Marvel Rivals Zombie Mode: The Complete Guide

Zombie Mode will feel familiar to fans of horde survival games like Call of Duty Zombies or Overwatch’s Junkenstein’s Revenge, but it adds its own Marvel-themed twist with roguelike elements. Here’s what to expect:

• Round-Based Survival: Your team of four heroes must survive waves of increasingly difficult zombies.
• Roguelike Progression: At the start of each run, you’ll customize your hero with unique perks and traits called “Blessings.” As you survive, you’ll earn permanent unlocks and upgrades for your characters, making you stronger for future attempts.
• Perk System: Before a match begins, you can choose from different options for each of your hero’s skills, allowing you to tailor their abilities to your playstyle or team composition.
• Character Leveling: Each playable character in Zombie Mode has their own separate leveling system. As you level up a hero, you earn upgrade points (up to a max of 80) that can be spent on powerful enhancements before a run.

The Zombie Slayers: Playable Characters

You can’t bring the full Marvel Rivals roster into this fight. Instead, you have a curated team of five heroes perfectly suited for zombie slaying. You can even have multiple copies of the same hero on a team.

Choosing Your Challenge: Difficulty Levels

Zombie Mode launches with seven distinct difficulty levels, allowing you to choose how much of a fight you want. Higher difficulties increase the damage you take and reduce the damage you deal, while also spawning more numerous and powerful zombies. Completing runs on harder difficulties will likely yield greater rewards and XP.

The difficulty tiers are:

1. Normal
2. Hard
3. Extreme
4. Nightmare I
5. Nightmare II
6. Nightmare III
7. Nightmare IV

Meet the Bosses: Strategies for Victory

The undead hordes are led by powerful, zombified versions of iconic Marvel characters. Two have been revealed so far, each with unique and deadly mechanics.

Boss 1: Zombie Namor

Namor is a highly mobile boss who attacks with his trident and summons minions to overwhelm your team.

• Key Mechanics:
  • Monstro Spawns: Namor summons icy minions that slow you on hit and other spawns that fire damaging energy rays.
  • Horn of Proteus: This is his ultimate attack. He summons a massive whale, Giganto, to crash down in a large area. After it disappears, it leaves behind two invulnerable Monstro Spawns that shoot projectiles.
• Strategy: Prioritize destroying the Monstro Spawns to manage crowd control. When he uses his ultimate, immediately move out of the large area-of-effect indicator on the ground. Use ranged heroes like The Punisher or Blade’s shotgun to deal damage while he is flying around.

Boss 2: Scarlet Witch, Queen of the Dead

Scarlet Witch is a devastating boss who can wipe your entire team if you don’t manage her mechanics correctly.

• Key Mechanics:
  • Chaos Control: She drains the health of all nearby heroes, forcing you to keep your distance.
  • Reality Erasure: Her ultimate ability. She spawns several crystals around the arena. If they are not destroyed in time, she unleashes an attack that instantly wipes the entire team.
• Strategy: This fight is a damage race. As soon as the crystals appear, your entire team must focus on destroying them. Ranged heroes are essential here, as getting too close to Scarlet Witch will quickly drain your health. Save your own ultimate abilities for the crystal phase to ensure you can destroy them in time.

Tips and Tricks for Survival

Keep these universal horde mode strategies in mind to increase your chances of success.

• Constant Movement is Key: Standing still is a death sentence. Always be on the move to avoid being surrounded by zombies.
• “Train” the Zombies: Have one player kite the horde around the map, gathering them into a tight “train.” This allows other players to focus fire on the condensed group for maximum efficiency and gives the team breathing room.
• Prioritize Special Enemies: You will encounter larger, more powerful zombies mixed in with the regular horde. These special units should be your top priority, as they are often more dangerous and may have abilities that buff other enemies.
• Teamwork and Communication: On higher difficulties, coordination is everything. Stick together, call out special enemies, and protect teammates who are low on health. Assigning a team leader to direct focus can be highly effective.
• Know Your Role: If you’re playing a tank like Thor, your job is to be on the front lines. If you’re a damage dealer like The Punisher, stay in the back and unload on the horde. Playing to your character’s strengths is crucial.