Marvel Strike Force Hive Mind

Introduction to Hive-Mind Team

Marvel Strike Force Hive Mind is a Bio Raid team that builds on the foundation of the Symbiote team, designed specifically for Incursion II Raids. It features two reworked characters, Carnage and Venom, alongside three newer additions: Void Knight, Gwenom, and Red Goblin. This team excels at applying Bleed effects, triggering powerful passive abilities, boosting survivability, and effectively managing ability energy, making it a strong choice for raid content. Notably, Void Knight was the first character introduced to the game through a community poll, marking a unique approach to character additions in Marvel Strike Force.

Team Members

The Hive-Mind team in Marvel Strike Force consists of five characters: Void Knight, Gwenom, Venom, Carnage, and Red Goblin. Together, they form a Bio Raid team that leverages strong synergy through Bleed effects, passive ability triggers, survivability boosts, and efficient ability energy management, making them highly effective in Incursion II Raids.

Utility & Primary Game Modes

The Hive-Mind team in Marvel Strike Force is primarily specialized for Alliance Raids, with a particular focus on the Bio nodes in Incursion II Raids. They are designed to clear these nodes efficiently and are considered essential for tackling future, more challenging Incursion II difficulties. Beyond raids, the full Hive-Mind team also performs well in other game modes such as War and Crucible, especially when facing opponents that rely heavily on summons.

Team Placement & Turn Order

In Marvel Strike Force, the optimal placement for the Hive-Mind team starts with Void Knight positioned in a corner to take advantage of the passive Taunt provided by Red Goblin, who has the highest Health stat. Gwenom should be placed next to Void Knight to benefit from her increased Dodge Chance, helping her avoid chain attacks. Venom is best positioned in the middle due to his strong passive healing, while Red Goblin and Carnage occupy the opposite side. Regarding turn order, Void Knight acts first because of his passive ability, followed by Carnage in second place and Gwenom third. Venom and Red Goblin have identical speeds and take their turns last, with Venom gaining bonus Speed during the fight and potentially becoming the fastest by the end.

ISO-8 Classes

In Marvel Strike Force, Gwenom serves as a Striker, using her Basic and follow-up attacks in Raids to provide Ability Energy to herself and other Hive-Mind allies. She is also valuable in other game modes for flipping positive effects and can be played as a Skirmisher to improve Stun reliability, especially in Dark Dimensions. Venom functions as a Striker, leveraging follow-up attacks to fill his Speed Bar and gain additional turns, which increases Heal Blocks and applies Counter to allies, boosting the team’s Critical Chance. Carnage is typically a Raider, benefiting from his Passive that grants +50% Critical Damage when an enemy has Taunt. His Special and Basic attacks hit multiple targets, fitting the Raider role well, though he can also be played as a Skirmisher to flip positive effects into Bleed at Blue 5 Iso. Void Knight works as both a Raider and Skirmisher; his multiple-target attacks make Raider a strong choice, while Striker is recommended for converting negative effects on himself to positive ones and inflicting negative effects on enemies with follow-up attacks. Red Goblin also fits the Raider or Skirmisher roles, with Raider favored for his multi-target attacks and Skirmisher as an alternative when debuff application is less reliable.

T4 Ability Upgrades

For essential upgrades in Marvel Strike Force’s Hive-Mind team, focus on Carnage’s Passive and Ultimate abilities. His Passive increases team Speed Bar by 30% when an enemy drops below 25% Health, while his Ultimate applies Offense Down, Defense Down, and Slow, gaining buffs in the process. Void Knight’s Passive and Ultimate are crucial as well; his Passive generates significant Ability Energy for the team and himself on spawn, enabling frequent ability use, and his Ultimate applies Ability Block to the primary target for two turns or all targets in Raids. Red Goblin’s Special and Ultimate are important, with his Special applying Trauma for two turns in Raids, healing the team, and clearing negative effects, while his Ultimate transfers negative effects from allies to himself, copies them to enemies in Raids, and heals the team. Gwenom’s Passive and Special improve survivability by applying two Evade stacks to herself or Hive-Mind allies below 50% Health and by applying Stun for two turns and spreading positive effects in Raids. Venom’s Passive and Basic upgrades enhance his Speed by up to 30% and grant +15% Critical Chance to allies with Counter, while his Basic attack grants +20% Speed Bar on use and Iso follow-up attacks.

Recommended additional upgrades include Gwenom’s Ultimate, which provides a Barrier equal to 15% of her Max Health to the team for increased mitigation. Red Goblin’s Passive applies +1 Deflect to all Hive-Mind allies when an enemy takes Bleed damage, boosting survivability. Venom’s Ultimate and Special are valuable for clearing negative effects from himself and the most injured ally and applying three Bleed stacks for two turns while prolonging negative effects in Raids. Void Knight’s Special is also recommended outside of Raids for stealing one Ability Energy from the primary target, enhancing utility in other game modes.

