Is the Marvel Rivals season 1 battle pass worth it?

The Marvel Rivals season 1 battle pass, formally referred to as the Darkhold in-game, offers 10 new skins and a variety of other cosmetic goodies for both free-to-play players and those who pick up the paid “luxury” battle pass (or its upgrade). But is the Marvel Rivals season 1 battle pass worth its $10 price tag?

In this Marvel Rivals guide, we’ll walk you if the season 1 battle pass is worth it, including detailed breakdowns about what you get as a free-to-play player, what you get from the paid battle pass, and what you get from the paid upgrade for the battle pass.

Is the Marvel Rivals season 1 paid battle pass worth it?

Put simply, yes, the Marvel Rivals season 1 battle pass is worth it.

Almost all of the luxury-exclusive skins are of similar quality (or better, in the Moon Knight and Namor skins’ cases) than those of matching rarity found inside the shop. The additional currency offered in the paid battle pass is also enough that you’ll eventually be able to get every third luxury battle pass for free and a free skin from the shop every few seasons.

For a look at which skins you can get, see our guide to the season 1 battle pass skins.

Is the Marvel Rivals season 1 paid battle pass upgrade worth it?

Unlike the luxury battle pass, the upgraded luxury battle pass’ value is less obvious. Generally speaking, you don’t need the upgraded luxury season 1 battle pass.

The upgraded version comes with 2,,800 bonus Chrono Tokens to get you started and gives you a permanent 20% increase to the number of Chrono Tokens you earn for the entire season. That last part is pretty intriguing, as that essentially reduces the number of missions and dailies you need to do by 20% over the season.

However, this upgraded version is really only worth the extra 1,110 Lattice ($12) if you don’t think you’ll have too much time to play, or you just really need that Wolverine skin ASAP. As with any battle pass skip in a game like Marvel Rivals, it’s a convenient boost for those that have more money than time to play.

What is the value of the free Marvel Rivals season 1 battle pass?

The luxury battle pass is a bit of a wild deal, when you look at the math, which is what we’re going to do below. But first let’s look at the value for free-to-play players, which offers about $25 worth of cosmetics and currencies for free.

The free version of the battle pass will net you several sprays, nameplates, and even some emotes. Two of the 10 skins offered in the season 1 battle pass are also free: a rare and an epic (for more exact details on all the goodies in the battle pass, check out our guide for all the season 1 battle pass skins in Marvel Rivals). Just for the skins alone, that’s about a 2,000-Lattice value (read on to see how we got that number).

There are also 400 free Units and 200 free Lattice you can earn. With those Units, you could buy an epic-quality skin (1,400 Units without the bundle) in four seasons, assuming NetEase Games gives you 400 for free each time. You could buy a luxury battle pass every five seasons with the free Lattice, assuming that number remains consistent each season as well.

Altogether, free players who fully unlock the battle pass can walk away with 2,600 Lattice (around $25) in free cosmetics and currencies, not including some of the typical bundle goodies like sprays and nameplates, which are more difficult to place an exact value on.

What is the value of the paid Marvel Rivals season 1 battle pass?

Now let’s take a look at the value for the paid version of the season 1 battle pass, which offers about $155 worth of cosmetics and currencies for a $9.99 investment.

The luxury battle costs 990 Lattice, which is 10 Lattice under the 1,000-Lattice bundle you can get for $9.99.

Starting with the currency, you’ll get an additional 200 Units from the luxury version of the pass, as well as 400 additional Lattice. While this won’t change much about how often you can buy an epic skin from the store (every three seasons instead of every four), the luxury battle pass triples the amount of Lattice you’ll earn each season. This means that you’ll get enough Lattice to pay for every third luxury battle pass, assuming you save it between seasons.

A “buy two, get one free” situation with the luxury battle pass is a great deal, but the real value comes from the skins.

Every character in Marvel Rivals has a rare skin available for you to purchase, but they don’t appear in the shop, and you instead need to buy them for 600 Units from their character screen in the menu. They’re typically just alternate colors for the characters and don’t change anything about their body shape or skins. There are two rare skins in the luxury battle pass, although they actually change quite a bit more than the average rare skin, giving the characters additional accents. These two rare skins account for a value of 1,200 Units.

Epic skins can be purchased outside of their bundles for 1,400 Units (unless they’re MCU-inspired, then they’re 1,600). The bundles cost 2,200 Units (2,400 for MCU bundles) when they aren’t on sale. There are four epic skins in the luxury battle pass, and they all have the same kind of cosmetics you’d find in their bundles (some of which are part of the free battle pass track). The epic skins in the luxury battle pass represent a value of about 8,800 Units, give or take a few hundred if you want to get picky about some themed bundle items being available for free-to-play players.

Legendary skins are typically 3,300 Units for a bundle (3500 for the MCU ones) when they’re not on sale, and most cannot be purchased separately (those that can are 2000 Units). There are two legendary skins that come with the luxury battle pass, which represents about a 6,600 Unit value, depending on if you consider that some legendary bundle periphery items are on the free track, like the All-Butcher spray for Loki.

All told, the eight skins in the luxury battle pass add up to 17,200 Units, which is a lot. If you were to exclusively use Lattice to get that number of Units, you’d need to spend about $150 buying the 11,680 and 5,680 Lattice bundles from the shop. When you add in the additional 400 Lattice and 200 Units you get from the luxury pass, that’s a 17,800 Lattice value, or about $155.

That sounds like a lot — and it is, the value of the season 1 battle pass is clearly quite high — but it’s worth keeping in mind that every skin bundle in the shop has been “on sale” and heavily discounted (sometimes by more than 1,000 Units) since the game launched. So while the theoretical value of the pass is $155, you have to factor in that you’re not necessarily getting 10 costumes and goodies for heroes that you care about or even play, and that the skins in the shop have never actually cost as much as their base value says.

However, even with a lot of math, price -checking, and caveats, the luxury battle pass is clearly a pretty sweet deal if you’re even a casual Marvel Rivals enjoyer.

When does the Marvel Rivals season 1 battle pass expire?

Battle passes in Marvel Rivals never expire, the way they do in many other live-service games. While a new battle pass will make its way to the game once season 2 hits, you’ll be able to go back to the season 1 battle pass and continue making progress on it instead if you wish.

However, this only applies to those that have purchased the luxury version of the battle pass. If you’re a free-to-play player who’s on the fence, you need to buy the battle pass during the season or you’ll lose the ability to buy it at all. As of this writing, once a season ends, there is no way to purchase that season’s paid battle pass.

The countdown on the season 1 battle pass suggests an April 11 release date for season 2. This future update will cause the season 1 battle pass to become dormant, but, as previously mentioned, you can reactivate it at any time if you spent the $10 bucks during season 1.

For more Marvel Rivals guides, here’s everything you need to know about the Midnight Features event, a list of all known codes, and a look at the game’s roadmap.