In Marvel Rivals, Duelists are versatile attackers who dominate the battlefield with unique strategies and powerful abilities. While most excel at dealing damage, some also shine in stealth and evasion, making each Duelist stand out. This guide breaks down the 12 best Duelists in Marvel Rivals and how to best use them in combat.
Related: Marvel Rivals: Best Vanguard Heroes and How To Play Them
Table of Contents
- How to play Hela
- How to play Magik
- How to play Psylocke
- How to play Starlord
- How to play Winter Soldier
- How to play Squirrel Girl
- How to play Iron Man
- How to play Moon Knight
- How to play Scarlet Witch
- How to play Hawkeye
- How to play Iron Fist
- How to play The Punisher
12. Hela
Hela is a high-damage Duelist who excels when played by those with precise aim. She’s one of the best Duelists in Marvel Rivals if you can consistently land headshots, delivering devastating critical damage. However, if headshots aren’t your forte, her damage output might fall short of its full potential.
How to Play Hela
Hela thrives in dealing heavy damage to enemy vanguard units, and positioning is crucial to maximizing her potential. The ideal strategy is to stay behind a tank and another Duelist, essentially taking up the third spot in your team’s formation. Her primary attack, Nightsword Thorn, along with her ability, Piercing Night, both have impressive range, allowing you to deal significant damage even from a safer distance.
Her ultimate ability, Goddess of Death, is a powerful tool that should be activated when you’re on the verge of defeat. Upon activation, Hela rises into the sky, gains a massive temporary health boost, and receives significant buffs to her attacks. This effectively grants her a second life, turning what could have been a defeat into an opportunity to dominate the battlefield.
In one-on-one situations, Hela is especially deadly if you can consistently land headshots. With precise aim, she can one-shot most enemies, particularly squishier targets like healers. This makes her a formidable Duelist for players confident in their accuracy.
While Hela doesn’t gain a direct active ability from team-ups with Loki or Thor, their synergy provides a unique advantage. Whenever Hela secures a kill, Loki and Thor—if recently defeated—are immediately resurrected at the location of their deaths. While this situational rebirth ability can be challenging to plan for, it often triggers organically during the heat of battle, making Hela an excellent choice for enhancing overall team effectiveness.
11. Magik
Magik wields a massive Soulsword that excels at close-range combat. With wide horizontal swings, her weapon boasts an impressive hitbox, capable of striking multiple enemies at once while delivering devastating damage per hit. Magik becomes a true menace in battle, especially when her ultimate ability, Darkchild, is activated. This enhances all her abilities and effectively doubles her offensive potential.
How to Play Magik
Magik is best utilized as a high-damage close-range brawler, focusing on breaking through the enemy frontline to weaken or eliminate key targets. Her Soulsword has exceptional range and power, making it particularly effective against healers and attackers, though vanguard units may take more time to bring down.
To maximize her impact, stick close to a tank ally to take advantage of their shields and defensive abilities while closing the gap on enemies. Magik’s slower movement speed and limited escape options make her vulnerable without proper support. While her Umbral Incursion ability can be used to evade danger, it’s primarily an offensive tool, so use it wisely.
Tanks like Doctor Strange and Groot pair exceptionally well with Magik. Their defensive capabilities allow her to safely penetrate enemy lines and engage opponents in melee combat. These synergies are crucial for Magik to operate effectively, as her abilities shine in close-quarters scenarios.
Patience can also be a powerful strategy with Magik. Instead of rushing in, find cover and wait for enemies to come to you. Impatient players may charge recklessly, giving you the opportunity to counterattack. When opponents are within melee range, unleash your Soulsword or summon Limbo demons to secure quick kills.
Magik’s ultimate, Darkchild, is her strongest asset, but it doesn’t grant immunity from damage. Make sure you’re within your healer’s line of sight before activating it, especially if you’re planning an aggressive push. Without heals, enemies will likely target you first due to the increased damage and range your ultimate provides.
While Magik doesn’t directly benefit from team-up abilities, her teleportation capabilities are highly advantageous for teammates like Black Panther and Psylocke. These heroes can use Magik’s teleports to retreat safely or reposition during combat, enhancing overall team synergy. Encourage teammates to prioritize selecting these characters to complement Magik’s playstyle.
