Marvel Rivals: How to be a better Wolverine 

Wolverine’s strengths in Marvel Rivals aren’t immediately apparent. His Savage Claw primary attacks don’t have much range and his large, yellow frame makes him a prime target for the enemy team. But if you switch your focus from the squishy Duelists and Strategists to the tankier Vanguards, you’ll find that Wolverine is the best at what he does. 

1.  Kidnapping Vanguards is Wolverine’s main job 

Marvel Rivals Wolverine

Feral Leap is Wolverine’s bread-and-butter ability that allows him to snatch an enemy and reposition them. By relocating enemies into positions that are unfavorable to them, Wolverine and his allies can foil the enemy team’s plans by quickly eliminating the displaced foe. 

Feral Leap’s hitbox is quite strange as you must be extremely close to an enemy (i.e. almost within kissing distance) to snatch them. Due to this, you’ll want to go after large enemies like Vanguards. Stalking from high places or using the Metal Cannonball team-up ability (if available) will allow you to get the drop on unsuspecting Vanguards and deliver them into the waiting arms of your team. After snatching them, make sure to follow up with the Berserk Claw Strike-enhanced attacks the Feral Leap provides. 

2. Wolverine’s attacks are percentage-based 

Wolverine attack

Going for Vanguards is good for another reason, as all of Wolverine’s attacks deal percentage-based damage based on enemy health and his current stacks of Berserker Rage (a passive that increases Wolverine’s damage and bonus health from his Regenerative Healing Factor ability for every successful attack or damage received). While the latter mechanic is easy to understand, the percentage-based damage means Wolverine’s attacks will have the biggest impact on high-health enemies. 

Anchor Vanguards like Dr. Strange and Groot are prime targets for Wolverine as they are slow and easy to pick off. Taking them out from advantageous locations can quickly cause the rest of the enemy team to scatter. Wolverine also does well against dive Vanguards like Bruce Banner/ The Hulk and Venom, as snatching them before they can attack your backline will allow your teammates to focus on the main fight. If there are no Vanguards available, chunky Duelists like Mr. Fantastic and Strategists like Jeff make good scratching posts for Wolverine’s claws. You can also go for flying enemies like Iron Man and Storm for extra style points. 

3. Get as close as possible for more guaranteed Feral Leaps 

Marvel Rivals wolverine feral leaps

Since Feral Leap has a 12-second cooldown, you want to make sure your leaps result in kidnaps and not failed flying attempts. The best way to do this is by performing Vicious Rampage to get close to an enemy followed immediately by a Feral Leap. Vicious Rampage only has a 3-second cooldown so you can use it liberally for mobility, gaining high ground, or finishing off targets. 

Foes won’t let you grab them for free, however, and experienced players will expect a Wolverine to jump once they see him. This is why attacking from off-angles as Wolverine is so important. Wait until your target is preoccupied before diving at them and your Feral Leap success rate will increase dramatically. As an extra tip, Feral Leap’s hitbox extends to Wolverine’s back, allowing you to turn around after a Vicious Rampage and snatch the enemy much faster. 

4. Wolverine has more health than meets the eye 

Wolverine health bar Marvel Rivals

While 350 base health is nothing to scoff at, it isn’t much considering that Wolverine must get up close to attack.  

This is where the Regenerative Healing Factor passive ability comes in handy, as it essentially gives the character a second life (even when his health reaches zero). Wolverine will begin to heal when his Regenerative Healing Factor kicks in, gaining up to 300 extra health based on his current number of Berserker Rage stacks and removing any debuffs. After a short period, any bonus health is converted into an instant heal while removing all stacks of Berserker Rage. 

Think of Regenerative Healing Factor as insurance in the middle of a fight. Provided your Strategists are healing the team, Wolverine is almost unkillable in a scrap. Although the ability has a lengthy 90-second cooldown, any eliminations or assists will decrease the wait time by ten seconds each. 

Combining Regenerative Healing Factor with Undying Animal either before or during a fight will increase Wolverine’s survivability, as the latter ability provides a 40% reduction to all damage received for five seconds. You won’t notice that you aren’t dying, but your enemies certainly will. 

5. Use Last Stand as frequently as possible 

Marvel Rivals Last Stand

The final piece of Wolverine’s kit is his ultimate ability, Last Stand. While not as flashy as Psylocke’s Dance of the Butterfly or Moon Knight’s Full Moon, Last Stand can displace enemies and deal a ton of burst damage. With the maximum number of Berserker Rage stacks, Wolverine can launch enemies out of safe areas (i.e. inside Invisible Woman’s Invisible Boundary) and bring them crashing down hard elsewhere. Last Stand’s true strength comes from how quickly it activates, giving foes little time to react. 

While you can grab the entire enemy team with Last Stand under the right conditions, propping one to three enemies in the air and eliminating them is more than enough. Both Feral Leap Last Stand can also be used to knock enemies out of performing certain abilities (such as Scarlet Witch’s Reality Erasure ultimate), which increases their value if you hit enemies at just the right moment. 

As with all characters, learning Wolverine takes time and patience. Knowing when to dive enemies and capitalize on openings comes with experience, as does using his regenerative abilities. Stick with Wolverine and you’ll soon find that not every team composition in Marvel Rivals requires two Vanguards; sometimes all you need is a Vanguard-buster. 

Carlos "Zoto" Zotomayor
Carlos "Zoto" Zotomayor

Automaton West writer. Zoto has been playing video games for 30+ years now but has only recently come to grips with PC gaming. When he isn't playing video games, he watches romance anime and gets mad when his best girl never wins.

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