Why are players frustrated with Thor and Jeff’s reworks?

Jeff and Thor weren’t speculated to be meta-defining heroes, however gamers turned them into one thing particular. Their distinctive playstyles have been slowly formed by the group and made them stand out, not as a result of they have been the strongest, however as a result of they have been enjoyable, versatile, and rewarding to grasp.

That’s precisely why their Season 2.5 reworks really feel like such a intestine punch. NetEase might have made them extra balanced on paper, however in doing so, they stripped away what made these heroes memorable. This isn’t only a rework, it’s a redesign that spells out how the builders strategy the sport and take suggestions. This text explores why these reworks go away gamers annoyed and divide the group.

Each Jeff and Thor have been a part of the unique hero roster in Marvel Rivals. Whereas neither was initially positioned as a specialist, the group rapidly uncovered unconventional playstyles that turned them into viable picks. 

When Season 0 launched, Jeff’s final, It’s Jeff!, was nearly inconceivable to mess around. His capacity to burrow, swallow a number of enemies, and launch them (or, oftentimes, bounce into) a pit led to some really absurd spotlight reels. For some, it was a refreshing twist that was chaotic, artistic, and enjoyable. For others, it felt outright gimmicky, overpowered, and unfair. Nevertheless, Jeff’s final was toned down in Season 1: Everlasting Evening Falls, together with gamers realizing the best way to counter it, noticed his winrate drop to 44%.

Jeff didn’t convey the burst therapeutic and defensive final meta that Strategists like Luna Snow, Mantis, and Cloak and Dagger have. But it surely didn’t take lengthy for gamers to determine he was self-sufficient. See, Cover and Search allowed Jeff to dive underwater, granting him a wall climb, therapeutic, bonus motion velocity, and a smaller hitbox. This allowed him to take aggressive, flanking angles to harass the backline together with his main assault, Aqua Burst. 

Flanking Jeffs have been obnoxious to take care of since they’ll simply get better with Therapeutic Bubble. Moreover, his team-up with Luna Snow gave his assaults elevated injury on high of a sluggish. This playstyle was solely enjoyable for Jeff since his teammates are down a healer, and the enemy has to take care of an obnoxious pest.

Equally, Thor was initially misunderstood through the early phases of Marvel Rivals. The sport thought-about him a Vanguard, however he lacked the defensive capabilities to guard himself or his crew. Nevertheless, his signature passive, Thorforce, rewarded aggression by granting him bonus well being for utilizing skills, making him the most effective off-tank within the sport.

Thor was finest performed as a tanky bruiser, leaping out and in of the battle utilizing Storm Surge. The flexibility turned his greatest asset for its sheer flexibility. It was used for initiation, escaping, disrupting Vanguards, isolating squishies, and giving him bonus well being deep into the battle with out throwing off his melee assault. Good Thor gamers situationally used Awakening, however they’d a lot moderately spend their Thorforce fees on Storm Surge.

NetEase’s Season 2.5 replace brings main reworks to each Jeff and Thor, shifting them away from their community-founded playstyles into extra clearly outlined roles.

Jeff the Land Shark misplaced his energy away from his disruptive diver playstyle. He now operates as a hybrid mid-line help, providing constant therapeutic, injury, and small crowd management in a extra measured playstyle. The official patch notes say: “Jeff’s package will get a fin-tastic rework. Extra frontal help and fight capacity, however with much less survivability.”

Jeff’s key capacity adjustments:

His new package emphasises constant therapeutic and chip injury via his piercing main, incentivising Jeff to anchor behind his tank and line up in opposition to the enemy. Whereas this makes Jeff extra dependable in coordinated crew fights, it strips away a lot of his independence. He nonetheless has the choice to search for cheeky off-angles, however the useful resource meter on Cover & Search and fees on Aqua Burst give him a brief window to seek out eliminations.

In the meantime, Thor’s mushy rework targeted on having a continuing uptime on the Awakening Rune capacity. The patch notes learn: “By Odin’s beard! Thor’s skills are getting a tweak, however his survivability is taking a minor hit!”

Thor’s key capacity adjustments:

Thor’s mushy rework pivoted his id from a brawling, disruptive off-tank right into a ranged, poke-centric hero with fixed uptime on Awakening Rune. The change encourages gamers to cycle Awakening Rune and Hammer Throw to remain in Thor’s empowered kind. 

