TL;DR
- Blade is, at the time of writing, the latest hero to be added to Marvel Rivals.
- Blade is a Duelist hero who wields a shotgun and a sword along with lifestealing abilities.
- Cloak and Dagger and Moon Knight can join forces with Blade for the New Moon team-up.
- The Marvel Rivals meta has already seen some changes thanks to Blade’s lifestealing skills and combination of close and ranged combat.
After being teased since season 1.5, Blade has finally become a playable hero in Marvel Rivals. Blade is a Duelist who wields a sword and a shotgun, but he also has lifestealing abilities thanks to his vampiric bloodline. He is a great choice for one-on-one combat, especially against support characters.
We’re going to be looking more closely at all of Blade’s abilities in our guide to his skill kit. We’ll go through everything you need to know about Blade’s abilities in Marvel Rivals, including each of his unique skills and whether he has had a significant impact on the game meta since his release.
Blade in Marvel Rivals
Before he was officially released, the Marvel Rivals Blade character had been spotted several times on the New York maps after they were released in season 1.5. He could then be found sleeping in the Birnin T’Challa Wakanda map. Blade was released as a playable character in season 3.5 on August 8, 2025.
While Blade’s narrative is unique to Marvel Rivals in order to fit the main storyline (that of the tangled timestreams), his origins are the same as those in the comic books. Blade–real name Eric Brooks–is still a “Daywalker”, a half-vampire, half-human. He has the strengths of vampires, but does not have their standard weaknesses, such as a weakness to sunlight. In the game, Blade was imprisoned by Dracula after losing a fight.
When Dracula is defeated, Blade is released and recovers in Wakanda (which is why players can find him sleeping it off on the Birnin T’Challa map). After his recovery, Blade is recruited by Shuri, leading to his role as a playable hero.
Marvel Rivals Blade’s skill kit, explained
Blade is a Duelist Marvel Rivals hero, which is the same as the DPS class. His skill kit blends his vampiric nature with his combat skills, offering a fun and versatile set of abilities well-suited for various scenarios.
Blade can be particularly tricky to fight in close quarters, though his kit contains a mixture of close and ranged combat skills thanks to his Ancestral Sword and Hunter’s Shotgun weaponry. Let’s take a closer look at what he can do in our Blade guide for Marvel Rivals.
Marvel Rivals Blade Ability Guide
| Ability type | Ability name | Ability stats and effects | In-game description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal attack | Ancestral Sword | Melee attack22 damage per single slashDouble strike causes 13 damage per hit4.5m maximum distance Two strikes per second. | Slash forward with Blade’s Ancestral Sword. |
| Normal attack | Hunter’s Shotgun | A straight trajectory projectile that splits into shrapnel when it has reached a certain distance8m maximum projectile distance150 m/s initial and shrapnel projectile speed45 projectile damage 12 shrapnel amountEight damage per shrapnel hitShrapnel damage falloff at 20m. Falloff then decreases to 40% at 30m. | Fire at enemies using your Shotgun |
| Special ability | Bloodline Awakening | Left click/shift key ability hits accumulate attack speed buff levels; within the Bloodline Awakening duration, attacks gain Lifesteal and movement speed boost, but suffer Reduced Healing.60% Lifesteal proportion, which is affected by healing reduction40% self-reducing healing proportion1.5m/s movement speed boost10 max attach speed boost buff stackOne left-click hit buff stackFive shift hit buff stack10 % attack speed boost proportion from each buff stack0.7-second duration for each buff stack. | Awaken the Dhampir bloodline, enhancing slash speed during continuous attacks and triggering Whirlwind Slash. While under this state, you suffer Reduced Healing, but attacks gain Lifesteal |
| Special ability | Daywalker Dash | Dash and cause damage and special effects to hit enemies15m dash distance20 damageHit while wielding the gun, deal Healing Reduction to the enemy; hit while wielding the sword, inflict Slow effect on the enemy40% healing reduction proportion3.5-second healing reduction duration 35% slow rateOne-second slow duration 20 gun second hit damage15 sword second hit damage per hit. Four hits in total. | Dash forward. If wielding your gun, shoot at enemies upon impact, applying a Healing Reduction effect. If wielding your sword, deliver a cleaving strike that inflicts Slow |
