How to Play Punisher in Marvel Rivals

Punisher is the hero for anyone who has played a shooter before. Assault rifle, pump shotgun, grenade, zipline, turret, and a gatling ultimate — no resources, no forms, no combos to memorize. His depth is in the mundane: reloading shotgun shells between shots instead of from empty, repositioning the turret so flankers cannot learn the spot, and knowing that both his turret and his ultimate leave him immobile and exposed from behind.

Role and difficulty

Duelist. Punisher has 300 health. Difficulty Easy (1/5). He fights near his team at mid-range with the rifle, switches to the shotgun against Vanguards, and sets up the turret only where his team can cover his back.

Abilities and what they actually do

• Adjudication (Normal Attack): Fire at enemies with Adjudication, his Automatic Rifle. Key numbers: DAMAGE — 19 per round; FIRE RATE — 10 rounds/s; AMMO — 40.
• Deliverance (Normal Attack): Fire at enemies with Deliverance, his Shotgun. Key numbers: DAMAGE — 9.5 per pellet; FIRE RATE — 1.43 rounds/s; AMMO — 8.
• Final Judgement (Abilities): Unleash two Gatling guns and missiles to attack enemies. Key numbers: DURATION — 10s; DAMAGE — 8 per round / 50; FIRE RATE — 33.33 rounds/s; AMMO — ∞; PROJECTILE SPEED — 60m/s.
• Scourge Grenade (Abilities): Key numbers: DAMAGE — 45; COOLDOWN — 8s; PROJECTILE SPEED — 40m/s.
• Vantage Connection (Abilities): Launch a hook to generate a cable that enables the Punisher to move rapidly by pressing F. Key numbers: COOLDOWN — 20s.
• Culling Turret (Abilities): Deploy a Culling Turret that grounds Punisher and blocks damage from the front while dealing massive damage. Key numbers: DAMAGE — Projectile: 10, Spell Field: 10; COOLDOWN — 20s; FIRE RATE — 12.5 rounds/s; AMMO — 200.
• Warrior’s Gaze (Abilities).

Two guns, one turret, zero mobility

Adjudication is a hitscan assault rifle at 18 body and 36 headshot damage, 10 rounds per second, and it is effective at basically any range but best at mid. Deliverance is a 16-pellet shotgun for 10 per body bullet and 20 per headshot — against a Vanguard’s large hitbox almost every pellet connects, and you can reload shells individually between shots instead of waiting for a full reload from empty. Scourge Grenade is your get-off-me: 45 damage, a smoke screen, and a backward leap that disorients flankers. Vantage Connection sets up to three reusable ziplines for high-ground access, but it only works while grounded and its long cooldown makes it a poor panic escape — set them up near spawn instead. Culling Turret roots you in place with explosive rounds and CC immunity, but you are completely vulnerable from behind. Final Judgment is two gatling guns plus homing missiles with CC immunity, and it moves you 20% slower — 40% while shooting — so it is a stronger turret, not a chase tool.

How to play Punisher

1. Fight at mid-range with the rifle, and swap to the shotgun against Vanguards whose hitboxes eat all 16 pellets.
2. Reload shotgun shells between shots in prolonged fights instead of from an empty chamber.
3. Throw Scourge Grenade to break a dive — the smoke plus the backward leap is your only self-peel.
4. Set ziplines near spawn and on your team’s routes so you return to fights instantly.
5. Reposition the turret between vantage points every fight; a predictable spot gets flanked.
6. Pop Final Judgment when the enemy commits to a push, with your team nearby to cover your immobile body.

Matchups

Punisher out-damages almost everything at mid-range and deletes Vanguards with the shotgun, and his turret punishes teams that push a single sightline. Dive comps that reach him behind the turret and long-range hitscan duels like Hawkeye are his problem — he has no on-demand mobility once the grenade and zipline are spent.

