Marvel Rivals Season 7.5 Patch Notes: Black Cat, Blood Hunt, and Every Change Coming April 17

Marvel Rivals Season 7.5, titled "The Hunt Is On," goes live on April 17, 2026, bringing a new hero, a PvE mode, balance changes, and a host of new content to the game.

The mid-season update runs until May 15, 2026, giving players roughly a month to dig into everything NetEase has packed in. Here is a full breakdown of what to expect.

Server Maintenance and Launch Times

Server maintenance begins at 9:00 AM UTC on April 17. It is expected to last around two hours, with content going live at approximately 11:00 AM UTC.

The update launches simultaneously on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam.

Here are the regional launch times for reference:

• Pacific Time (PT): 1:00 AM to 3:00 AM

• Eastern Time (ET): 4:00 AM to 6:00 AM

• UTC/GMT: 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM

• Central European Time (CET): 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

• Indian Standard Time (IST): 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM

• China Standard Time (CST): 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM

• Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT): 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Black Cat Joins as a New Duelist

Image credit: Netease

The headline addition this mid-season is Black Cat, also known as Felicia Hardy. She joins the roster as a Duelist, and her entire kit revolves around agility, mobility, and unpredictable combat.

As described in the Dev Vision Vol. 16 reveal, she is an "agile, elusive master thief" who blends exquisite martial arts with exceptional high-mobility play to infiltrate enemy lines, slip through the battlefield, and escape danger.

Here is a look at her core abilities and mechanics:

• Wall climbing, double jump, and a grappling hook for high-mobility navigation

• Steals "Fortune" from enemies during combat to fuel upgrades

• Mid-match "Gilded Saint Shop" accessed via right-click lets her spend Fortune on temporary powers

• Available artifact upgrades include the Claw Whip, Phantom Pursuit (CC-immune dash), Helm of Hades (invisibility), Ring of Zona (team stealth portals), flame ball for enemy reveals, and more

• Ultimate ability "Nine Lives" delivers percentage-based dash slashes with full crowd-control immunity, making it strong against high-HP targets

Her playstyle leans heavily into hit-and-run tactics. She is not built to brawl in the open. Instead, she rewards players who adapt mid-match and make smart use of her fortune system.

Voice actress Erica Lindbeck, known for her roles in Marvel's Spider-Man, Persona 5, and Helluva Boss, will be bringing Black Cat to life.

New Team-Up: Lucky Loan

Black Cat anchors a brand new team-up called Lucky Loan, which also includes White Fox and Captain America.

Here is what each hero gets:

• Black Cat (Anchor): Gains a 5% damage output boost

• White Fox: Unlocks the Nine-Tailed Aura ability. Her fox tails auto-seek nearby enemies and allies, dealing damage, slowing enemies, healing allies, and granting movement speed

• Captain America: Unlocks Vibranium Bastion, which upgrades his shield with a larger coverage area and improved projectile deflection accuracy

It is worth noting that the existing Guardian of the Deep team-up (Venom, Jeff the Land Shark, and Hela) has been adjusted. Excess healing converted to Bonus Health drops from 100 to 50, and healing efficiency goes from 70 per second to 60 per second.

Balance Changes: Buffs

According to the official patch notes, several heroes are receiving meaningful upgrades this update.

Vanguard Buffs:

• Emma Frost: Ultimate energy cost reduced from 3400 to 3100, making Psionic Seduction easier to build and deploy

• Peni Parker: Base health drops slightly from 700 to 650, but Cyber-Webs get significant upgrades. The maximum number of simultaneous Cyber-Webs increases from 3 to 4, the Bonus Health cap they provide goes from 150 to 200, and projectile speed increases from 120m/s to 150m/s

Duelist Buffs:

• Human Torch: Plasma Body now triggers an immediate 10-meter dash on cast, enters the Plasma Body state for 4 seconds, and gains 2 charges with a 10-second recharge per charge. There is a 4-second cooldown between consecutive casts

Strategist Buffs:

• Adam Warlock: Cosmic Cluster cooldown reduction per enemy hit increases from 0.3 seconds to 0.4 seconds

• Luna Snow: Light and Dark Ice damage and healing increases from 22 to 24

• Ultron: His Ultimate now has drones bombarding the area around the target rather than shooting directly at it. The coverage area expands from a 3-meter radius to a 6-meter radius. Ultron's own Encephalo-Rays damage during the Ultimate goes from 8 to 18, drone damage goes from 8 to 12, and healing for allies increases from 25 to 40

Balance Changes: Nerfs

A handful of heroes are being pulled back this update.

