Marvel Rivals' Galacta's Gift Event Introduces Chrono Shield Cards
There has been no shortage of criticism for Marvel Rivals' ranked competitive system since the game's launch in December. Players earn far more rank points from a win than they lose from a loss, leading players with sub-50% win rates to climb the ladder to Diamond or Grandmaster -- and in some people's eyes, the rank distribution has lost much of its meaning and prestige.
Now, Marvel Rivals' latest event risks further muddling the skill divisions of the competitive mode when it launches on May 15. The Galacta's Gift event pass will include eight consumable Chrono Shield Cards, which will prevent players from losing rank points after a competitive match loss -- at least, in lower skill brackets.
Read More: Marvel Rivals Season 2: The 6 Best Heroes to Start Learning Now
The decision to add further safeguards to the Marvel Rivals' ranked experience is puzzling. But it might be another way to retain high player engagement, especially as support players have gone on strike during Season 2.
Steam player counts are a flawed metric to measure a game's success, as player count naturally picks up and drops depending on what is going on in-game, and these charts account only for a subset of PC players among the broad console-inclusive playerbase. Even so, Marvel Rivals reportedly had more players at the end of Season 1 than at the beginning of Season 2. This event could be a quick way to scrape back some of those lapsed players, even if it harms the game's competitive integrity.
Whether the Chrono Shield Cards will be detrimental to the game's competitive environment, they're here to stay. Here's how to get them -- among the other rewards included in the new Galacta's Gift event.
Chrono Shield Cards are the new consumable items that protect your ranked points.
NetEase Games/Screenshot by CNET
Chrono Shield Cards will help boost Bronze, Silver and Gold players
Completing event challenges during the Galacta's Gift event will level up a free event pass, containing seven tiers with different rewards.
At tiers two and four, players will earn separate bundles of four Chrono Shield Cards. That means you're able to earn eight total Chrono Shield Cards during the item's debut.
Once you activate a Chrono Shield Card, it will remain active until you lose a competitive match. Upon that loss, your Chrono Shield Card will be consumed -- but you won't lose any rank points for that defeat.
You can have up to 20 Chrono Shield Cards at a time, and they are cleared from your inventory at the end of the season. This seems to suggest that the consumables will be plentiful enough for you to stack up on, though we don't yet know how players will be able to earn more outside of this event. We have confirmation from Marvel Rivals' official social media that these items will not be put into paid bundles -- though it's worth maintaining a healthy skepticism about this new change to the ranked points system.
Chrono Shield Cards will not remove the existing Chrono Shield system for Bronze, Silver and Gold players, which charges as they lose ranked games. After enough losses, lower-ranked players gain a Chrono Shield -- protecting them from a rank demotion for a single game. Instead, Chrono Shield Cards are meant to supplement the current system, serving as a way to "allow lower-ranked players to enter ranked mode with even less pressure."
Crucially, the Chrono Shield Cards are not usable by any players in Platinum rank or higher. If you're able to consistently reach these ranks without being demoted, the new consumables are essentially useless clutter in your inventory for the rest of the season.
There's definitely a conversation to be had about why these consumables are appearing in free events -- for myself and many other players, there are now for all intents and purposes empty reward tiers that provide nothing of value. I'm concerned about how fluff prizes could be used to force players to grind longer to get the good stuff in the future, especially since Marvel Rivals events are needlessly complicated as is.
The costume coins are used to unlock premium skins for launch characters -- including Jeff's Incognito Dolphin skin.
NetEase Games
How to get a free costume during the Galacta's Gift event
The Chrono Shield Cards are likely going to be the most controversial event rewards in Marvel Rivals to date, but the juiciest prize in the new event is the costume coin on the final tier.
This special currency has only been obtainable during one other event -- the paid Hyper Orange Venom Pick Up Bundle. If you have a costume coin, you're able to trade it in for a premium skin from the costume shop.
Many of these skins cost 1,600 units, the standard premium currency in Marvel Rivals, which is roughly equivalent to $16. Spending $3 to earn the costume coin in the Pick Up Bundle was a very good deal. Being able to earn a costume coin for free during the new event is even better.
There are a number of caveats to the costume coin exchange, however. Only costumes for Season 0 heroes are available -- that means you can get a costume for a hero that was available at launch. That means costumes for the members of the Fantastic Four and Emma Frost will not be available in the costume coin exchange.
Once you have your costume coin, you can trade it in by navigating to the Exchange tab located under the Store menu. I highly recommend you nab the Incognito Dolphin skin for Jeff the Shark, so you can look cute and cuddly while you harass the enemy backline.
Want to get your hands on more free costumes? We have a guide for every current (and previous) free skin in Marvel Rivals.
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