Ultron in Marvel Rivals: Weakest Hero or Secret Weapon? Full Guide & Tier Analysis

Gaming

May 28, 2025

Ahsan Kabir

Ultron landed in Marvel Rivals with lofty promises, an A.I. mastermind whose relentless drones would both pummel enemies and sustain allies. Yet nearly every corner of the community-from Reddit threads to GameFAQs posts to dedicated guide sites agrees: Ultron currently sits at the bottom of the roster as one of the weakest heroes in Marvel Rivals. But before you dismiss this metallic menace outright, hear me out: with the right mindset and a handful of clever tricks, Ultron can claw his way from “trash-tier” to a situational, if niche, powerhouse.

Ultron Is the Weakest Hero in Marvel Rivals—Unless You Know These Tricks

Image Credits: NetEase

Why Ultron Feels So Weak In Marvel Rivals

At first glance, Ultron’s toolkit looks serviceable: a mid-range beam, a remote healing drone (Imperative Patch), bonus shields (Firewall), a flight dash, and a swarm-style ultimate. Yet each ability underperforms when stacked against his peers.

Scant Healing Power: A strategist’s hallmark is reliable healing, but Ultron’s Patch barely scrapes by. It heals 50 HP/s to a single ally and only 35 HP/s in an AoE radius-figures so paltry they can’t keep pace with most burst damage. Only one ability heals besides Ultimate. Even when paired with his Firewall shields, teammates often find themselves dying faster than the drone can top them up.
Mediocre Damage Output: His Encephalo-Ray beam hits for a respectable burst – 150 damage per shot- but with agonizingly slow fire rate and noticeable damage falloff. Compared to true DPS heroes, Ultron’s damage feels like a flying DPS Jeff: adequate on paper, but unable to win trades. Even Adam Warlock users scoff, noting Ultron’s gun is decent but not as good as Adam’s.
Underwhelming Ultimate and Defenses: Rage of Ultron summons a pack of healing/damage drones-yet the damage is so light it can’t even finish off a Groot. And unlike other strategist ultimates that grant invulnerability or massive teamwide heals, Ultron’s simply ticks behind the front lines without offering personal safety. His only other defensive tool, Firewall, grants small bonus shields that evaporate under sustained fire.
Easily Punished by Flankers: Without crowd control or any real melee deterrent, Ultron is a buffet for dive heroes. Spider-Man, Hawkeye, or Hela can zip in, shred him, and zip back out, often faster than his healing drone can respond. In fact, many players lament that he needs an Iron Man team-up to remotely function or even two other strategists just to keep him alive.

Taken together, these shortcomings earn Ultron a comfortable place at the bottom of most tier lists. In high-ranked, coordinated matchups, he’s rarely seen outside of memes-and with good reason. But to dismiss him entirely would be to overlook the hidden potential in his unique design.

A Realistic Niche: The “Off-Healer” Role

Image Credits: NetEase

Yes, Ultron shines in triple-strategist comps, especially when teammates need consistent passive healing. Rather than forcing him into the main healer or primary DPS slot, think of Ultron as an off-healer- a tertiary support whose true value emerges only in very specific lineups and maps. In casual or mid-tier play (gold/platinum rank), you’ll sneak by on his passive heals alone. But at Diamond+ and in serious ranked games, he demands coordination to pay dividends.

Triple-Support Compositions: Pair Ultron alongside two stronger healers (e.g., Luna Snow, Cloak & Dagger). Ultron’s drone never sleeps, quietly stacking incremental healing while the primary healers handle big burst heals and emergency saves.
Rush/Escort Maps: In payload modes like Arakko Convoy, your team often clusters. Drop your ultimate when foes pile into chokepoints, your drones will punish their grouping with both damage and sustain.
High-Ground Duels: Maps with verticality (Hydra Charteris Base, Klyntar) let Ultron exploit line-of-sight. From a ledge, you can beam enemies and loft heals downward, all while remaining out of harm’s way.

In these scenarios, Ultron isn’t just okay; he can be quietly effective if only one or two conditions line up. Outside of them, however, I still plead: avoid playing Ultron in serious ranked until you know you have a team that knows what you are up to and trusts you to deliver.

