At BlizzCon 2026, the ninth hero to be released as part of the Reign of Talon story was revealed. Doctrine, a vampire-like support hero, has been freed by Doomfist and his ex-Talon allies from Overwatch’s maximum-security prison and has joined the Overwatch roster.
As part of Season 5, we’ll be going to Iceland for a new map at Watchpoint: Grimsvötn to embrace Doctrine and wrap up Overwatch‘s first year-long narrative. During BlizzCon, we got to go hands-on with Doctrine to try out how he plays and where he may squeeze into players’ favorite hero lists.
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Doctrine is a mix of several Overwatch characters.
Doctrine is an interesting mix of several popular support heroes. Specifically, Ana and Zenyatta, with a hint of Moira. Let’s break down how this plays out in a match. His primary fire from his staff can heal as well as deal damage. The E ability, Invigorating Drones, attaches to an ally and heals them, along with providing them an attack speed buff.
Already, he has a mini Ana ult mixed with Zenyatta’s healing orb while also not having to switch between damage and healing with his primary fire. That is cracked under the right hands. The left click also has very fast projectile speed with a generous hitbox to boot.
Doctrine’s left shift is his primary mobility ability, Shrouded Momentum. When activated and held, Doctrine can move around horizontally omnidirectionally while also receiving a damage reduction. So, similar to Moira’s left shift, but without the invulnerability and invisibility. Even for the little bit played, Shrouded Momentum was stellar at preventing dive heroes from picking him off. Right when you sense danger, you can just scoot away. This also pairs excellently with his Survivor sub-role to improve survivability.
Doctrine’s stand-out ability is Infuse.
What really makes Doctrine stand out is his right click, Infuse. This ability changes how the other two abilities and his primary fire operate. With the normal attack, it’ll now pierce enemies and allies. For Shrouded Momentum, Infuse allows you to get free-flight and fly away while it’s active. For the Drone, it also places one on Doctrine himself. Infuse also has two charges, which can be improved with the right major perk.
As for his ultimate, it is shockingly powerful. Deliverance can quickly change the tide of any team fight by reducing enemy max health while giving any ally caught within it overhealth. What was a little confusing was the range and speed of this ability.
Doctrine releases a swarm of drones, and when activating it, it appears to go wherever you aim. But in reality, it slowly moves in that direction for a short time before dissipating. Yet under the right circumstances, Deliverance will be a nasty ult that can doom any squishy tank (or worse for lower-health heroes).
With great voicelines, a stylish vibe, and an impressive, massively fun kit, Doctrine is an excellent addition.
Doctrine is ultimately a highly mobile hero who can quickly and effectively balance strong damage with even better heals. The drone is especially nasty when paired with certain ults to make it even more effective, like a Soldier. Even though the drone isn’t switchable between allies, its total healing is impressive. Especially when paired with his scepter’s base healing.
Particularly, when Infused, the primary fire is stellar at picking weakened enemies even from across an arena. For any main of Ana, Moira, and Zenyatta, Doctrine has arrived and may easily threaten their places in players’ top support lists.
With great voicelines, a stylish vibe, and an impressive, massively fun kit, Doctrine is an excellent addition to the roster, and the wait was worth it. How the story will unfold with his addition to team Ex-Talon, we’ll have to wait and see. But for now, adding a futuristic vampire-like hero was absolutely the right call. It’s even surprising that this idea took this long to come to Overwatch.
