Summary
Like most hero shooters,Marvel Rivalsis a complicated game. If you’re relatively new to the genre, there are a lot of things you need to know to get good at the game. What’s worse, there are also a ton of mistakes that are really easy for beginners to make.
So, if you’re looking to rank up fast in competitive mode, learn a new character quickly, or just polish your hero shooter skills, we’ve created this list so that you can rank up far faster in competitive mode. Here are the worst beginner mistakes you can make in Marvel Rivals.
10Becoming Masters Of None
Jack Of All Trades, But…
Marvel Rivals boasts one of the largest hero rosters in the genre. Duelists alone can be an overwhelming category to choose from. And, while it’s of course important to make sure you have a varied understanding of how different heroes work, you also want to make sure you specialize.
Many beginners will try to get good at a bunch of different heroes right away. But, ultimately, this is a mistake. Early on, try to get good at one or two heroes in each role, and then branch out from there. This way, you’ll ensure you have a handful of characters you can play well while also leaving room to experiment.
9Becoming A One-Trick
A Good Idea Until They Get Banned
Conversely, you also want to make sure you’re not just turning yourself into a one-trick player. Early on, once you’ve begun to master a hero, you might be tempted to just play that one hero you’re good at, or the one you’re winning the most with. While you definitely want to specialize, you also want to have backups.
Later on in your Rivals career, you may have to contend with hero bans, other players who want to play your character or a team composition that prevents you from playing your favorite. Make sure you spend time with backup options so that you have another character to fall back on.
8Not Switching Roles Or Heroes
Don’t Be Stubborn
One of the worst things you’re able to do as a new player in Marvel Rivals is dig your heels in. Even on your best character, sometimes, your normal strategy is not going to work. Or, you might find out your team composition needs changing.
Whatever the case may be, being inflexible and refusing to switch roles or characters dooms your team from the start. This is why it’s important to have many different character options as well. Stay flexible to keep winning.
7Staggering
Patience Is Key
Staggering is one of the quickest ways you can tell you’re playing with amateurs, or someone new to the hero shooter genre in general. Put simply, staggering means you race back into the field of play before your team is assembled.
In a game like Rivals, you need all six teammates to work together to win. Of course, there are moments (like overtime) where you probably shouldn’t wait. But most of the time, you’re going to want to hang out near spawn and wait for the rest of your team before marching into the fray.
6Reloading Automatically
Take Action When You Can
Reloading may seem like a straightforward mechanic, but there is actually some skill involved here. First, whenever you have the opportunity to reload (like when you’re not in active combat or you’re backing up from an encounter) you should reload manually to make sure you’re at full capacity.
Additionally, you might want to take opportune moments to reload manually so you don’t end up in a situation where a teammate goes down because you had to reload and you weren’t prepared. This is the same for your cooldowns. Make sure you’re saving skills and filling up ammo for pivotal moments, rather than just letting these things happen reflexively.
5Relying On Teammates
Make Plays For Yourself
This tip may seem counterintuitive. Obviously, you want to rely on your teammates to carry their weight, and ultimately, nobody wins a match of Rivals by themselves. But one thing that a lot of new players do in Rivals is play defensively or neutrally while they wait for their teammates to get eliminations.
No matter what role you’re in, you can play proactively and make opportunities for yourself. If you’re a duelist, find ways to create a flank and secure a pick. Vanguards should look for opportunities to dive or take space whenever they can. Andstrategists can turn the tablesby immobilizing or eliminating a diving duelist and taking them out themselves.
4Chasing Eliminations
Don’t Forget The Objective
At the end of the day, Marvel Rivals, like most other hero shooters, is about advancing or defending an objective or payload. While eliminations can always make the difference between capturing a point or losing it, you don’t want to just chase eliminations, and this is oftentimes a mistake that new players make.
Chasing an elimination, particularly as a duelist, can expose you to the other team returning from spawn. An advantage that might come from securing a pick on the enemy team can easily be flipped against you if you overextend or forget about moving the payload. Focus on the point and avoid chasing elims.
3Focusing Vanguards
They Are Easy To Hit, But…
This tip is especially important for duelists, but applies to the other roles as well. Vanguards strike an imposing figure and often are easier to hit thanks to their size. However, focusing all of your firepower on vanguards, while ignoring duelists and (especially) strategists can bring games to a screeching stalemate.
Focusing your efforts instead on a backline strategist is often far more important than taking out a vanguard. Lazy or ineffectual duelists will often stand in the middle of the map, relentlesslyaiming at vanguards. However, if you want to start winning more games, you should prioritize picking off more valuable players like strategists or even duelists.
2Poor Positioning
Study The Map
Maps in games like Rivalsmay seem relatively simple, but they’re actually complex pieces of architecture that can be exploited and bent to your favor. Conversely, if you place yourself in the wrong position, the enemy team can take advantage and exploit your team’s weaknesses.
A key mistake new players make is not taking high ground, or standing in the middle of the main path. For duelists in particular, you’re going to want to seek out high-ground, off-angles, and other key vantage points to fight from, rather than leaving yourself exposed to easy attacks.
1Hoarding Ultimates
You Can’t Take It With You
This last tip is one of the most important. Except for some support ultimates, which should be saved specifically to counter other ultimates (Luna Snow’s and the Invisible Woman’s, for example) you shouldn’t hoard your ultimate, waiting for the perfect chance to use it. Sometimes, even using your ultimate to just get one pick can be helpful.
A huge mistake new players make is saving their ultimates for the perfect opportunity, while the enemy team cycles through two or even three ultimates. At the end of the day, every second you hoard your ultimate is lost ultimate charge for your next one. So, once you get your ultimate, don’t wait longer than one or two fights before using it.
