The latest majorMarvel’s Avengersupdate arrives this week and it is a massive one. The May 18 patch, V1.7.0, not onlyactivates the next in-game event, but it also rolls out some major new systems and some frequently requested changes to the game’s gear system.

The patch is Red Room Takeover themed, but that is definitely just the tip of the iceberg for thisMarvel’s Avengersupdate. In addition to kicking off the event for everyone, endgame players have a ton to look forward to. This patch introduces thebrand new Champion Systemwhich makes XP relevant once again and will dramatically alter endgame goals and create a new grind for veteran players.

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Although it doesn’t have top billing, the patch is also trying to make some changes to the way gear is distributed to help begin changingthe game’s grind and rewards. The developer notes make it very clear that this is just a first stab at altering the system and there are a lot of other changes to gear on the way in the future. The Gear system has received a lot of harsh feedback since the game launched, so it is encouraging to see the devs taking the updates seriously and starting to lay the groundwork for some major changes.

PlayStation: 8:00 AM. May 18th, 2021

Xbox: 8:00 AM. May 18th, 2021

Steam: 8:00 AM. May 18th, 2021

Stadia: 8:00 AM. May 18th, 2021

New Features

Red Room Takeover Event– Yelena Belova has a bone to pick with Black Widow. Multiple hacked HARM Rooms will be available during this event along with new mission chains. These HARM Rooms are single player and will also scale from Power Level 1 to 120. Can you survive the takedown?

Champion System- With the new Champion System, Heroes who are level 50 can now earn XP to further improve their combat abilities. Once a Hero reaches level 50, earned XP from that point on is changed to Champion XP, which is specific to each Hero. Earning enough Champion XP will increase your Champion Level allowing you to unlock brand new Champion Skills. For more info, head to our previous blog HERE.

Hero’s Catalyst- As a compliment to the Champion System, we’re also introducing Hero’s Catalysts, which increase the amount of XP you’ll earn. These will occasionally be available for free to retrieve from the Marketplace, and we’re looking at other ways for you to earn them, as well. Hero’s Catalysts are a great way to catch up to friends or to level up any Heroes that haven’t reached level 50 yet.

Mega Hives will be reactivated on May 20.

The Heroic Mega Hive no longer erroneously resets.

Fixed a rare issue where enemies on Secret Within may not spawn, thus halting mission progress until the checkpoint is reloaded.

Previously released hostages are no longer briefly shown in their cells following a checkpoint reload.

Fixed an issue where some players weren’t getting accurate rewards for completing various Future Imperfect Operation missions.

Fixed a rare issue that would cause the Point Blank mission to seemingly fail without reason when a player spends too long on the mission.

Jarvis and Commander Hill’s dialogue no longer overlap on a player’s first visit to Substation Zero.

Resolved an issue on Family Reunion where sometimes, the mission would not progress upon completing the objective of freeing the Inhuman prisoners.

Companions no longer walk endlessly into walls in My Life as a Weapon so they must contemplate life in a different way.

Players’ shadows no longer appear pixelated in Substation Zero.

Players can no longer play as locked heroes prior to unlocking them in the Reassemble Campaign.

Fixed an issue where controller functionality would be lost if disconnected directly after the grab-tutorial with Hulk on GGB.

Fixed an issue where players may become stuck on Substation Zero after speaking with Alisande Morales.

Fixed an issue where players could get locked on the character selection screen on the last character life in the Heroic Gauntlet.

Fixed an issue where players would sometimes load into the Avengers Initiative when they closed the game during the Reassemble Campaign.

Fixed an issue where Faction-related Villain Sectors did not contribute to the Faction Loyalty mission chain.

Resolved an issue where missions required for Reigning Supreme would sometimes not populate on the War Table.

Fixed an issue where Once An Avenger could not be launched if players attempted to resume the Reassemble Operation from the War Table.

Resolved various issues which allowed the player to see or traverse out of world.

Multiplayer and Matchmaking

Fixed an issue where only hosts could complete a prying interaction to open a door.

Resolved an issue where users would be stuck in the Quinjet if they accepted an invite from a host who selected a mission from the Future Imperfect Operation.

Fixed an issue where players would rarely be unable to interact with a terminal to progress a mission during a multiplayer session.

Resolved an issue where players could not progress if a host migration occurred within an elevator.

Various matchmaking optimizations and fixes.

Gear and Rewards

Developer Comments:“We have made a number of improvements for gear in an effort to make gear drops more impactful and more consistent. These include improvements to drops from enemies, missions, chests, as well as what vendors sell.

We are dropping less non-useful items, but the items we are dropping are much more likely to be useful. The net effect of this change is that it’s faster to increase in Power Level although the number of items from enemies will be lower.

Gear rarities have a larger effect on attributes at all Power Levels. For example, a Rare item at PL 33 will have more attribute points on average than an Uncommon item at PL 33. Additionally, the attribute point ranges on higher Power Level items have been increased.

We have more exciting improvements to Gear coming, but we wanted to get these to you as soon as possible.”

All chests have had Minor Artifacts added as possible drops.

Gold chests will no longer award common items.

Bronze and Silver Chests have a reduced chance at granting a Common item.

Branded gear has a better chance of giving that Brand’s preferred attributes.

Some missions have had fixed rarity rewards replaced with rewards that scale the rarity to the active heroes’ current Power Level.

Resolved an issue where Hero Set Gear could have equal to or worse attributes than Epic gear.

Resolved an issue where vendors were sometimes offering gear of the wrong rarity and Power Level. The effect of this change is that a hero increase in Power Level the vendor will offer better rewards for that hero.

Fixed several missions so they display accurate rewards.

Missions show more detailed secondary rewards when those rewards are available.

Removed the rarity reward penalty for getting low star rating on missions.

Resolved an issue where Old Fashioned Beatdown achievement/trophy would sometimes not track and unlock properly.

That’s obviously a ton to take in, but it’s also a lot of great news for fans of the game. There have been a lot of major improvements since its rocky launch in late 2019, so it is encouraging to see more player feedback incorporated with this massive update. Time will tell if these sweeping changes are enough to keep the game alive and it will be very interesting to see how the playerbase is looking around the time thatthe Black Panther DLC arrives later in 2021.

Be sure to check back frequently for moreMarvel’s Avengersnews, guides, and updates.

Marvel’s Avengersis out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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