Overwatch Season 5: A Grim Doctrine launched on 6 October 2026, bringing a new Support hero, major changes to existing heroes, a new Escort map, and plenty of balance adjustments. I’ve been playing quite a lot of Season 5 over the past few days, particularly with the new hero Doctrine and Roadhog rework, and I have to say that I’m enjoying the changes so far.
The new season introduces Doctrine, a vampire-inspired Support hero who uses his Eternal Scepter and mechanical drones to heal allies and damage enemies. Sombra has also received one of her biggest reworks yet, moving from Damage to Support, while Roadhog gets some significant changes to his weapon and abilities.
There’s also a new Escort map, Watchpoint: Grímsvötn, set inside a prison in Iceland, along with Halloween activities, new cosmetics, and the ability to progress through selected older Battle Passes.
New Hero and Hero Reworks
Doctrine is probably my favourite addition to Overwatch Season 5 so far. I enjoyed using him during the playtest, and after spending quite a few days playing him in the live season, I still find his abilities enjoyable.
He definitely doesn’t feel as powerful as he did during the playtest, though. Blizzard made several adjustments before his official release, including reducing the attack speed bonus from his Invigorating Drones, increasing the cooldown of Shrouded Momentum, and reducing the effectiveness of his Transfusion perk. Personally, I think these changes make him feel more balanced without taking away what makes him fun to play.
One of the things I really like about Doctrine is that his primary weapon doesn’t suffer from damage fall-off. This means he can comfortably stay towards the backline, providing healing and contributing damage without having to get too close to the enemy team. As long as you have a clear line of sight to your teammates, you can heal them from quite a distance. That allows me to monitor the battlefield, support teammates, and apply pressure to enemies without constantly putting myself in danger.
His Invigorating Drones are also useful for supporting teammates during engagements, providing both healing and increased attack speed. Meanwhile, his ultimate, Deliverance, can temporarily increase the survivability of your team while reducing the maximum health of nearby enemies. It’s a fairly versatile toolkit, and I like how you can switch between healing, damaging, and empowering teammates depending on the situation.
However, Doctrine does have some weaknesses, particularly when enemy flankers start targeting you. I’ve experimented with his lifesteal-related perk, which sounds quite powerful on paper. In practice, however, I don’t find it nearly as effective as I initially expected. You only get two attempts to take advantage of it, and the amount of health recovered doesn’t feel particularly significant unless you manage to hit multiple targets. When a flanker like Tracer is already targeting you and you are on your own, that’s not always easy to accomplish. I usually main Zenyatta and I find Tracer easier with Zen as I can just burst her down.
So I’ve had quite a few situations where I still struggled to survive despite having the perk equipped. It certainly helps in some circumstances, but I wouldn’t rely on it as my main defensive option. And speaking of flankers, there’s one particular hero who has been giving me a lot of trouble lately. Genji.
I have mixed feelings about the recent Genji changes. In the Season 5 patch, Blizzard increased his Swift Strike damage from 50 to 60, allowing him to deal more damage when executing his combos. His Dragonblade also received adjustments, with its damage per swing reduced from 110 to 100 but its attack speed increased by 15%.
These changes were intended to make Genji more effective at securing eliminations, and from my experience playing Support, I can certainly feel the difference. Even before this patch, I used to hate Genji’s Swift Strike. And now, a good Genji player can burst me down very quickly. It’s quite annoying but I also understand why Blizzard made these changes. Genji players have been complaining about his effectiveness and how frustrating he could feel to play before the patch.
The problem, of course, is finding the right balance. If Genji becomes too powerful, Support players will inevitably find themselves being eliminated more frequently, particularly when they don’t have enough tools to defend themselves. But if he’s too weak, Genji players won’t enjoy using him either. Balancing a game like Overwatch, with so many heroes, different abilities, and team compositions, is never going to be easy. And this is why many players are leaving Marvel Rivals because I’ve heard things are very unbalanced on the other side.
Another major change in Overwatch Season 5 is Sombra’s transition from Damage to Support. This is quite a significant departure from her original role, especially considering how her previous playstyle revolved around sneaking behind enemy lines, disrupting opponents, and eliminating vulnerable targets.
