There's more to Marksman Heroes than just their capability to deal high damage.
Being a Marksman is a heavy task. When playing as a Marksman in MSW, you will carry a lot of pressure, as you will be one of your team’s carry heroes during the late game (along with your team's Jungler/Fighter/Assassin), and also usually the main hero from your team to apply lane pressure whenever you can.
With Marvel Super War’s laning meta, you as a Marksman-class Hero would either position at the Bottom Lane to be assisted by your Support ally early-game in steadily building up your gear, or, for a few select heroes that are equipped with the right skills to do so, get the Leech Tactic and go Jungle.
But what makes a Marksman Hero strong in Marvel Super War?
Before we go bursting into the actual list, let's first look at what Marksmen are expected to excel at, which will also be the parameters that we will consider in rating and ranking our MM's:
- Sustained/Burst Damage: Let’s make this clear, ALL Marksman-Class Heroes here in MSW have the capability to eventually deal a great deal of damage once having farmed. That is their main task, as one of the team's attack damage carries and core damage dealers, and are designed as such. So, in this regard, we will be simply describing how these heroes would deal their damage, and look at where each of these heroes excels in their damage-dealing.
- Laning and Pushing: One of the characteristics of a good Marksman is their ability to farm and push lanes from the early, mid, and until the late-game phases of the match, to simultaneously farm coin/exp and become as powerful as quickly as possible, while also contributing to complete the game's main objective, which is to push all the way through the enemy's base. They should also make it hard for their enemies to farm on the same lane during the early game, by doing pokes and doing other lane control mechanics, to further widen their coin/exp advantage as early as possible.
- Utility and Escape: Marksmen are generally easy to counter. Enemies just need to get up close and personal with an unattended/unsuspecting MM, apply some disables, and then from there, they can just hunt the hunter down with ease. So, when playing a relatively squishy Marksman, you'll need some kind of escape or repositioning mechanic that either maintains your range advantage, or allows you to completely disengage from a fight in case enemy heroes do dive in, and your teammates are for some reason unable to peel them off for you.
Knowing these criteria, let's now proceed in ranking our best Marksmen here in MSW.
Here’s our [Top 10] Most Powerful Marksmen in Marvel Super War, as of the latest patch:
10. War Machine
War Machine's War Bringer skin Gameplay
James Rhodes suits up in his Stark-made War Machine armor to rain fire down on his enemies at rank 10.
War Machine deals damage through his empowered basic attacks, enhanced by his other damage source, his area-of-effect skills, which also apply some slows and good zone control by limiting enemy movement and positioning. He places ground-targeted damaging skills that persist for a few seconds, which upon dealing damage to heroes, passively adds extra damage and range to his next basic attacks. His ultimate makes him able to continuously drop bombs on select target enemies within a wide range over the skill's duration.
As War Machine, your AOE basic skills help you clear enemy minions/creeps quickly while applying zone control during the early game, not to mention adding range to your basic attacks for you to poke your enemies further as you damage enemy heroes with the same skills. After getting your ultimate, a well-coordinated attack can significantly drive your enemies back as your team blitzes forward to advance. Your laning phase is where you're strongest, so you need to make the most of the early-mid game phases to become more significant during the late game.
When playing as War Machine, you're a bit vulnerable to enemy dives, sometimes even while you’re in the middle of casting your ultimate skill, if your enemies have good mobility and/or enough toughness to slip through and take on a few hits from your ult. You do have a utility skill in the form of a directional single-target enemy knockback+slow, which also makes you dash back towards the opposite direction, useful during the random early-game enemy advances and mid-game ganks, but towards the late-game where your enemies are more mobile and more durable, your escape mechanic doesn't scale as effectively with your enemies, making you highly dependent on your teammates for protection as you reach the end-game.
What Makes War Machine a Great Marksman:
- Mixes AOE skills and enhanced normal attacks for poking, zoning, and general lane control, great for the early-game laning phase
- Has a bit of escape with a single-target enemy knockback+slow coupled with a backwards dash
- Ultimate gives major AOE damage and zone control, great for team fights when coordinated well
War Machine full details: MARVEL Super War - War Machine "Warbringer"
9. Vision
Vision Ranked Gameplay - INSANE CRITICAL DAMAGE!
