The wait is almost over—Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 is launching on August 8, 2025, and it’s bringing major changes along with the long-anticipated arrival of Blade. With server downtime scheduled shortly before the update, players can expect a refreshed competitive experience, significant Hero balance updates, new skins, Twitch Drops, and exciting team synergies.
Below, we’ve outlined everything you need to know about Marvel Rivals Season 3.5, including launch times, Blade’s gameplay abilities, balancing updates, and our early impressions from hands-on testing.
🕒 Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 Start Time
Once maintenance wraps up, Season 3.5 will go live in the following regions:
- US East Coast – 7 AM ET (August 8)
- US West Coast – 4 AM PT (August 8)
- UK – 12 PM BST (August 8)
- Central Europe – 1 PM CEST (August 8)
- Japan – 8 PM JST (August 8)
- Australia – 9 PM AEST (August 8)
Downtime is estimated to last 2–3 hours, based on prior seasonal updates. We’ll update this page live if delays are announced.
⚙️ Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 Downtime Schedule
Server maintenance will begin at:
- US East Coast – 5 AM ET (August 8)
- US West Coast – 2 AM PT (August 8)
- UK – 10 AM BST (August 8)
- Europe (Central) – 11 AM CEST (August 8)
- Japan – 6 PM JST (August 8)
- Australia – 7 PM AEST (August 8)
Expect servers to be offline for around 2–3 hours, with a smooth return based on NetEase’s recent update cadence.
🧛 Blade Joins Marvel Rivals as New Duelist Hero
(Image credit: NetEase)
Blade, the iconic vampire-slaying Daywalker, joins the Marvel Rivals roster in Season 3.5 as a Duelist-class hero. I’ve spent time in the Practice Range testing his moveset, and he’s shaping up to be a high-impact pick with the following abilities:
Blade’s Abilities:
- Katana Strikes – Devastating melee slashes for close-quarters dominance
- Shotgun Burst – Mid-range burst damage to zone out enemies
- Dash Strike – A mobility tool for flanking or finishing
- Block Stance – Reduces incoming damage and sets up counterplay
- Ultimate: Dracula’s Sword – Unleashes massive AoE damage, including against airborne targets
Blade also synergizes with the Moon Knight and Cloak & Dagger team, granting him access to cloaking mechanics for sneaky repositioning.
🛠️ Hero Balancing Updates in Season 3.5
(Image credit: NetEase)
Season 3.5 introduces major hero balance changes—some fan-favorites are getting buffs, while others are being dialed back for competitive integrity.
Buffed Heroes:
- Star-Lord
- Iron Fist
- Spider-Man
- Doctor Strange
- Groot
- Thor
- Adam Warlock
Nerfed Heroes:
- Black Panther
- Wolverine
- Magneto
- Mantis
- Cloak & Dagger
Doctor Strange in particular receives notable improvements:
- Daggers of Denak – Increased charge count (8 → 10)
- Cloak of Levitation – Cooldown reduced (15s → 12s)
🏆 Ranked Mode Overhaul in Season 3.5
Competitive play in Marvel Rivals is getting a major refresh, with changes to matchmaking, queue sizes, surrender rules, and rewards.
Ranked Rewards:
- Gold+: Blade’s Emerald Blade skin
- Diamond & Platinum: New profile frames
- Grandmaster+: Updated Crests for Eternal, Celestial, and Top 500
Matchmaking Adjustments:
- Bronze–Gold: Queue solo or in groups (up to 4 players)
- Platinum–Grandmaster: Up to 3-player queues
- Celestial–One Above All: Max 2-player queues
New Surrender Trigger:
If a teammate disconnects in Round 1 and doesn’t return in 90 seconds, the rest of the team can vote to surrender with one fewer vote than players remaining.
Disconnect Penalty:
Matches affected by early disconnects (loading, pick phase, or first 70s) will be invalidated, and compensation will be distributed based on the situation.
🎁 Twitch Drops and Cosmetics in Season 3.5
New Twitch Drops are on the horizon, Rivals!
— Marvel Rivals (@MarvelRivals) August 6, 2025
Watch your favorite streamers live to get a spray, nameplate, emote, and the cosmic and otherworldly "Will of Galacta" Mantis costume!
Event Time:
Starts: August 8, 12:00 PM UTC / 5:00 AM PT / 8:00 AM ET
Ends: September 5, 9:00 AM… pic.twitter.com/TZ7nL35onU
Available via Twitch Drops:
- Star-Lord IGNITE Skin – Watch 4 hours (Aug 10–Sep 6)
- Mantis “Will of Galacta” Skin – Watch 4 hours (live now)
New Store Skins:
- Blade – Polarity Edge Bundle
- Blade – Emoji Bundle
- Blade – Dynamic Mood Bundle
👑 Queen’s Codex Event
A brand-new event—The Queen’s Codex—launches alongside Season 3.5, bringing both free and premium rewards.
Free Rewards:
- Symbiote Thing Skin
Premium Rewards (Battle Pass):
- Queen in Black Hela Skin
- Phoenix-Themed Black Widow Skin
🔥 Team-Ups and Synergy Boosts
Season 3.5 introduces a new Team-Up ability for Adam Warlock and Luna Snow—Duality Dance. Luna can now heal herself as she damages enemies, creating a more self-sustaining playstyle that wasn’t previously viable without Ice Shards.
👋 Final Thoughts: Is Blade Worth the Hype?
As someone who’s played hundreds of hours of Marvel Rivals since Season 0, I was lucky enough to get early access to Blade—and I can confidently say he feels like a game-changer. His hybrid ranged/melee toolkit combined with stealth potential gives him incredible flexibility in duels and team skirmishes.
While I usually stick to Vanguards (working my way toward Lord proficiency with Magneto), Blade might just pull me into the Duelist role this season.
📡 Live Coverage and Updates
We’ll be updating this article throughout launch day with any live updates, patch notes, skin rotations, and gameplay changes as Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 goes live.
Stay tuned as we dive into everything new in the latest chapter of Marvel’s premier 6v6 hero shooter.
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