Marvel Rivals season 2 launch as it happened: our live coverage of the new season as it started, along with Emma Frost info, and our reaction to new features

That's a wrap on my live coverage of Marvel Rivals Season 2

Now that Marvel Rivals Season 2 has been out for a few hours, I'll be heading off to get a bit of a breather, before jumping into Competitive Mode with some pals this evening. This means that my live coverage of Season 2's launch has come to an end. Who knows, maybe I'll be back for Season 2.5, as Ultron joins the roster and we see further changes to the meta. Goodbye for now, and wish me luck crawling my way back up to Gold tier!

That's the first part of the Cerebro Database event completed

I've just finished the first of four sections in the Cerebro Database event. This mostly involved playing as Emma Frost, and rewarded me with some Chrono Tokens and a new Spray. The next segment unlocks in just over three days, and looks like it'll involve Wolverine.

Psylocke gets a classic X-Men costume

Psylocke players are eating good this season, with a new Team Up ability, and a Battle Pass skin. The skin is the Retro X-Uniform, a classic blue and yellow number that'll be recognizable to anyone that grew up watching the cartoon.

Stars Aligned

The third Team Up new to Season 2 is Stars Aligned. This finally gives Captain America and Winter Soldier a Team Up, one that boosts Cap's max health by 100. Winter Soldier can use Stellar Impact to leap towards allies, slamming the ground and dealing damage to nearby foes. He can also activate a move with Cap, that must be confirmed by bother players before it activates. This sees Winter Soldier slam into Cap's shield, unleashing a shockwave that deals damage and inflicts slow on enemies. I've only tried this out in one match, but it massively increases Winter Soldier's mobility, allowing him to dart to an ally in an instant.

Can I return to the Iron Fist?

Look, I had a lot of fun in Season Zero, pummeling enemies as Iron Fist, taking advantage of the fact that no-one knew how to deal with melee characters, but I've changed. There is a very nice Iron Fist skin in the Battle Pass however. As good a reason as any for me to jump back in and see how Iron Fist stacks up in the current meta.

Moon Knight gets a significant buff

Moon Knight benefits greatly from the Season 2 balancing changes. Firstly, his Crescent Dart projectile speed is increased, Moon Blade now awards 25 bonus health per hit up to 100, and the Ultimate ability falls faster, has more talons, and lasts longer. There will now be a damage fall off however, relative to how close to the center you are.

Namor joins Gamma Charge

Gamma Charge has been one of the most powerful Team Up abilities in Marvel Rivals since launch, giving both Iron-Man and Doctor Strange enhanced abilities, and Hulk some bonus health. Strange is now removed from this trio, and Namor has taken his place. Yes, that means gamma-powered squid turrets.

You can earn an Ultron Nameplate in the Battle Pass

While Ultron won't arrive as a new Hero until Season 2.5, you can get some Ultron-themed goodies in the Season 2 Battle Pass. There's a Nameplate on page 3, which costs 200 Chrono Tokens.

You can now gift skins in Marvel Rivals

New to Season 2, you can now gift things to your pals in Marvel Rivals. Just select the item you'd like to Gift, and you'll see a "Gift" option next to the usual price tab. This will bring up a list of friends that you can send skins to.

Adam Warlock leads Strategist nerfs for Season 2

The majority of the balancing changes to Strategists in Season 2 are weighted towards decreasing their performance in the overall meta. Adam Warlock is getting an increase to his Soul Bond ability cooldown, and his Ultimate now revives enemies at 30% of their health, instead of a flat 100. Of course, this Ultimate change could actually mean some characters come back with more health than before, while others will get less.

My Emma Frost impressions so far

I've now played a five or so matches with Emma Frost, and it's clear that she's a very damage-focused Vanguard. Her Primary Attack charges up a gauge, that increases damage output as it goes up. At 100, this damage multiplier really makes a difference, so the loop seems to be keeping that number as high as possible. This is done by entering diamond form, which pauses the gauge stopping it from depleting. Once it hits 100, I've had a lot of success hitting enemies with Psionic Seduction, and using the Telepathic Pulse to apply massive damage.

