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  1. Games
  2. Third Person Shooters
  3. Marvel Rivals

Marvel Rivals revives another classic Overwatch issue – insta-locking DPS players who won't switch – and with it the debate over whether role limits are a good idea

News
By Catherine Lewis published 12 December 2024

Some players suggest there should be a limit on the number of DPS heroes on each team

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(Image credit: NetEase)
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Marvel Rivals has only been out for a week, but despite its success, it can't help but encounter a few issues reminiscent of its inspiration, Overwatch.

It was just a matter of days before hero shooter fans worked out that Overwatch's notorious GOATS meta – AKA three healers and three tanks per team wreaking slow but steady havoc on their opponents – was also effective here. On the opposite end of things, it's quickly become apparent that many, many players are fully committed to playing the DPS-focused Duelist characters, and don't want to compromise with any other role even if their team is already full of them. History has a way of repeating itself, I suppose.

Like Overwatch for its first three years of life, Marvel Rivals doesn't have a role queue. Anyone can be anything, which sounds like a motivational quote out of context, but in NetEase Games' hero shooter, it means there are no limits on how many Duelists there are on a single team. Even though the devs made it clear that they "wanted to move away from Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist just being names for the quintessential understanding of Tanks, DPS, and Support," obviously, a full team of DPS characters might find themselves struggling with no dedicated healer. 

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This has left players on Reddit frustrated, although there's no clear consensus on if role queue is the answer here, as some have pointed out, "Statistically more people play DPS so I guess there will be a lot [of] people who [are] against this." What sounds like a good compromise instead of forcing the game into rigid 2v2v2 matches is a role limit: "What I am asking for is some sort of flex queue by limiting a maximum of three DPS players matched together in a team."

"A role lock with 1-1-1 and three flex players would be really good," one player suggests. However, it might still not be perfect: "I think role minimums might work, but it would also encourage more insta-locking not discourage it," argues another. 

"Role limit is a worse idea because people are gonna be queuing to play what they want to play, most don't play this game to flex, it's just how it is," another says.

In a way, this was to be expected. After all, the game itself currently has more Duelists than Strategists and Vanguards combined. Mercifully, NetEase Games has teased that more Vanguards and Strategists might be arriving in Season 1, so we might not be waiting too long before the other roles have more heroes to choose from. 

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Be sure to check out our guide to the Marvels Rivals characters to see our tier list of the best heroes. 

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Catherine Lewis
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Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

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