As I’ve played many hours of Ultron, the newest Strategist character inMarvel Rivals, there was far more to learn than I expected. After reaching Lord proficiency with Ultron, I found that there were some hidden aspects of his abilities that make him far stronger than other players might expect. After seeing others play as Ultron as well, there are some strategies with the character that aren’t used enough.
Learning to play Ultronis a unique experience compared to many other characters inMarvel Rivals. Unlike what his Strategist role may say,Ultron acts as both a supportive character and an offensive hero, similar to the Duelist role more than his own archetype. This duality creates a character whose strength is difficult to measure by many players, even by those who have logged many successful matches.
Ultron Is Much Stronger Than Everyone First Thought
Initial Feelings On The Character Quickly Changed
Before the launch of Season 2.5, I was worried about how strong Ultron would be compared to the other Strategists in the game. From footage gained from Early Access gameplay of Ultron before the midway-seasonal update,Ultron seemed to be a decent damage dealer with little to no healingcapabilities. Many players, including myself, imagined Ultron wouldn’t have much in their toolkit to justify playing him over other powerful support heroes.
One of the biggest problems seen during the Early Access footage for Ultron was how his Ultimate ability seemed quite weak compared to other Strategists. Thankfully, this was buffed significantly when the character was released alongside Season 2.5 content.
However, when Ultron was made available, the character was found to be much stronger than anyone could have predicted. In certainteam comps inMarvel Rivals,Ultron can deliver consistent healingwith his Imperative: Patch ability, while his Encephalo-Ray primary attacks deal very considerable burst damage. In a few well-placed shots, Ultron can eliminate low-health heroes as well as any Duelist in the game.
Although Ultron’s healing is nowhere near the levels of other reliable Strategists,Ultron’s healing drone is not set on a cooldown, allowing players to freely switch his healing attention without any delay. Despite a line-of-sight requirement on the drone, it provides a healing radius that can affect multiple allies at once. This gives Ultron the chance to provide autonomous support while flying around the battlefield.
Ultron has a surprising amount of survivability for a Strategist as well, with more mobility than other characterslike Adam Warlock or The Invisible Woman. Using his Dynamic Flight ability, Ultron can gain Bonus Health and a burst of speed, allowing him to retreat to his allies or close in on a target. With his Imperative: Patch skill, Ultron can also give more Bonus Health to himself, nearby teammates, and the ally who has his healing drone.
No One Is Realizing The Potential Of Ultron’s Healing Drone
One of the things I realized after playing Ultron for a significant amount of time was how underrated his healing drone actually was. At first glance, the Imperative: Patch ability has very weak healing, especially when compared to other Healing Over Time abilities, such as bubbles from Jeff the Land Shark. That being said,there are hidden mechanics to the healing drone you may not utilizeafter only a few matches as Ultron.
For starters,Ultron can heal himself if he enters the healing radius of his dronewhen it is attached to another player. Experienced Ultron players can use Dynamic Flight to give Ultron a boost of speed needed to descend from the skies toward his team to enter his drone’s aura. On the other hand, withcharacter buffs in Season 2.5encouraging more flying heroes to be picked, Ultron may be able to reach his drone’s healing faster in the air.
Another way Ultron can achieve more healing is with his Team-Up ability gained from being in a group with Iron Man. If another player picks Iron Man, Ultron gains a Nano Ray, which can be activated to give Ultron an energy beam that pierces through targets, healing allies and damaging enemies.
Anotherhidden feature to Ultron’s healing drone is how it can negate one of the character’s biggest weaknesses. When Ultron fires an Encephalo-Ray, it fires a beam of energy with infinite range, some damage falloff from a distance, with a burst of damage at the end. This is Ultron’s primary source of damage, but he has to reconfigure the attack after every shot before it can be fired again.
When combined with the reload of the Ray attack after a few shots, Ultron has to take breaks between small bursts of damage. This makes it difficult to secure eliminations, especially if a target is being pocketed by an enemy Strategist. However, if youattach Ultron’s healing drone to a new ally during his reload animations, it automatically recharges his Encephalo-Ray, letting you attack instantly.
Ultron Is Not Meant To Be A Healbot
Take Advantage Of Bigger Damage Opportunities While Playing With Your Team
Despite his role as a Strategist, I found that Ultron works best as a damage-dealer with a single supportive ability you need to use wisely.Ultron is not meant to solely heal, even with his Ultimate, which can recover an ally’s health extremely quickly. Ultron tends to work best in games with twoother Strategists inMarvel Rivals, providing them help with smaller healing but spending most of his time helping secure key eliminations.
The automatic nature of Ultron’s healing drone makes it something you want to swap from character to character quickly. This gives Ultron more time to focus on his own survival to poke enemy characters with bursts of fast damage. While you do want to keep an eye out for your team,Ultron’s job is far more flexible than just sitting back and trying to heal everyoneall the time.
Ultron’s burst damage is great for putting enemy characters on the cusp of death, allowing teammates to quickly pick up the kill. Due to the unlimited range of Ultron’s primary attack, he can also pick off enemies trying to escape with ease.
An easy mistake to fall into as Ultron is to play him exclusively like a Duelist though, using his damaging abilities to take too many risks.Ultron has low health, but excellent mobility to attack enemies from a safe distance, creating a hit-and-run style unlike most other self-sustaining Strategists. Staying near your team is crucial, but Ultron staying just beyond an enemy team’s notice allows him to perform his role well.
Depending on the situation, Ultron can be either a mere nusince or a deadly force against an enemy team. Ultron can easily flank enemy groups when traveling with a mobile Duelist, or help push teams forward behind a valuable Vanguard.Ultron is only at his best when working alongside one or more allies closely, not only to use the hidden features of his healing drone, but also to boost their potential.
Due to Ultron’s higher damage, he can make Duelists stronger by helping them secure kills. Through healing drones and firewall Bonus Health, he can keep Vanguards alive longer to build Ultimates or create space against enemy groups. And with other Strategists, Ultron can ensure opponents have a hard time securing any kills inMarvel Rivals, making the character extremely versatile if team comps support his strengths.
