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Overwatch‘s contender is finally here, and it shakes things up by bringing beloved heroes and villains from the comic book world. Marvel Rivals features a plethora of characters for all players to pick; however, only a few of them are truly the best for beginners. While the gameplay itself isn’t too challenging, in the heat of the moment, you won’t have a lot of time to practice your skills or even learn how to play a hero or villain properly. But with these characters, you won’t struggle too much during your first hours.
5. Punisher
It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that the character you use during the tutorial is one of the best, if not the best, for beginners in Marvel Rivals. Punisher is the closest you’ll get to a proper third-person shooter hero, or anti-hero in this case. He has two weapons you can swap at will and a powerful ultimate ability that can keep enemies at bay. Impressively, he also boasts his very own deployable turret. All you need to do to play Punisher in the most basic way is to have good aim. This might sound too obvious but don’t take your Punisher into the thick of battle. Instead, keep him far away from the action and pick foes off one by one.
4. Venom
Despite the suggested three-star difficulty, Venom is a great character to use if you want to test the waters with a tank role in Marvel Rivals. Venom is an excellent Vanguard unit that can stand on the frontlines alone while taking and dishing out damage. His skills allow him to generate bonus health the more damaged he is, and despite his tanky role, he’s extremely mobile. The best thing about him is that he can share his symbiote powers with Peni Parker and Spider-Man, allowing them to summon explosive spikes to damage enemies. So, if you want a tank that smashes its way through the battlefield, you can’t go wrong with the iconic symbiote.
3. Peni Parker
Another character that is one of the best for beginners in Marvel Rivals is Peni Parker. If Venom is a Vanguard that isn’t afraid of throwing punches, Peni Parker leans more into the crowd-controlling side with her array of gadgets. With her webs and mines, Peni can create an almost Saw-like scenario in any stage full of traps. However, that doesn’t mean she has to stay in the back during a fight. She can take a lot of hits while she deploys her inventions, and once her ultimate skill is ready, she can unleash a webbed hell upon her foes.
2. Iron Man
Everyone’s favorite millionaire hero, at least in Marvel, is a fantastic character for new players. Iron Man is quite the crafty hero as he can fly across the battlefield while raining down destruction upon his enemies. The flying part takes a bit to get used to, but if you manage to get it right, you can delete your opponents in seconds. Furthermore, most of his skills, such as his Unibeam, last for a long time and can annoy enemies, forcing them to retreat. Lastly, his ultimate ability has a huge impact area, so with good aim, you can score a few kills in one go.
1. Magik
Many will argue Magik isn’t the best character for beginners in Marvel Rivals, but she was for me. This is more of a personal pick, but one I recommend taking out for a test run. Magik is a powerful attacker who can increase her health the more she attacks. She can also open a portal to teleport a short distance to deliver a powerful attack or summon a demon, and she can even launch enemies up in the air. Plus, her ultimate skill is one of the best-looking ones in the game as she embraces her hellish side. While she might not be as mobile as others, she’s a great character with fantastic abilities.
Ultimately, you can pick any character you prefer and take them out for a spin. You can even grab your favorite one regardless of the difficulty and practice against AI before jumping into quick matches. However, I recommend just taking them out on normal matches, as there’s no better way to learn than when battling against other player-controlled heroes and villains.