Wielding gem-enhanced powers and exceptional computational ability as an advanced AI synthezoid, Vision phases in, placing 9th on our ranking.
Vision combines burst and sustained damage via his AOE skills and enhanced normal attacks, making him especially effective when laning and during teamfights. His ultimate skill is a charged beam that deals damage in a line, which reaches its max range and becomes an automatic critical hit when fully charged. This, along with his second skill that leaves a persistent AOE damage+slow on the ground for a few seconds, makes him able to establish some zoning and generate enough threat for enemies to be wary of getting within range of his burst skills and pokes. His basic attack damage and attack speed are also enhanced after using his ultimate skill, adding to his poke skills and making him deal good sustained auto-attack damage during teamfights as well.
In playing Vision, you also have a utility tool you can use to evade enemy attacks. Your first skill makes you immune to attacks and crowd control, while also triggering your passive skill that briefly increases your move speed and makes you able to ignore terrain while moving. The same passive skill is also activated when you hit an enemy hero with your ultimate. These utility options are great to have during the early-mid game phases, especially when evading enemy burst combos or in needed retreats, but takes a bit of practice to maximize (offensively and defensively) during team fights and late-game clashes.
Overall, Vision is great when laning, but towards the late game where the fights are a bit more fast-paced, he tends to rely on his allies for him to have enough space, in order for him to land his charged ultimate, and deal optimum damage with his attacks and skills.
What Makes Vision a Great Marksman:
- Has burst AOE damage skills and enhanced normal attacks, plus some zoning
- Able to cast damage/CC immunity, and trigger move speed boosts that also make him ignore terrain, improving his survivability
- His ultimate skill is one of the game’s most damaging pokes from the early to late game
Vision full details: MARVEL Super War - Video of Vision
8. Hawkeye
Hawkeye Ranked Gameplay - EASY AND DEADLY!
Clint Barton never misses. He brings his expert archery skills to our Wakandan Battlefield as Hawkeye, our 8th best Marvel Super War Marksman-Class Hero.
Hawkeye is the first hero that you, the Watcher, get to try out in the game’s tutorial/training mode. The ease of his playstyle and his good damage output makes him indeed a good hero to start out with, enough to carry a new player through their early journey in MSW. After a while though, Hawkeye’s capabilities get overshadowed by other more capable heroes, especially as other players level up in their skill, mastery, and knowledge of the game’s ever-growing hero pool. But it doesn’t make Hawkeye any less decent, as this hero can still perform great, especially when supported well by his teammates.
As Hawkeye, your main source of damage is your normal hits, enhanced by your second skill that boosts your attack speed and damage over the skill’s duration, and your passive skill that increases your attack range as you level up. You also have your first skill that slows a target enemy with an exploding arrow, dealing AOE damage to it and its surrounding enemy units upon detonation after a few seconds, as well as your ultimate that leaves a large area on the ground that continuously deals damage and slows down enemies who stay within the affected zone. These skills help you in clearing lanes, and also in teamfights, as your ultimate’s persistent AOE and your second skill’s indicated range add some zoning, making enemies think twice if they want to stay within your range and line of fire.
Utility-wise, you have some added vision from your passive skill that also allows you to see hidden enemy heroes within range, making you a direct counter against invisible enemies or heroes who like to hide or camp in the bushes. This vision advantage is also a great tool against ganks and surprise attacks once both teams start to roam around the map to secure and claim objectives. You also have some added mobility with your ultimate by making you jump a small distance back when casting your ult, which you can use to reposition or somehow move away from an advancing enemy. Admittedly, this sole escape mechanic for Hawkeye is not too reliable as it is tied to his long-cooldown ultimate and its casting can be a bit tricky, making it easy for enemies to pick him off easily, but this hero makes up for it with his ease of use and steady damage output when positioned well and backed up by his team.
What Makes Hawkeye a Great Marksman:
- Reliable damage dealer with good sustained auto-attack damage, with some AOE and zoning from his skills, making him good in laning and in clashes
- Has a bit of mobility that comes with his ultimate
- Passive ability adds utility by allowing him to see invisible heroes or enemies hiding in bushes
Hawkeye full details: MARVEL Super War - Hawkeye Hero Spotlight
7. Rocket Raccoon
Rocket Raccoon is STILL OVERPOWERED!
