It can be hard getting into a game like Marvel Rivals when everyone else has already had a full season to get up to speed, pick which heroes fit their playstyle, and learn how to best deploy the attacks at their disposal. It’s ok, though, one newbie with a buddy on Reddit has seemingly found a way to help themselves learn the ropes – drawing up handwritten playbooks for characters.
To be fair, I get it. You’re aware that you’ve got a lot to learn so you don’t get merked by some weirdo who’s playing as a Thomas the Tank Engine that’s technically just a mod that makes Jeff the Land Shark do some very trainy cosplaying, so you do all the prep you can.
That seems to be the mindset of a buddy of r/marvelrivals user KaijuBlaze, who’s drawn up a “playbook” to help them remember the steps they’ve been told to follow in order to not be a crap at playing Venom. It’s clearly a piece that belongs in the Louvre, with little images to help them remember the six steps their mate’s informed them make up the ideal Venom assault.
“The idea is he doesn’t play these types of games and knows nothing about Marvel, so we’re gonna do SUPER simple guides to help him get used to how they characters are supposed to operate,” KaijuBlaze explained. Nice one.
As you can see below, the plan is roughly as follows: swing in, dive like Ralph Wiggum did through The Simpsons front window that one time when he was a brick for a frenzied arrival, activate cellular corrosion, “attack until low health”, then press E, and swing your bottom out of there. Heal up, rinse, repeat.
Naturally, the Rivals regulars were quick to suggest some minor improvements to this plan. “I rarely ever swing in because you can run on walls and just dive directly from the wall,” wrote one, “Whereas if you swing in and everyone turns, theres a good chance they can pump more then 2k damage in less then 8 seconds.” The playbook was duly updated.
One of the players on the subreddit has even decided to give the instructions an in-game trial run themselves to make sure this newbie was on the right path. They pretty much followed all the steps to a T, aside from the three they kinda didn’t, and ended by swinging themselves right off a ledge to their death, because it’s funny and also because – listen in KaijuBlaze’s buddy – you’re not at risk of being killed by the enemy if you’ve already died to gravity. The more you know.
I don’t know about you, but I think if these hand-drawn playbooks start to do well in Rivals, NetEase might need to ban getting your paper and pencils out as strictly as it recently did keyboard and mouse adapters. Unfair hardware advantage, you know, the ability to draw.