Leaks regarding the Fantastic Four coming to Marvel Rivals have proven to be true, with the Human Torch and his abilities fully integrated into the Marvel Rivals client.
It’s been long rumored that the Fantastic Four, the superhero group composed of Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Thing, and the Human Torch, AKA Johnny Storm, would be making their way to Marvel Rivals. In typical Johnny Storm fashion, the Human Torch seems to have needed to make his own entrance, having his abilities leaked in a screenshot that circulated on social media on December 24.
In the leaked image, the Human Torch’s hero abilities screen can be seen, laying out everything he brings to the game. The screenshot seems to be real, with the background displaying Johnny’s model as the player loads into a Yggsgard map. Everything about the screenshot is identical to the hero select screen in-game, so here are all of the leaked Human Torch abilities.
The Human Torch is a Duelist, the game’s DPS class, has one attack, and five basic abilities. He also has a team-up ability with Storm in a little bit of a callback to the Reggie Hudlin run on the Black Panther comic book.
Human Torch’s basic attack launches forward a splittable fireball. It’s unclear exactly how the fireball splits, but the safest assumption is that it will split into an AoE on hitting an enemy or surface.
Given that he’s a duelist, we should probably expect this to be a mid-rate high-damage ability, given that it appears to be able to inflict AoE damage.
Human Torch launches a fireball to create a Flame Field at a targeted area.
Johnny’s alt-fire move is a core enabler for other parts of his kit. Not quite the same as Iron Man’s dual weapons, but Human Torch’s primary and alt-fires offer him two different types of easy, low cooldown, AoE damage.
His RMB also creates a Flame Field, an effect that ties together’s Human Torch’s kit. These are assumedly AoE DoT areas, similar to Peni Parker’s ability to create Cyber-Webs. This will be an excellent tool to turn tight passageways into dangerous chokepoints.
Human Torch enters a state of “accelerated ascent.” Given how the Human Torch flies, this will function similarly to Iron Man’s similar L-shift move; a speed boost with a limited fuel bar that he can use to keep his distance or chase enemies down.
Just like Iron Man, another duelist with the exact same ability, Human Torch will primarily use this to either peel back towards cover when threatened or chase fleeing enemies down when he has an advantage.
Human Torch dives toward the ground while in the air, damaging and stunning nearby enemies.Â
This is a hugely powerful tool for a duelist; an AoE stun that allows Johnny to engage in an active fight or initiate one themselves. Assumedly, like Venom’s drop-strike, this will require Human Torch to be at a minimum elevation while flying before casting. Flaming Meteor seems tailor-made to enable Human Torch’s ultimate. While this can work as self-peel, Johnny being forced to move towards his targets means it will most likely be a combo enabler and engage tool.
Human Torch connects multiple Flame Fields to one another, forming a flame wall in between those points that deals damage over time to enemies.
It’s currently unclear how many Flame Fields the Human Torch can connect, but the icon shows a triangular wall connecting three points. The icon suggests that he can create an enclosed space in between three walls, trapping enemies or creating a safe space for allies. Pyro-Prison looks to be one of Human Torch’s highest skill ceiling abilities, mimicking the terrain creation disruption that only Groot can offer.
This is Human Torch’s biggest area control tool, letting him turn Flame Fields into a sight-blocking DoT wall that makes the angle of approach he’s prepared for incredibly deadly for enemies to push. This allows him to block flanks, and create pseudo-terrain to fight around.
Human Torch unleashes shockwaves of flame around himself, damaging enemies hit. During this time, Flame Fields become Fire Tornados.Â
Johnny’s ult isn’t exactly unique, as Marvel Rivals has tons of ultimates that boil down to “character deals huge damage in an AoE around their character model”, but he does offer an interesting twist in that it enhances his Flame Fields. Johnny’s ultimate seems like a straightforward team-fighting tool that will reward smart placement of his Flame Fields.
Storm can consume up to one of Human Torch’s Fire Tornadoes (the enhanced Flame Field, upgraded by his ultimate, Supernova) to ignite her Hurricane. Likewise, Human Torch can turn Storm’s hurricane into a fiery Hurricane by using his ultimate’s shockwaves. If Human Torch’s shockwaves ignite Storm’s hurricane, then her hurricane will enlarge and intensify any other Fire Tornadoes touched by Storm’s ultimate.
This is the first double-ultimate team-up to hit Marvel Rivals, where both characters need to use their ultimate to benefit. Storm seems to get the most straightforward benefit from it, as enemies still need to enter the radius of Johnny’s Fire Tornadoes for the Team Up to affect them. In an area that Human Torch has filled with Flame Fields, this will be the most devastating objective-clearing ability in Marvel Rivals.
Human Torch is positioned to arrive in Marvel Rivals Season 1 in January 2025. The character arrives in the game ahead of the release of the new season, and looks to be a fully developed package from an aesthetic and gameplay perspective.
Other free-to-play hero shooters follow this general pattern of kicking off each season with a major content release, whether that’s a new character, a new map, or a new game mode. The Human Torch, hot off a fresh re-introduction to Marvel moviegoers, would fit the bill.
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