It's early days, but Emma Frost clearly has a lot of potential. In her diamond form, she can stun enemies into a choke slam. This interrupts certain Ultimates, like Star Lords and Scarlet Witch, potentially saving your teammates from dying.

Tired of being dragged down by bad teammates?

Marvel Rivals Season 2 has made some tweaks as to how you’re scored at the end of a ranked match. As per this patch notes post from NetEase:

“Currently, the score you earn per Competitive match is determined by both the outcome and your individual performance. After Season 2.0 launches, we will be increasing the weight of individual performances. The better you perform, the more points you will earn in victory, and the fewer points you will lose in defeat.”

Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch's new Team Up is super powerful

I'm currently still in the Practice Range testing out the new Team Ups, with Arcane Chaos being between Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch. This one gives Strange a boost of 100 max health, while Wanda gets Sorcery Surge. This ability turns her Cthonian Burst into a rapid fire magic machine-gun, absolutely shredding the opponent. I can't wait to try this out in-match.

When is Ultron joining the party?

We know that Ultron is the second Hero being added to Marvel Rivals in Season 2, though he’s yet to be fully detailed. NetEase has revealed that we can expect Ultron to arrive sometime in Season 2.5, so it’ll be a while yet.

Breaking the new Team Up abilities - Mental Projection

After having played a few games of Marvel Rivals Season 2 over my lunch break, I'm now ready to dive a bit deeper into the Team Up abilities. First is Mental Projection, which gives Emma Frost a boost to max health of 100. Magneto gains Magnetic Resonance, which spans a body double that mimics your movements and attacks. With Magneto, this is a great way to have two shields up at once, casting a wide area of protection. Unfortunately this doesn't mean double Ultimate abilities. Interestingly, Psylocke's Ultimate sees her double firing her primary to assist, leading to extra damage.

And with that, Jake is back, fully refreshed and ready to take over and continue his live analysis and coverage of Marvel Rivals season 2 - see you soon gamers!

Some bad news, Strange mains

Doctor Strange is the first Hero we’ll be looking at that’s set to receive some downgrades in an upcoming patch. He’s having his Daggers of Denak damage reduced from 18 to 16, and there will be a reduction to the Maelstrom of Madness conversion ratio of Dark Magic to damage from 1.3 to 1.2.

A Fantastic buff

Mr Fantastic is one of the Heroes being buffed significantly in Season 2. His base health is going from 650 to 675, his Stretch Punch will be more powerful, Flexible Elongation now has a slowing effect on enemies within range, and Brainiac Bounce grants adds additional bonus health. All in all, Mr Fantastic should be a lot more viable.

Hello there!

Jake's nipped for a lunch break and to calm down a bit after all the excitement of the new Marvel Rivals season dropping.

Have you managed to spend any time in the new season? What do you think?

Let us know by tagging us on X and give us your thoughts on the new season for a chance to be featured in our live coverage.

There's new Achievements to unlock in Season 2

Now that Marvel Rivals Season 2 is live, there's a bunch of new achievements to work through. Most of them involve completing objectives on the new Hellfire Gala: Karkoa map, or utilizing Emma Frost's abilities.

Check out Magik's new X-Men costume

Magik has a X-Men costume to unlock in the Battle Pass. It's on page 3, and costs 400 Chrono Tokens. You will need to unlock all other rewards on this page before you can get the skin, however.

First match on the new map

I finally managed to get into a match on the new Hellfire Gala: Krakoa map. It's beautiful, though it's also very dense, with loads of different angles to attack the point from. This made defending the point very difficult, though there's sure to be some great opportunities for flanking an enemy team here. I could see a dive composition doing very well on this map.

Take a look at the Emma Frost Lord rewards

Now that Emma Frost is live, we can take a look at her progression rewards, including the Lord nameplate.

Star Lord - King of Spartax costume has gone live in the Store

There's a brand new Star Lord outfit for you to purchase in the Store. It's the King of Spartax, and sees the planet-hopping hero donning some formal attire for the Hellfire Gala.

Mr Fantastic is feeling amazing after his buffs

Mr Fantastic has received a number of buffs in Season 2. And he might just be a new main for me.

