Marvel Rivals’ launch roster of 33 heroes has certainly had some early favorites among players, and for good reason. Heroes like Hela, Cloak and Dagger, Thor, and Hawkeye get consistently banned at high levels of play. There is, at this point in time, a very clear top tier in each role.
But there’s one DPS hero who, on the surface, seemed like one of the game’s worst characters. And, if you’re not playing him correctly, he really is.
Heroes like Scarlet Witch and The Punisher are built to be accessible, so they get played pretty often even if they aren’t top tiers. However, many of Marvel Rivals’ DPS heroes sit in relative obscurity, as the time invested in learning them usually isn’t worth it compared to just playing who’s strong.
Wolverine is not one of those heroes. Despite being rated pretty low on most tier lists (ours included at first), he’s primed to dominate in the meta that’s forming in Rivals. And the main reason he has the potential to be game-breakingly good is something most players don’t even know about.
Wolverine is secretly busted in Marvel Rivals
Before explaining why Wolverine is good, it may be best to explain why he’s bad. Because, if there was an obvious reason the hero was overpowered, you’d see him get played a lot more.
He’s a melee hero that wholly lacks range with a clunky jump that lacks the healing and flexibility of other backline divers like Iron Fist and Magik. He’s also only got one shot at getting in and has a hard time staying on mobile heroes if he doesn’t have his jump or ultimate up. Trying to kill anyone that flies will have you swinging at the air unless you’re really good with his leap.
So yeah, it’s not hard to tell why Wolverine isn’t that popular in Marvel Rivals despite being one of the most beloved characters in the Marvel universe. If you’re a new player looking for a good time with this hero shooter, you’re likely to just drop the hero entirely after a few losses. In most cases, he’s not that great.
That said, he does one specific thing very well: Kill tanks.
This man eats frontline for breakfast. He can leap at a tank, abduct them away from his team, and shred them like no other. If you’re playing Wolverine and focusing mainly support heroes like other divers, that may be why you’re not finding success on the hero.
Here’s the secret: Wolverine has percent max HP damage built into his kit, and the game doesn’t even tell you. For some strange reason, many of the heroes’ in-depth stats are hidden on the Marvel Rivals site rather than the in-game client. As it turns out, every single damage ability Wolverine has scales with max health and his rage meter.
Here’s the damage profile for every ability:
- Left Click: Savage Claw
- 15 damage per strike
- Deal damage equal to 1.5% of the target’s Max Health, with an extra 0.045% damage for each point of Rage
- Shift: Feral Leap
- 6 damage per strike
- Deal damage equal to 1% of the target’s Max Health, with an extra 0.035% damage for each point of Rage
- Vicious Rampage: Right Click
- 15 damage per strike
- Deal damage equal to 1.5% of the target’s Max Health, with an extra 0.045% damage for each point of Rage
- Q: Last Stand
- 50 base damage
- Deal damage equal to 10% of the target’s Max Health, with an extra 0.3% damage for each point of Rage
For these abilities, bear in mind that he can get a max of 100 Rage points. Let’s say you hit someone with Wolverine’s right click and you’ve got a full Rage bar, that now hits for 6% max health per strike on top of the 15 base damage.
Against a squishy 250 health hero, that’s a bonus 15 damage, making that right click hit deal 30 damage total. Pretty underwhelming. But, if you’re against a Hulk in ult with 1400 HP, that same strike would now deal 99 damage. Bear in mind that ult charge is based on damage dealt as well, so he’ll be able to ult much more often against bulky heroes.
If the enemy team doesn’t have a tank on their team with a big health pool, Wolverine’s obviously a bad pick. He just doesn’t get value like other divers do in those cases. But, against a team composition that relies on its frontliners to create space, he’s an absolute demon. Wolverine is the textbook definition of a situational pick, but, in the scenarios where he’s a strong hero, he shines.
What’s more, high MMR seems to be headed toward a meta where you’ve got 2-3 tanks per team, with 2 shield tanks preventing meta heroes like Hela and Hawkeye from picking off your backline.
Wolverine feels like he was put in place as a check to make sure this meta didn’t run amok. Normally, you’d target the backline first and try to take out the people healing. Old man Logan is best off just running at the frontline head-first, especially since melee strikes go right through front-facing shields.
Dear Marvel Rivals devs: As a tank player, I beg you, please do not buff this hero. I’m just trying to play Magneto, he’s literally Wolverine’s hardest counter in the comics, why does he do so well against me in this game?
In all seriousness, I’m glad he exists to keep the meta in check. Against team comps you’ll see in the average Marvel Rivals match, Wolverine is arguably the worst hero in the game. But, if you know how to play him and find the perfect time to pick him, he’s easily S-tier.
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