Venom stands out as one of Marvel Comics’ most legendary anti-heroes and a formidable adversary of Spider-Man. In Marvel Rivals, this Lethal Protector brings his chaotic prowess to matches, enhancing the gameplay experience.
Classified as a Vanguard with a difficulty rating of 1-star, Venom excels in aggressive playstyles, acting as a “dive tank”that thrives in offensive roles.
Despite his lack of ranged attacks due to Eddie’s symbiote-enhanced body, Venom possesses an arsenal of abilities designed to slow foes and facilitate quick escapes during intense skirmishes.
While Venom is relatively easy for newcomers to pick up, players should note that his powerful abilities come with lengthy cooldowns. Mastering his kit is essential to survive the onslaught of opponents or achieve the impressive kill counts often seen in the community.
Understanding Venom’s Abilities
If you’re familiar with Overwatch 2, you may notice some similarities between Venom and Wrecking Ball, particularly in their mobility. Both characters can swing into action and crash into enemies to disrupt combat dynamics.
However, to succeed with Venom, you’ll need a deep understanding of his cooldowns and passive abilities, allowing you to gain a tactical advantage during battles.
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Abilities |
Description |
|---|---|
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Dark Predation |
Use your primary fire to strike enemies ahead with four tentacles. |
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Cellular Corrosion |
Employ your alternate fire to dispatch tentacles that latch onto nearby foes, slowing them down and dealing damage if they remain ensnared. |
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Symbiotic Resilience |
Activate this ability to gain bonus health proportional to your current health state. |
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Venom Swing |
Launch a web forward to execute a single swing maneuver. |
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Frenzied Arrival |
While swinging or jumping from heights, crash-land on enemies to damage and launch them upwards. |
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Alien Biology (Passive) |
Hold the jump button to crawl on walls and sprint by pressing your primary fire while crawling. |
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Feast of the Abyss |
Go underground and move towards your enemies. If enemies are directly above you when the ability depletes or is canceled, they take damage while you gain health. |
Effective Offensive Strategies with Venom
Now that you understand Venom’s capabilities, you’re ready to dive into battle. Here are some essential offensive strategies designed to help you excel in various encounters:
- Execute the Frenzied Arrival, Cellular Corrosion, and Dark Predation combo: As a dive tank, launch yourself toward enemies using Venom’s abilities. Start by swinging or climbing walls, then execute Frenzied Arrival to crash down and launch foes. Follow up with Cellular Corrosion to slow them down during their ascent, and finish them off with Dark Predation.
- Headshots are key: Venom’s lack of projectile attacks makes precise aiming important. Aim for the head to maximize damage, especially when your target is ensnared by Cellular Corrosion.
- Disable Easy Swing: By default, Easy Swing assists beginners, but it can limit your control. Disable this in settings for greater precision during movement and swings.
- Frenzied Arrival delivers increased damage: Focus on hitting enemies directly with Frenzied Arrival, as this ability deals significant damage upon impact, while also benefiting from its AoE effects.
- Utilize flanking opportunities: With remarkable mobility, Venom can secretly maneuver and launch surprise attacks. Use Alien Biology to gain height, infiltrate enemy lines, and utilize Cellular Corrosion to scatter opponents, allowing your team to capitalize on objectives.
Defensive Techniques for Venom
Due to Venom’s large stature, he is an easy target for enemies, particularly when he gains momentum in fights. While his abilities can aid in these situations, their lengthy cooldowns necessitate careful management.
Here are some defensive strategies to consider:
- Conserve Web Swing: With a cooldown of 8 seconds post-use, handle Web Swing as a backup tool when facing enemy threats without relying on it solely for escapes.
- Stay calm; utilize Symbiotic Resilience: When faced with overwhelming damage, maintain composure. Wait until your health is low (around 200-250 HP) before activating Symbiotic Resilience to maximize its benefits.
- Be aware of your surroundings: Venom’s dive tank nature can complicate healing. Focus on gaining high ground for visibility, and familiarize yourself with health kit locations to sustain yourself.
- Beware of damage during your Ultimate: Use your ultimate cautiously, as Venom can take damage while activating it. Prioritize timing to maximize health recovery from your bites.
Venom’s Team-Up Abilities
|
Ability |
Heroes Needed |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Touch of Klyntar |
Venom |
Venom shares his symbiote with Spider-Man and Peni Parker, enabling them to generate protruding spikes that damage nearby enemies while pushing them back. |
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Spider-Man |
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Penny Parker |
The collaborative aspect of Venom sharing his symbiote with Spider-Man and Peni Parker aligns perfectly with their lore, offering synergistic gameplay dynamics.
Both characters can utilize crowd control to immobilize adversaries, making it advantageous to coordinate attacks to maximize damage more efficiently.
Counters to Venom & Strategies to Overcome Them
While Venom is a robust character with defensive capabilities, he is not without his vulnerabilities. Enemies capable of rapid burst damage or crowd control present significant challenges for him.
Expect resistance from characters such as Hawkeye, Hela, Winter Soldier, Punisher, and Iron Man.
A skilled Hawkeye can effectively dismantle Venom’s health with persistent headshots. Similarly, Winter Soldier can inflict substantial damage and isolate Venom from his allies using his Bionic Hook. Duelists like Hela and Punisher excel at keeping up the pressure, with Punisher leveraging his shotgun’s range to counter Venom’s dives.
Vanguards like Peni and Doctor Strange are also threats, especially with Doctor Strange’s defensive shield mechanic and Peni’s immobilizing Cyber-web Snare.
To combat these threats, focus on evading attacks rather than committing to unfavorable 1v1 encounters. Use Venom’s abilities to poke at enemies, retreat for healing, and re-engage strategically. Communicate with your team to coordinate focus fire on distracted opponents.
Optimal Team Comp for Venom
The ideal team duos for Venom include Spider-Man and Punisher. Spider-Man’s unique synergies with Venom enhance their combined mobility and melee capabilities on the battlefield, often catching opponents off guard.
For reliable damage output, the Punisher’s versatility shines with his primary fire and Culling Turret, allowing him to engage enemies from a distance without compromising his safety.
When playing Venom, pairing him with another tank, such as Peni Parker or Hulk, enhances survivability. Peni can provide strong crowd control and many defensive utilities, while Hulk offers shielding, ensuring team continuity even after losing players.
Healers like Jeff the land shark and Cloak & Dagger are also advantageous, as they can swiftly replenish Venom’s health. Jeff’s larger hitbox allows him to utilize his healing skills more effectively, while Dagger’s range ensures follow-up support.
In battle, Cloak & Dagger can quickly bring Venom back to full health through their versatile abilities, including her formidable ranged attacks and healing capabilities.
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