A first look at the new Mission Board

The Mission Board in Marvel Rivals has been revamp to allow for easier readability. You'll see the Chrono tokens that can be earned at the top, and the event is clearly labelled too.

Earn the free Scarlet Witch Chaos Gown costume now

You can earn a free Scarlet Witch skin now, just by playing nine matches. You can check your progress in the tab shown above. There's a name plate to grab too.

Trying out Emma Frost

I'm starting my Season 2 journey by trying out Emma Frost in the Practice Range. Her primary attack is an absolute beast, one that you barely have to aim. Psychic Spear creates a node that can be hit to damage an enemy, kind of like Moon Knight's Ankh. Diamond Form is the real highlight here, allowing you to choke slam foes and then send them flying with a kick.

Cerebro Database event is now live

Season 2 has launched with a brand new event. It'll reward players with a Mantis - Flora Maiden skin once all four sections are completed, though some don't unlock for a while.

Marvel Rivals Season 2 Battle Pass is looking awesome

I can now dig deep into the new Battle Pass, and it looks like Cloak & Dagger are the final costume unlock. Elsewhere there's new skins for Spider-Man, Captain America, and some classic X-Men costumes for Magik and Psylocke.

Season 1.5 rewards have been earned

Upon loading into Season 2, I've been rewarded a new Human Torch skin. This was for all players who reached Gold tier last season. Nice.

Marvel Rivals Season 2 is live!

Marvel Rivals Season 2 is now live, so jump in and take a look at the new Battle Pass, and Cerebro event.

Still down for me...

We could be seeing Marvel Rivals Season 2 go live any moment Though it's still down for me.

10 minutes to go until Marvel Rivals is back online

According to an in-game estimate, Marvel Rivals Season 2 is set to go live in just 10 minutes. Check back in to see exactly when servers open. I'll be highlighting the new Battle Pass, and taking a look at how the mission system has changed.

Battle Pass skins for Season 2 revealed

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The Flower of Krakoa Battle Pass will launch as part of Season 2, and thanks to the trailer above, we’ve seen many of the main skins to be unlocked. There’s new costumes for Spider-Man, Hulk, Squirrel Girl, Cloak & Dagger, Captain America, Iron Fist, Star-Lord, Luna Snow, Black Widow, Magik and Psylocke. The Magik and Psylocke skins are particularly cool, with classic X-Men designs in blue and yellow.

Marvel Rivals could back online in 30 minutes

According to a new error message in Marvel Rivals, downtime could be ending in 30 minutes. I'll update with any changes.

New title screen and lore updated in-game

If you've downloaded the Marvel Rivals Season 2 update, and you load into the game, you'll be greeted with the new title screen, and some lore to read through. This sets the scene for the upcoming season, giving some history of Krakoa, and the reasoning behind why the developers have picked it as the setting.

There could be just an hour of downtime remaining

We're now a little over an hour into downtime, meaning that Marvel Rivals Season 2 could go live in an hour or so. By NetEase's estimates, downtime is scheduled for 2-3 hours. If it's on the shorter side, we won't have to wait much longer to get in on the action.

Voltaic Union bites the dust

Another Team Up is being removed entirely for Season 2. It’s Voltaic Union, which saw Thor lending his lightning powers to Captain America and Storm. This is largely being done to balance Captain America, who's getting a new Team Up with Winter Soldier. Of course, Storm and Thor already have Team Ups elsewhere.

Marvel Season 2 update now available

You can now download the Marvel Rivals Season 2 update. On PS5, this required me to exit the game, and "Check for Update". On other platforms, it should pop up automaitically. The file size is 9.386GB on PS5, on PC it's a whopping 48GB. On Xbox platforms it's 23GB. You'll want to get this download started as soon as possible.

Will you need to re-install Marvel Rivals?

Marvel Rivals will receive an update around launch time that players will need to download. As such, don’t delete and reinstall the game. Just make sure to have auto-updates enabled on your platform of choice, and get it downloaded as soon as it goes live.

