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You’ll get some Mood icons by completing Combat Chest objectives
Marvel Rivals Season 2.5 adds the new Mood system. They’re essentially emoticons that hang out on your Nameplate. Currently, there’s a set of Jeff-themed Moods that can be purchased in the Store, and a Galacta set that’s unlocked in the Combat Chest.
Check out the Cerebro Database II event for some easy early unlocks
The Cerebro Database II event is now live, and focuses on Iron Man and Ultron. You’ll unlock two tiles easily, one for reading some new Iron Man lore, and one for just opening the challenge menu. Easy!
Premium Combat Chest costs 690 Lattice
You can now work away at the Combat Chest, though be aware that the rewards marked “Premium” can only be unlocked by purchasing the Premium Combat Chest for 690 Lattice. It’s essentially a mini Battle Pass, and contains new skins for Magneto, Storm and Mr Fantastic.
Marvel Rivals Season 2.5 is live!
Marvel Rivals Season 2.5 is now live, and I’ve just received my Gold rank reward. It’s the Golden Diamond skin for Emma Frost.
Still down for me
It’s now 7AM ET / 4AM PT and 12PM BST, and Marvel Rivals is still down. Given that it’s now been two hours of downtime, I expect the game to go back online at some point in the next hour. I’ll keep trying to get in, and will update once I do.
Marvel Rivals Season 2.5 could launch any minute
According to estimates given by NetEase, we can expect Marvel Rivals to come back online any minute. At most, it’ll be another hour of downtime. I’ll update as soon as I’m able to get back into the game.
Marvel Rivals Season 2.5 update file has gone live on PS5
I just received a notification on PS5 that Marvel Rivals has a new update to download. It was just over 7GB, so make sure to check on your platform of choice whether or not it’s available for you yet.
What to do first once Season 2.5 launches
I recommend taking a look at the Combat Chest, and Cerebro Database II events as soon as Season 2.5 launches. You can then pick the right Heroes to clear challenges and earn Chrono Tokens. There’s some free skins up for grabs here too, so make the most of your first few hours.
Peni Parker could be a contender in Season 2.5
I’ve been busy testing out Peni Parker’s new Team Up with Rocket in the Practice Range. She’s able to have two nests placed at once, covering a huge area with mines. This could make Domination objectives a lot easier to defend, especially given that Rocket’s revive beacon also gets spider mines as part of the Team Up.
Marvel Rivals Login Error
We expect Marvel Rivals to be offline for just over an hour. Once it’s back, I’ll be giving my early impressions of the season, jumping into a few Quick Matches as Ultron, Thor and Jeff the Land Shark. At present, logging in shows the error message shown above. Don’t worry, this just means that the servers are undergoing maintenance.
No more Gamma upgrade for Iron Man
Iron Man is being removed from the Hulk Gamma Overload Team Up, as he’s now in a Team Up with Ultron. Namor will still have superpowered gamma squid turrets however. Sorry Spider-Man mains.
Downtime has started
Marvel Rivals is now offline. It should be back up in around 2 hours. I’ll be sure to keep you updated.
Just 10 minutes until downtime
Last call for Season 2 players. If you jump into a game now you should be allowed to finish up before being kicked from the servers. At least that’s how things worked last time.
How to make the most of Season 2
Thankfully, the current Battle Pass will continue forward into Season 2.5, but there are some things that’ll end once downtime starts. The Hellfire Gala: Moments event is scheduled to end later today, so you’ll want to work through that in the last few hours if you can. You get the Patch costume for Wolverine as a final reward, and there’s plenty of Chrono Tokens to earn as well.
Half an hour to go
Downtime will trigger in just 30 minutes. There’s time for just one more match, so make it count! Make sure to redeem any event awards you have outstanding as well.
How long will Marvel Rivals be offline?
Marvel Rivals Season 2.5 downtime is expected to last “2-3 hours” according to NetEase. Hopefully it’ll be on the shorter end of things, meaning the game should come back online at 7AM ET / 4AM PT / 12PM BST.
When does downtime start?
Downtime for Marvel Rivals Season 2.5 will kick off at 5AM ET / 2AM PT / 10AM BST. At this time, the servers will go down, and the game will be unplayable. Season 2 will officially be over, and some events, like Hellfire Gala: Moments will end as well.
Bad news for Groot mains
Groot is getting a nerf in Season 2.5, with Vine Strike damage reducing overall. The cooldown for Ironwood Wall is going from 8 seconds up to 12 seconds. Ouch. To be fair, Groot is often banned in Competitive Mode matches at present, so maybe he needed some balancing.
Full patch notes have dropped
NetEase has now revealed the full patch notes for today’s update. It adds bubble emotes, Lord icons in the character select screen, as well as Moods, which add a new visual element to your nameplate. Read the full patch notes here.
A new convoy map
There’s a brand new Convoy map set to arrive later today. It’s called Arakko, and is a sort of robot prison/lair for the all-powerful X-Tron. It looks appropriately menacing, with glowing red beams of light and giant mechanical creatures chained up against the walls.
Hawkeye is getting another buff, and a new Team Up
Hawkeye has been feeling really great this season, making it somewhat unexpected that he’s getting yet another buff. Regardless, the base damage of his arrows is going from 32 to 34, there’s an increase to the projectile damage of Blast Arrow from 15 to 16, and his focus is being increased. There’s a new Team Up with Luna Snow too, granting Clint an Ice Arrow that can slow or stun enemies.