This genetically-enhanced cybernetic scavenger of a raccoon uses his high proficiency with weapons and superior tactical knowledge, in being the Guardians of the Galaxy’s strategy expert, and one of Marvel Super War’s top Marksman Heroes at number 7.
Rocket Raccoon is actually quite popular with many players, as it is relatively easy to use this hero, and he has a great damage output. But again, let me argue that the other Marksman-class Heroes are able to do similar damage, but have better utility and mobility skills, hence, more survivability, and that's why Rocket is placed relatively low even with his popularity and undeniable combat prowess.
As Rocket, your main source of damage is your basic attacks. Using your first skill improves the damage of these normal auto-attacks, while also adding a splash effect, making it extremely easy for you to farm early game and clear minion waves as you roam and push/defend. Your passive skill allows you to add enhancements to your skills as you defeat enemy minions, so make sure you work on getting the last hits as you farm, to upgrade your abilities as early as possible. The landmines you place with your ultimate skill also do AOE damage and slow, but its main purpose is its utility in providing your team some zoning and effective vision, especially during the early and mid-game stages of the match.
Speaking of utility, you also have a second skill that increases your move speed when activated and gives you slow immunity over its duration. It’s good to have, yes, but, this mobility skill is not too impressive in practice and when compared to the other repositioning/evasive/retreat skills of other Marksmen. But all things considered, Rocket Raccoon is indeed a good Marksman hero, with great damage output and a good utility kit, and is also quite easy to use.
What Makes Rocket Raccoon a Great Marksman:
- Great damage output from his normal attacks, enhanced by his first skill that makes his basic attacks splash with increased damage, making him able to clear lanes and farm easily, and deal high sustained auto-attack damage to enemy heroes in clashes.
- His second skill is a move-speed boost that also gives him slow immunity, which can help in shaking off (or chasing down) enemies
- The remote mines from his ultimate can be used offensively or defensively, adding some utility along with the AOE slows and damage that it deals
Rocket Raccoon full details: MARVEL Super War - Arcade Rocket - Cosmic Ace Edition
6. Moonstar
Moonstar's Elf Hunter Skin Quick Ranked Gameplay
Danielle Moonstar, founding member of the X-Men’s New Mutants, enters our ranks placing 6th, tamed monster in tow.
Moonstar is a bit under-appreciated due to her sub-par Bot Lane gaming, but she is truly a great Jungler and late-game Marksman when played right. Aside from a trusty tamed companion that helps her with attacks and gives her an extra situational skill, she has plenty of utility and mobility with her abilities to aid her in jungling and ganking heroes, able to charge in and eventually burst her enemies down.
When playing Moonstar, you manage the stacked marks that you apply when you attack enemies, releasing/detonating them as you wish with your first skill to deal additional scaling burst damage. This makes your jungle-clearing capabilities great, but you kind of underperform with your laning due to a lack of a safer and more reliable multi-target/AOE damage/poke. You do have a second skill that hits a maximum of three targets in range with damage and slows, but as it makes you charge forward and gives you increased attack speed, it’s more designed to be some kind of offensive charge, which is better suited for jungling and ganking.
What makes you really shine as Moonstar is your utility and mobility skills, having buffs that increase your move speed, attack speed, and attack damage, plus a dash/blink, some crowd control via slows and fears, and even a shield depending on the type of neutral monster you have in your control. This mobility and burst damage makes you quite a good Marksman Jungler, with plenty of utility that makes your late game quite stellar. That said, you are still a bit too squishy and it takes a bit of time for you to stack your marks, so, the playstyle of engaging after an initiate, then dealing your burst damage combo, followed by repositioning or completely disengaging, is a common tactic to use as Moonstar, like most if not all Fighter/Assassin/Marksman-class Junglers.
What Makes Moonstar a Great Marksman:
- Has awesome mobility and self-buff skills that complement her burst attack playstyle well
- Has a good skill set for jungling, ganking, and chasing down enemy heroes
- Has a dash/blink skill and a situational shield skill, great for her survivability in fights
Moonstar full details: MARVEL Super War - Video of Moonstar
5. Angel
Free-Farmed Angel is DANGEROUS!
Here we have another Marksman-class Hero from the X-Men franchise who can also lane either Jungle or Bot, due to their skill set that has great mobility and excellent damage output. Swooping down and perching himself at rank 5 is the X-Men's Warren Worthington III, aka Angel.
