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Duelist · James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, Jr.

Winter Soldier

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.

Biography: marvelrivals.com

Winter Soldier
difficulty
3/5
shortest cooldown
10s

Abilities

Normal Attack

RotersternLMB

Fire explosive rounds with his blaster, Roterstern, damaging the target hit and enemies behind them.

CastingProjectile that generates a spell field upon impact
DamageProjectile: 80, Spell Field: 45
Damage falloffBegins at 20m, decreasing to 70% at 40m
Fire rate2.5 rounds/s
Spell field rangeCone-shaped spell field with a 5m radius and apex angle of 90°
Ammo3
Projectile speed180m/s
Critical hitYes
Special effectEnemies hit by the projectile do not take any damage from the spell field.

Abilities

Kraken ImpactQUltimate

Leap high, then dash forward and slam down with the bionic arm by pressing Left-Click, 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.

CastingSpherical Spell Field
Energy cost3100
Impact damage70
Impact range5m spherical radius
Culling health threshold20% of Max Health
Culling duration5s
Ultimate recast window8s
Bionic HookRMB15 s

Charge up and launch a hook with his bionic arm, reeling in the first target hit and enemies lurking behind.

Crowd control

CastingProjectile that generates a spell field upon impact
DamageHook: 15, Spell Field: 20
Cooldown15s
Range10m after 0.5s of charging, increasing to up to 20m after 1s of charging.
Spell field rangeCone-shaped spell field with a 4.5m radius and apex angle of 80°
Projectile speed80m/s
Charge time0.5s - 4s
Trooper's FistShift10 s

Dash forward, seizing enemies along the path and Launch Up enemies at the end of the dash.

Crowd control

CastingMovement-based damage ability
DamageCollision: 25, Uppercut: 65
Cooldown10s
Uppercut rangeLength: 4.5m, Width: 4.5m, Height: 2m
Dash distance9m
Dash speed30m/s
Tainted VoltageE

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.

CastingPiercing Projectile
Damage55
Charges2
Recharge time6s per charge
Projectile speed100m/s
Slow rate25%
Slow duration2s
Ceaseless ChargePassive

Roterstern reloads automatically while the bionic arm is in action, granting Winter Soldier Bonus Health

Bonus health gainedThese abilities grant 40 Bonus Health when used: • Bionic Hook • Tainted Voltage These abilities grant 50 Bonus Health when used: • Trooper's Fist • Kraken Impact

Team-Up Abilities

Timeless VeteransC12 s

with The Punisher

Unlocks the Burst Spike ability. Using the bionic arm emits forward electricity, dealing damage and Knocking Back enemies.

Enhanced effect: When teaming up with The Punisher, the electric burst applies a Grounded effect and Knocks Back enemies even further.

Crowd control

Cooldown12s
Damage85
Range15.25m
Special effectBurst Spike briefly disables mobility abilities for enemies hit and has increased knockback distance.
Expert InstinctPassive

with Elsa Bloodstone

Securing or participating in a KO grants a stack of Culling Instinct. Each stack reduces the cooldowns of Winter Soldier's other abilities. All stacks are lost upon defeat.

Enhanced effect: When teaming up with Elsa Bloodstone, the Bonus Health generated by Ceaseless Charge is increased.

Ability cooldown reduction1.5s per stack
Max instinct stacks2
Damage dealt requirement per stack500
Instinct stacks lost upon death1
Special effectEarning a takedown automatically grants 1 stack of Instinct.
Special effectCeaseless Charge now grants 55 Bonus Health no matter the ability used.

Ability data: Marvel Rivals Wiki (CC BY-SA).

Guides

The official hero video. A curated set of the best YouTube guides comes in the next stage; until then, search opens the full list.

Guides on YouTube

Change history

  1. Patch 20260911 · Season 10

    Fixes

    • Winter Soldier's Wasted Wipeout: Resolved a bug where Winter Soldier's Ultimate ability would unexpectedly reset when hitting a feigning-death Thor (during the Ragnarok Rebirth Team-Up). Bucky's bionic arm is back to respecting the God of Thunder's theatrical naps.
  2. Balance 20260911
    • Increase time required for a single charge of Tainted Voltage from 5s to 6s. Reduce the slow effect applied upon Tainted Voltage hitting an enemy from 35% to 25%.
    • When selecting the Team-Up with Elsa Bloodstone, Enhanced Effect: Reduce Bonus Health generated by Ceaseless Charge from 70 to 55 while the Team-Up is active.
  3. Patch 20260813

    Fixes

    • Winter Soldier Subtitles: We've added English and Chinese subtitles to the Captain America: The Winter Soldier highlights screenings.
  4. Balance 20260417
    • Remove Trooper's Fist Grounded effect on enemies. Reduce Cooldown from 12s to 10s.
    • Increase Bionic Hook cooldown from 12s to 15s.
    • Increase Roterstern Projectile Damage from 75 to 80 Decrease Spell Field Damage from 55 to 45.
    • Reduce Tainted Voltage single charge energize time from 6s to 5s.
    • Increase Kraken Impact Culling Threshold from 15% to 20%. Reduce base damage from 80 to 70.
  5. Balance 20250912
    • Trooper's Fist New Effect: Second strike now applies a 1s debuff to enemies hit, preventing them from using mobility abilities.