Her rework introduces Hotfix, which allows her to heal teammates (we experienced with this in a Perk before), and Cyberspace, an ability that creates an area that heals allies while weakening enemies. The Weaken effect reduces enemies’ damage and healing effectiveness, making it particularly useful during team fights. I’ve tried playing the new Sombra a few times, but I have to admit that I found myself confused about where I should be positioning her.
My initial impression is that she should still roam around the battlefield, looking for opportunities to pressure enemies, before returning to support and heal her teammates when needed. This is because she has a healing cooldown so she can’t just heal teammates non-stop. However, putting that into practice is easier said than done.
When I was playing her, I often struggled to decide whether I should be helping teammates directly or looking for opportunities elsewhere. Her new playstyle requires a different mindset, and I don’t think it suits me particularly well. That doesn’t mean she’s a bad Support hero, though. I know many people are having fun playing her.
I think Sombra is now much more useful to her team in a broader sense. Rather than concentrating primarily on disrupting or eliminating individual enemies, she can actively contribute to keeping teammates alive. When positioned and timed correctly, Cyberspace can make a substantial difference during an engagement, potentially saving teammates who would otherwise have been eliminated. Imagine placing Cyberspace when an enemy hero like Cassidy or Orisa is unleashing their ultimate ability.
Beyond Doctrine and Sombra, Season 5 also introduces Watchpoint: Grímsvötn, a new Escort map set in an Icelandic prison. The map is tied directly to Doctrine’s backstory and the ongoing Reign of Talon storyline.
Roadhog has also received a substantial rework. His Scrap Gun now fires two bursts per volley, while his new Trash Compactor ability can absorb incoming projectiles before returning an explosive shot. His hook receives a nerf so he doesn’t always get an instant kill as soon as you are able to hook someone – but I find that 70-80% of the time, you can still finish someone off after a hook. I’m pretty happy with the change, especially with the Trash Compactor that can both serve as an extra tankiness and damage dealing.
Blizzard has also introduced Unvaulted Battle Passes, allowing players to activate and progress through previously purchased Battle Passes, with older passes also available for purchase. There are some restrictions on which rewards can still be earned, but it’s a welcome option for players who missed content from earlier seasons. Then there’s Mystery Madness: Graveyard Games, the Halloween-themed mode that combines elements of Mystery Heroes, Junkenstein’s Lab, and Stadium, giving players additional powers as they progress.
These additions give players more things to explore beyond the usual Quick Play and Competitive matches, although my time with Season 5 has been primarily focused on getting familiar with the hero changes.
Overwatch Season 5 Impressions: A promising start with some balancing challenges
After spending quite a bit of time with Overwatch Season 5, I’m enjoying the direction Blizzard is taking with the game. Doctrine is easily my favourite addition to the season so far. He feels less powerful than his playtest version, but I think he’s in a better position balance-wise. His long-range healing and damage capabilities suit my preferred Support playstyle.
Sombra’s transition to Support is also an interesting experiment. While her new abilities certainly offer useful contributions to the team, I’m still having trouble adapting to her positioning and deciding when to attack or support teammates. People are having fun and show positive feedback about her though.
Solo Leveling collaboration brings some awesome-looking skins
There is also a collaboration with the popular Korean anime Solo Leveling, officially called Overwatch x Shadow Monarch. The crossover brings five themed skins inspired by characters from the anime (if you haven’t watched the Anime, please do so).
Genji gets a Sung Jinwoo skin – which I really like (even though others who don’t watch the Anime would see it as a regular, casual guy holding a sword). Reaper becomes Igris, the iconic Blood-Red Commander, while Reinhardt takes on the appearance of Iron, complete with his imposing armour. Meanwhile, Anran gets a Cha Hae-In skin, and Lifeweaver becomes Choi Jong-In, the powerful S-Rank mage and guild master.
The game already has a colourful and diverse cast of heroes, so seeing them dressed as recognisable anime characters adds another layer of fun, especially if you’re already familiar with the original series. We also had a Cowboy Beebop collaboration in the past.
Of course, these are cosmetic skins, so they won’t give you an actual advantage during matches. And as always with these limited-time collaborations, the question is whether you like the designs enough to spend your Overwatch Coins on them.
The Overwatch x Shadow Monarch collaboration runs from 6 to 19 October 2026, so players interested in grabbing these Solo Leveling skins have a limited window to do so.