Related: Marvel Rivals: Best Strategists and How To Play Them
10. Psylocke
Psylocke excels as a versatile damage dealer, capable of dominating in one-on-one duels, wiping out groups of enemies with area-of-effect (AoE) abilities, and escaping dangerous situations with ease. While she might be a jack-of-all-trades rather than a master of one, Psylocke’s strength lies in her ability to disrupt the battlefield and create opportunities for her team.
How to Play Psylocke
The key to playing Psylocke effectively is to distract and outmaneuver enemies. Her Psychic Stealth ability is a game-changer, allowing her to enter stealth mode and gain a movement speed boost. This makes Psylocke highly effective at dodging long sightlines and ambushing unsuspecting foes—especially strategists, who will have little time to react when she appears out of nowhere.
By forcing enemies to hunt for Psylocke, you create chaos, which diverts their focus and opens opportunities for your team to capitalize on their distraction. This makes Psylocke invaluable for creating tactical diversions while supporting her teammates.
While stealth and flanking are crucial to Psylocke’s playstyle, her real power shines in consistently dealing damage to vanguard units. Both the Psionic Crossbow and Wing Shurikens abilities are excellent for chipping away at enemies’ health, softening them up for you or your teammates to finish off. These abilities make Psylocke a potent threat to frontline soldiers, especially when combined with clever positioning.
Psylocke’s ultimate ability is the highlight of her kit and should be used with precision. When activated, it creates a devastating AoE attack that is most effective in tight spaces where enemies have little room to escape. This makes it ideal for situations where the enemy team is escorting an objective or defending a specific position. Targeting grouped enemies in these scenarios can quickly turn the tide of battle, so timing is everything.
Additionally, Psylocke gains extra synergy when paired with Magik. If Magik is on your team, Psylocke can use Magik’s portal ability to retreat to safety, effectively rewinding to a safe position while also restoring some health. This added utility is a lifesaver in high-pressure moments, so having Magik in your lineup can significantly enhance Psylocke’s survivability and overall impact.
9. Star-Lord
When it comes to one-on-one dueling, Star-Lord stands out as the best choice. He excels at targeting enemies individually while also being highly adept at evading attacks. However, he’s not the ideal pick for rushing objectives or engaging multiple enemy heroes simultaneously, as his strengths lie in precision and agility rather than crowd control.
How to Play Star-Lord
To play Star-Lord effectively, focus on isolating enemy attackers who are separated from their team. His Rocket Propulsion and Stellar Shift abilities grant exceptional mobility, making his dual Element Guns deadly in one-on-one encounters. Healers and Duelists are particularly vulnerable to him, as many heroes in these classes have only 250 HP, making them easy targets for Star-Lord’s high-damage output.
Avoid engaging Vanguard heroes in solo combat, as their higher health pools give them a significant advantage. If you need to take down a Vanguard, position yourself behind a tank like Doctor Strange or Groot, and focus on dealing consistent damage from close to mid-range until they’re eliminated.
It’s crucial to have Adam Warlock on your team when playing as Star-Lord. This pairing activates the Leader’s Soul team-up ability, which grants Star-Lord the power of cocooned revival. Essentially, this ability gives Star-Lord an extra life with a cooldown of roughly two minutes, allowing you to play more aggressively without the usual risk.
This synergy encourages a more reckless and high-pressure playstyle, perfectly suited to Star-Lord’s strengths as a flanking Duelist. With an extra life in your pocket, you can confidently take on risky engagements and secure crucial eliminations for your team.
8. Winter Soldier
Winter Soldier may be a slower-moving unit in Marvel Rivals, but he boasts some of the highest damage-dealing abilities in the game. His strength lies in his role as a “puller”—a unit designed to grab a key enemy and reposition them toward his allies for a quick takedown. This strategy relies heavily on mastering his unique pulling and pushing abilities to maximize his potential.
How to Play Winter Soldier
To play Winter Soldier effectively, focus on neutralizing enemy tank units. His Bionic Hook ability allows him to charge and launch a hook with his bionic arm, pulling in the first target it hits, along with any enemies behind them. Once the enemy is reeled in, quickly adjust your camera angle toward your teammates and follow up with Trooper’s Fist to knock the enemy into their line of fire.
This ability combo is especially effective against trap-oriented tanks like Groot and Peni Parker, who excel at area denial. By isolating these tank units and pulling them away from their team, Winter Soldier can help your allies eliminate them quickly, dismantling the enemy’s frontline defense.
