Marvel Rivalshas a deep rosterfull of iconic Marvel charactersmixed in with some extremely deep cuts. (Not to mention NetEase’s own creation, Luna Snow.) All of these characters fit into one of three different classes: Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist.

Adam Warlock, the Golden Guardian, is a Strategist character and is tasked with keeping his team alive. And if all else fails, he can bring his team back from the dead. In the right hands, he can change the course of the match in an instant, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. But in the wrong hands, he’ll be a detriment to the team.

The Adam Warlock character overview in Marvel Rivals.

Character Overview

Adam Warlockis a 250-health Strategist character withmultiple healing abilities, good damage potential, and revival possibilities. He’s going to have a difficult time holding his own in fights against Duelist ambushes, but from a position where he isn’t a central target, he can deal some impactful damage to the enemy team alongside his healing potential.

Positioning With Adam Warlock

Many of Adam Warlock’s abilitiesrequire him to be in the right positionto be able to use them at all, much less effectively. He’ll needline of sight on at least one friendly characterto get his healing abilities off. They’ll need to be in close enough proximity to him, as well.

For the most part, this meansWarlock should stick close to the central unit of the team;preferably near a Vanguard.

Adam Warlock is positioned towards the back of the group in Marvel Rivals, but still close enough he can reach every ally with a heal.

If Venom is the only Vanguard the team has, Warlock will need to stick closer to someone else, because of Venom’s movement abilities sending him across the map.

Soul Bond

Soul Bond creates a link between allies it comes into contact with. This link is going to distribute the damage that they take across all of them, ensuring no one ally takes the brunt of the punishment. It also provides a small healing-over-time effect for everybody affected by it.

Soul Bond Giveth

Soul Bond can ensure that your entire team stays on their feet, keeping characters that are being specifically targeted for execution by enemy duelists alive. This is useful for Warlock himself, as he tends to get targeted by enemy Spider-Man and Hawkeye fairly often, but it ishelpful for other characters that have low overall health.

Soul Bond can alsogive a friendly Vanguard the confidence to move in without worry of getting team-shot to deathimmediately. But, this starts to get into the territory where Soul Bond can cause a little bit of a problem.

The Soul Bond description for Adam Warlock in Marvel Rivals.

Soul Bond Taketh Away

Soul Bond can also get lower-health charactersthat aren’t directly getting attackedinto dangerous territory, making them an easy target to finish off by enemy Duelists when the effect wears off.

Use Soul Bond on Vanguards with caution. If you’ve got the heals to right the ship if everybody starts taking heavy damage, it’s safe. But if your heals are on cooldown,you can get your entire team into serious trouble.

Adam Warlock casting Soul Bond on his allies in Marvel Rivals.

Avatar Life Stream

Avatar Life Stream is going to be your bread-and-butter heal; it can be used multiple times, with its charge counter displayed above the ability. This heals a significant amount of health immediately andcan bounce between teammates, making it a single-target or group-target heal.

Avatar Life Stream Has A Short Cooldown

Avatar Life Stream has a shortsix-second cooldown, meaning you should usually have a charge when you need it. If the damage becomes too overwhelming to be fixed by Avatar Life Stream alone, Soul Bond can keep everyone alive until you may activate the ability again.

But just because it has a short cooldown doesn’t mean you should be spamming it. Certain characters can do very high damage in a short amount of time; things can be going great, and in an instant, someone needs a heal, or they’re going to die.If your ability is on cooldown, you’ll be watching them drop right before your eyes.

Adam Warlock dying while Soul Bond is active in Marvel Rivals.

Quantum Magic And Cosmic Cluster

Quantum MagicandCosmic Clusterare your attack abilities with Adam Warlock, one being your default attack, the other your alt-fire attack.Quantum Magic fires one damaging blast, whileCosmic Cluster charges multiple togetherto fire in a short burst.

Quantum Magic Is Your Spam Attack

Quantum Magic is going to be the attack you’re sending at enemies with regularity. It’s a constant chunk of damage if you’re hitting your target, and on a critical hit, it’s damage they’re definitely going to take notice of.

Cosmic Cluster Is Your Confident Attack

Certain times, you’re going to know an enemy is about to walk around a corner. Or, you’ll be able to peek around cover and have an enemy perfectly lined up. It would be a waste in these situations to use Quantum Magic.

This is when you use Cosmic Cluster. If you know without a doubt you’re going to be able to hit an enemy with the majority of this attack, thenCosmic Cluster is going to be one of the highest-damage attacks in the game.

The Avatar Life Stream description for Adam Warlock in Marvel Rivals.

If an enemy character uses their ultimate, in particular a character like Punisher,Cosmic Cluster can drop them before they’re able to get any use out of it.

Eye On The Prize

But don’t lose sight of the fact thatyou’re a healer, first and foremost. Dealing damage is a nice bonus and can make a significant difference in the match, butdealing damage at the cost of healing allies is not using Adam Warlock to his fullest potential.

Regenerative Cocoon

Regenerative Cocoonis going to ensure that, once every 105 seconds,when you die,your soul will be able to roam freely, and you’ll be able torevive yourselfat a spot of your choosing.

This is often a fantastically useful ability, allowing you toget back into the action much quickerthan you would otherwise and pick your healing duties right back up before your entire team wipes due to your absence.

Adam Warlock healing an ally with Avatar Life Stream in Marvel Rivals.

Get Out Of Sight Before You Revive Yourself

But enemies are going to try and get right into the spot where you revive yourself to take you right back down.Get out of sight, or at least get into a position where you aren’t a priority target, otherwise you’re not going to get any value out of this passive.

Soul Perseverance Team-Up Ability

Soul Perseveranceis going to give this self-revival ability not just to you butto a friendly Star-Lord and Mantisas a Team-Up Ability, as well. With all three active, this can turn a full wipe into only half a wipe, allowing for a much easier recovery for your team.

Karmic Revival

Karmic Revivalis Adam Warlock’sultimate ability, and it allows him torevive recently dead allies in a certain vicinity. In the right situation, this can save the match, and in the wrong situation, everyone can get killed right away immediately after.

Ultimate Recovery To Save A Wipe

Karmic Revival is oftenbest used right after an enemy uses their ultimate ability to take down a group of allies. Adam Warlock should be just a bit behind the frontline of his team, and because of this, oftentimes he can get out of the way of an enemy ultimate, like Storm, Scarlet Witch, or Magneto.

When you dodge an enemy ultimate, you’re able to move forward right away and cast your own ultimate,bringing everybody back to life.

Adam Warlock attacking an enemy with his Quantum Magic in Marvel Rivals.

When you do pull this off, it’shelpful to have at least one charge of Avatar Life Stream available, along with Soul Bond. Allies will be invincible for a short period right after revival, but their health will be low.Healing right away is going to help get everybody right back into fighting shape.

Adam Warlock using his Cosmic Cluster attack to deal a massive amount of damage to an enemy Jeff in Marvel Rivals.

Adam Warlock winning the MVP of the match award in Marvel Rivals with relatively few kills overall, due to his healing abilities.