Hulk is even stronger this season

Despite having been a top pick in competitive play, Hulk is receiving a series of buffs come Season 2. His base movement speed is being increased to 650 from 600, and the cooldown time for Indestructible Guard is going from 12 seconds to 10 seconds. Finally, The charge time for Incredible Leap has been reduced. This will improve Hulks maneuverability, while helping him survive with a more frequent shield cycle.

How Long is Downtime?

Downtime is expected to last 2-3 hours according to NetEase. During this time, you’re unable to access the game, as servers will be down. Upon loading, you’ll get into the title screen, and be shown an error message. Don’t worry, and don’t bother running diagnostics, this is just an expected error now that the servers are down.

Marvel Rivals is down

Marvel Rivals is down. Looks as though NetEase let some players, including myself, finish their games before kicking them back out. If you try to load in now, you'll be greeted with the server error message in the screenshot above.

Still live for me!

More than five minutes after scheduled downtime and I'm still in-game. A good opportunity to get one last look at Tokyo 99 before it's taken out of the map rotation.

Marvel Rivals is still live....for now

Marvel Rivals appears to still be up. As I'm currently still in-game. We'll see what happens when downtime triggers

Just 10 minutes until downtime

We're now just 10 minutes away from Marvel Rivals downtime, which is scheduled to last around 2-3 hours. Hopefully, this all goes to plan and we can all jump into the new season sooner rather than later.

Time for one last push?

If you've got any remaining missions to complete, and any unearned Battle Pass rewards, now is the time to jump in and make one last push. I'll be playing Quick Match as Squirrel Girl, spamming attacks to try and get one last 4KO streak before downtime activates.

Your rank will be reset soon

As part of Season 2, all players will get booted down by nine divisions at the start of the new season. This means that if you ended Season 1.5 at Diamond I, your Season 2 journey begins at Silver I. Better make that last match count!

In-game notification warns of upcoming maintenance

I'm still logged into Marvel Rivals, and just received a pop-up banner warning of scheduled maintenance set to trigger in 30 minutes. It also warns that ongoing battles will abruptly end, so be sure to finish you matches before this all kicks in.

Hellfire Gala: Krakoa debuts

There’s a news map being added to Marvel Rivals: Hellfire Gala - Krakoa. This is a bright and vibrant island locale that’s the home of mutant kind everywhere. Interestingly, Krokoa is actually a living entity, with quite the history in the comics.

Cap gets a buff, but only when teamed up with Bucky

Now for another Hero that’s getting a change this season, Captain America. Steve Rogers will be getting a brand new Team Up with Winter Soldier called Stars Aligned. As the anchor, he gets a maximum health increase of 100, and a 5% boost to damage output. Winter Soldier is then able to leap towards allies and trigger the Stellar Impact ability.

This Team Up will be important, as Cap is getting a base health reduction from 675 to 650. His Living Legend shield ability is also being reduced from 400 to 350.

Emma Frost leads a new Team Up ability with Magneto and Psylocke

There’s set to be some new Team Up abilities that’ll arrive as part of Season 2. The first is led by Emma Frost, who will act as the anchor for a new Team Up called Mental Projection, with Magneto and Psylocke. Emma Frost gains a maximum health boost of 100, while Magneto and Psylocke receive new abilities that create illusory projections.

And we're back!

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We're now just hours away from Marvel Rivals Season 2, which will introduce Emma Frost as a brand new Vanguard. Downtime will kick in at 2AM PT / 5AM ET / 10AM BST / 11AM CET / 6PM JST. Expect it to last for 2-3 hours, during which time you won't be able to load into the game. Don't worry though, I'll be bringing you all of the latest updates live, while diving deeper into what to expect from Season 2.

That's all for now!

