Marvel Rivals is the hottest new thing in the realm of hero shooters. And, it has launched with over 30 popular characters from the Marvel universe. While it’s important to spend time trying out every character to find one that works best for you, they all have different skill ceilings to consider. So, if you’re new to the game (or even hero shooters in general), here are three characters that are easy to pick up and play.
Squirrel Girl
Squirrel Girl is one of Marvel Rival’s most powerful characters. And she’s arguably the easiest to play. She uses a slingshot to shoot nuts at her foes, which are very forgiving of bad-to-mediocre accuracy due to how they can rebound off the ground or walls and still hit anyone caught nearby. Additionally, each nut does significant damage, meaning you can kill a squishy character in around three shots to the body.
The remainder of her kit is extremely easy to understand, too. She has a large acorn she can throw to stun an enemy, an ability to reload that acorn rapidly, and a fantastic vertical leap to aid in lining up shots below or repositioning to higher locations. Her ultimate ability even sends a hoard of squirrels out to beat the hell out of your enemies. It’s pretty nuts!
Star-Lord
Star-Lord, the smart-ass leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy, is also one of Marvel Rivals’ most accessible for newcomers. He’s fast and deadly thanks to a kit that grants him mobility and damage in equal measure. You can use his multiple movement-based abilities to dart around and get behind your enemies before unleashing his dual-wielded guns to chip away at their health.
If you find yourself in the midst of a firefight, you can use an AOE (area-of-effect) attack that will deal a bit of damage to everyone around you. Meanwhile, his ultimate ability lets you fly up above the hustle and bustle below so that you can lock onto your opponents and have your bullets track them for guaranteed punishment. You’ll want to be mindful, however, that as Star-Lord, you’ll have a relatively low health pool, but the rest is a cinch.
The Punisher
The Punisher is the most standard shooter character in the game, blending together popular Overwatch characters Soldier 76 and Bastion to great effect. This makes him a perfect choice if you’re coming from a game like Call of Duty. He sports a straightforward kit that focuses on automatic rifles and shotguns, making him powerful at any range. He can even use a smoke bomb to cover his tracks while he repositions as necessary, or enter his ultimate ability to gain gatling guns and missiles to obliterate everyone in his path.
Perhaps his most defining feature, however, is that he can set up and man a stationary turret that lets him wail away on baddies with killer cover fire This makes the Punisher a top-tier choice for holding down areas with tanks. By having so much at his disposal while retaining a simple playstyle, the Punisher is definitely the best choice for those seeking traditional shooter gunplay.
Marvel Rivals is available as a free-to-play game on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows.