Blizzard has released the Overwatch Season 5 patch notes, and the headline is a big one: Sombra is no longer a Damage hero. As part of the Reign of Talon – Season 5: A Grim Doctrine update, she has been moved to the Support role, while Roadhog gets a full rework aimed at making his Chain Hook less deadly.
Both changes land alongside a new Escort map, a four-week Halloween event, the return of old Battle Passes and a shake-up to how the Top 500 leaderboard works. (Blizzard dropped the “2” from the game’s name in February 2026, so you’ll still see this update called the Overwatch 2 patch notes in plenty of places.)
Sombra Is Now a Support, and Hack Is Gone
The biggest change in the patch is a role swap. Sombra moves from Damage to Support, and into the Tactician subrole. Blizzard’s reasoning is that her identity as a disruptive mastermind never sat well with a Damage hero’s job of dealing damage.
The more interesting shift is what she loses. Hack, the ability that locked enemies out of their abilities, has been removed. Blizzard says players found it jarring and frustrating to face, and replaces it with a new debuff called Weaken, which cuts an enemy’s damage and healing output by 50%.
Her new kit centers on two abilities:
- Hotfix is a targeted heal. It restores 65 health instantly and 25 per second after that, up to 175 total over 12 seconds. It can also be pointed at health packs and most enemy deployables to hack them, and it works while she’s stealthed.
- Cyberspace is a 5-meter zone that lasts 3 seconds. It damages and weakens enemies and heals allies standing in it.
Her old Opportunist passive is replaced by Conspirator, which reveals enemy ultimates once they’re fully charged. That’s a useful tool for a Tactician.
Blizzard also took away some of her mobility. Translocator’s stealth lasts longer (6.5 seconds, up from 5), but entering stealth is slower, the throw range is shorter, and the cooldown is longer. Her EMP costs about 67.5% more ultimate charge, and her Machine Pistol is weaker.
Stealth, health pack hacking, and an EMP are still there. Taking the Hack lockout away is the part likely to start the most debate.
Roadhog’s Rework Changes How Chain Hook Works
Roadhog’s rework has two goals, according to Blizzard: lower the frustration of Chain Hook being lethal on almost any target, and give him a way to help his team like a more traditional tank.
The Scrap Gun now fires in 2 bursts per volley, and the weapon’s ammo count doubles from 6 to 12. Total damage per volley goes up from 175 to 204, but the crit multiplier falls from 2x to 1.5x and the shotgun spread shrinks. The old secondary fire is gone.
In its place is Trash Compactor. Roadhog soaks up projectiles in front of him for 2 seconds, then fires them back as an explosion that deals 75 to 200 damage depending on what he absorbed. He moves 15% slower while it’s active, and it has a 10-second cooldown in 5v5.
Chain Hook keeps its role as a displacement tool, but the stun is shorter (0.3 seconds, down from 0.4) and targets land 4.5 meters away instead of 3. The cooldown drops by a second. Take a Breather heals faster but now lasts only 2 seconds, with less damage reduction.
Two new perks add flavor. Here, Piggy Piggy cuts Chain Hook’s cooldown by 80% during Whole Hog, which could make his ultimate scarier than ever. Toxic Exhaust slows enemies in front of Trash Compactor and damages them over time.
Other Hero Changes in the Season 5 Patch
Beyond the two reworks, Blizzard made a long list of smaller tweaks:
- D.Va: Micro Missiles fire faster (14 shots per second, up from 11), so the full volley lands quicker without extra total damage.
- Domina: A shorter Crystal Charge cooldown and 100% ability lifesteal help her recover during long fights.
- Genji: Swift Strike hits harder (60, up from 50) while Dragonblade damage drops to 100 and its swing gets 15% faster.
- Bastion: Reconfigure lasts 5 seconds, down from 6.
- Cassidy: Deadeye can no longer attach him to Jetpack Cat’s Lifeline, because Blizzard said the combo repositioned him too well.
- Doctrine: The new support gets nerfed right after his trial weekend. Blizzard says he overperformed, so his ultimate costs more and Shrouded Momentum has a longer cooldown and weaker damage reduction.
- Ana and Lúcio: Ana swaps the Groggy perk for Local Anesthetic, which makes Sleep Dart explode and slow enemies, and Lúcio’s Sound Barrier lasts 6 seconds again.
Blizzard also adjusted hit volumes across most of the roster to make aiming more consistent. Many heroes now have bigger head, torso or leg hitboxes, but Zenyatta, Reinhardt and Torbjörn get smaller ones. To offset the easier hits, hitscan projectile sizes were cut. Blizzard says the overall feel shouldn’t change much.
New Map, Halloween Mode and Legacy Battle Passes
Grimsvotn is the new Escort map, set at a high-security prison. Halloween versions of Hollywood, Lijiang Tower and Chateau Guillard are live until November 3.
The seasonal event is Mystery Madness: Graveyard Games, a four-week 5v5 arcade mode that blends Mystery Heroes, Junkenstein’s Lab and Stadium. You’re given a random role and 3 heroes to pick from, then earn Powers whenever you die. Doctrine is playable in it, and players spend Offerings from challenges to vote on which heroes appear next.
Blizzard is also bringing back old Battle Passes through a Legacy Pass menu. You can buy and progress passes from Seasons 1 through 15 and activate one at a time alongside the current season’s pass. The catch: Mythic Skins, Mythic Prisms, Coins, XP Boosts and Titles aren’t obtainable from unvaulted passes. Season 4’s pass arrives at midseason.
Competitive and Stadium Changes
The Top 500 leaderboard now sorts by Rank instead of Challenger Score, and Heat Bonus is gone. Blizzard says it wants to reward top players for skill rather than play time, while Challenger Score remains the requirement for making the board.
In Stadium, Quick Play becomes Open Queue with limits of 1 Tank, 2 Damage, and 3 Supports. Blizzard says it’s an experiment to cut Support queue times. It also halved passive health from currency and strengthened healing-reduction items to push back on sustain builds.
What Season 5 Means for Overwatch
Season 5 is a bigger swing than most balance patches. Moving a hero to a new role is rare, and removing a signature ability like Hack is a bold choice. How Sombra feels as a Support, and whether Weaken can match the impact Hack had, will probably decide how this patch is judged. Roadhog’s changes are subtler, but they could shift how often tanks and supports die to a single combo.
Overwatch Season 5 is live now on PC and consoles. For the full list of changes, you can read Blizzard’s official patch notes.
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