Winter Soldier’s primary attack is a high-damage weapon with a three-shot magazine. Its effectiveness is tied to his passive ability, which reloads his weapon whenever another ability is used.
While the frequent reloading can be frustrating, you can maintain constant pressure on enemies by adopting a strategic firing pattern: shoot twice, use an ability, shoot twice again, and repeat. This technique ensures a steady barrage of damage, making Winter Soldier a relentless threat on the battlefield.
However, Winter Soldier has notable drawbacks. His lack of movement speed, a limited health pool of 250 HP, and minimal maneuverability make him vulnerable in open combat. To mitigate these weaknesses, always pair him with a dedicated healer or stay close to a tank unit that naturally attracts healer support.
Healers tend to prioritize tanky teammates, so by sticking to the tank’s path, you can indirectly benefit from their healing abilities and increase your survivability.
7. Squirrel Girl
Squirrel Girl excels at repositioning and dealing significant splash damage, making her an ideal choice for targeting enemy vanguard heroes and supporting her team’s offensive efforts. Her abilities allow her to deal consistent damage while staying relatively safe, as even her ultimate doesn’t leave her vulnerable—it launches a ground-based projectile, letting her pressure enemies without exposing herself to danger.
How to Play Squirrel Girl
To make the most of Squirrel Girl, position yourself on higher ground and take full advantage of her Burst Acorn ability. This skill fires bouncing projectiles that deal significant damage on impact, making it especially effective against grouped-up enemies. With its splash damage, you’ll rack up kills or assists with ease, particularly when the enemy team clusters together.
While her primary attack can feel slow, you can compensate with the Squirrel Blockade ability, which traps the first enemy it hits. This is particularly effective against slower, larger heroes like Doctor Strange, Magneto, or Groot. Once an enemy is imprisoned, you can unleash a burst of damage, allowing either you or your teammates to finish them off quickly.
Squirrel Girl’s standout feature is her ultimate, Unbeatable Squirrel Tsunami. This ability summons a horde of squirrels that charge forward, dealing damage and bouncing off surfaces and structures. It’s incredibly effective in smaller, enclosed maps with many obstacles, where its bouncing mechanic can maximize damage. If aimed at the right angle, this ultimate has the potential to score multiple KOs, making it a game-changer in tight situations.
Pairing Squirrel Girl with Spider-Man is highly recommended, as it activates the Webbed Acorn team-up ability. This synergy allows Squirrel Girl to launch explosive acorns that immobilize and damage enemies on impact with the environment or an enemy. This combo is particularly devastating for enemy vanguards, who will struggle against the constant immobilizing effects, giving your team the upper hand.
6. Iron Man
Iron Man is the ultimate long-range flying character in Marvel Rivals, capable of quickly diving into and escaping from battles. His ranged attacks deal massive damage, and his flight adds constant pressure on enemies, keeping them guessing where the next attack will come from. Although classified as a Duelist, Iron Man often plays a pseudo-support role, distracting enemies from above while creating opportunities for his teammates to dominate on the ground.
How to Play Iron Man
Iron Man thrives in open maps that allow plenty of aerial mobility. Smaller, more confined maps with limited vertical space don’t suit flying characters like him. For the best results, select maps with ample flight opportunities, such as either of the Tokyo maps.
To make the most of Iron Man, focus on applying relentless pressure from the air. While he doesn’t have as many quick evasive maneuvers as Star-Lord, you can compensate by staying near aerial cover and using the environment to your advantage.
Iron Man pairs especially well with Hulk, as their synergy activates the Gamma Overdrive team-up ability. This combo enhances Iron Man’s Armor Overdrive ability, boosting its damage with gamma upgrades. The result? An absolute powerhouse that can decimate anything in its path, making it worthwhile to select Hulk just to maximize Iron Man’s potential.
When playing Iron Man, prioritize targeting enemy healers. Use your flight to bypass tank frontlines and take out healers from above, disrupting the enemy’s ability to sustain their team. Once the healers are eliminated, the rest of the enemy team becomes significantly easier to wipe out.
The main drawback of playing Iron Man is that your team’s healers may struggle to keep up with you. Since you’re often flying high and out of reach, you’ll need to actively seek out healing when needed rather than relying on teammates to notice your positioning.
