Marvel Rivals Winter Soldier guide: Abilities, how to play, and more

Marvel Rivals Winter Soldier is a Duelist hero. This hero absolutely depends on a player's raw mechanical skill. Armed with a hand cannon, and of course, his lore-accurate bionic arm, Winter Soldier can absolutely wreak havoc against enemies using these offensive tools. Both his bionic arm, and his hand cannon deal a ton of damage. When you figure out the right ability combos, taking down most squishy heroes would barely break a sweat.

Marvel Rivals Winter Soldier has a single weapon that has a very high damage output. It is most effective when landing headshots and does significant damage when spamming body shots. However, the fire rate is quite slow and has an average reload speed. This is why you need to position yourself beside your team to avoid being marked by the enemy team.

That said, our Marvel Rivals Winter Soldier guide will provide you with a detailed brief on his abilities, how you can use them, and much more. Read below to know more.

Note from the editor: This article has been updated to feature the latest content with respect to the patch released on March 6, 2025. It will be further updated as the developers release future patches for the title.

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Marvel Rivals Winter Soldier: All Abilities and weapon explained

Marvel Rivals Winter Soldier is a Duelist character (Image via NetEase Games)

Also read: 5 best heroes to counter Black Panther in Marvel Rivals

Like any other Marvel Rivals Duelist, the Winter Solider possesses several unique abilities, making him one of the hardest Heroes to master. Here are his base stats:

Class: Duelist
Health: 275
Movement speed: 6 m/s

He has five abilities and two passives to work in the arena. His playstyle, thought centered around mechanical aim, also requires some form of creativity and tempo management. If you want to make the best use of this hero, you must learn how you can chain your abilities in the game.

Furthermore, as evident in recent months, Marvel Rivals Winter Soldier probably has one of the best and strongest ultimate abilities in the game. Mastering it will provide you easy wins, and of course, easy eliminations.

Here's a detailed look at all the abilities:

Abilities	Effect
Roterstern (LMB)	Fire explosive rounds with his blaster, Roterstern, damaging the target hit and enemies behind them.
Bionic Hook (RMB)	Charge up and launch a hook with his bionic arm, reeling in the first target hit and enemies lurking behind
Kraken Impact (Q)	Leap high, then dash forward and slam down with the bionic arm, dealing damage to enemies in range, marking them for Culling. Marked enemies will perish instantly if their health falls below a certain threshold, recharging the bionic arm for another Kraken Impact within a short period
Trooper's Fist (LShift)	Dash forward, seizing enemies along the path and launching up enemies at the end of the dash
Tainted Voltage (E)	Charge up and launch a powerful electrical punch with the bionic arm in the target direction, dealing damage to enemies within range and Slowing them. This ability can Knock Down flying heroes
Ceaseless Charge (Passive)	Roterstern reloads automatically while the bionic arm is in action, granting Bonus Health to the Winter Soldier
Infinite Grit (Passive)	Rocket Raccoon throws an Ammo Overload device in the target direction. Upon entering the device's range, the Punisher and Winter Soldier receive the buffs of Infinite Ammo and Faster Firing

Primary weapon

Winter Solider uses the Roterstern (LMB) as the primary weapon. This is a single-fire pistol that can deal explosive damage to enemies. Here are the stats of this primary weapon:

Casting	Straight-line projectile that generates a spell field upon impact
Damage	75
Damage Falloff	Falloff begins at 20m, decreases to 60% at 40m
Fire Rate	2.5 rounds per second
Critical Hit	Yes (no critical hits for Spell Field)
Ammo	3

How to play Winter Soldier in Marvel Rivals?

Movement

Marvel Rivals Winter Soldier Trooper's Fist ability (Image via NetEase Games)

Winter Soldier doesn't have any special movement abilities. Players must rely on their aim to finish off the opponent. However, they can use the Kraken Impact ability to get out or get into an intense situation.

Playstyle

The Winter Soldier only thrives in mid and long-range encounters as this will let him fully utilize his Roterstern. Use the Kraken Impact to dive into a spot with multiple low-HP enemies to inflict massive area damage. Meanwhile, if players want to go on a solo run and flank the enemies from behind, we highly recommend using some combos to confirm the kill.

Marvel Rivals Winter Soldier Tainted Voltage ability (Image via NetEase Games)

Also read: Marvel Rivals community wants this change made for Magneto's ultimate

Firstly, use the Tainted Voltage to slow down the opponents followed by Bionic Hook to bring the Hero closer or Trooper's fist to launch the enemy in the air. Lastly, players must put their aim to use and make the opponents perish with the powerful Roterstern.