Strengths (per the wiki):

• A fairly simplistic but very powerful and resilient living arsenal, specialized at dealing damage at any range by swapping between his weapons while on the move.
• Has higher maximum health compared to other Duelists.
• His passive, Warrior’s Gaze, briefly grants the Punisher vision of enemies who disappear out of his line of sight for 3 seconds.
• • This means that players using the Punisher will still see the highlighted silhouette of opponents even if they are behind walls and obstacles.
• Punisher is able to switch between two primary fire weaponry at will:
• • Adjudication is a long-range automatic rifle that deals consistent rapid-fire damage at a long range.
• • Deliverance is a mid-to-short-range shotgun that packs incredible power at closer targets.
• ** It deals higher damage the closer the Punisher is to his targets, and can reliably one or two-shot most standard-health enemies if all shots deal critical hits.
• His secondary fire, Scourge Grenade, has the Punisher lobbing a smoke grenade that deals a small amount of damage on impact but creates a large smoke cloud that obscures enemy vision.
• • The Punisher leaps backwards when throwing the grenade, making it an effective dodging or spacing tool to widen the gap between him and his opponents, as well as to temporarily disorient them.
• ** Combined with his passive, this gives the Punisher a combat advantage as he can still see his enemies even while they are obscured by the smoke screen.
• Vantage Connection launches a hook with a cable that can attach to any surface, enabling the Punisher to move rapidly through it like a zipline.
• • This ability provides the Punisher with incredible flexibility. It can be used to gain terrain advantage and high ground over his opponents, as well as to perform evasive maneuvers to reposition in combat.
• • The cable persists after fired, allowing players to use it again freely.
• • By manually exiting the zipline earlier by pressing the jump button, players can keep the Punisher’s momentum and be slingshot forward and high in the air, granting him excellent mobility to travel very long distances.
• Culling Turret deploys a stationary armored skull-shaped turret that causes the player to enter first-person view. The turret allows the Punisher to rapidly fire explosive bullets that both deal direct damage as well as explosive damage in a small radius.
• • The bullets fired by the turret are not affected by damage falloff, meaning they will deal full damage no matter how far the Punisher is from his targets.
• • The turret has no duration, and the Punisher will remain on it until the ability is canceled, upon running out of bullets (200 in total), or if the turret is destroyed.
• • The turret has 600 health and effectively counts as a second healthbar for the Punisher; even if the turret is attacked and destroyed by the enemy team, he will not be taken down.
• ** The Punisher can still be healed while mounted on the turret.
• • While mounted on the turret, the Punisher becomes unstoppable and completely immune to all forms of crowd control. This also applies during the transformation.
• ** This even includes certain displacement Ultimates, most notably Jeff the Land Shark’s It’s Jeff!
• His Ultimate, Final Judgement, temporarily equips the Punisher with two massive Gatling guns and a shoulder-mounted missile launcher, both with infinite ammo.
• • The gatling gun have one of the highest rate-of-fire in the game, after Star-Lord’s Element Guns.
• • The missiles automatically lock onto the nearest characters, up to three at once.
• • While under the effects of Final Judgement, Punisher becomes unstoppable, completely immune to all forms of crowd control. This also applies during the transformation.
• ** This even includes certain displacement Ultimates, most notably Jeff the Land Shark’s It’s Jeff!
• Despite his higher health, he is still significantly frail, being susceptible to dives and flanking.
• Vulnerable if both his Scourge Grenade and Vantage Connection are on cooldown.
• Punisher cannot enter and exit his Culling Turret at will; if the player exits the turret by pressing the assigned button, the turret will disappear and trigger its cooldown.
• Punisher moves 20% slower (40% while shooting) during Final Judgement.

Weaknesses (per the wiki):

• Despite his higher health, he is still significantly frail, being susceptible to dives and flanking.
• Vulnerable if both his Scourge Grenade and Vantage Connection are on cooldown.
• Punisher cannot enter and exit his Culling Turret at will; if the player exits the turret by pressing the assigned button, the turret will disappear and trigger its cooldown.
• Punisher moves 20% slower (40% while shooting) during Final Judgement.

Team-ups

• Ammo Overload (with Rocket Raccoon, Season 9.0: The Mystery of Thebes): Throw an Ammo Overload Device in the target direction. Upon entering the device’s range, receive Faster Firing. Enhanced: When teaming up with Rocket Raccoon, the device grants Infinite Ammo and Faster Firing.
• Bestial Hunt (with Daredevil, Season 9.0: The Mystery of Thebes): Shoot piercing bullets that carry a Damage Boost effect. Enhanced: When teaming up with Daredevil, the bullets break enemy summoned walls and shields more quickly.

Related guides

• Heroes Database
• Abilities Database
• Flank Routes Guide
• How To Play Rocket Raccoon
• How To Play Daredevil

Common mistakes

• Holding the turret in the same spot all game until a flanker learns it
• Reloading the shotgun from empty mid-fight instead of shell by shell
• Using Final Judgment in the open, where your slowed body is a free target
• Treating the zipline as an escape tool; its long cooldown and grounding requirement betray you
• Fighting away from your team — Punisher’s lack of mobility needs bodies around him