You ever play a game and wonder if the developers are watching your every misfortune with a notepad and popcorn? NetEase finally dropped the snacks and got to work, because Marvel Rivals Season 2.5 has delivered a trio of nerfs that has the entire player base breathing a sigh of relief. Psylocke, Human Torch, and Iron Fist — three of the most obnoxious Duelists to ever body slam the backline — have finally been dialed down and for this, nobody is mad about it.
Since launch, Marvel Rivals has had more meta shifts than Loki has variants, and not all of them have been for the better. But with the dive-heavy chaos plaguing backlines, supports were starting to consider retirement. Thanks to this latest patch, the community threads turned from rants into celebrations. That’s how brutal the dive meta had gotten; healers were speed bumps for these overpowered flankers, so we finally have a patch that says enough.
Marvel Rivals’ Season 2.5 Update is One of the Largest and a Good One
A new Hero Balance update is on the way!
With Season 2.5 arriving soon, check out what changes we’re implementing to refine your heroic journey >> https://t.co/iknzERYMnY
🌐 Our Hero Hot List has also been updated >> https://t.co/USvULItltX
🛠️ Maintenance will begin on… pic.twitter.com/ZbiTxZUdEz
— Marvel Rivals (@MarvelRivals) May 22, 2025
Casual players might’ve missed Psylocke’s dominance, but anyone above silver rank knows exactly how lethal she was in the hands of someone with half a brain and decent aim. Her Wing Shurikens were deleting squishies faster than a poorly-timed alt-tab, and her invisibility gave her all the grace of a rogue ballerina with a grudge.
Thankfully, her Shuriken damage drops from 14 to 12 per hit which is not huge on paper, but significant considering its spamming ability. More importantly, her stealth duration drops from 3 seconds to 2, finally giving supports a chance to maybe react before getting one-tapped in a flash of purple.
Another nerfed character is Johnny Storm aka Human Torch, this man was unfair. His Fire Cluster spam melts faster than your GPU on Ultra settings and escape tools were slipperier than a greased-up Loki.
His Fire Cluster damage is down from 7 to 6, which chips away at his oppressive burst. His Blazing Blast now takes a full second longer to charge, which is 3 seconds instead of 2 so you might see it coming now. Further, his Flaming Meteor shield drops from 75 to 50, and the cooldown jumps from 15 to 20 seconds. So, Johnny has been benched from his MVP streak, and supports can finally breathe.
Iron Fist was the quiet problem as well. This character didn’t scream “broken” until you tried to pin him down and watched him Matrix-dodge your entire kit while healing himself.
His Dragon’s Defense ability now converts less blocked damage into bonus health (1.3x instead of 1.5x), and that bonus has a reduced cap down from 200 to 175. His Jeet Kune Do ability that lets him bounce around the battlefield now has less cooldown reduction, down from 1.5s to 1s. Combined, these tweaks should make him less of a nightmare to deal with during late-game team fights.
This mid-season update isn’t only about nerfs and high-fives, Ultron is joining the roster soon coming with more chaos and another possible shift in the meta. But for now, these balance changes feel like a long-overdue breath of fresh air.
