Marvel Rivals season 2 live build-up: info on release date, start time, Emma Frost addition, and all our predictions on the new season

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

Season 2 Hellfire Gala | Dev Vision Vol. 05 | Marvel Rivals – YouTube

Watch On

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

Emma Frost: The White Queen | Character Reveal | Marvel Rivals – YouTube

Watch On

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.