Nightcrawler gets the attention in today’s Marvel Rivals update. Fair enough. But there is also a launcher setting that PC players might want to find before getting into a match: an experimental optimized client. It will not download itself unless you turn the option on.
NetEase expects about ten percent better CPU performance from it. That is the studio’s estimate. We have not tested the client, and the notes do not promise that every PC will produce ten percent more frames. I would look at the awkward dips during a fight before getting too excited about a headline number.
A download you can choose
The optimized program uses a new Intel compiler and profile-guided optimization, according to the patch notes. The team asks for feedback if it causes instability. Since it is experimental, leave yourself some time to try it rather than enabling it just as your group is ready to queue.
Keep the comparison boring: same scene, same graphics options. Did the stuttering change? Does the game still behave normally? Those answers are more useful than changing half the settings menu and guessing which adjustment made a difference.
Keep your usual controller aim if you prefer
Aim Assist Target Prediction is another addition players can leave off. NetEase says it is meant to improve moving between targets. We like having the choice. Learning Nightcrawler already gives someone enough to think about; a different aiming feel need not be part of the same evening.
The season’s other arrivals
The update adds Nightcrawler, the Doomsday story and the Acts of Kurt Wagner event. The Incursion battle pass contains ten costume sets. Maintenance is scheduled for 09:00 UTC on November 13, with around two hours planned. Check the latest service notice before assuming that time means the servers are ready. Emma Frost’s Seat of Winter, Mantis’ Chronal Harmony and Daredevil’s The Man Without Fear are among the outfits. That is a fairly wide mix to browse if the settings menu was not what brought you back.
Our first stop after the download would be practice. A quick look at the new character, then a decision about those optional settings. There is plenty of time to browse costumes afterwards; it is rather harder to work out why your controls feel odd in the middle of a close round.