I’m going offline for a while now, but I’ll be jumping back online at 4AM ET / 1AM PT / 9AM BST to cover the launch of Marvel Rivals Season 2. At that point, we’ll be only an hour away from downtime, and a few hours from launch. Here’s the key info you’ll need to know about Season 2:

• Start time: Marvel Rivals will go offline on April 11 at 2AM PDT / 5AM / 10AM BST / 11AM CET / 6PM JST for 2-3 hours. Season 2 will then begin.
• New Hero: Emma Frost (Vanguard)
• New map: Hellfire Gala - Krakoa
• Map Rotation: Hellfire Gala: Krakoa will enter the Competitive pool, while Yggsgard: Royal Palace and Tokyo 2099: Shin-Shibuya will be retired from ranked play.
• New Battle Pass
• Season event: Cerebro Database
• Mission system revamp
• Rank Reset: All players demoted 9 divisions
• New Rank Rewards

For now, make the most of the remaining hours of Season 1.5. Complete any remaining missions, and unlock as much of the Battle Pass as you can. If you’ve completed it, you can still earn 100 Units in exchange for 1000 Chrono Tokens, so it’s worth playing a few more games and completing your weeklies.

Highlights from Season 1.5

My personal highlights for season 1.5 have been very Venom-focused. No shock really, as a Lord Venom player, but that bright orange skin is fantastic, as is the, erm, emote. Elsewhere, The Thing has been a great addition to the game, managing to dominate games by keeping certain opponents grounded. Generally, this has been a decent season, with some great skins to unlock as part of the Battle Pass. Now that Season 1.5 is winding down tag us on X with what you're most excited for in Season 2!

Earn the Gold rank reward for Season 1.5 before it ends

There’s still time to reach Gold Tier III and earn the Human Torch (Blood Blaze) costume before the end of Season 1.5. You only need to reach Gold once, and you’ll get the reward once Season 2 is live. If you’ve yet to play 10 Competitive matches in Season 1.5, you’ll need to do so, though don’t worry, if you achieved Gold in Season 1, it doesn’t matter where you settle after your 10 games.

Color variants coming to select costumes

New color options will arrive for some of the more popular skins in Marvel Rivals. So far, we’ve only seen a new variant for the Psylocke - Vengeance skin, and for Luna Snow, but I think this is definitely a neat way to add a bit more customization to Heroes.

A new Hero every month from Season 3

NetEase has revealed that it plans to launch a new Hero every single month starting with Season 3. I have my concerns here, especially as the roster is already so packed. Balancing could be difficult, but we’ll have to wait and see how things will play out.

Peni Parker is getting a buff in Season 2

The first Hero I’ll be looking at is Peni Parker, who is being described as “a Hero that’s struggling to find a broader place on the battlefield” by developers. She’ll be receiving a buff in Season 2, including enhancements to her primary attack damage efficiency and a boost to her survivability and combat capabilities. Her base health is being increased from 650 to 750, and her Cyber-Web Cluster can now Crit. It also won’t slow Peni Parker down as much as she fires.

Nerfs and buffs moving forward

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There’s set to be a bunch of buffs and nerfs coming to certain Heroes in Season 2 & Season 2.5 over time. There’s a really great developer insight video that I’ve embedded above that details the main changes to characters like Mr Fantastic and Doctor Strange. I’ll be going into detail on the Heroes that are being buffed and nerfed in the lead-up to the new season, but that video is a great place to get some context behind the changes, and the reasons why the developers are making them.

New experimental feature for PC players

The upcoming Season 2 patch for Marvel Rivals will add a new experimental feature, and it’s good news for PC players running on lower-end hardware. NetEase has outlined a new Compilation Shader feature which aims to improve performance:

“We recommend that players with 16GB of RAM or less, who have experienced significant FPS drops, frozen screens, or frequent crashes in previous seasons, consider activating this experimental feature. And remember, if you encounter any issues after enabling it, our support team stands ready to assist on this quest for an optimal gaming experience.”

Some Team Ups are being removed…

I’ve just been reading up on some of the changes coming to Team Ups and METALLIC CHAOS IS GONE. The absolute monster ability that equipped Magneto with a sword made of metal and chaos magic will be removed at the start of Season 2 and if you listen closely, you’ll hear Magneto mains around the world crying out in unison. It’s not all bad news though, as Magneto is getting a new Team Up with Emma Frost that gives him a holographic double, tricking foes and allowing him to survive for longer.