When playing as Angel, your offensive dives paired with your sustained auto-attack damage and mini-burst attack style makes you a great Jungler, and a little more reliable Bot-laner when compared to the previous Jungler-MM hero on our list. Your second ability is a burst skill that distributes multiple projectiles to damage nearby enemies, which is great for clearing jungle mobs (not so much against lane creeps/minions) and in ganking or picking off lone enemies. Your first skill enhances your attack speed, which works well with your skill passives that (1) improve the number and damage of your basic attacks and (2) add marks on your targets which, when full, will automatically detonate dealing extra damage while also refreshing your blink/charge third skill. These damage options make you able to deal both sustained auto-attack damage and quick damage burst combos perfect for your risky playstyle.
However, your laning as Angel is a bit difficult due to your lack of AOE skills to clear minion waves more efficiently. So, when laning Bot, you also need to have a good Support ally with you to back you up mostly with protection/sustains, to allow you to farm and harass enemies safely without needing to retreat to your base and replenish your lost health as often.
You have two mobility skills: your blink/charge third skill that adds no further utility/effects, and your ultimate, which is an enemy-targeted blink + damage + self-shield + move-speed buff. Your third skill is your more reliable charge/reposition utility skill, while your ult is used more sparingly as an offensive charge, to be used wisely as this skill can dangerously put your hero in the middle of your enemies. With that, the usual engage+burst+disengage Jungler attack playstyle is also common for Angel players, never overcommitting unless the risk/danger is properly managed and handled.
What Makes Angel a Great Marksman:
- Has great (but potentially dangerous) mobility for jungling, ganking, initiation, escape
- Great damage output in mixing sustained and burst damage attacks
- Ultimate gives plenty of extra utility that balances the added risk of charging onto enemies
Angel full details: MARVEL Super War - Fallen Angel
4. Gambit
Gambit - OP BURST Marksman
Now here’s another hero that also has a risky playstyle that almost encourages you to somersault in the middle of your enemies to maximize your dealt damage. The X-Men’s Remy LeBeau, aka Gambit, shuffles into the 4th place of our top 10 Marksman-class Heroes in MSW.
When playing as Gambit, you have great early-game laning output with your ranged bursts and pokes from your first and second skills with the help of your passive ability. You can open with your second skill that damages all enemies in a line, then stock up some Energy Card stacks from your passive by letting out a few normal attacks (your passive allows you to accumulate up to 14 Energy Cards, by hitting enemy heroes with his basic attacks or hitting enemy units with enhanced basic attacks after using an ability). Once you have max or enough Energy Cards, you can then use your first ability to throw all your accumulated energy cards in a fan-shaped area-of-effect in front of you (AOE size and total possible dealt damage also depend on the number of accumulated cards), damaging all enemy units that the cards pass through.
Your third skill lets you leap into a specified location, damaging and slowing enemies in range of your specified landing area. Your ultimate similarly lets you pole vault into your specified direction, throwing cards around you that not only deal damage to the units the cards pass through, but also explode for additional AOE damage when these cards reach max distance. Your ultimate also makes you immune to damage/CC while jumping, adds 8 Energy Cards to your stack, and refreshes your first skill’s cooldown. All these AOE skills and combos make lane clearing easy, and these damage skills are also great for pokes, initiates/dives, and retreats during the early, mid, and late-game phases of the match. It does take a few pokes and attacks to start filling up your needed card stacks, but once set, you will be able to drown your enemy with a continuous flurry of exploding cards.
With two blink skills that also deal damage to your enemies, you have decent mobility that leans on the offensive side, great for repositioning, retreats, and pursuits, but not to be used too aggressively as you are still prone to disables and counterattacks when diving in as a Marksman. Overall, Gambit is a great balanced hero that’s not too overpowered, and is extremely fun and amusing to play.
What Makes Gambit a Great Marksman:
- Great AOE burst damage capabilities, great for lane clearing and in team fights
- Has two mobility skills great for offensive and defensive repositioning
- Ultimate skill, when timed well and followed up nicely can also be used to evade an enemy burst attack and overturn it into Gambit’s favor
Gambit full details: MARVEL Super War - Video of Gambit
3. Ikaris
Marksman Ikaris Is OVERPOWERED!