Ultimate

The Ultimate ability of Winter Soldier, Kraken Impact, is a great ability for dealing heavy damage to multiple enemies repeatedly. This ability is great for targeting scattered enemies in one go. Also, this ability regenerates based on enemies health bar getting low.

Best team-ups for Winter Soldier in Marvel Rivals

1) Rocket Raccoon (Strategist)

Rocker Raccoon is a great duo for Marvel Rivals Winter Soldier (Image via NetEase Games)

Rocket Raccoon, The Punisher, and Winter Soldier are part of the Ammo Overload team-up in Marvel Rivals. This is one of the most destructive team-ups in the game as it increases the damage output of both Winter Soldier and The Punisher exponentially owing to the infinite ammo device.

When this team-up is active, Rocket throws an ammo overload device on the ground. When in range of this device, Bucky gets the special ability called Infinite Grit, granting him infinite ammo and faster firing as long as the device is active.

2) Thor (Vanguard)

Thor is a great duo for Marvel Rivals Winter Soldier (Image via NetEase Games)

Thor and Winter Soldier’s playstyle complement each other extremely well making them a formidable duo in Marvel Rivals. Thor can go aggressive with his Storm Surge ability and create space for Bucky who can then take down the unsuspecting enemies with ease with his Roterstern.

Furthermore, the chaos-inducing playstyle of Thor is particularly useful for Winter Soldier, which he can then take advantage of with his bionic arm abilities, Trooper’s Fist, Tainted Voltage, Bionic Hook, and his ultimate, Kraken Impact.

Best Marvel Rivals Winter Soldier counters

1) Hela (Duelist)

Hela is a counter to Marvel Rivals Winter Soldier (Image via NetEase Games)

Hela is one of the best counters to Winter Soldier in the game. She outranges Bucky and can deal massive damage with her primary attack, Nightsword Thorn, swiftly eliminating Winter Soldier from the battle. Additionally, her Astral Flock ability allows her to easily escape Bucky’s bionic arm abilities while her Soul Drainer stun can help her counter Winter Soldier in case she gets pulled up close.

Furthermore, Hela’s ultimate, Goddess of Death, is almost impossible to counter as Winter Soldier and retreat remains the only available option.

2) Namor (Duelist)

Namor is a counter to Marvel Rivals Winter Soldier (Image via NetEase Games)

Namor is another excellent counter to Winter Soldier in Marvel Rivals. His primary attack, Trident of Neptune, deals a significant amount of damage to Bucky and can easily outrange his Roterstern shots. Moreover, Namor’s monstro spawns are particularly difficult for Winter Soldier to deal with as he quickly runs out of ammo and can potentially get overwhelmed in the heat of battle.

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Furthermore, Namor can easily dodge Bucky’s bionic arm abilities with his Blessing of the Deep ability, making it difficult for Winter Soldier to find value against him.

Marvel Rivals Winter Soldier lore

The lore of Winter Soldier is beautifully portrayed in MCU. However, the Marvel Rivals variant has a different story, which is mentioned below on the game's official web page:

"Captain America's sidekick during World War II, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes was thought to have been killed in action. In truth, he had been recovered by enemy forces and rebuilt into their ultimate assassin. But the Winter Soldier eventually broke his conditioning to become a hero once more. Captured during an operation to sabotage Charteris Base, the Winter Soldier was subjected to horrific experiments at the hands of Hydra scientists. He was rescued by Hawkeye and a version of Captain America from the year 2099, who gifted an upgraded arm to his former partner."

FAQs about Winter Soldier in Marvel Rivals

Q) Is Winter Soldier in Marvel Rivals?

Yes, Winter Soldier is a playable character in Marvel Rivals. He can deal a massive amount of damage with his ability kit and primary weapon.

Q) Is using Wolder Soldier easy?

Winter Soldier is an aim-dependent character. You will need to hit shots to have an impact on the game. His abilities also have different combos that you can use to eliminate opponents.

This concludes everything you need to know about Marvel Rivals Winter Soldier. You can try this Duelist out in the game's practice range for a better understanding of the abilities and their synergy with each other. You can also learn different combos for his abilities and test out the jaw-dropping ultimate ability in different areas. Once you have understood the abilities and their effects, you can grind the game in casual matches to score victories and master the character.

If this guide is to your liking, stay tuned to Sportskeeda's esports section for more related articles. You can also check out a few of them below:

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Edited by Abhishek Manikandan