Mastering the Tricks That Save Ultron In Marvel Rivals

If you’re brave enough-or stubborn enough-to soldier on with Ultron, here are the cornerstones of his survival and impact:

1. Peek-and-Heal

Pattern: Duck behind cover → burst a charged beam → retreat.
Why It Works: His beam cooldown is slow, so you can’t trade head-to-head. Firing from cover mitigates incoming fire, then reposition before the enemy reloads or flanks.

2. Imperative Patch As a “Healbot”

Deployment: Cast on a primary dive hero (Vanguard or flanker) as they engage.
Benefit: The drone is indestructible and benefits both Ultron and the tagged ally in Marvel Rivals. Let it follow them through scrims— this continuous, low-key healing often turns fights.

3. Coordinated Ultimate Timing

Rage of Ultron: Save it for team dives or objective pushes, when enemies cluster. The dual nature-healing allies and damaging foes-rewards synchronized engagements.
Team-Up (Stark Protocol): Activating Iron Man synergy transforms your beam into a piercing Nano Ray. Line it up through multiple enemies or wall-bang to heal allies and punish foes simultaneously.

4. Ability Prioritization in Loadouts

Imperative Patch Upgrades: Bolt-on perks that boost healing radius or output extra HP/s matter.
Cooldown Reduction: Buffer flight and ultimate cooldowns so you can dash away more frequently and redeploy ultimates in clutch moments.
Beam Range/Tracking: Since your hitscan laser rewards precise aim, perks that extend max range or reduce beam spread can net surprising damage.

Image Credits: NetEase

The Perfect Team-Mates

Even an off-lane hero needs allies who’ll amplify his quirks. Seek out:

Hard Divers (Vanguards): Captain America, Thing, Thor, and Hulk love a remote healer on their flank. Imperative Patch keeps them alive while they soak and displace.
Flankers (Duelists): Spider-Man, Black Panther, Storm – heroes who zip around the map. Tag them with Patch mid-skirmish and watch them sustain beyond what usual healers allow.
Flying Heroes: Human Torch or Storm on your team means you’ll both occupy the sky, keeping within each other’s range. This aerial duo is surprisingly resilient when coordinated.
Triple-Support Setups: Pair Ultron with a “main” healer and maybe a buffer (Cloak & Dagger for stealth heals; Luna Snow for big bursts). In a three-support meta, Ultron’s passive output smooths out peaks and valleys in sustain.

When to Bench Ultron In Marvel Rivals

Despite these tricks, there are times when even the savviest Ultron main will hang up the headset:

Diamond+ Rank or Pro Play: Unless your entire team is built around him, and even then – Ultron rarely cracks the Marvel Rivals meta. He simply can’t keep pace with specialized healers or high-output DPS.
Heavy Flanker Environments: If the enemy team drafts multiple dive heroes, Ultron’s lack of crowd control makes him the first to die.
Solo-Queue Chaos: Without communication, you won’t reliably land team-ups, coordinate ultimates, or cover key allies. Unless you’re playing with friends, pick someone more straightforward.

Verdict: Ultron In Marvels Is Fragile But Rewarding

Is Ultron the weakest hero in Marvel Rivals? In a vacuum, absolutely. His healing is marginal, his damage middling, his defensive tools minimal, and he bleeds against flankers. But for those willing to embrace his idiosyncrasies, the other-support role, the poke-and-weave style, the drone-tethered flanker-Ultron can be a deeply satisfying pick. He rewards map knowledge, strict positioning, and team coordination.

At his core, Ultron is a high-risk, high-thought strategist. You’ll never pick him for raw power; you’ll pick him because you crave a game within the game-one where you quietly tip the scales by turning every patch cast into a lifeline, every well-timed unibeam into a clutch heal. In skilled hands and under the right circumstances, the “weakest hero” can become the unsung backbone of a perfect team rush or the guardian angel no one saw coming. Or, you can just go with anyone among the best healers in Marvel Rivals instead.

Just remember: if you climb in ranked or queue solo, you might be dragging allies down. But when your squad locks in Ultron with clear roles and synergy-well, then you’re not the weakest hero anymore. You’re the secret weapon. And isn’t that worth a shot?