The Eternals' Ikaris has two different modes that both perform well. His passive skill transforms his abilities and damage-type from Physical (Bot/Marksman role), into Energy (Mid/Energy role), depending on the equipment type he is geared with. Here, we will specifically look at Ikaris's Physical-type Bot/Marksman variant, and look at how he fares as an MM, hopefully justifying why he flies up this high as the 3rd ranker in our list.
As a Marksman Ikaris, your playstyle is a fast-paced, continuous barrage of penetrating and splashing damage from your basic skills and enhanced normal attacks to deal overpowering sustained DPS to your enemies. This is coupled with short bursts of quick dashes and move-speed boosts for some calculated repositioning that helps in adjusting your position offensively or defensively during a fight, and topped off with a far-reaching ultimate that fires a wide projectile that sweeps the map in a straight line with unlimited range, damaging all enemy units that it passes through.
From the early-game laning phase, to the mid-game roaming, up until the late-game clashes and team fights, your skill set makes you able to perform great (or otherwise, makes you easily catch up if behind in farm) as long as you and your team do good in all of your respective roles.
Escape-wise, as long as you're not hit with a strong crowd control ability by the enemy, your dash does prove to be one of the best escape/reposition/kite/chase mobility skills for a Marksman, with its low cooldowns and its combo with your other skills and enhanced normal attacks.
What Makes Ikaris a Great Marksman:
- Fast attack speed, quick skill cooldowns, with penetrating+splashing attacks
- Good mobility skill that also gets cooldown reduction upon performing a basic attack
- Extremely long-ranged ultimate perfect for skillshots and global "assists"
Ikaris full details: #MARVELSuperWar - Ikaris
2. Yondu
Arcade Yondu Ranked Gameplay
Yondu's difficult playstyle is great when mastered. He has a unique mechanic that gives him a good attack range and an excellent damage-dealing potential, plus a good escape utility skill, making him truly deserving of this 2nd spot.
Yondu's basic attack is a guided projectile (Yaka Arrow) able to penetrate multiple enemies it strikes in a line. When played skillfully, it’s easily one of the best poke skills/attacks in the game. His first skill adds extra damage and applies slows to enemies hit by his next attack, and his ultimate damages all enemies within his range of sight. These excellent damage skills make him have great sustained AOE(line) damage that’s relevant in all stages of the match.
When you play Yondu, a great deal of map awareness is needed. You need to take note of the positions of your hero, your Yaka Arrow, and your enemies, as well as your and your enemy heroes' attack range and movement. You have to most especially track the location of your Yaka Arrow, as it is easy to lose sight of this during a clash, and, blindly swiping your attack button simply won’t do with Yondu. You gotta practice, practice, practice.
Your escape skill is an AOE knockback+damage, which also gives you a move speed boost, great for counters against enemies who try to shut you down. During clashes, your enemies may also find it hard to notice that you're already chipping away at their health, especially if your other teammates act as good meat shields and more direct or immediate threats. Yondu truly has great scores for damage-dealing, escape, and post-laning, easily making him a top contender as the best Marksman in Marvel Super War, but there's simply something that our top placer is able to do much better than all the other MM’s on this list.
What Makes Yondu a Great Marksman:
- Has a fresh and interestingly unique attack mechanic that’s totally worth mastering
- Excellent attack range and damage output in all stages of the game
- Has a good escape skill useful against enemy advances
Yondu full details: MARVEL Super War - Arcade Yondu
Bonus: Other Notable Marksman Heroes
Aside from a freshly released Marksman, there’s only one other Marksman-class Hero who did not make it to the list. Also, among the few non-Marksman-class Heroes who can surprisingly and effectively position themselves at the Bottom Lane to position as a "marksman" (usually done in high-rank tiers), one Hero remains notable. Let’s take a quick look at these heroes before we get to our number one.
- Green Goblin - as he is a newly released hero, we are still to expect a few balancing tweaks from the developers, and wait for more community data and feedback before we can properly rate this new MM. But as of this time, Green Goblin can easily rank among the top few Marksmen on our list (within the Top 3) with his great skill set, complete with good sustained auto-attack DPS, AOE damage, and mobility. His main abilities involve bombarding his enemies from afar and entering a frenzied state that enhances his basic attacks, while also having a good dash skill that leaves a burning trail that damages and slows enemies great for kiting and escape. One of his passive skills is a fun gimmick and great nod to the movies, allowing him to do one last hurrah by shooting off his glider in his specified direction, to hopefully bring down an enemy with him when he gets KO’d.
