Marvel Rivals Emergency Patch On February 19 Praised By Fans

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Published Feb 18, 2026, 7:00 AM EST

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Marvel Rivals has come under fire lately for its balance, which fans have called out for not being addressed properly in the hero shooter's latest seasonal balance changes. Season 6.5 saw the introduction of Elsa Bloodstone too, a hero that has been touted as "broken" or "overpowered" by players only one week since her release. Thankfully, an emergency balance patch seems to directly target everything fans have been talking about.

Typically, the developers of Marvel Rivals have done a good job at changing aspects of characters at the start and halfway points of each Season, toning down strong heroes often. The buffs and nerfs from Season 6.5, though, confused many fans by seeming to ignore the game's strongest characters. As other hero shooters started to revive, Marvel Rivals' Official X Account posted a surprise update to answer player concerns.

Marvel Rivals Addresses Fan Negativity Fast After Lackluster Season 6.5 Balance Patch

Hot Fixes And Dynamic Adjustments Seek To Listen To Community Outcry

Marvel Rivals Deadpool Pirate Captain MVP animation screen

Although the buffs for some heroes were incredibly creative for Season 6.5, the nerfs were almost non-existent. Most of the time, every seasonal patch has at least one or two characters who are modified significantly due to their dominance in Marvel Rivals' various modes. For example, The Human Torch in earlier Seasons regularly got nerfs in nearly every patch for some time until he was more "in-line" with the balance of other heroes.

Fans were quick to be vocal about the lower changes, with mentions of specific characters who had clearly been in the spotlight for some time. Some heroes have been strong ever since the game's launch, with only some small adjustments toning down their strongest tools. As a result, you'll see these characters quite often, leading to even a few constantly being banned in Competitive matches.

The release of Gambit in Season 5 and Elsa Bloodstone in Season 6.5 saw two incredibly strong characters shake up the game in different ways. At this time of writing, both are considered must-picks in Competitive, but this could change after the emergency patch.

The continual prowess of specific characters and the lack of big balance changes led fans to call Season 6.5's patch the worst one in Marvel Rivals' history. Given the huge Overwatch update in the same week, many players shifted which hero shooter they were playing. This likely led to Marvel Rivals' quick response, leading to an emergency patch that seeks to weaken the characters players talked about the most.

Every Emergency Balance Change From The February 19 Patch

Restrained Patch Rolled Back Into Substantial Targeting From Feedback

Marvel Rivals Hawkeye alternate skin MVP animation

According to Marvel Rivals' X post, the Season 6.5 patch was "designed to be restrained" with "a smaller impact on the meta." This implies that bigger changes were coming later in Season 7, but fan negativity prompted the development team to release the emergency patch ahead of time. The tracking of feedback and the performance data of problematic heroes was listed as another driving force of the patch itself.

The table below goes over which high-performing heroes the emergency patch is targeting, including what adjustments they're getting in Patch 0219:

Hero

Role

Nerf(s)

Elsa Bloodstone	Duelist	Reduces total health of Glartrox (Ultimate) creature from 500 to 400 Reduces Dash duration of Glartrox from 6 seconds to 3s Greatly narrows down Glartrox grab hitbox
Hawkeye	Duelist	Reduces Piercing Arrow's base damage from 34 to 28 Reduces the base damage of a fully charged arrow from 85 to 70 Damage of charged arrow decreased when boosted by Archer's Focus
Hela	Duelist	Damage falloff of Nightsword Thorn greatly increases at larger ranges Two critical hits of primary attack no longer KO a 250 HP target
Gambit	Strategist	Reduced base health from 275 to 200 Breaking Spades damage boost reduced from 15% to 10%

Nerfs to Hawkeye, Hela, and Gambit in Marvel Rivals are long overdue, with the primary fire of both Duelists dealing absurd damage compared to other heroes in that role. Gambit has been a unique addition to the roster, but the character's plethora of abilities has made them easily one of the strongest in the game. Likewise, the long stun time of Elsa Bloodstone's Ultimate was already causing players to quit, making this change necessary for many fans.

As you might suspect, not every fan is satisfied with the emergency patch, with some calling Gambit's damage boost change unnecessary. However, the majority of reactions to the changes seem to be positive initially.

Overall, these balance changes are not only surprisingly well-thought-out, but also exactly what fans have been asking for. Some comments on the original X post say "no way they finally nerfed Hawkeye..." and "glad you guys finally released the first ever hotfix balance patch," indicating how pleased people are at the moment.

This could be the start of other patches that will be released between seasonal updates in the future, addressing problems with new characters and others that need fixes faster than others. For now, this emergency patch for Marvel Rivals is a good step in the right direction, keeping the faith of a large audience that continues to desire fresh experiences.