5. Moon Knight
Moon Knight is the ultimate close-to-mid-range Duelist, excelling at denying enemies access to key areas and controlling or defending objectives solo. His effective ranged attacks and powerful AoE ultimate make him a force to be reckoned with, capable of quickly eliminating even tanky opponents when properly positioned.
How to Play Moon Knight
To make the most of Moon Knight, focus on maintaining high ground and unleashing his abilities to stop enemy advancements. His Night Glider ability is essential for repositioning, allowing you to escape dangerous situations or dodge incoming projectiles, especially splash-damage attacks. This ability makes him both elusive and deadly, enabling you to stay in control of the battlefield.
Moon Knight performs best when targeting grouped-up enemies. His abilities, such as Hand of Khonshu, Moon Blade, and Ancient Ankh, deal massive damage to clustered foes, making him devastating in situations where enemies are tightly packed. However, you may struggle if enemies are scattered or approaching objectives individually, as his toolkit is optimized for handling groups.
One of Moon Knight’s standout features is his effectiveness in choke points or against clustered enemies, thanks to the bouncing effect of his Crescent Darts and Moon Blade. In these scenarios, his ultimate ability becomes crucial. The massive damage output from his AoE ultimate can wipe out multiple opponents at once, especially Duelists, making it a game-changer in tight battles.
Teaming up with Cloak & Dagger is highly recommended when playing as Moon Knight. This combination activates the Lunar Force team-up ability, granting Moon Knight temporary invisibility. This is invaluable for repositioning, sneaking up on enemies, or escaping when overwhelmed.
4. Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch excels at draining the health of her enemies with her unique auto-locking, short-range primary attack. Her toolkit is packed with powerful offensive abilities capable of melting even the toughest tanks, like Venom, with ease. If the situation becomes overwhelming, her evasive skills allow her to escape danger and reposition before being eliminated.
How to Play Scarlet Witch
To play Scarlet Witch effectively, position yourself strategically—stay behind a tank or slightly ahead of a healer. Her primary attack, Chaos Control, is easy to land, so you can focus on your movement while continuously siphoning health from enemies at close range. Let the tank in front of you draw enemy fire while you deal damage safely from behind.
Once you’ve built enough Chaos Energy, unleash her Chthonian Burst ability. This attack fires explosive magical missiles that deal significant damage from a distance, making it perfect for finishing off weakened enemies.
Scarlet Witch’s Mystic Projection ability grants two charges before entering cooldown, and using them wisely is crucial. Deploy the ability to fly higher and turn invisible temporarily. When you return to visibility, hover over enemies and unleash both Chaos Control and Chthonian Burst. This strategy allows you to deal massive damage from above, catching enemies off guard before they can react.
The highlight of playing Scarlet Witch is her ultimate ability, Reality Erasure. This devastating attack can wipe out multiple enemies at once. However, its long animation makes her vulnerable to counterattacks, so proper positioning is critical. One way to mitigate this risk is to communicate with your team. Ask teammates to assist or protect you during the animation. For example, Magneto’s Metal Bulwark bubble shield can provide much-needed protection, allowing you to focus on unleashing chaos without the fear of being interrupted.
3. Hawkeye
When it comes to long-range precision, no hero surpasses Hawkeye. He is the game’s ultimate marksman in Marvel Rivals, capable of dealing massive damage from a distance while also having a few tools for close-range encounters when necessary.
Adding a sniper like Hawkeye to your team introduces unpredictability. A skilled player with sharp aim can keep the enemy guessing, dealing devastating damage while staying out of harm’s way.
How to Play Hawkeye
To play Hawkeye effectively, always prioritize maintaining a safe distance from enemy units. His signature ability, Piercing Arrow, allows him to fire a powerful shot that deals damage ranging from 8 to 80 hit points, making it perfect for eliminating foes before they can close the gap.
While Hawkeye’s long-range attacks are unmatched, he struggles in close-quarters combat. His Crescent Slash ability provides some knockback damage, buying time to reposition or double-jump to higher ground. However, Hawkeye generally is not suited for aggressive, rush-style play. Avoid engaging enemies head-on and focus on leveraging his range advantage.
Positioning is critical when playing as Hawkeye in Marvel Rivals. Staying close to Strategist allies is highly recommended—they can heal you if you take sustained damage. This scenario is rare at long range unless you are up against another sniper like Hawkeye or Black Widow from the opposing team.
