Blizzard’s October 6 update for Season 5: A Grim Doctrine is a big one. Roadhog gets a full rework, Sombra moves to the Support role, and every past Battle Pass becomes playable again. Here are the changes that matter most.
Roadhog rework
Scrap Gun
- Now fires 2-burst volleys, and ammo doubles from 6 to 12.
- Damage per volley rises from 175 to 204, but the critical multiplier drops from 2x to 1.5x.
- 16 pellets at 4.25 damage each, plus a new center projectile worth 34.
- Tighter spread (8° → 6°) and faster projectiles (80 → 100 m/s), but shorter falloff (now 20–35 m).
- The old secondary fire is gone.
New secondary fire: Trash Compactor
- Absorbs incoming projectiles in front of Roadhog for 2 seconds, then fires them back as an explosive shot.
- That shot deals 75–200 damage depending on how much was absorbed (30% conversion).
- Cooldown is 10s in 5v5 and 11s in 6v6. Roadhog moves 15% slower while it’s active.
Chain Hook and Take a Breather
- Chain Hook: cooldown drops to 6s (5v5) and 7s (6v6). The post-pull stun shortens to 0.3s, and enemies land farther away at 4.5m.
- Take a Breather: heals faster (200/s, up from 150) but lasts only 2s, reduces less damage (35%) and has a longer 2s cooldown.
- New perks: Here, Piggy Piggy cuts Chain Hook’s cooldown by 80% during Whole Hog. Toxic Exhaust slows enemies in front of Trash Compactor by 30% and deals 20 damage per second. Pulled Pork and Shrapnel Launcher have been removed.
Sombra is now a Support
This is the headline change. Sombra moves from Damage to Support (Tactician).
- Hack is gone. It’s replaced by Weaken, which halves an enemy’s damage and healing output.
- Cyberspace (new): a projectile that creates a zone, weakening enemies and healing allies inside it.
- Hotfix (new secondary fire): heals allies over time and can hack health packs and deployables. It has 2 charges and an 8s cooldown.
- Translocator: stealth lasts longer (6.5s) but has a shorter 12.25m range and a 7.5s cooldown.
- Machine Pistol drops to 7 damage per projectile, and EMP costs 67.5% more ultimate charge.
Other hero tuning
- Genji: Swift Strike damage 50 → 60. Dragonblade damage 110 → 100, but swings 15% faster.
- D.Va: Micro Missiles fire rate 11 → 14 per second.
- Lúcio: Sound Barrier lasts 6s (up from 5).
- Doctrine: nerfed across the board, including +8% ultimate cost and a weaker Transfusion perk.
- Bastion: Reconfigure duration 6 → 5s.
- Hitboxes: most heroes’ hitboxes grow slightly, while global hitscan projectile sizes shrink.
Unvaulted Battle Passes
- Old Battle Passes are back. Seasons 1–15 are purchasable now under a new Unvaulted Battle Pass tab, with later seasons coming over time.
- You can progress one legacy pass alongside the current one.
- Mythic Skins, Prisms, Coins, XP Boosts and Player Titles can’t be earned from unvaulted passes.
Everything else
- Mystery Madness: Graveyard Games: a four-week Halloween event. You vote on which heroes enter a 5v5 Best-of-3 Control mode.
- New Escort map: Grímsvötn.
- Halloween maps: spooky Hollywood, Lijiang Tower and Château Guillard, through November 3.
- Competitive: Heat Bonus is removed, and the Top 500 leaderboard now sorts by Rank.
- Stadium: Quick Play becomes Open Queue (1 Tank / 2 Damage / 3 Support), and passive health from currency is halved.
- Fixes: a bug where reload-speed penalties applied twice to Roadhog, Junkrat, Emre and Shion is fixed, and Moira’s Made My Night skin no longer greets “too enthusiastically.”
Sources
Header image: Overwatch © Blizzard Entertainment
