Marvel Rivals Patch 20261009 Balance Notes: Iron Man Missiles Now Track, Phoenix Buffed, Gorr Nerfed

The Version 20261009 balance post gives Iron Man homing missiles, buffs Phoenix and Jubilee, and trims Gorr, Scarlet Witch and Devil Dinosaur.

NetEase has published the Version 20261009 Balance Post for Marvel Rivals, dated October 6, 2026. The changes ship with the mid-season update on October 9, which kicks off Season 10.5. The headline is a full rework of how Iron Man's missiles behave, but there's plenty more: Phoenix and Jubilee get real buffs, Gorr loses some of his bite, and a handful of Team-Ups are tuned across all three roles.

TL;DR

• Iron Man: Micro-Missile Barrage now locks on and homes in – lower damage per missile, four times the projectile speed
• Phoenix: more damage on Cosmic Flames and Spark detonations, but her detonation self-heal becomes Bonus Health
• Jubilee: new self-healing while sprinting and a stronger ultimate, but a shorter Blind
• Gorr: less damage on Shadow Scythe and Shockwave, shorter ultimate
• Scarlet Witch and Devil Dinosaur get small nerfs
• Hulk, Cyclops, Hawkeye and several Team-Ups are buffed

Biggest change: Iron Man's homing missiles

Iron Man's Micro-Missile Barrage has been rebuilt around a lock-on mechanic. When you release the barrage, the missiles automatically track nearby enemies. To compensate, each missile hits for much less:

During Armor Overdrive, the missiles track enemies in front of you, also with a five-lock cap per target.

What this means in practice: Iron Man's barrage becomes far more reliable against mobile targets and flyers, at the cost of raw burst on a single tank. His Thor Team-Up also gets more Unibeam damage – the outer ring goes from 70/s to 80/s, and the Thunder Overdrive version from 85/s to 90/s.

Duelist changes

Phoenix (buff)

• Cosmic Flames damage per shot: 60 → 65
• Spark detonation: direct damage 40 → 45, explosion damage 15 → 20
• Spark detonation no longer heals her directly; instead it grants 5 Bonus Health for 4 seconds, stacking to 25
• Endsong Inferno (ultimate) now applies two Sparks per hit instead of one
• Hela Team-Up cooldown: 12s → 10s

Gorr the God Butcher (mostly nerfs)

• Shadow Scythe damage: 55 + 2% max health → 50 + 2% max health
• Shockwave damage: 60 → 55
• Twilight of the Gods (ultimate) duration: 12s → 10s
• Living Abyss: cooldown 15s → 12s, but movement speed 13 m/s → 10 m/s

Cyclops (buff)

• Optic Blast damage per hit: 22 → 23
• Ricochet Force cooldown reduction per Optic Blast hit: 0.25s → 0.3s
• Ruby Rage (ultimate) cost: 3,700 → 3,400 energy
• Gambit Team-Up: Kinetic Kin lasts 8s instead of 6s

Hawkeye (buff)

• Piercing Arrow projectile speed: 130–195 m/s → 140–210 m/s
• Crescent Slash recovery time slightly shortened
• Hypersonic Arrow's initial damage field widened from 3 m to 5 m
• Psylocke Team-Up: Psionic Arrow damage 32 → 33
• Cloak & Dagger Team-Up: Moonlit Slash now heals Hawkeye for the same amount it heals others

Scarlet Witch (nerf)

• Chthonian Burst damage per shot: 40 → 35

Vanguard changes

Devil Dinosaur (nerf): base health 850 → 825.

Hulk (buff)

• Banner's Gamma Ray Gun projectile speed: 80 → 120 m/s
• Gamma energy gained when Banner's own Gamma Grenade hits him: 50 → 100
• Wolverine Team-Up: Furious attack and movement speed boosts 20% → 25%, Unstoppable health threshold 300 → 400, Unstoppable cooldown 60s → 45s

Magneto (Emma Frost Team-Up): Magnetic Resonance projects 50% of damage (up from 45%) for up to 6 seconds (up from 5).

The Thing (Invisible Woman Team-Up): Unbreakable Forces cooldown 20s → 15s, and the healing threshold for its enhanced effect drops from 150 to 125 damage.

Strategist changes

Jubilee (buff)

• New: heals herself for 25 per second during Sparking Sprint
• Firework Finale (ultimate) healing field: 150/s → 180/s
• Blade Team-Up: Vampiric Kin now heals nearby allies for 15/s over 6 seconds
• Dazzling Detonation's Blind: 1.5s → 0.8s (a nerf to her crowd control)

Gambit (mixed)

• Healing Hearts and Breaking Spades charge time per stack: 8s → 7s
• Ragin' Royal Flush target search range: 40 m → 30 m
• Extra jump boost to himself and allies: 500 → 300
• Jubilee Team-Up: Sparkling Staff lasts 2s instead of 1.5s

Adam Warlock (Ultron Team-Up): Cosmic Cluster healing 16 → 18, and the enhanced explosion-field healing on hits 5 → 7.

What it means for players

The biggest shift is Iron Man. Homing missiles with four times the projectile speed raise his floor considerably – expect him to show up more in lower and mid ranks, where landing barrages on strafing targets was the main hurdle. Whether he climbs at the top end will depend on how much the halved per-missile damage hurts his tank-melting potential.

Phoenix players get a clean damage boost, but losing the self-heal on Spark detonations makes her a bit more reliant on her healers. Meanwhile Gorr, who only joined the roster with Season 10 on September 11, is losing damage across the kit; the faster Living Abyss cooldown is a small consolation, but slower movement during it makes escapes harder.

On the support side, Jubilee's sprint-healing gives her much better self-sufficiency, which matters for a Strategist who likes to dive. The shorter Blind softens her nastiest utility, though. Gambit comes out roughly even – faster card charges, but a smaller ultimate search range and a weaker jump boost for the team.

The changes go live with the October 9 update that starts Season 10.5. NetEase has teased new modes and Halloween content for that mid-season update in its latest Dev Vision; the full patch notes should follow before it goes live.

This article was written by AI (Claude) and checked against the sources above. Games are updated regularly, so details may change.