Marvel Rivals review: it’s like Overwatch, if Overwatch was overcomplex and frequented Comic Con

My favourite hero is John Marvel

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/NetEase Games

• Developer: NetEase Games
• Publisher: NetEase Games
• Release: Out now
• On: Windows
• From: Steam , Epic Games Store
• Price: Free
• Reviewed on: Intel Core i7-12700F, Nvidia RTX 3080, 16GB RAM, Windows 11

At first I thought Marvel Rivals was basically rebranded Overwatch , in the way it’s a free-to-play PVP hero shooter. And in some ways, it is. Fights are like if you took a MOBA and forced both teams to bash heads constantly. Success lies in picking off Spider-Man or Squirrel Girl or Marcus Fenix so as they wait to respawn, you hop on the big area that needs capturing. Or you push the cart while tanky Hulk absorbs bullets with his biceps and John Marvel snipes from afar.

The more I played Rivals, though, the more it hit me that it’s specifically a messier, more complex Overwatch. A hero shooter with a surprising amount of polish and charm, sure, but also one that slides off my brain like water off Birdman’s back. I understand why it’s supremely popular at the moment and yet, I really don’t.

Whenever a game arrives and it’s got ties to a big franchise like Marvel, I fully expect it to be middling slop. Marvel Rivals does feel very much like the result of a corporate pitch designed to hit all the keywords. “We are going to leverage the Marvel brand and generate wads of cash by making a free-to-play hero shooter, all bolstered by an in-game shop, battle pass and skins”, as everyone rubs their hands together. If you’re a Marvel fan, you’ll likely adore the opportunity to play Groot and won’t care all too much for the optional nonsense. For someone who doesn’t care for Marvel, like myself, it’s hard not to divorce it from what it is: a box check for NetEase.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/NetEase Games

Still, to judge it entirely on its corporate identity wouldn’t be fair, and it wouldn’t be fair anyway because the game is actually pretty solid. Presentation-wise, it’s very slick, where heroes have a lovely comicbook art style and they leap out of their thumbnails with bespoke animations whenever you hover over them. And since its release, I don’t think I’ve encountered a single server issue, which is a remarkable feat given however many millions have been logged in. Even the matchmaking system is lightning quick, sometimes taking all of two seconds to find another match having just finished one.

There’s even more slickness and polish coating every surface of those skintight bodysuits. In the way the characters spin and tumble and rocket about. In the pewpew of guns. The sheen of Raccoon Lad’s armour bits popping out of the little generator he puts down. In the click clack of Widowma- sorry, Black Widow’s sniper rifle as she reloads the chamber. Finish a game and you’ll be presented with the squad standing in a line, where you can check out everyone’s individual highlights with a quick button press. Again, all UI-ified as if by the smoothest, softest of hands.

That’s enough about how nice it looks, just how do the Marvels rival? Well, there’s 33 heroes at launch, all split into categories like Vanguard (Tank), Dualist (DPS), and Strategist (Healer or Support). Teams are composed of six, so you pick your hero with an aim to capture and hold objectives, push a cart as far as you can, or stop that cart from being pushed. Like I said, it will be incredibly familiar if you’ve played Overwatch.

What struck me as I shifted between many of Rivals’ dozens-strong roster, though, was how well thought-out each hero’s moves are. Naturally, some are better or worse than others, but a lot of them teeter on the edge of too strong without actually being too strong (except Iron Fist, who can get in the bin). This makes many of them a right laugh to play. I particularly enjoy my time with aquatic lad Namor, who chucks spears that can empower these octopi turrets he chucks on the ground. Cloak and Dagger are also an interesting two-in-one hero, able to swap between two entirely different characters on the fly, completely twisting their skills from light and healy to kamehameh-ing and corrupting.

A huge selling point of Marvel Rivals is that it supports crossplay, meaning you can play with any of your friends no matter if they’re over on Xbox or PlayStation. I’ve done exactly this! |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/NetEase Games

Another edge Rivals gives itself is the ability to “Teamup” with certain heroes. Choose a certain combo of heroes that are, presumably, pals, and they’ll gain extra passive skills, entirely new abilities, or modified ones. And it’s easy to see who can team up with who in those pre-match lobbies, so it’s not like you need to understand the lore of Hawk Tuah or whoever he’s called to reap those friends with benefits. I, for instance, got to play with an icy version of Aquatic Man’s octopus turret because two other people team chose to wombo their own combos.

On the other Iron Fist, though, I do think the Teamup feature can both overwhelm and entice, encouraging you to adjust what’s probably a better team composition in favour of what’s ultimately a worse one. Often, I’ve found if I’m part of a Teamup that’s getting dumpstered, I feel bad for swapping out of the conga, which then causes everyone else to peel away and disrupt the team flow. As someone who takes these competitive games a little too seriously, I struggled to understand the true benefits of teaming up, and probably need another 1000 hours for the best combos to be sieved through the meta. For those who don’t take things seriously, I can at least imagine that Teamups let you fulfil a fantasy of your favourite Marvel characters fighting toxicity together on the internet, one skillshot at a time.

Having such a vast hero pool does make choice a doozy, with many of them being rather complex, too. Where each character in Overwatch was, largely, pick up and play, Rivals injects a bit of MOBA into proceedings. So many times I’ve pressed F1 to bring up each hero’s cheat sheet, and felt like I needed to take a minute to ingest it all. Thor has a whole hammer economy, and even slightly simpler heroes like Captain America have mini-skills that flow off skills you’ve already activated.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/NetEase Games

Those battle pass skins? Really cool! If you’re willing to fork out Spideybucks for the “Luxury Pass”, otherwise you’re left with the classic bargain bin profile pics and sprays you’ll never use. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/NetEase Games

All of this is great for those who want to learn heroes and mine those complexities for meta-changing innovations. What I’ve found, though, is most of my games swing one of two ways: one, we snowball to a decisive victory and I don’t really know why, or two, we get stomped and I don’t really know why. I’m sure a part of this is just experience, which can only be gained over time with these sorts of competitive games. Yet, I think it’s also a product of the deep hero pool, with all its complexities. Where Overwatch’s compact, 12-hero launch meant it was easy to switch counters on the fly, the undeniable fun and impeccable feel of Rivals is hamstrung by its depth.

Another reason why I rarely know what’s going on: a lot of the heroes are just regular-shaped people in costumes, or small animals. Despite each of them being silhouetted in red to make them a bit clearer on the field, they’re still hard to identify when there’s an ever-present frenzy of Iron Man and Winter Soldier or a pissing shark just screaming “I’M GONNA DO THIS THING NOW” and dropping some insta-kill bomb from afar. Seriously, go back to Overwatch after a few rounds of this and see how much easier it is to understand, at a glance, who’s where and what. It just communicates everything so much more clearly.

Thing is, Marvel Rivals can still be an incredibly accessible hero shooter, one that does allow people who don’t care as much as me about Competitive Stuff to just hammer buttons and play as muscular people who frequent the screens of the Odeon as much as Kojima spends his time 3D scanning beautiful people. There isn’t anything wrong in that! In fact, I think this is great. People can just hop in and have fun in a free game that doesn’t even seem particularly predatory in its microtransactions.

The extra thing is, Marvel Rivals is also a PVP hero shooter that lacks the restraint of Overwatch and turns matches into slightly formless blenders as a result. The fact I can’t remember any of the map names is a testament to this, where normally I’d have those sightlines and chokepoints memorised. It won’t be a surprise to you that I won’t be sticking with the game. and if you’re someone after The Next Competitive Timesink, I don’t think you will either.

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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