Marvel Rivals: Comprehensive Guide to Defensive Abilities You Should Avoid and Not Engage

In the vibrant world of Marvel Rivals, certain defensive abilities can pose significant challenges. These skills can render enemies invulnerable, enable them to execute powerful counterattacks, or allow for such formidable healing that players may need to expend all their resources just to keep up. In these situations, it is often wiser to switch targets, take cover, or retreat to heal rather than engage a resilient opponent head-on.

While many of these abilities result in direct damage immunity, players might still have the chance to inflict negative status effects such as *slowing* or *blinding* their rivals in rare instances. Effectiveness varies by matchup, so experimentation with different characters against these defensive tactics is essential. Additionally, collaborating with teammates can help neutralize overwhelming enemies, even if it necessitates using several cooldowns strategically.

Heroes You Should Avoid Attacking

You’re Just Helping Them By Shooting

Certain formidable abilities can temporarily shield characters, making direct attacks counterproductive and often detrimental. Fortunately, Marvel Rivals features distinct animations and audible cues that signify when an ability is activated, helping players strategize accordingly.

Below is a comprehensive list of abilities used by various heroes that should be avoided during matches due to their strategic advantages:

Ability	Character	Effect	Duration	Notes
Indestructible Shield	Hulk	Grants Hulk a 200-value Shield and gives allies within a 5m radius a 100-value Shield.	2.5 Seconds	Taking 100% damage fills Hulk’s Ultimate meter; allies gain 10% damage towards theirs. Note: Monster Hulk cannot use this ability.
Dragon’s Defense	Iron Fist	Provides a 30% damage reduction, 150 Max Health, and 1.5 Bonus Health for each hit.	1 Second (can be canceled early)	Iron Fist cannot attack while in this stance. Cooldown is significantly reduced during Living Chi.
Dark Teleportation	Cloak	Cloak and allies within a 10m radius gain invincibility.	2 Seconds	Effect breaks when a character attacks.
Blessing Of The Deep	Namor	Namor ascends 7m and becomes immune to damage.	3 Seconds	Namor can descend early if desired.
Astral Flock	Whole	Dash up to 18m at a speed of 15 m/s while becoming invincible during the dash.	Duration until dash ends (can be canceled early)	Hela’s invincibility lasts throughout the dash.
Reflexive Rubber	Mr. Fantastic	Gains a 300-value Shield with 60% of damage taken reflected back as a projectile.	3 Seconds	Mr. Fantastic incurs a -35% speed penalty while active.
Freedom Charge	Captain America	Gains 150 Bonus Health and distributes 100 to allies within a 4m radius for 10 seconds.	10 Seconds	Captain America gains an additional 100 Bonus Health every second, while allies receive 60.
Regeneration Domain	Loki	Heals 100 per second and converts 30% of incoming damage into healing.	5 Seconds	If used by doppelgangers, effects can potentially triple.

How To Overcome These Defenses

They Can Be Beaten By Enough People

In some cases, the defenses afforded by certain characters in Marvel Rivals can be overcome with sheer firepower. Utilizing an ultimate attack or a concerted team effort to focus on a single enemy can lead to victory. However, players should be cautious, as successfully taking down a tough opponent may leave them vulnerable to reprisal from the enemy team.

Ability	Character	Effect	Duration	Notes
Metal Bulwark/Iron Bulwark	Magneto	Provides a 300-value shield to Magneto or an ally.	2.5 Seconds	Each 100 damage absorbed boosts the damage from Magneto’s Mag-Cannon.
Berserker Rage	Wolverine	Increased damage and 150-300 Bonus Health when attacked or after attacking.	Varies based on the Rage	Wolverine heals after 3 seconds of gaining Bonus Health, subsequently removing his Rage.
Dagger Storm	Dagger	Heals 55 points per second within a 5m radius.	6 Seconds	Dagger can either launch this ability or place it at her feet.
Fate of Both Worlds	Luna Snow	Provides healing of 250 per second or a 40% damage boost.	12 Seconds	Effects cannot overlap, and Luna cannot attack while this skill is active.
Soul Resurgence	Mantis	Heals 100 per second within a 15m radius, turning 70% of excess healing into Bonus Health for allies.	8 Seconds	All allies in the area receive a movement bonus of 3 m/s.
Ironwood Wall	Big	Groot gains 40 Bonus Health on attacks, totaling up to 250.	Until destroyed	The wall has 700 health and is broken when the convoy collides with it.
Cyber Web/Bionic Spider-Nest	Penny Parker	Heals 25 per second, providing up to 150 Bonus Health.	Indefinitely until destroyed	Peni can maintain a maximum of three Cyber Webs; the Bionic Spider-Nest has 350 health.