Healers often get a raw deal in hero shooter games. Classes capable of keeping players alive are critical and can be the difference between a team that wins and a team that loses. Despite risking life and limb to teammates who may not deserve it, the Healers say they are rarely valued. This axiom was true in the days of the original surveillance and its controversial resurrection mechanic and held steady for the sequel even when Blizzard dropped gameplay for years. Now this Marvel Rivals is in the spotlight, healers have a bad case of déjà vu. This time, however, healers are in a literal popularity contest.
At the end of a Marvel Rivals After a winner is declared, the game crowns a valuable player (MVP) and a runner-up on the losing team (SVP). During this screen, players can see match highlights for each individual participant and take the opportunity to speak to their group one last time. Here, participants can send each other thumbs up, presumably as a way to build camaraderie between fans. For some reason you can send as many votes, including yourself, even to yourself. There's arguably an incentive to send people with votes, since some seasonal challenges award cosmetics like sprays.
But based on conversations with nearly a dozen strategists – Marvel Rivals“Official term for characters whose mechanics rely on supporting others – most often, healers are the class type most likely to be changed. Characters in this category include the recently released Invisible Woman and Jeff the Land Shark. Strategists like Rocket Raccoon and Mantis have both some of the highest win rates around. The importance of a strategist seems inestimable, but many of them feel like they are not getting their flowers.
“I think healers don't get much credit in this game,” said Hayes Madsen, a Cloak and Dagger main who has over 100 hours logged in Neteas's Shooter. Madsen estimates he spent 60% of that time playing strategy, and he said he'll only get a boost “if.” [he’s MVP or SVP] To [his] team or here and there randomly. “
Most of the strategy players I spoke to agreed that the overall tone of the game as a whole can be hit or miss. It's likely that dejected players on a losing team will find their way out of the screen that reminds them of their failure. Marvel Rivals'Virtually instantaneous queue times make it easy to move on to the next ordeal.
Like everything else, there are exceptions when strategists do and don't get due. For example, if you play with real friends, those friends are more likely to throw you a bone. The mode in which you line up sometimes changes this dynamic as well.
“People are much better at voting in ranked lists and will usually recognize my efforts even if we didn't make it hot,” said Otachis, a Jeff Main who sometimes plays with her voting friend.
Hushbuppy, a Mantis main who claims that healers “don't get special recognition even if they do very well”, has seen differences between quick play and rank. Although strategists receive votes in the earlier mode, potential nods sometimes no longer feel obligated.
“In Quickplay, people seem to either not vote or just vote the entire team, so it usually doesn't stand out,” Hushbuppy told Polygon. “But in rankings people seem to be more selective, and that’s where I find that [damage-per-second] Roles usually get the votes (if the team won), while healers often don't. “
The disconnect between damage-dealing characters and classes that play support roles was widely noted by players surveyed. On the whole, Rivals Players seem to be more likely to elevate people with high kill/death ratios than other types of teammates. While the game itself recognizes strategists who heal in large numbers with a badge, support types are less likely to be considered MVP or SVP. However, some classes feel the heat more than others.
“I find Mantis easier to get MVPs as sometimes she has pretty good damage over her ult, sometimes just enough to tip the balance to secure objectives or get overtime while waiting for my team,” said Synda, a gold. Ranked players whose above-average gameplay has allowed them to rank up in quick play and ranked equally.
Perceptions of “optimal” team compositions also influence how Strategists perform during voting based on conversations with numerous players. Rivals Players can earn seasonal bonuses such as extra damage or health by playing certain characters together. These dark horse ideas, which often defy conventional wisdom, tend to be overlooked during the aftermath, players said.
“The ending of the games feels like you're not picking meta characters [like Mantis or Luna Snow]“You’re not very recognized unless you manage to pump out crazy amounts of healing and get the “Most Heals in the Game” icon on the endgame scoreboard,” Loki Main Yabba said.
As some tell it, while they are voting, they may find other signs that others are not taking them for granted. Luca, a Jeff player whose multi-kill skills sometimes net endgame votes, said players often express appreciation during the game itself.
“I've had some people thank me in chat when my healing is clearly saving them, and others where people just ignore me,” Luca said.
When Strategists win votes, they come from players who directly benefited from the heals. For example, Hushbuppy said that players with intensely mobile networks like Spider-Man tend to be more grateful than others.
“I suspect they just realize the difficulty of reaching them, how fast and how wildly they move,” Hushbuppy said. “Iron Man and Storm players also seem to be more grateful, and I would suspect it's for similar reasons as flying characters.”
But for all the niceties, there seem to be an equal number of ingrats that leaven the experience. Ryan, an Adam Warlock enthusiast, called the role a “thankless job” where “no matter how good you do, you're still spamming people.”
Much of this grumbling will be familiar to anyone who has played team-based shooters before. But beyond tuning – which no mechanic is into Overwatch 2 – play in as a support course Marvel Rivals Has some distinctions from its predecessors. Several players told Polygon that playing Support feels a little less like a chore than in other games in the genre.
“I had a lot of fun with Cloak and Dagger and now play them for genuine enjoyment rather than necessity,” says Dennis. While some Strategists, particularly those in quick play, might be less common and surprising picks, Healers aren't necessarily the rarest class in the game. Instead, players seem to shy away from the tank-last Vanguard class most. Several players I've spoken to claim their games tend to have at least one strategist so many Vanguard characters, which may explain their scarcity.
The character types surrounding stigmas vary in Rivals as well as. Where surveillance Players had to endure gender-based harassment tied to characters like Mercy, Rivals came out of the gate with more supporting characters as well as gender parity for the class. The characters who can revive like Adam Warlock and Rocket Raccoon are also male. Typically, the initial support characters in team-based games are usually women.
“I remember the term 'Mercy Main' being thrown around a lot as being derogatory, and people assuming that all women played Mercy because they were missing in other roles,” Otachis said. “Luckily I didn’t see much of it in the Rivals community.”
While the downer vibes aren't as rancid as in games surveillanceand despite the occasional riots in general, in general, Rivals Strategists tend to feel the brunt of the blame when things go south. “It's always been one of those roles where if you do it well, no one notices,” says Ryan. “But when you drop the ball, everyone points to you first.”
Strategists admit that anyone who plays poorly is likely to face harassment during or after games. However, strategists are scapegoats because their role is directly relational to other players.
“With healers, it's easy to think that you died because your healers are bad, your positioning wasn't good, or they were just busy saving someone else,” Jason Michaels told Loki. “I also think healers get the spotlight because if they don't do well, you get killed and not allowed to play your game.”
Why do strategists bother with all the pressure and potential negativity? Players like Ryan will readily admit that playing a strategist opens up an inherently “masochistic” dynamic. But if you want to win, someone has to brave it.
“I play healer like I always have because I believe deep down it will make or break a match,” Ryan explained.