In hero shooters like Marvel Rivals, all of the team roles are important. But some could argue that the Vanguard is the most important for how they are the leader and main defender of the whole team.
While the Duelists are the star of the show with some of the most popular characters and shiniest stats, and Strategists boast the whole reason the team stays alive, Vanguards need to do a little bit of everything, and that makes them a tough role to adjust to. Not only that, but the roster currently leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to variety.
In a March 17 Reddit thread, Marvel Rivals players came together to both seek and offer advice on how to play the game’s tank role, and there were some solid nuggets of wisdom to be passed down to other players who may be new to the role or new to hero shooters in general.
“Never be scared to retreat if you’re getting low, a tank getting healed will be back on the battlefield faster than a tank who died,” said the top commenter in the thread, while another added on that when receiving healing, “you’re building your healer’s ult” so “it’s a win-win.”
Vanguards are indeed great for boosting up your Strategists’ ultimate charge, and in Marvel Rivals, Strategist ults really are the true game-changers of team fights and the difference between wins and losses in many cases.
“You are the glue that holds your team together,” said another tank enjoyer. “Staying alive is more important than trying to overcommit to get a pick or take space.”
This, I think is the hardest part about being a Vanguard. You need to know when your healers are with you and keeping you alive so that you can over-extend a little bit to get an important kill, especially as a dive tank, or when to retreat to help your own Strategists or group back up.
“It’s easy to tunnel vision, make sure you don’t and your team is actually pushing with you,” another gamer put forth. “Too often have I lead the charge only to find out some Hulk or Cap was annoying the backline and spooked them and I charged in solo and now I’m dead. Especially with Thor. I know, that Cloak and Dagger fleeing deep into their backline is only a sneeze away from death, but every time you commit going that deep you get rolled.”
Because of constantly always needing to be aware of what you’re doing, what your healers are doing, what your own targets are doing, and staying alive, Vanguard is arguably the toughest position in the game to master at the highest level. Sure, top-tier aim can carry a Duelist and good decision-making can keep Strategists alive, but for Vanguards, you need a little bit of both to truly flourish.
And one player’s list of tips echoes this sentiment, offering information on how to play each tank. Being able to flex off of one tank to others (especially in high ranks as there’s picks and bans) is crucial.
Basically, it takes a lot of practice, a lot of flexing, and a lot of learning and willingness to learn more to flourish as a Vanguard. Or any other role for that matter.