Your primary objective while playing as Hawkeye should be to target enemy Duelists and, more importantly, their healers, who typically stay in the back row. Eliminating these key units will cripple the enemy’s ability to sustain their Vanguard players, ensuring a swift victory for your team sooner than you know.
2. Iron Fist
Iron Fist stands out as a highly self-sufficient Duelist in Marvel Rivals, capable of sustaining himself without relying on healers or teammates to eliminate threats. With high-damage abilities, exceptional mobility—both vertically and horizontally—and self-healing capabilities, Iron Fist is one of the most versatile characters in the game. However, his primary weakness is his reliance on melee combat, as his attacks are limited to short-range engagements.
How to Play Iron Fist
Iron Fist is best used to target enemy healers and Duelists. By neutralizing these key opponents, you weaken the enemy team’s backbone, making it easier for your teammates to bring down even the most durable vanguard units.
What makes Iron Fist especially dangerous is his ability to dominate in one-on-one fights, even against multiple Duelists or healers. Thanks to his mobility, escaping him is nearly impossible—he can chase enemies whether they’re moving horizontally or vertically. Once he closes the distance, his relentless barrage of punches and kicks is almost guaranteed to overwhelm opponents.
Iron Fist’s defensive playstyle is reinforced by his Dragon’s Defense ability. This skill not only grants damage reduction but also boosts his health, allowing him to block incoming attacks while maintaining his aggressive pressure.
His ultimate ability, Living Chi, turns the tide of battle even further in his favor. Upon activation, Iron Fist receives significant buffs to both damage and movement speed. Additionally, he gains bonus health, and the cooldown for Dragon’s Defense is drastically reduced. During this state, Iron Fist can unleash devastating attacks using Yat Jee Chung, making him nearly unstoppable for the duration.
For optimal team synergy, consider pairing Iron Fist with Luna Snow. While Luna doesn’t directly enhance Iron Fist, her AoE healing ability provides an invaluable benefit to the team. Her AoE attack not only knocks back enemies but also heals allies within its radius. This extra layer of support allows Iron Fist’s teammates to stay in the fight longer, amplifying the overall effectiveness of your team strategy.
1. The Punisher
Frank Castle, better known as The Punisher, has always been portrayed as a one-man army in the comics, and his gameplay in Marvel Rivals perfectly reflects that. He stands out as the best Duelist hero in the game, equipped with a powerful toolkit that allows him to obliterate entire enemy squads in quick succession.
While The Punisher excels at offensive gameplay, he also has impressive maneuverability. His abilities enable him to traverse the battlefield quickly and escape tricky situations with ease, making him a well-rounded and versatile character.
How to Play The Punisher
To maximize The Punisher’s potential, focus on finding the perfect position, whether you’re rushing to capture an objective or defending one against enemy advances. His Culling Turret ability is a game-changer: it deploys a turret that anchors The Punisher, blocking incoming damage from the front while dishing out massive damage. With 200 rounds of ammunition and 600 turret health, proper placement can turn the tide of battle as you rack up kills.
The Punisher’s ultimate ability, Final Judgment, unleashes twin Gatling guns and missile attacks that devastate enemies. This move is particularly effective against Duelists and Strategists, most of whom have only 250 health points, making them easy targets.
Beyond his heavy-hitting weapons, you should take advantage of his Vantage Connection ability. This allows you to create a hook point, giving you greater mobility to dive into or escape from challenging situations.
For regular combat, The Punisher wields two main weapons: Adjudication, an assault rifle, and Deliverance, a shotgun. The assault rifle is especially effective in close-range combat, capable of shredding enemies quickly if your aim is precise.
When using The Punisher’s primary weapons, consider having Rocket Raccoon on your team to activate the Infinite Punishment team-up ability. Rocket can deploy an Ammo Overload device in a target area.
Once inside the device’s range, The Punisher and Winter Soldier gain buffs for infinite ammo and faster firing rates. This combination turns The Punisher into an unstoppable force, allowing you to dominate the battlefield and eliminate foes effortlessly.
That is everything you need to know about the best Duelist in Marvel Rivals and how to use them best in the game. For more tips about the game, consider checking out our How To Fix the Marvel Rivals DirectX 12 Error on PC, and Marvel Rivals PS5 and PS5 Pro Modes, Features, and Exclusive Skins guides.
Published: Dec 16, 2024 01:19 pm