This sits outside the game itself, which is exactly why it is hard to find a straight answer about it.

Short answer

Treat it as supplementary. Enjoyable on its own, and richer if you have played first.

Licensed soundtracks are the most likely part to be missing from a re-release. Fan work is frequently better than official work and is not the same thing. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration.

What exists officially

Adaptations take liberties, and the interesting ones take them deliberately. Canon status is decided by the developers rather than by the adaptation's writers. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. Assets circulated online are often ripped rather than released, which affects what you can legally do with them.

Release order and chronological order are different, and both have their advocates. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. Official art books contain material that never appears in the game itself.

What is fan-made

Everything below is framed around the current state of Marvel Rivals rather than a launch-week impression. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows.

  • Check whether something is official before treating it as canon.
  • Play first if you mind spoilers — adaptations rarely respect them.
  • Write down what you changed, so you can undo exactly one thing if it goes sideways.
  • Expect licensed music to be missing from re-releases.

Whether it is worth your time

Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later.

Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work.

Where to find it legitimately

The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. Marvel Rivals is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look.

The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of.

Where it fits with the game

There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on.

Where people go wrong

  • Changing five things at once and then not knowing which one helped.
  • Rushing the last step, which is usually the one with the actual requirement in it.
  • Assuming a guide from an older season still describes the current version.
  • Copying a setup wholesale from a streamer without understanding what each part does.

Rivals FAQ

Is it canon?

Where the developers have said so, yes. Adaptations produced under licence are frequently their own continuity.

What if none of this works for me?

Then something in your setup differs from the assumption — version, region or platform. Check those three before anything else.

Does this work the same on console and PC?

The logic is identical. Menu paths and button prompts differ, and any real difference is flagged above.

Why do other guides describe this differently?

Most were written for an earlier version and never revisited. Compare the steps against what your build actually shows.

Bookmark it if you like, but honestly, once you have done it once you will not need to come back.