Overwatch has entered its spooky season. Season 5, A Grim Doctrine, went live on Tuesday, October 6, at 11 a.m. PT, which was 2 p.m. ET, bringing a new support hero, a new Escort map, a Halloween event, and one of the biggest reworks Blizzard has ever made to an existing hero, according to Blizzard’s season announcement.
The headliner is Doctrine, a vampire-themed support with ties to Doomfist’s past who arrives for the final chapter of the Reign of Talon story. His Eternal Scepter heals allies and damages enemies at mid-to-long range, his mechanical bat-like drones boost the team’s healing and attack speed, and his Infuse ability powers up the rest of his kit. Doctrine already had a trial weekend, and Blizzard’s patch notes say he was “overperforming relative to other supports,” so he arrives with a round of nerfs.
The bigger shake-up for regular players is Sombra, who moves from Damage to Support as a Tactician. Her signature Hack is gone. In its place, Hotfix heals a targeted ally and can be used while invisible, and Cyberspace creates an area that heals allies and applies a new Weaken status to enemies. In the patch notes, the developers say Weaken halves an enemy’s damage and healing output and say that while Hack could create fun moments, “most players found it jarring, frustrating, and difficult to deal with.” Roadhog also gets a revamped Scrap Gun and a new Trash Compactor ability.
The season adds Watchpoint: Grímsvötn, the Icelandic prison that once held Doctrine and Doomfist and the game’s first new Escort map since Overwatch 2 launched. The Halloween event, Mystery Madness: Graveyard Games, starts you as a random hero and hands you new random powers every time you die.
Blizzard is also loosening up its battle passes. Older passes are coming back as Unvaulted Battle Passes, so players can pick up past rewards, and Drives are coming to Quick Play. Cosmetics this season include a Mythic skin for Wuyang and a Mythic weapon skin for Lúcio with a tiny dancing frog inside.
Blizzard’s other games are busy this fall too. Hearthstone has its next expansion on the way, as RCG reported when Hearthstone dated Black Empire for October 20.
