Marvel Rivals Director Admits Critical “Duelist Problem” as Class Imbalance Hurts Gameplay

Marvel Rivals players have voiced concerns for months about an increasingly obvious roster imbalance – and now Creative Director Guangyun Chen has officially acknowledged the critical “duelist problem.” In a revealing interview with Rivals Assembled YouTube channel, Chen confirmed the team shooter suffers from disproportionate character distribution that’s creating repetitive matches and predictable team compositions. While promising future adjustments, Chen cautioned that meaningful solutions won’t arrive until 2025 due to extended development cycles.

Breaking Down the Roster Imbalance Crisis

Currently, Marvel Rivals’ roster features a staggering 22 duelists compared to just 10 vanguards (tanks) and 9 strategists (supports). This 2:1 ratio heavily skews gameplay toward damage-dealing roles. The imbalance intensified during Season 3, which added two more duelists – Phoenix and Blade – without introducing any new tanks or supports. According to Chen, this disparity emerged from development pipelines established long before player feedback surfaced: “The whole process from confirming a hero roster to production and final release takes quite a long time. At this point, the heroes we are currently deciding on are for a release slot next year” (Rivals Assembled, 2024).

The consequences manifest in every match:

• Insta-locking duelists during character selection
• Frequent 4-5 duelist team compositions
• Underpowered frontline and support capabilities
• Repetitive match strategies and ultimate rotations

How the Duelist Dominance Warps Gameplay

Without role queue enforcement, the surplus of damage heroes creates a domino effect of gameplay issues. Teams overloaded with duelists lack sustainability during objective fights, while the scarcity of tanks means fewer players absorb damage or create space. Support mains face overwhelming pressure to compensate for multiple squishy teammates simultaneously. Professional Overwatch analyst Emily “Emiliath” Rose notes similar patterns plagued early hero shooters: “When damage heroes outnumber other roles 2-to-1, matches become deathmatch chaos rather than tactical teamplay. It’s math – you simply can’t form balanced comps” (The Game Haus, 2023).

Compounding the issue, new characters drive player engagement and content cycles. With duelists receiving disproportionate development attention, meta diversity stagnates. Data from the recent closed beta shows 68% of matches featured at least four duelists per team, while balanced 2-2-2 compositions occurred in just 11% of games (Marvel Rivals Community Metrics, May 2024).

The Road to Roster Recovery

Chen confirmed fixes are in motion but tempered expectations: “We’ve seen a lot of feedback about this from the community. Going forward, we will address it… Gradually, a new balance will form.” With four more heroes scheduled for 2024 (likely already deep in production), significant rebalancing appears delayed until next year. Community manager Lily Zheng hinted at solutions beyond new characters: “We’re evaluating systems to encourage role diversity, including queue incentives and composition requirements for competitive modes” (Official Discord Q&A, June 2024).

The development team faces a delicate challenge – correcting the imbalance without alienating duelist mains who constitute an estimated 60% of the player base. Possible solutions include:

• Accelerated releases of vanguards/strategists
• Reworks converting existing duelists to hybrid roles
• Role-based matchmaking for ranked play
• Buffs to underplayed tanks and supports

Marvel Rivals’ public admission of its class imbalance crisis marks a crucial first step toward redemption, but players face months of duelist-dominated matches before meaningful solutions arrive. The development team must now prove they can deliver strategic diversity worthy of the Marvel universe – before frustrated players snap their fingers and vanish.

Must Know

Q: What exactly is Marvel Rivals’ “duelist problem”?
A: The roster features 22 duelists (damage heroes) versus only 10 tanks and 9 supports, causing unbalanced team compositions. Season 3 worsened this by adding two more duelists without new tanks/supports.

Q: How does this imbalance affect matches?
A: Teams often field 4-5 duelists, reducing tactical diversity and creating repetitive gameplay. Without enough tanks to absorb damage or supports to sustain teammates, objectives become harder to secure strategically.

Q: What did Creative Director Guangyun Chen say about fixing this?
A: Chen acknowledged the issue in a Rivals Assembled interview, confirming they’ll address it but noting hero development takes “quite a long time.” Meaningful changes likely won’t arrive until 2025.

Q: Why can’t NetEase fix this immediately?
A: Character development pipelines operate months ahead. The four remaining 2024 heroes are already deep in production, limiting immediate roster adjustments according to Chen’s statements.

Q: Are temporary solutions being considered?
A: Yes. Developers hinted at systems to encourage role diversity, such as queue incentives for tanks/supports and potential composition requirements for competitive modes during a recent Discord Q&A.

Q: How does this compare to other hero shooters?
A: Similar early imbalances affected Overwatch and Valorant. Successful corrections involved accelerated support/tank releases, role queues, and reworks – solutions Marvel Rivals will likely emulate.