- Winter Soldier - his lack of an escape mechanic causes him to be placed at the bottom of our Marksman list. Again, being a Marksman, Winter Soldier is actually still viable especially during the early game, but when compared to the other Marksmen Heroes, he would be the easiest for his enemies to deal with, having little to no utility to help him survive enemy attacks later on. Damage-dealing and laning-wise, he's actually quite good with enhanced basic attacks that scale well towards the late game, and two basic AOE skills that help him clear lanes and poke and apply some debuffs to enemies. However, his only escape mechanic is an ultimate single-target stun, which does little if you're the one being hunted down.
- Magik - Magik is a Top/Fighter-class Hero, but can lane bot as an honorary "marksman", ONLY IF you and your team know what you're doing. Magik Bot meta has been going on for a while now, at least for high-rank and top player tiers. A Bot-Lane Magik hogs the bot and mid-lane farms during the early game, then dominates mid to late game with her huge coin/exp lead farm advantage. This works due to the game's current meta of having powerful Fighter-class Heroes who can overshadow a Marksman's damage output and survivability when played right. Again, this tactic only works at the higher rank tiers where teams have better synergy and coordination and understanding of the game's meta.
And now, our top Marksman Hero for Marvel Super War:
1. Star-Lord
New Star Lord is BROKEN! INSANE Comeback with All-black the Necrosword!
Among all the Marksman-class Heroes in the game, this top MM receives the ban hammer in ranked games the most, due to his relative ease of snowballing or even turning games around if he's not taken care of and just left to his own devices. The leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter "Star-Lord" Quill, leads our Marksman leaderboards at number 1, with a great skill set that’s geared towards victory.
Damage-wise, he's not the best when compared side-by-side to the other Marksmen on the list. But don't get me wrong, he still hurts. His first skill deals burst damage by letting loose a barrage of shots that damage the nearest enemy, which deals significant damage once he’s farmed. It does take a bit of time before he gets to that point, though, so he will have to work with a relatively weak early game with the help of his teammates.
As Star-Lord, in laning as a Bot/Jungle Marksman, your mobility (and the advantages that come with that) is your best asset. Your second skill makes you able to happily skip and prance around from one corner of the map to the other in just a breeze. Once you get past the challenging early game for your hero and are able to start roaming better with this great mobility tool, being able to amass resources by clearing minion waves and Jungle mobs more quickly and reliably, as well as in contributing towards team ganks and chase-downs, you should then have more presence during fights and lane pushes - that is, as long as you don't overcommit too often or run into hard crowd-control enemies that can stop you on your tracks. Remember, for the squishy Jungler heroes: Engage, Burst, Disengage, Repeat.
Your ultimate is the icing on your cake, as it is a great skill to use in bringing down enemy towers as you split push, and it is also a great AOE-damage/zoning tool to use in the middle of pick-offs and team clashes, dealing continuous damage to all enemies (including towers) over a large, slow-moving area-of-effect that lasts for several seconds.
What Makes Star-Lord a Great Marksman:
- Has great mobility, which greatly improves his survivability and map control
- His mobility when paired with his AOE siege damage, makes him extra good at split pushing
- His mobility when paired with his single-target damage, makes him extra good at jungling and picking off lone/retreating enemies.
Star-Lord full details: #MARVELSuperWar - Star-Lord's new skin "Street Rocker"
Final notes for Marksman-class Heroes in Marvel Super War:
Playing as a Marksman here in MSW can indeed be a difficult task, but it is a necessary role and important position in any team.
But as long as we know and understand the strengths of each of the MM heroes we choose to use, maintaining our optimal position to deal damage to enemies the best we can, sticking to our designated role, and doing our tasks as efficiently as we could, we could find that these heroes can be quite easy, enjoyable, and satisfying to play.
Now, Watcher, go ahead and check out these heroes for yourself, and see if any of these characters will be your next main Marksman hero of choice in your next matches.
Or, maybe, just practice your Yondu even more.
Credits and thanks to Althanor Gaming for the great Marvel Super War gameplay footages: https://www.youtube.com/c/AlthanorGaming