There’s still time to make the most of Season 1.5

With less than a day left of Season 1.5, you’ll want to spend any leftover battle pass Chrono Tokens, as they won’t carry over to the new Battle Pass. There’s also set to be a rank reset for Season 2, knocking all players down nine divisions. Time to lock in and climb as high as you can, so that your starting rank for next season is as high as possible. If you've purchased Chrono Tokens however, these will carry over.

When Blade’s not on screen, all the other characters should be asking, “Where’s Blade?”

No for real though, what happened to Blade? Did he escape from his prison? Will he be added as a Hero anytime soon? Here’s hoping.

Gifting comes to Marvel Rivals Season 2

Got a pal that you wanna treat this season? Well, there’s a new Gifting feature launching in Season 2. You’ll be able to purchase and send out items to friends, making Secret Santa exchanges and birthday presents a lot easier to buy for this year (I’d like a new Magik skin if any of my pals are reading).

Earn a free Scarlet Witch skin

Scarlet Witch is getting a hefty buff in Season 2 with a new Team Up featuring Doctor Strange. She’s well worth trying out, especially for newcomers, as you’ll get to unlock and use the Chaos Gown skin just by playing nine matches. Nice!

Looking ahead at Season 2’s story

Welcome to Krakoa! The annual Hellfire Gala kicks off in Season 2, hosted by the glamorous Emma Frost. With the timelines in disarray, she’s gathering all of our Heroes for an event like no other. This season will center around the Gala, with Krakoa being the setting for a new Domination map. You’ll also notice Heroes receiving new skins where they’re positively dressed to the nines. A very fashion-forward affair indeed.

Free Stuff!

Marvel Rivals is free to play, but of course, there are a lot of new skins and cosmetics that you’ll need to pay for. Before we all jump in and buy the Battle Pass, however, it’s worth highlighting some free stuff that you can pick up in Season 2. Firstly there’s a new Emma Frost skin that you can earn by reaching Gold tier in Competitive Mode. Then there’s the Scarlet Witch Chaos Gown skin, which you just need to play nine matches in order to unlock. You’ll get a nameplate too.

Finally, there’s a blue and pink Namor skin that can be earned as a Twitch Drop. Just stick on your favorite Marvel Rivals Twitch streamer while you play, and after four hours the skin will be yours.

Let’s talk about Emma Frost

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Emma Frost is the headline Hero for Season 2 and fills the role of a Vanguard. By the looks of things, she’s an interesting mix of brawler and strategist, with the ability to place shields, blocking and absorbing damage away from her team. She also has a telekinetic blast that does impressive DPS. There’s a diamond skin mode that allows Emma Frost to get up close and personal, making use of a chokeslam/kick combo that looks wild. Definitely one to watch this season.

Let’s kick things off with a look at when you’ll actually be able to jump into Season 2 and try out Emma Frost for yourself. Things are a bit complicated, but expect downtime to start on April 11 at 2AM PDT / 5AM / 10AM BST / 11AM CET / 6PM JST.

Hold your horses, however, as it'll last 2-3 hours according to the Tweet above. As such, I've estimated the Marvel Rivals Season 2 start time to be the following depending on your timezone:

• April 11 at 5AM PT: West Coast US
• April 11 at 8AM ET: East Coast US
• April 11 at 1PM BST: United Kingdom
• April 11 at 2PM CET: Central Europe
• April 11 at 9PM JST: Japan

Welcome to TechRadar Gaming's Marvel Rivals Season 2 live coverage

With less than 24 hours to go before the launch of Marvel Rivals Season 2, I'm kicking off my live coverage leading up to the new update.

I'll be keeping you up to date with everything you need to know about Marvel Rivals Season 2, including all of the latest news as it happens. This means keeping track of the scheduled downtime, diving into the upcoming changes to ranked play, and breaking down the Season's new Hero, Emma Frost! Having played over a hundred hours of Marvel Rivals since launch, I’m particularly excited to dive in and try out some of the newly buffed Heroes. Who knows, maybe I’ll have a new main moving forward?

There's still plenty of time to get acquainted with all of the new changes set to arrive in Marvel Rivals. For now, check out the official story trailer for this season, which sees our Heroes meeting for the Hellfire Gala, an extravagant event hosted on the mutant paradise of Krakoa.