Thor is one of the few vanguards of Marvel Rivals‘ initial roster, and he has a bit of a learning curve due to how he needs to constantly put himself in risky spots to get value—possibly even more so than the other tanks at the moment.
He’s a beefy powerhouse whose idea of a good defense is an absolutely devastating offense. So, let’s talk about his abilities and how we can take full advantage of it!
Thor’s Playstyle in a Nutshell
Because of how his kit works, Thor requires a very aggressive playstyle to actually be useful in a fight. I consider him more of an off-tank rather than a main one, as he specializes more in diving in and wreaking havoc instead of directly protecting his teammates (or even himself) from harm.
His entire set of abilities requires a regenerating resource known as Thorforce, which is regained much faster by slapping people with a charged Mjolnir or activating his Lightning Realm ability (E) beside enemies. He’s deceptively tanky due to how he gains temporary health whenever he uses his skills, but he will still require a competent healer focusing him to some degree.
To compensate for his lack of defensive abilities, all but one of his skills are high-impact moves that can be used to combo out single targets. Between constant short to mid-range Mjolnir throws and the DPS potential of his Awakening Rune (F), he’s really just the team’s chunky “third duelist” most of the time.
With all of that in mind, let’s take a closer look at his kit and go over how we can get the most out of it…
Thor’s Kit & Team-Ups
As with my other recent guides, we’ll be doing this in list format so you can easily see the tips for each individual ability. By the way, all skills except Lightning Realm (E) share a global two-second cooldown:
- Thorforce (Passive) – This is a resource that almost all of Thor’s abilities require. Whenever he consumes a charge, he will gain 100 bonus health up to a maximum of 200.
- Mjolnir Bash (primary attack) – Pretty self-explanatory. Thor swings Mjolnir around as you tap/hold the button.
- Whenever he consumes Thorforce, you will notice that Mjolnir will start glowing blue. This effect lasts for a few seconds, and if you hit an enemy while it’s active, you instantly regain one Thorforce.
- This attack deals damage in a small cone, so you can hit multiple enemies at once if they’re standing close to one another.
- Hammer Throw (secondary attack) – Thor will throw Mjolnir and deal almost double of his basic attack damage. Costs one Thorforce.
- It has a range of around 20-25m, making it a decent mid-range poking tool. You still need to be pretty close to get a hit.
- Mjolnir can deal damage on the way back, though significantly lower than how much a direct hit does. Weaker than a basic attack, even.
- This is great for executing dying players who are trying to run away or for poking flying enemies if they hover a little too low. Just be mindful of your Thorforce count.
- Spamming this in between your Mjolnir Bash hits can be great too, since you’re very unlikely to miss at melee range.
- Storm Surge (Shift) – Thor dashes forward to where your crosshair is pointed, knocking back an enemy if one is caught in his trajectory. Costs one Thorforce.
- Shift can be held down to charge it up. This increases the distance and amount of damage it does on impact.
- You can use this to fly upwards. Just remember that you have no gliding or slow fall capabilities.
- Don’t charge it for too long, as it will eventually cancel itself. Thankfully, Thorforce is not consumed when this happens.
- Lightning Realm (E) – When activated, Thor creates a bubble of lightning in a small area around him. The bubble deals no damage on cast, but it will regenerate one Thorforce for each enemy hit.
- You will not regenerate Thorforce if an enemy enters the bubble after it has been cast.
- Although the bubble itself doesn’t hurt enemies, leaving it will deal damage after a split second. This happens even if they enter it after the initial cast.
- You can follow this with Storm Surge to push an enemy outside and deal almost the equivalent of two basic attacks worth of damage.
- The bubble will not deal damage if it fizzles out while they are inside.
- Awakening Rune (F) – This costs three Thorforce and it temporarily changes Thor’s primary with a ranged attack that deals significantly more damage than Mjolnir Bash.
- During this period, Thor cannot use any of his other abilities. You are confined to this awakened form for around 5 seconds, so use it wisely!
- Upon casting, Thor will still only gain up to a maximum of 200 bonus health. If he already has blue health from casting other abilities, then it will only add just enough to hit 200.
- For example, if he has 100 bonus health, then using this ability will only grant an additional 100 more.
- God of Thunder (Ultimate) – Thor’s ultimate will cause him to leap into the air and start charging up lightning with his hammer. After a few seconds, he will drop down and deal heavy damage to enemies within range.
- While he is charging, lightning will periodically hit enemies caught in the circle below. This deals a decent chunk of damage per tick.
- It should be noted that this effect doesn’t happen if he’s too high up, but we’re talking about absurd heights here so you probably don’t need to worry too much about that.
- There doesn’t seem to be a difference in damage if an enemy is closer or away from the center when he slams down.
- This move can be devastating if you can keep enemies within its radius, but you’ll need some teammates to help you slow down or stun people as Thor hovers very slowly during his ult.
- While he is charging, lightning will periodically hit enemies caught in the circle below. This deals a decent chunk of damage per tick.
