Marvel Rivals Season 9 kicks off on July 10 and, in addition to a new X-Men character joining the roster, the game is totally overhauling a launch character in an attempt to make them playable.
Marvel Rivals Season 9 Reimagines Black Widow’s Entire Kit
Since the earliest days of Marvel Rivals Season 0, Black Widow has been one of the lowest-ranked characters. The iconic Avenger plays like a sniper, but her kit doesn’t have the utility or support to make her very fun to play or an exciting metagame pick. NetEase is hoping to change that with a major overhaul on Season 9.
The upcoming patch change basically every piece of Black Widow’s build in Marvel Rivals. The goal is to make her primary shot a bit less deadly, but a lot faster. Additionally, she’ll have a brand new Ultimate that is easier to use and a bit more forgiving for players who are not perfect snipers.
Here is a breakdown of everything we know about Black Widow’s updated kit from the developer diary video and from the metagame experts at MarvelRivals.gg:
Primary Fire
The ADS sniper mode has been removed from her standard state. In its place, her primary fire rate has been increased, giving her more consistent damage output in baseline form. The goal is to give Black Widow a stable, reliable damage flow that is easier to build around without the one-shot risk that made her previous primary difficult to balance.
Electro-Plasma Blast
The charged electrical plasma blast has been moved out of her ultimate slot and made into a standard ability. It deals damage and applies a slow effect on hit, making it a regular part of her toolkit rather than a resource she needs to save.
New Ultimate: ADS Sniper Mode
Her new ultimate activates her ADS sniper mode for a set duration, or until she has fired a set number of bullets. She still cannot one-shot enemies on critical hits. However, her sniper bullet hitbox has been significantly increased and bullets now pierce through multiple enemies. Non-critical hits also deal substantially higher damage with no range falloff. The idea is to keep the full sniping experience intact while framing it as a powerful ultimate rather than a baseline tool.
Movement
Her sprint and super jump remain in the rework. All stamina restrictions have been removed from both. Her spinning kick also stays.
New Ability: Widow’s Bite Slam
A new ability has been added to her kit. While airborne, Black Widow can launch herself toward a target location and slam her Widow’s Bite gauntlet into the ground, dealing AoE damage to nearby enemies. This is designed to make her close-quarters burst combos flow more naturally and give her a stronger aggressive option in melee range.
These definitely sound like some encouraging changes, but players will have to actually get their hands on the new experience before we find out if the changes will lead to a higher pick rate for Black Widow.
The new character, Black Widow rework, and major overhaul of the Team-Up system should all combine to make Season 9 one of the most significant updates the game has received so far.
Be sure to check back soon for more news and updates as Season 9 of Marvel Rivals kicks off.
Marvel Rivals is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles.
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