Whereas Thor can nonetheless brawl it up on the frontlines, he’s rather more susceptible with much less bonus well being. Veteran Thor gamers lose a beneficial tech the place they cancelled melee strikes with Hammer Throw to hurry up their injury.

These reworks had the group in a scramble when it was first launched. However now that playstyles have adjusted and the stats have settled, the reworks are a massive nerf for Thor and a web buff for Jeff. Nevertheless, that’s not what makes them controversial.

There are three principal arguments in opposition to these reworks: erosion of participant id, lack of company, and a developer disconnect.

First, each Jeff and Thor have been beloved due to how versatile and expressive their kits have been. Gamers carved out distinctive identities with them: Jeff as a flanking menace who may escape and get better on his personal, and Thor as a bruiser who may dive, poke, or peel relying on the crew’s wants. The reworks narrowed their roles so drastically that many really feel their favorite heroes not mirror the characters they mastered.

The overhaul has utterly modified Thor’s id, changing his quick, impactful fight type with a slower, extra awkward model that doesn’t really feel satisfying to play. Beforehand, Thor thrived on fluid combos and a powerful sense of momentum. Now, his skills really feel disjointed, with longer cooldowns and clunkier animations that interrupt the move of fight. Making the God of Thunder spam lightning as a substitute of utilizing his iconic hammer must be a criminal offense for followers of the character.

Right here’s the funniest, most ironic reality for Jeff: he’s gotten better as a traditional healer, however due to that, it comparatively makes him worse. Strategists are robust and impactful in Marvel Rivals, and Jeff couldn’t compete with the staple picks, however gamers carved out a distinct segment of their very own the place he can nonetheless thrive.

If gamers are solely wanting on the scoreboard, Jeff can farm stats like therapeutic, injury, and assists, however his potential for essential solo eliminations was gutted with the rework. Past his highly effective team-up with Storm, there are various higher Strategists to play if we’re solely competing for therapeutic and utility.

Second, the reworks eliminated core decision-making instruments. Jeff misplaced his capacity to decide on aggressive off-angles with out being punished for overextending. Thor misplaced his company to choose between Hammer Throw or Storm Surge, and was additionally disincentivised from realizing when to brawl and when to seek out picks with Awakening Rune. These adjustments restrict participant expression and flatten the ability ceiling within the title of readability.

It looks like there’s favouritism occurring when Loki has the company to search for eliminations with stealth or enjoying tips together with his clones, or that Ultron can concurrently rival Duelists’ eliminations whereas offering first rate therapeutic. In the meantime, Jeff’s flank playstyle was barely catching on earlier than they determined to remodel the character, as a substitute of adjusting him slowly as a compromise.

Lastly, there’s a rising sentiment that NetEase misunderstood what made these heroes enjoyable within the first place. Whereas the reworks improved their viability on paper, additionally they revealed a disconnect between developer intent and participant expertise, with many feeling like creativity and adaptableness have been sacrificed for inflexible crew design.

Weren’t the builders adamant in regards to the distinction between Strategists and help or healers? In Dev Talks and patch notes, NetEase made it clear: Strategists aren’t simply healers, they’re rather more than that. That’s what makes Jeff’s rework particularly complicated, as these adjustments pull him nearer to the very definition of a pure healer. Flattening his ability expression made him extra alluring to healers, however far much less attention-grabbing for individuals who really performed him earlier than the rework. 

Whereas we’re at it, pandering to the general public outrage about Rocket Raccoon missing a defensive final was the primary pink flag. Balancing between the informal and aggressive playerbase is at all times a difficult job, however NetEase went ballistic on their answer, afraid of absolutely embracing the messiness that makes hero-shooters enjoyable. What occurred to transferring away from inflexible roles and into extra versatile ones? Would possibly as effectively transfer Thor to Duelist if he’s not threatening on the frontlines.

So sure, Jeff is stronger in crew comps. Sure, Thor can cosplay as a ranged injury supplier. However in fixing their construction, NetEase might have damaged one thing extra necessary: the sense of possession and freedom that made these characters click on with their mains within the first place. And that’s not only a stability concern. That’s a design philosophy drawback.

Whereas stability and readability are necessary, they shouldn’t come at the price of id and participant company. Rivals units out to be a hero shooter that platforms the various powers of the Marvel universe, so these adjustments additionally harm on the thematic degree. The sport is making an attempt to interrupt into an esports staple, however in doing so, its design philosophy shifts into making heroes purposeful, not enjoyable.