I’ve played the new season
Thanks to NetEase having provided TechRadar early access to Season 2.5, I’ve played a couple of hours of the new season. I’ve primarily spent my time with Thor and Jeff, who have been changed significantly. Thor’s hammer is a more viable attack, and Jeff’s primary attack now damages opponents. I’ve also jumped into some matches with Ultron, who is extremely effective as a third Strategist in a three Strategist composition.
Launch day is here
Happy launch day! Marvel Rivals Season 2.5 should be here in just four hours, allowing players to finally get their hands on Ultron. In the lead up to downtime, I’ll be detailing some more of the key changes that are set to arrive later today. Let’s get started.
That’s all for today
And that concludes my Marvel Rivals Season 2.5 live blog for the day. Expect me back online at 3AM ET / 12AM PT / 8AM BST to continue things. I’ll be discussing the new update in the hours before downtime kicks in, and giving my advice on how to make the best use of Ultron.
Psylocke takes a hit
Psylocke is getting a nerf to her Shuriken attacks, which will now do 12 damage per hit (down from 14) upon retrieval. Her Invisibility ability now only lasts 2 seconds instead of 3. This will have an impact on how careful players will need to be when going in for the kill, as there’s less time for a cloaked escape.
When does Marvel Rivals Season 2 end?
Marvel Rivals Season 2 ends on May 30 UTC. This is listed on NetEase socials as 5AM ET / 2AM PT / 10AM BST. At this point, servers will go down and you won’t be able to play the game. The good news is that the main Battle Pass carries over, so you’ll still have plenty of time to earn its rewards.
New skins for Magneto, Mr Fantastic, and more
An event called Combat Chest will go live with Season 2.5. It has a free track that’ll grant rewards like Sprays, and a Premium track that features new skins for characters like Magneto and Mr Fantastic. As a main of both, I’m very excited indeed.
And I’m back
Now that I’m back from my break, let’s take a closer look at Ultron. He’s part of a new Team Up called Stark Protocol with, you guessed it, Iron Man. Ultron is able to fire powerful uni-beam attacks that pierce through enemies and teammates. Enemies will take serious damage, while allies will be healed. I just tested this out in the Practice Range and it’s a serious upgrade to Ultron’s standard kit. Probably worth having an Iron Man with you, then.
A brief break for me
I’m heading off now for a break. I’ll be back at 12PM ET / 9AM PT / 5PM BST to continue my coverage of Season 2.5’s launch. By that time, I’ll have gotten some early access time with Ultron in the Practice Range. Stay tuned for my first impressions!
Character reveal trailer for Ultron
There’s a full character reveal trailer available for Ultron, showing off his abilities and playstyle. Interestingly, it looks like he puts out some serious damage at range.
Cap is getting a nerf
Captain America leads Season 2.5’s nerfs, with hits to his survivability. His base health is going from 600 to 575, while an increase to the energy cost of Freedom Charge (Ultimate Ability) from 2800 to 3100 will apply. Finally, there will be an increase for the delay of shield recovery from 2s to 4s after unleashing Living Legend.
A new event will launch alongside the new season
Cerebro Database II is the new event that’ll go live with Season 2.5. It’ll allow you to earn an awesome Hawkeye skin, though you’ll likely need to complete a set of challenges to get it.
Big changes to Team Ups incoming
There’s a whole host of Team Ups being removed from Marvel Rivals as part of Season 2.5. Chilling Charisma (Luna Snow, Jeff the Land Shark), Symbiote Bond (Venom, Spider-Man, Peni Parker), Ammo Overload (The Punisher, Rocket Raccoon), and Allied Agents (Hawkeye, Black Widow) are all being taken out, to make room for new Team Ups. More on those later.
Looking back at Season 2
Like many, I’ve struggled a bit this season, ending up unable to climb out of Platinum rank. Dive characters have gotten extremely difficult to counter, especially Iron Fist and Spider-Man. It’s no wonder that the latter is banned in basically every ranked game you play these days. Hopefully, buffs to Vanguards, and a rework of DPS viability will balance things out. From the looks of the upcoming changes, the developers are making all the right calls.
Downtime will last “2-3 hours”
🛠️ Patch 20250530 is on the way, Rivals!
Check out all the details and tweaks we’re implementing as we head into Season 2.5 >> https://t.co/BuoVLCEI81
🕑 The patch will be implemented on May 30 at 2 AM PDT, and maintenance is expected to take approximately 2–3 hours.
– Please… pic.twitter.com/YPbkqdcRY6May 23, 2025
As you can see in the Tweet above, downtime will last “2-3 hours” before Season 2.5 goes live. During downtime, you won’t be able to access the game, but worry not, I’ll be keeping this blog going, digging deep into upcoming Hero changes.
Ultron joins the roster
Ultron is the new Hero for Season 2.5, filling the role of Strategist. He’s the first new Strategist since Invisible Woman, and looks set to be a very different kind of character. He can fly, for one, meaning he’s going to be difficult for certain dive characters, like Captain America, to attack. He can boost up into the air when cornered, and even attack at distance with a laser beam.
And we’re off!
Welcome to TechRadar Gaming’s live coverage of Marvel Rivals Season 2.5. The major update is set to go live May 30, with downtime beginning at 5AM EDT / 2AM PDT / 10AM BST. I’ll be detailing all of the biggest changes coming to the game, including the addition of Ultron as a new Strategist. Let’s get started.
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