Being the sole protector of your team sounds good “on paper” but rarely works in the game. And Marvel Rivals players agree that being a solo tank is not worth the hassle.
Most team-based games have different roles. They are usually: a damage dealer, the one that protects the team, and a healer. That is true for Marvel Rivals, where we have a Duelist, Vanguard, and Strategist (NetEase really wanted to have different titles for those roles than the “common” ones). On the topic of roles, NetEase said that they are against “role queue”, wanting to encourage players to try out various combinations. However, Marvel Rivals can get way more hectic than your average shooter, with characters yelling and stuff getting blown up all over the place. And being a single tank, or Vanguard, in your team can end up being frustrating, ineffective, and ultimately: not worth the hassle.
Being a Solo Tank Is Not Worth It, Say Marvel Rivals Players
In a recent thread, Marvel Rivals players discussed the struggles they face as solo tanks. They agree that tanks, in general, lack the survivability to be able to take on the whole team, without proper support and team coordination. Sure, they can do well when pocket-healed, but a single slip-up can spell doom for the tank. Doing all of that without a second tank to share the burden (like taking over to allow the first one to heal properly, shielding, or anything else) is just not worth it. Some players add that a single tank cannot protect the Strategists from getting dived by the enemy players (like Spiderman, Psylocke, or Wolverine), overstating the need for an off-tank.
More often than not, when playing a quick game with “randoms”, you’ll see a deficit of tanks and/or healers. A remedy to all of this is to play with friends. “Turns out playing with friends makes matches a lot less infuriating,” said MaliciousQueef. Others say that more variety with Vanguards would help. “As a tank main (I also find myself as the solo tank more often than not) I am so tired of having to either pick 1 of 4 dudes or basically throwing the match. Even choosing a “viable” solo tank leaves you with nothing but a meat shield role while you just hope and pray your team can do something. “ said FreyrAlf4r.
Hopefully, the devs will make some adjustments to make Vanguards a more popular choice. As it stands, solo tanking is a thankless and frustrating task.