Vanguard Nerfs:

• Deadpool: Ban Hammer Bonus Health per hit drops from 80 to 60 (standard) and 80 to 70 (upgraded). Damage per hammer hit drops from 45 to 35. Bonus attack speed from his Vanguard passive drops from 60% to 40%

Duelist Nerfs:

• Elsa Bloodstone: Helix Advance cooldown increases from 8 to 10 seconds, and the minimum cooldown at max passive stacks goes from 2 to 4 seconds. Monster-Piercer percentage damage per pellet drops from 1.2% to 0.8%, and total damage when all 5 pellets connect drops from 6% to 4%

• Winter Soldier: Trooper's Fist no longer applies the Grounded effect, though its cooldown is reduced from 12 to 10 seconds. Bionic Hook cooldown increases from 12 to 15 seconds. Roterstern projectile damage bumps up from 75 to 80, but Spell Field Damage drops from 55 to 45. Kraken Impact culling threshold rises from 15% to 20%, and base damage decreases from 80 to 70

Strategist Nerfs:

• Cloak and Dagger: Eternal Bond Ultimate duration reduced from 13 to 11 seconds

• Jeff the Land Shark: Joyful Splash damage falloff now begins at 15 meters instead of 20, dropping to 60% at 30 meters. Ultimate recovery time when failing to swallow targets drops from 1 second to 0.4 seconds

New System: Chain-CC Protection

Season 7.5 introduces a new system called Chain-CC Protection, which applies to all heroes. It is designed to keep combat flowing and prevent frustrating CC chains. Here is how it works:

• Triggers when a hero takes 5.5 seconds of total CC duration or is hit by 6 CC effects within a 7-second window

• On trigger, all active CC effects are purged and the hero gains 30% Tenacity for 3 seconds

• Each new CC effect during this window adds 10% Tenacity and extends the buff by 0.5 seconds

• At 100% Tenacity, the hero becomes fully CC immune until the buff ends

• Cinematic CC abilities like Emma Frost's Carbon Crush bypass this system entirely

• The system has a 5-second cooldown after the Tenacity buff expires

All Other Upcoming Content

Season 7.5 does not stop at a new hero and balance changes. There is a fair amount of additional content rolling out through April and May.

• Blood Hunt PvE Mode (April 24): A new story-driven PvE experience tied to Dracula's escape during Season 7 events. Features four boss fights, a hero trait progression system, and a new loot system. NetEase has positioned this as the next major chapter of Marvel Rivals PvE

• 2026 Hellfire Gala (April 24): Fashion-focused event with new themed cosmetics for Magik, Gambit, Moon Knight, Emma Frost, and Phoenix. A free Emma Frost Gala Star Costume, which won the 2025 community vote, is earnable by simply playing matches. A new community vote also kicks off for next year's costume

• Path to Doomsday Phase 1 (May 1): Kicks off a larger MCU-tied storyline. Features an asymmetric mode where players can side with or fight against Loki, mirroring the first Avengers film. Times Square events are planned to tie in with the Infinity Saga celebration

• Twitch Drops (April 17 to May 15): Watch eligible streamers to earn free Daredevil cosmetics. Rewards unlock at 30 minutes (Galacta Spray), 1 hour (Nameplate), 2 hours (Emote), and 4 hours (Costume)

• ESU Open Day Event Pass: Includes Legendary costumes for Psylocke ("Chouko Takahashi: The Prodigy") and Squirrel Girl ("Maureen Allene: The Programmer"), along with MVP animations

• Additional Cosmetics: Black Cat gets a shop recolor called "Gilded Shadow" for 600 Units and a ranked recolor "Beguiling Blue" available as a Gold or above competitive reward before May 15. Spider-Man gets a new limited emote called "Friendly Perch" for 500 Units. Black Cat and Peter Parker (unmasked Spider-Man) themed emojis are also included