His Current Team-Ups
- Odinson Reborn (Hela) – Whenever Hela lands a final hit on an enemy, she can either give Thor some bonus health or revive him if he’s dead.
- This can come in clutch if you overextended or are getting focused a little too hard. If you have this team-up active, pray to Odin that your Hela’s popping off in your match.
Thunderous Deity (Captain America & Storm)REMOVED IN SEASON 2 –When Thor is present, Captain America and Storm gain a bonus lightning-themed ability.
Always remember that future updates can add or remove team-ups, so always pay attention to major patches. Whenever a new seasons is released they might remove or change more of these.
Get Used to Diving!
Like I said earlier, Thor needs you to be incredibly aggressive to get value for the team. Treat him more like a frontline DPS rather than a conventional “tank” and try to chase down squishy targets, especially the healers if possible.
He can be very oppressive as long as you’re being sufficiently healed and aren’t getting focused by the entire enemy team. With your Storm Surge, you can dive right in and bully the backline, forcing their vanguards to either peel or try to fend off your team’s duelists on their own.
This doesn’t mean you should be flanking, though. Thor moves way too slow to be circling his way to the backline. What I do is push straight past the tanks in front and try to isolate one of the duelists or strategists by constantly pushing them away or getting up in their faces.
Fighting strategists is usually the better option, but you can sometimes burst down a DPS hero before they can even get healed. Regardless of who you target, you’ll be creating space for your team as they can’t just ignore your damage.
Don’t forget to use Lightning Realm when you dive in! Also, try not to trap yourself with Awakened Rune immediately after diving, as they might have movement skills ready. You should instead abuse your low cooldowns and push people around with Storm Surge or burst them down with Hammer Throws + Mjolnir Bashes in between.
Don’t Tunnel Vision, Though
I’m guilty of doing this every now and then as well, but try your best to avoid tunnel vision. The worst thing that can happen to you is that you dive into the back and chase one guy down, only to turn around and realize that your entire team’s already gone.
If you feel that you can’t plausibly secure a kill or if you notice that your team’s struggling to deal with enemy divers, Storm Surge back and play alongside them for the time being. Use natural cover around the map if you have to, especially if you’re defending the objective.
You’re still a vanguard, after all. With your damage output, you can easily delete a diving Iron Fist or even a Star-Lord if you can hit those hammer throws.
Vanguards? Who?
Opposing vanguards are another issue entirely. I tend to ignore them unless they’re already low HP or are diving our healers. Otherwise, if they’re just playing on the objective, see if you can Storm Surge somebody behind them or pop an Awakening Rune on point rather than trying to start a slap fight.
Seriously, I’ve gotten so many cheeky kills as Thor by simply standing beside or behind their frontliners and using my awakened form to shoot people. That Dagger in the back? She better Cloak away. Moon Knight trying to get a vantage point? Give Khonshu the finger and throw lightning at his guy’s face.
One character that will force you to be a little more passive is Groot. He’s the one vanguard who can truly completely isolate you from the healers, so be mindful of how you dive if he’s around. Wide open spaces tend to be fine, but chokepoints? Avoid dashing past Groot in those. He’ll just lock you in with his team.
Some General Tips
Peel When Necessary
At the end of the day, you’re still a vanguard despite being encouraged to play an overly aggressive style. Check your team composition before you start diving all willy nilly. Even in competitive, you’ll occasionally have a “1-3-2” setup, which leaves you as the only “tank” in the team.
This isn’t necessarily a bad composition, but whenever this happens, try to play a little more reactively. Play for the objective and keep an eye out for anyone trying to dive your backline. If you find yourself being the only vanguard in the team, try to maintain at least one Thorforce charge at all times so that you can Storm Surge to your strategists if they get harassed.
If you’re new to hero shooters, this is called peeling. As a sole frontliner, it becomes your responsibility to take the pressure off of your healers by getting right up in a flanker’s face.
If you have another tank in the group, that’s when you get free rein to bully the other team. Not verbally, of course. Don’t get banned on my behest, lol.
Use Your Ultimate!
Thor’s aggressiveness allows him to build up ult charge rather quickly. Unless you have a team that can make up some set plays on the go, you’re usually not going to get many opportunities for a “big” God of Thunder bomb in pub games because of how slow you move while using it.
Instead, try using it to secure kills on relatively low HP enemies or as a way to bait out some defensive ultimates or movement abilities to open up opportunities for the rest of your team. Don’t forget that you can use Storm Surge to reposition yourself for your ultimate!
For example, jumping onto a Mantis or Luna Snow and forcing them to burn their ultimate just to counter you is often a win, as long as your team can follow up afterwards.
If you don’t feel comfortable frequently using God of Thunder, you should at least use it to get enemies out of the objective. Depending on the map, your ultimate can be a pretty good zoning tool as its range should cover most of it.
And that’s all I got for you right now! Thor’s an absolute unit as long as you can manage your resources well and not get focused two seconds into an engagement. With Hela being a bit too strong as of writing this, you’re probably gonna have that team-up activated in most matches as a Thor player too, so take advantage of that while you can!