Marvel Rivals: How to Play Doctor Strange

Marvel Rivals, the newest PVP hero-shooter by NetEase Games, boasts an iconic cast of over 30 heroes from childhood, all with distinct powers and abilities. Doctor Strange is a Vanguard hero in the game who likes to stay in the thick of the battle and deal massive AOE damage to foes all around him. His abilities let him play as a protector, saving his allies from projectile attacks while also dealing massive damage with his primary attack and other skills.

With a difficulty rating of 2 stars, Doctor Strange isn’t necessarily the most complicated hero in the game for players to master. However, cooldown management and knowing when to switch between offense and defense are essential to securing wins with the Sorcerer Supreme. In this guide, we’ll showcase Doctor Strange’s abilities and drop some tips to help you master the hero in Marvel Rivals.

Updated by Grace Black, March 20, 2025: As Season 2 has arrived in Marvel Rivals, a number of changes have been made to the game since release. This includes the likes of new heroes, new maps, additional gameplay mechanics, hero balance changes and reworks, and even brand new Team-Ups – one of which Doctor Strange has been the recipient of. For this reason, this Doctor Strange guide has been updated with all of the latest tips and tricks to help you get started in learning his kit.

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Doctor Strange Abilities in Marvel Rivals

• Base Health: 650
• Difficulty Rating: 2 Stars
• Team Role: Vanguard

Doctor Strange is a Vanguard hero who can can provide a lot of utility for his team. Unlike Thor or Venom, who need to get close to the opponent before they deal damage, Doctor Strange can stay back with the team’s support, protecting the backline with his shield, dealing damage fro a safe distance, as well as moving up to gain charge with his whip.

Here’s a quick overview of all of Doctor Strange’s abilities and attacks in Marvel Rivals:

Doctor Strange has a lower maximum health than other Vanguard heroes in the game. However, combined with his Shield of the Seraphim ability, his effective HP goes up to 1450 against enemy projectile attacks.

His Pentagram of Farallah has a long cooldown, but it’s also one of the most broken abilities in the game. The two portals you create on the map cannot only be used as a shortcut, but you can also attack enemies you see on the other side of the portal without putting yourself in a bad spot. This ability lets you make a lot of plays, including throwing unsuspecting enemies off the map.

How to Play Doctor Strange in Marvel Rivals

Doctor Strange’s main kit revolves around utilizing the Dark Energy build-up from his passive, Price of Magic. Any time Doctor Strange hits an enemy target with his primary attack, Daggers of Danek, or melee, he will build up Dark Energy. If the Dark Energy build-up exceeds a certain threshold, he will enter a state of anti-healing where he will take damage from any source of healing.

However, you can cast your Maelstrom of Madness Ability to release the built-up Dark Energy in an AOE around you to damage nearby enemies. The damage you deal depends on the amount of Dark Energy you accumulate before release. Using this ability removes all Dark Energy and puts the ability on an 8-second cooldown. Using this combo, Doctor Strange can dish out insane bursts of damage during skirmishes.

You can pull off a couple of different combos when you’re playing Doctor Strange. In most situations, you’ll use the Cloak of Levitation to soar above the battlefield and target enemies with your primary attack to build up Dark Energy. After the Cloak of Levitation ends, you’ll drop near the opponent and hit Maelstrom of Madness to take them out and damage nearby enemies. Quickly pop your Shield of the Seraphim ability to run back toward your support while absorbing all your enemies’ projectile attacks.

Doctor Strange’s Ultimate takes longer to charge up compared to other ultimates in the game. But it’s also one of the strongest, capable of winning the entire game if you use it properly. It’s a strong AOE disable that stuns nearby enemies and knocks out the souls of enemies that get hit with it. This ultimate combos well with other AOE damage-dealing abilities like Moon Knight’s Hand Of Khonshu or Venom’s Frenzied Arrival.

However, this ultimate doesn’t target enemies through the wall and has a long windup. So you’ll have to be smart about how you use it. If an enemy spots you casting your ultimate, they can use any of their stun abilities to break you out of it. On top of that, you still take damage while casting, so the enemies can focus on you before the ultimate goes off. It takes some practice to get the timing right, but once you master it, you can use it to set up plays for your team or contest objectives.

Marvel Rivals Doctor Strange Tips & Tricks

Here are a few essential tips to keep in mind when you’re playing Doctor Strange in Marvel Rivals:

• You always want to keep an eye on your Dark Energy bar. Going into the anti-healing state can be problematic when contesting an objective or making an important push.
• Canceling your portal after initiating the ability will still use up the extremely long cooldown. Try to plan your portals efficiently and ensure you have enough time to both get the setup right, as well as give enough time for yourself and/or your allies to actually step through and touch the objective.
• Try to flash your shield rather than holding it and absorbing constant damage. Doctor Strange’s Shield is his most powerful asset, and if it breaks there will be a cooldown period until you can use it again. For this reason, rather than constantly holding it up and absorbing frequent damage, try to time flashes of your shield to take the impact of key damages. Between the shield HP and Doctor Strange’s own Vanguard HP, he can take a little bit of damage to ensure his shield is always ready to go.
• Doctor Strange’s Dash ability Cloak of Levitation also has a long cooldown. While it might be tempting to do so, don’t spam it unnecessarily. Instead, save it for when you want to close distance or get out of a tricky spot during a fight.

