Marvel Rivals Healer Tier List: All 7 Strategists Ranked
Defense is the best offense.
Marvel Rivals has officially stormed onto the hero shooter scene. As players are coming to grips with the massive 33-character roster favorites are starting to emerge — on top of over a dozen characters that seem hilariously broken. But that’s part of the charm of Rivals, especially when you consider how drastically different and unique each character feels. Out of the game’s three classes, Strategists (Healers), are by far the most unique, and in many cases the most fun to play. While Duelists (Damagers) and Vanguards (Tanks) might feature big-name superheroes, you should be taking a break to revel in the unique oddities of Strategists. Here’s the tier list for how the game’s seven launch healers pan out.
Why You Should Play Strategist in Marvel Rivals
With the launch of Marvel Rivals it’s become clear the game has a key problem — everyone wants to play the fun Duelist characters and doesn’t want to take on the pressures of playing a tank or healer. It can absolutely be daunting to take on that role and know supporting the entire team falls on your shoulders, but Rivals makes it much easier to do that than most hero shooters.
Strategists are by far the most dynamic characters in Rivals, as most are able to hold their own in terms of damage-dealing, while also buffing and supporting the team. That means that you aren’t strictly relegated to simply healing allies the whole match, but can integrally change the course of a match with your offensive capabilities as well. Because of this, Strategists feel like the most well-rounded characters of the game and ones that really let you get a feel for the feel and flow of Rivals matches.
By and large, they do require a bit of extra learning and practice, but these characters can be an absolute blast once you get the hang of them. Even better, your team will thank you for playing the essential role.
Marvel Rivals Strategist (Healer) Tier List
7. Rocket Racoon
Rocket has a powerful synergy attack that gives unlimited ammo to Punisher and Winter Soldier.
Rocket Racoon is likely the most well-known Strategist of the bunch, but he’s also the hardest to use effectively — entirely because it depends on your team engaging with your skills. Rocket can place a gizmo that spits out armor packs and revives enemies, but more often than not no one picks up those armor packs or even realizes they can. The same goes for Rocket’s ultimate, which puts down a damage-boosting pillar — but again if no one stays in its range, you’re out of luck.
He doesn’t have the best damage output of the bunch, or the highest healing rate, he’s just kind of in the middle of the pack. Still, if you can effectively use his speed and wall climbing, Rocket can be a force to be reckoned with. Especially if you take advantage of his synergy attacks with Groot, Winter Soldier, and Punisher.
6. Adam Warlock
Adam Warlock has an extremely powerful revive Ultimate, that can bring the whole team back at once.
Adam Warlocks’ defining trait is his ability to revive teammates — he’s the only character in the game who can revive multiple characters at once. That makes him an extremely unique healer, but it’s a double-edged sword, as he’s easily the hardest to use.
Warlock doesn’t have the offensive capabilities that other Strategists do, with the exclusion of his Quantum Magic ability — it’s hard to land, but it’s a five-shot rapid-fire blast that can devastate any enemy. But again, the key to mastering Warlock is that revival ability, which again kind of relies on your team doing the same thing. Letting teammates respawn is great, unless they place themselves poorly and get demolished right after spawning. You also need to time his ultimate just right to take advantage of a full-team respawn. In the hands of a talented player, Adam Warlock can turn the tides, but you better get some practice in.
5. Luna Snow
Luna Snow is all about speed, letting you zip across the battlefield.
Luna Snow’s biggest asset is her speed, she’s one of the fastest-moving characters in the game and you need to take advantage of that. But you’ll need to make sure you’re entirely accurate when you play as Luna. Unlike other healers whose moves automatically track allies, or heal an area, Luna needs to heal allies by hitting them with her standard attack. That means if you’re just shooting randomly, it may not be very effective.
But Luna has some fantastic support skills, like an ice shield that can buff an ally and a shot that can freeze an enemy in place. She also has one of the best Ultimates in the game, spreading healing or damage buff across a wide area that makes it nearly impossible to take your team down while it’s active.
4. Loki
Loki is a master of deception, good at distracting enemies.
As you might expect, Loki is all about deceit, making him the hardest healer to take down. Like Luna he needs to shoot allies to heal them, but he can also place clones anywhere on the battlefield that shoot the same direction — meaning you can hugely boost both healing and damage.
But at the same time, these clones can distract enemies and Loki can transport to their locations, confusing enemies and avoiding certain demise. A good Loki is constantly going to be a thorn in the other team’s side, annoying them at every single opportunity. His hugely useful Ultimate also lets him briefly copy any other hero, so you could have two Hulks wreaking havoc.
3. Jeff the Landshark
Jeff is the most adorable hero, but don’t underestimate his deadliness.
Jeff is certainly the cutest strategist, but he’s also the biggest surprise of the bunch. He’s extmrely easy to learn and use, but absolutely deadly when used correctly. Jeff can drop healing bubbles all over the map, and then use his water spray to complement healing — meaning in terms of sheer numbers, he heals better than almost anyone.
Extra surprisingly, Jeff’s damage is fantastic — his basic attacks are incredibly strong. But if you’ve spent any amount of time online you might have seen viral clips of Jeff’s super, where he eats up entire enemy teams and spits them off a cliff. Yes, it’s entirely possible and unless something is changed or patched, Jeff is a demon on the battlefield.
2. Mantis
Mantis is fantastic at not just healing, but buffing the entire team’s damage.
Mantis has the best of both worlds, speed and power. She’s one of the more involved Strategists of the bunch, forcing you to constantly juggle her different powers — but boy is there a tremendous payoff. Mantis can simultaneously heal allies and boost their damage, then boost her own damage. Playing her is an intense juggling act that requires constant input and strategizing from the player, but it can really pay off.
All that is coupled with Mantis’ Ultimate, which is every bit as powerful as Luna Snows, letting your team charge ahead and soak up damage.
1. Cloak and Dagger
Cloak & Dagger are the most versatile healer in the game, so they’ll take a bit to master.
Cloak and Dagger are a blast to play, and they just so happen to be the most useful Strategists in the game. That’s largely because the duo has just as much damage-dealing capability as healing. Dagger has tracking projectiles that hit both enemies and allies, and two strong abilities that can send a rejuvenating blast forward, or erect a healing dome.
But at any moment you can instantly switch to Cloak, who has great damage and stealth abilities, and a tracking basic attack like Scarlet Witch. Cloak and Daggers abilities on on separate cooldowns, meaning you can constantly swap between the two and dish out healing and offense. You can adjust to quite literally any situation as Cloak and Dagger, and that versatility puts them on top.