On-Spawn Buffs

Void Knight generates 5 Ability Energy for himself and 2 Ability Energy for all other Hive-Mind allies while also filling their Speed Bars by 25%. Red Goblin’s Charged ability applies Taunt for two turns to the Hive-Mind ally with the highest Health during Raids. The team gains Defense Up for two turns and 2 Deflect stacks in all game modes, enhancing survivability. Additionally, in Raids, the team benefits from a Speed Up effect, increasing their turn frequency and overall effectiveness.

Team Mechanics (Abilities Overview)

The Hive-Mind team in Marvel Strike Force expertly manipulates their own Speed Bars and generates additional Ability Energy, while applying numerous debuffs, especially Bleed, and maintaining strong sustain through passive healing triggered by enemies taking Bleed damage. Gwenom acts as a Brawler who serves as an Ability Energy battery, buffing herself and allies while debuffing opponents. She can flip positive effects, apply Defense Down and Stun, and spread positive effects in Raids, while passively boosting mitigation with Evade and healing allies. Venom functions as a Controller, applying high amounts of Bleed, taking frequent turns, and spreading negative effects. He can flip positive effects to negatives, apply Heal Block, Ability Block, and prolong negative effects in Raids. Venom also passively heals, applies Defense Up, gains Speed, applies Counter, boosts Critical Chance for allies, and duplicates his Focus. Carnage is a high-damage Brawler who passively increases team Speed Bar, chains attacks, deals extra damage based on negative effects, and applies Bleed, Disrupted, Offense Down, Defense Down, and Slow, gaining buffs with his Ultimate. His Passive is key for Speed Bar generation and grants +50% Critical Damage when enemies have Taunt.

Void Knight supports the team with excellent control, particularly in Raids, flipping negative effects on himself to positive and positive effects on targets to negative. He steals Ability Energy, pulls enemies together, applies Ability Block to the primary target or all enemies in Raids, and passively generates Ability Energy. He also heals himself and the team, applies Speed Up and Slow in Raids, and prevents enemies from gaining Immunity. Red Goblin serves as a Protector who passively applies Deflect and Taunt to the highest Health Hive-Mind ally in Raids on spawn. He protects the designated protector by clearing Taunt, applying Safeguard and Deathproof below 50% Health, and filling his Speed Bar. Red Goblin can revive a fallen Symbiote ally if he has Charged, applies Deflect when enemies take Bleed damage, and his Basic heals while his Special heals and removes debuffs. His Ultimate transfers and copies negative effects between allies and enemies. The team benefits from key stat boosts: Gwenom receives +60% Focus, Void Knight gains +60% Max Health and Armor for himself and +30% for others (+60% in Raids), and Red Goblin gains +60% Damage and +25% Block Amount.

Combat Tips & Tricks

At the start of a fight in Marvel Strike Force, use Void Knight’s Ultimate to group enemies together, allowing other team members to hit multiple targets more effectively. Use Void Knight’s Special ability strategically to steal Ability Energy from enemies with dangerous abilities, such as Nova in Incursion II Bio nodes, preventing them from using their Ultimates and controlling their Charged status, which also enables Void Knight to use his Ultimate sooner. Quickly reducing an opponent below 25% Health activates Carnage’s Passive, providing a constant influx of Speed Bar to the team. When Venom takes his turn, prioritize attacking targets with Vulnerable to help him gain Speed Bar faster. Control abilities should be used wisely—Gwenom applies Stun, Void Knight applies Ability Block to all opponents in Raids, and Venom prolongs debuffs and also applies Ability Block. The team maintains strong sustain and offensive pressure by gaining various buffs and applying numerous debuffs and Bleeds that steadily reduce enemy health. Additionally, Red Goblin’s passive grants the team a second chance by reviving one fallen Hive-Mind ally.

Countering the Hive-Mind Team

When facing the Hive-Mind team in Marvel Strike Force, priority targets to eliminate first are Void Knight and Red Goblin, as Void Knight’s buff manipulation and Red Goblin’s revive abilities pose significant threats. The general strategy involves quickly removing buffs and applying immunity to disrupt Hive-Mind’s control, since teams that cleanse debuffs and apply immunity can effectively counter their tactics. Recommended counters include Gamma teams, which provide strong synergy and potent damage with Hulk absorbing damage and Red Hulk and She-Hulk dealing heavy single-target damage to key Hive-Mind members. Illuminati teams are effective as well, offering a free-to-play option even without Captain Britain. New Warriors are favored by some players, while Cabal can decisively control Hive-Mind’s Speed Bar gain and overpower them, though it may be considered a strong offensive team used against a less challenging defense unless Super Skrull is present. Other viable counters include Superior Six, Infinity Watch, Annihilators, who can significantly punch up and decimate Hive-Mind, and Alpha Flight. Specific character counters include Big Time Spider-Man, who can apply Disrupted before Ms. Marvel’s Hard Light Taunt activates, useful against certain team compositions. Super Skrull serves as an alternative to Red Goblin when he’s unavailable, particularly in the first two Raid nodes and the Boss node, and can be paired with Hive-Mind on defense. Kang is another option, capable of going first in Arena and pairing well with Secret Defenders.