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All Ultimates That Doctor Strange’s Shield Can Block, Explained

Doctor Strange’s shield can block a majority of each character’s damage and abilities in Marvel Rivals. This is hugely impactful, as it enables Strange to negate even the likes of Ultimate Abilities. Here is a list of every Ultimate Ability Doctor Strange can block with his shield, including any important notes.

• Enemy Doctor Strange
• Groot
• Emma Frost
• Thor (You will take AOE damage during it, but if you face the final slam at the end of his Ult the damage from this can be blocked)
• Magneto
• The Thing (You need to jump and look down + flash your shield at the right time)
• Black Panther
• Black Widow
• Hawkeye (Doctor Strange can block afterimages with his shield, therefore nullifying their effects)
• Hela (You can fly up in her face and flash your shield in time to block each of her blasts)
• Iron Man
• Moon Knight (This is very hit or miss. If you hold your shield up at the center of the AOE you may be able to block some incoming talons for teammates. However, which ones hit through your shield and which ones are successfully blocked can be a bit unpredictable.)
• Namor (You need to look directly forward at the center of his Ult – don’t angle your shield up)
• Scarlet Witch
• Spider-Man
• Star-Lord (very situational, as his free-flight makes it hard to provide cover for all of your allies – but you may be able to stop him from locking onto a squishy or two by angling your shield at him)
• Storm (While her Ult more often than not ends up breaking shield, you can block incoing damage until the shield breaks)
• The Punisher (You can block the incoming damage, but as it is so high it will almost always shred your shield. Try to use it very briefly to get to cover, rather than standing in the open and trying to block the entire duration.)
• Winter Soldier (You can block his AOE slam, therefore stopping your allies from being marked)
• Luna Snow (If Doctor Strange can get his shield between her and her own team, he can block the healing provided by the ult)
• Mantis (Same situation as Luna Snow)

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Doctor Strange Team-Ups in Marvel Rivals: Current & Past, Explained

Arcane Order – Doctor Strange & Scarlet Witch

• Doctor Strange shares his arcane mastery, replacing Scarlet Witch’s Chthonian Burst with Mystic Burst upon activation. Hold down the attack button to unleash a rapid, relentless salvo of magical missiles in the target direction

Gamma Charge – Hulk, Iron Man, & Doctor Strange

• Hulk charges Iron Man and Doctor Strange with gamma radiation. When Iron Man uses Armor Overdrive, he will initiate a gamma upgrade. Doctor Strange’s Maelstrom of Madness turns into Gamma Maelstrom, dealing more damage.

Notable Doctor Strange Ultimate Combos in Marvel Rivals

Doctor Strange can also pair his Ultimate with other ally Ultimates to create more effective plays, often resulting in complete team wipes, and potentially even changing the outcome of a round or game completely. Here are notable combinations that create a huge impact with Doctor Strange Ultimate:

• Doctor Strange can lead with Eye of Agamotto as Scarlet Witch begins to cast her bomb, resulting in an easy wipe of everyone affected. Alternatively, you can time opening a portal as Wanda initiates her bomb, enabling her to float through the portal right as it opens and nuke anyone on the other side – this is particuarly effective, as when the bomb is started from the other side of the portal out of LOS, the enemy won’t be able to hear the first part of the Ultimate voice line.
• Moon Knight’s Ultimate is an AOE, making it perfect to palce down on those affected by Eye of Agamotto for an easy wipe.
• Groot can pull everyone in close together and restrict them, making it easy for Doctor Strange to follow up with a heavy-hitting Ultimate that hits everyone restricted in the vines.
• Characters with a high DPS output during their Ults, such as Spider-Man Ultimate, Magik’s Dark Child, and Black Panther Ultimate + Dash follow-ups are all excellent heroes to work with when casting Eye of Agamotto, as they can confirm kills very easily.
• Eye of Agamotto can stun enemies for Psylocke to easily clean up in her Ultimate.
• Star-Lord’s free-flight and lock-on abilities during his Ultimate essentially give him free reign on anyone stunned by Eye of Agamotto.
• Winter Soldier can follow up with his Ultimate, which when used after an Eye of Agamotto, can result in a rapid team wipe through easy Ult refreshes with each kill confirmed.

Marvel Rivals

9/10

Released

December 6, 2024

ESRB

T For Teen // Violence

Developer(s)

NetEase Games

Publisher(s)

NetEase Games

Engine

Unreal Engine 5