Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 — full patch notes for the Blade update (August 8 + August 21 follow-up)

Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 shipped on August 8, 2026 at 09:00 UTC, following a 2-3 hour maintenance window starting at 05:00 ET. A follow-up balance patch shipped on August 21 with Blade sustain buffs and additional hero tuning. This is the full patch note breakdown.

New content

New hero: Blade

• Class: Duelist
• Weapon set: Ancestral Sword (melee) + Shotgun

(mid-to-close range)

• Passive: Bloodline Awakening — applies anti-

heal debuff to damaged enemies for ~3 seconds

• Defensive: Daywalker Reflexes — brief damage

reduction + movement speed

• Ultimate: Thousand Fold Slash — Sword of

Dracula arc, slashes reduce incoming healing

New lore entries

• Blade — Cut to the Chase
• Iron Man — The Celestial Iron Man
• Rocket Raccoon — The Deepest Bond

Queen's Codex event (Aug 8 - early Sep)

• Earn XP to unlock rewards
• Free: The Thing — Symbiote Thing costume
• Premium: Hela — Queen in Black costume, dynamic

spray

• Premium unlock is permanent, no time limit

Twitch Drops (Aug 8 - Sep 5)

• Mantis — Will of Galacta costume + bundle items

Team-up ability changes

Removed

• Guardian Revival (Mantis + Star-Lord)
• Atlas Bond (Luna Snow + Iron Fist)

Added

• Duality Dance (Adam Warlock + Luna Snow) —

powers up Luna's attacks based on damage she received

• Vibrant Vitality (Mantis anchor) — with Groot,

his walls heal allies; with Loki, his healing fields grant damage boost

Adjusted

• Loki removed from Ragnarok Rebirth
• Iron Fist added to Chilling Assault
• Star-Lord added to Rocket Network
• Blade added to Cloak & Dagger's Lunar Force

Ranked matchmaking

Team size limits

• Bronze, Silver, Gold: solo or non-full

five-stacks

• Platinum, Diamond, Grandmaster: max team size

3

• Celestial and above: max team size 2

Disconnect penalties

• Disconnect within 70s: match invalid, T1

penalty

• Disconnect after 70s: scaled penalties based

on time offline

• Reconnecting reduces but does not eliminate

penalties

AFK penalties

• AFK before 70s: match cancelled, T2 penalty
• AFK after 70s: penalty only if team loses

Quick Match AFK escalator

• 1st offense: warning
• 2nd: 15 minutes
• 3rd: 30 minutes
• 4th: 1 hour
• 5th+: 8 hours

Chat moderation

• Automated chat-moderation system scans text

and voice in real time

• Custom Muted Words filter in settings
• Faction Tab in chat
• Emojis work while KO'd and at battle results

Ranked rewards

• Gold: Blade Emerald Blade costume
• Platinum + Diamond: new nameplate frames
• Grandmaster+: Crests of Honor

Hero balance changes (Aug 8)

Buffs

• Daggers of Denak projectile charges: 8 → 10
• Cloak of Levitation cooldown: 15s → 12s
• Awakening Rune: gain 1 Thorforce on exit
• Jeet Kune Do 5th strike damage: 50 → 55
• Yat Jeet Chung Kuen % max health damage per

strike: 2.1% → 2.7%

• Harmony recovery bonus health decay start

time: 1s → 2s

• K'un-Lun Kick 1st strike damage: 30 → 35
• Spectacular Spin ultimate DPS: 150 → 170

Nerfs

• Last Stand energy cost: 2800 → 3400
• Primal Flame: Phoenix Warrior lifesteal no

longer contributes to Wolverine ultimate energy

Hero balance changes (Aug 21 follow-up)

Buffs

• Blade Bloodline Awakening lifesteal: 60% → 65%
• Blade Bloodline Awakening self-healing

reduction: 40% → 35%

Map and mode updates

• Klyntar: Throne of Knull map and mode added
• Tournament matches now include **latency

balancing**

• Custom Tournament Rooms have a **balance settings

toggle**

UI and quality of life

• Ranked nameplates now appear across menus
• Team lobby supports camera scroll
• Nameplate switcher in team lobby
• Venom emote animation improved
• Store "Special" tab shows moods, emojis, unique

emotes

Graphics and performance (PC)

• Shader compilation moved to background after

install

• Graphics test tool offers optimization suggestions
• UI animation detail adjusts based on effects

settings

Map fixes

• Fixed terrain issues that caused players to get

stuck

Hero fixes

• Adam Warlock Cosmic Comeback: fixed bug

where bonus health on revived teammates would vanish if Adam was KO'd

• Blade Daywalker Detox: after Bloodline

Awakening, Eric now benefits from all friendly healing (was: couldn't receive HoT from Rocket or Luna)

• Jump height normalized for Emma Frost, Iron Fist,

Phoenix, Wolverine

• Iron Fist healing audio cue now triggers

properly

• Spider-Man and Venom can assign different swing

keybinds

• Improved audio for enemy Panther and Wolverine

sneaking attacks

• Fixed global keybinds affecting ability keys for

some heroes

Store updates

• Blade Polarity Edge Bundle
• Blade Emoji Bundle
• Blade Dynamic Mood Bundle

FAQ

When did the patch ship?

August 8, 2026 at 09:00 UTC. The August 21 follow-up shipped at the standard Tuesday reset.

Were there any weapon balance changes?

No weapon balance changes in the Aug 8 patch. The Aug 21 follow-up included only Blade's sustain tuning.

Will my MMR reset?

No. MMR is preserved. The only reset is the standard 3-month ranked season soft reset.

What's the best Support comp after the team-up rework?

Mantis + Luna Snow + Loki with the Vibrant Vitality and Duality Dance team-ups active. This is the highest-healing comp in the game and is dominant in Celestial and above.

Did the patch affect tournament mode?

Yes — tournament matches now include latency balancing, and custom Tournament Rooms have a new balance settings toggle. These changes were requested by the tournament organizer community for several months.

Sources: PC Gamer Marvel Rivals patch notes, EGL Season 3.5 breakdown, GameSpot team-up analysis, TechRadar Marvel Rivals patch tracker.