| Special ability | Scarlet Shroud | 120 maximum energy 60/s energy cost 15/s energy recovery speed15 activation costThree-second cooldown 0.4 second unstoppable duration after activation 80% damage reduction Every 200 damage that is resisted grants one charge for Daywalker Dash. | Parry with Ancestral Sword to become Unstoppable for a brief period, reducing damage taken from the front and decreasing the cooldown of Daywalker Dash |
| Ultimate ability | Thousand-Fold Slash | Three-second maximum charge time One-second charge time for maximum distance 10m dash distance. Maximum distance of 24m when fully charged 100 direct hit damage 225/s spell field damage over timeSpell field range: Length is the maximum dash distance. Width of 6m and height of 4.5m Two-second spell field duration 20% healing reduction proportionFour-second healing reduction duration. | Charge power and swiftly draw the Sword of Dracula, executing a powerful Iaido strike as you dash forward, leaving behind a slashing zone where the sword automatically strikes enemies. Enemies hit suffer Reduced Healing. |
| Team-up ability | New Moon | 25-second cooldown. Swift three-second swift strike second unleash cooldownSpherical spell field; Targeted DashBecome Invisible and gain Healing Over Time within the spell field, and can unleash targeted dashes to the enemies 50/s healing amount20m maximum select distance60 Swift Strike damageCylindrical spell field with a 2m radius and a height of 2.5m. | Team up with Cloak and Dagger and Moon Knight. Cloak & Dagger can inject light and dark energy into Moon Knight and Blade to create a Light & Dark Realm where Moon Knight and Blade can become invisible and gain Healing Over Time. Blade can unleash Swift Strike toward a targeted enemy. |
Blade’s Marvel Rivals meta impact
At the time of writing–August 14, 2025–Blade has only been in the game for around a week. Despite this, he has already made a major impact on the Marvel Rivals meta. Blade’s healing reduction debuff is particularly noteworthy, as are his vampiric lifedrain skills. He counters healing-heavy team compositions excellently because of this. Not only that, but these lifestealing abilities also lessen the pressure on Strategists in his team. Blade can also cause problems for Vanguards due to their high health bars, making them vulnerable due to his lifestealing.
All in all, Blade is a highly effective Duelist hero who can drain life from his enemies while healing and strengthening himself. He can also hold his own in close and ranged combat thanks to his sword and shotgun weapon combo. Blade is sure to become a popular character in both casual and competitive games thanks to his versatility and strength.
FAQs
Blade was released on August 8, 2025, as part of season 3.5 of Marvel Rivals.
Blade has the following abilities:
• Ancestral Sword (core weapon)
• Hunter’s Shotgun (core weapon)
• Bloodline Awakening
• Daywalker Dash
• Scarlet Shroud
• Thousand-Fold Slash (ultimate ability)
• New Moon (team-up ability)
Blade can team up with Cloak and Dagger and Moon Knight for the New Moon team-up ability.
Blade’s combination of shotgun and sword, along with his other abilities, makes him a good choice for diving the backline and causing disruption, but this isn’t the only effective strategy for him.
Blade also works well as a poke hero who jabs at the enemy consistently before charging in. He’s also self-sustainable thanks to his Bloodline Awakening skill, while his Scarlet Shroud allows for major blocking and crowd control. Blade can be played in a few ways, so experiment with your own playstyle to find the strategy that works best for you.
Blade’s ultimate is the Thousand-Fold Slash, which is a strong charge attack that also applies a significant healing reduction debuff.
Thousand-Fold Slash works excellently with ultimates that freeze enemies in place, such as Groot’s Strangling Prison ultimate and Doctor Strange’s Eye of Agamotto ultimate. By trapping enemies first, Blade can then cut through them and apply the debuff with his ultimate.
References
- Blade | Marvel Rivals Wiki (Fandom)
- The Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter (Marvel Rivals)
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