Marvel Rivals features three types of heroes: Vanguards, Duelists, and Strategists. Arguably, the Vanguard can change the tide of battle the most. Traditionally known as tanks, the role of these heroes is to soak up damage to let the rest of their team invade the objective and make their way in.
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While much of Marvel Rivals is designed to remind players of early Overwatch, the design philosophy behind Vanguard characters seems to be more reminiscent of the Blizzard shooter’s later stages. Shields dominated the Tank meta early in Overwatch, mostly due to their immense health pool. However, in Marvel Rivals, the strongest shield has less than half the hit points of Overwatch’s original Reinhardt shield (2,000 compared to 800). These Tanks focus more on diving in and disrupting the enemy. Across Marvel Rivals’ vast roster of heroes, these are the two Vanguard characters who stand out the most.
Marvel Rivals’ tanks focus much more on diving and disrupting than just soaking damage in the front line. And no one can dive in and distract the opposition quite like Spidey’s frenemy, Venom. His web-swinging is a perfectly suited movement ability, letting him charge and really make a splash on any objective. His attacks may feel a little weak, but his best strength is survivability, making him a perfect Tank.
The most important tool in Venom’s kit is the Symbiotic Resilience ability . This move grants Venom a temporary shield based on the amount of health he’s lost. Popping this ability can nearly double Venom’s health pool, making it a perfect move for turning the tables on your enemy. He also has a pretty powerful Team-Up Ability, granting an excellent new ability to Spider-Man.
Peni Parker is one of the more unique characters in Marvel Rivals. Instead of tanking damage by diving or putting up shields, Peni can hunker down in one spot and effectively prevent the enemy from advancing. Using both webs and mines, she can make the objective hard to invade while giving herself bonus health.
Additionally, Peni can tether herself to her webs, ensuring that opportunistic Duelists can’t knock her too far from the objective. This can also be used to push far into enemy lines, only to pull back when things get dire. While Peni is best on defense, this ability gives her some offensive utility as well.
Overall, Peni Parker is annoying as hell to fight against. Hopefully, she’s annoying your opponents instead of you.
Marvel Rivals is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows via Steam.