Overwatch Season 5 Adds Doctrine, Support Sombra, and Old Battle Passes on October 6

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Overwatch Season 5, A Grim Doctrine, launches October 6 with a new Support hero, a new Escort map, and one of the bigger hero role changes Blizzard has made: Sombra is moving from Damage to Support.

The season also brings back older Battle Passes, adds a Halloween limited-time mode, and starts a Shadow Monarch collaboration running from October 6 to 26. The Halloween event, Mystery Madness: Graveyard Games, runs longer, from October 6 to November 2.

  • Doctrine joins the roster as a Support hero built around healing allies, damaging enemies, and manipulating lifeforce. His kit includes the Eternal Scepter, bat-like drones, an Infuse mechanic, and an Ultimate that grants allies Overhealth while limiting enemy maximum health.
  • Sombra is being reworked into a Support Tactician. Hotfix lets her heal an ally after a short cast, and Cyberspace creates an area that heals teammates while applying Weaken to enemies.
  • Grímsvötn is the season’s new Escort map, set in an Icelandic prison tied to Doomfist, Talon, and Doctrine’s escape.
  • Mystery Madness: Graveyard Games gives players random heroes and new random powers after each death. Players can earn Offerings and vote to add Ashe, Moira, or Winston to the mode, with the roster expanding over the event.
  • Unvaulted Passes bring revised Battle Passes from Seasons 1 through 15 back into play. Existing progress carries over, and players can progress one Unvaulted Pass alongside the current pass. They don’t include Overwatch Coins, XP Boosts, Mythic Prisms, Prestige Titles, or Mythic skins.

The Shadow Monarch crossover adds skins based on Sung Jinwoo, Cha Hae-In, Choi Jong-In, Igris, and Iron, matched with heroes including Genji, Reaper, Anran, Reinhardt, and Lifeweaver.

Season 5’s Mythic cosmetics are Dragon Shaoxia Wuyang and Lucio’s Treblemaker weapon skin, the latter featuring custom audio, elimination effects, and a tiny dancing frog inside the gun. The seasonal Battle Pass also includes Halloween-themed skins for Ashe, Soldier: 76, Mei, Junker Queen, Zenyatta, Bastion, Brigitte, and Symmetra.

Later in the month, the Tech Witches collection arrives October 9 to 26, while Team Drives return for Competitive players from October 29 to 31. Players will need to finish Competitive placements before joining that mode.

Season 5: A Grim Doctrine Launch Trailer | Overwatch

Further reading: Official Overwatch Season 5 blog