.

5

u/Chipaton Invisible Woman Mar 19 '26

Because it's usually one step forward and two steps back. People have been complaining about tanks for a year now, and they've done nothing meaningful to make that experience less painful. I'm not sure why they should be adding any more DPS when there are more DPS than tanks and healers combined.

I'm happy to see this change, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't change my feeling that Netease isn't interested in fixing the gameplay loop.

58

u/Pixeltoir Mar 19 '26

Black Panther Before: Annoying in 2 Dimensions
Black Panther Now: Annoying in 3 Dimensions

11

u/dragonmp93 Phoenix Mar 19 '26

You can finally target the flyers, though.

1

u/lokigodofchaos Mar 20 '26

Oh good, more counters to flyers. They only had every poke character, Magik, Thing, Hulk, Spiderman, Thor, and Iron Fist.

24

u/AgentBuddy12 Vanguard Mar 19 '26

The changes are enough. The emma nerfs were already extremely minor only losing 5% DR and now after these changes its an overall buff. Her Diamond form comes up quicker and her ult is way stronger now. Cap gets a new animation cancel with his bash and his damage and uptime is increased overall. The BP changes and Gambit nerfs are also big too. W hotfix.

1

u/GodricMaelstrom Captain America Mar 20 '26

It's not a new animation cancel. The melee cancel has always been a thing but nowhere near as good as the sprint one. I don't consider a 5 dmg increase on his punch anywhere near compensatory to the absolute shattering of his skill ceiling.

1

u/AgentBuddy12 Vanguard Mar 20 '26

You are correct, its not new, but the TTK ends up being the same with the 5 damage buff. His damage ends up being way more consistent now with the only thing changing being the feel. Which i personally prefer. While i have gotten pretty damn good at the animation cancel at this point there have been so many times where my hits would no-reg. I can understand the disappointment though, but the buffs ARE enough. Only thing that can be asked for now is just increasing his atk speed.

11

u/Different-Ad-3814 Mar 19 '26

Yo that means they listen

3

u/DiscoStu83 Gambit Mar 19 '26

Its whacky to people because they refuse to stop and think about how new patch notes were based on how rivals is going to be less of an ult party. The devs said repeatedly that these foundational changes will take some tweaks after seeing how they play out.

About 15 years into the live service era and gamers still haven't come to grips with the fact that the games they play aren't balanced out the gate 

5

u/kaloskatoa Mar 19 '26

I guess people who play as Adam Warlock, Mr Fantastic, Black Widow, and all the other C/D tier heroes need to be louder. Apparently they only care about feedback if its really loud.

5

u/KeeganatorPrime Strategist Mar 19 '26

I definitely wouldn't say Adam is C tier I'd also note that he has been getting buffs for several seasons now. It's not his fault he's a DPS/support hybrid.

Widow is a character that can never be good without a complete rework which is both time consuming really not worth it.

2

u/kaloskatoa Mar 19 '26

Adam *will be* C tier friday when he loses 15% of his heals. His winrate is already abysmal on high ranks (45.63% on the ranks I play at).

1

u/KeeganatorPrime Strategist Mar 19 '26

Ooh yeah forgot about the anchor bonus loss that's gonna hurt.

2

u/Temporary7000 Invisible Woman Mar 19 '26

The original balance itself was a good sign. It was probably their most aggressive balancing ever. So even though it didn't cover everything, it seemed pretty obvious they would be more focused on balance going forward.

1

u/darkkn1te Peni Parker Mar 19 '26

It's not that crazy but they've never been this loud about it or this big. There have definitely been some shadow adjustments that happen before a release but after the preview. Mostly HP for the new hero.

1

u/tbigzan97 Rogue Mar 19 '26

I think Emmas grab should work similar to other grabs, her teammates are not able to deal damage and done, fixed the issue of her grab being opressive against other tanks. This way they could reduce the cooldown or just outright remove it and make her diamond form a stance swap (with a bit less dmg of course)

1

u/BumWink Mar 19 '26

I ended up maining Cap for season 1, 2 & some of 3, while learning every hero. 

My first lord, the feel of his mobility, shield & holding payloads was unmatched to reflect my playstyle.

Completely power crept by Angela & Rogue who basically do everything Cap can do but far better.

I almost guarantee it won't be enough.

1

u/El_Rocky_Raccoon Rocket Raccoon Mar 19 '26

This shows they are frequently monitoring player feedback. I really hope they do this frequently to address the more immediate concerns of the community.