Feed Your Hunger in Reign of Talon – Season 5: A Grim Doctrine

The wait is finally over, and something wicked this way comes...

Season 5 begins tomorrow, October 6, with the arrival of Doctrine, our long-awaited new Support Hero and a figure from Doomfist's bloodied past. His escape from Grímsvötn cracks open one of Overwatch's darkest secrets and sets the final chapter of the Reign of Talon in motion, years in the making.

What else is coming in Season 5? We'll raise Heroes from the grave with powers that get weirder every time you die. Sombra is hacking her way into an entirely new role. Battle Passes past are officially crawling back out of the vault. A mysterious Gate is opening onto the battlefield. Wuyang is ascending toward immortality. Lucio put a tiny dancing frog in his gun.

It's Halloween, Heroes. Feed your hunger.

A Grim Doctrine Takes Hold

Doctrine has spent long enough in the shadows.

Our newest Support brings Overwatch's vampire fantasy to life with a dark, sophisticated kit built around manipulating the lifeforce on both sides of a fight. His Eternal Scepter heals allies and damages enemies from mid-to-long range, while his mechanical bat-like drones empower the team with healing and increased attack speed. Then there's Infuse, which lets you empower Doctrine's abilities when the moment calls for something a little more... potent.

And when you decide there's simply too much life on one side of the battlefield, his Ultimate allows you to redistribute it. Allies gain Overhealth while enemy maximum health is limited, because apparently even lifeforce is negotiable if you ask the right vampire.

Doctrine didn't arrive here by accident, either. Loss shaped his life, his philosophy, and eventually the technology he used to keep himself and his brother alive. That same technology would ultimately condemn him to Grímsvötn, where years without his drones took their toll.

Then an old friend came knocking. Doomfist has freed Doctrine, and some history refuses to stay buried.

Break into Grímsvötn

Most prisons keep people in, but Watchpoint: Grímsvötn was built to make sure they never got out.

Season 5 takes us deep into the fire and ice of an Icelandic volcanic fissure with the first new Escort map in years. Once an Overwatch Watchpoint, later controlled by Helix, Grímsvötn has housed some of the world's most dangerous criminals, their weapons, and more than a few mistakes Overwatch probably hoped would stay forgotten. That included Doomfist himself, once upon a time.

Now he's returned to break Doctrine free, Talon has taken control of the prison, and you'll push straight through the scene of the crime while the consequences of that escape begin to unfold around you.

There's fire, ice, stolen technology, forgotten prisoners, and more… maybe take a second to look around between fights. As long as you don't become the next permanent resident.

Raise the Dead in Mystery Madness: Graveyard Games

Normally, dying means something went wrong. Not this time!

Mystery Madness: Graveyard Games turns death into an opportunity to get completely unhinged. You'll enter as a random Hero and come back from every death with random new powers, stacking strange combinations together as you discover what kind of monster you can become. You'll help decide who claws their way out next, too.

Complete challenges to collect Offerings, then pledge them to Ashe, Moira, or Winston. The Hero with the most Offerings gets summoned into the mode next, and by the final week, all three will have risen from the grave. And the madness grows throughout the event, eventually bringing the roster to 20 playable Heroes.

And the limited time mode is but one part of these haunted Halloween festivities. Each week will bring a new Event Pass for you to trick or treat through, with spooky rewards and a milestone waiting at the end of every one. You're free to creep through your favorite corners of Overwatch outside of the event mode, or you can join in on the Mystery Madness to take on the first repeatable challenge and gather even more ominous Offerings. Bring them back to the ghostly graveyard and cast your votes! Every Offering pledged earns Battle Pass XP and brings your chosen Hero one step closer to rising from the dead.

Dig in and see what crawls back onto the battlefield from October 6-November 2.

The Real Hunt Begins with Overwatch x Shadow Monarch

Heroes… arise! A mysterious Gate is opening, and what waits beyond is anything but E-Rank. The Overwatch x Shadow Monarch collab brings dark fantasy and high-impact anime style to the fight for a better future.

Take up the mantle of Sung Jinwoo, find your fit among the S-Rank Hunters Cha Hae-In and Choi Jong-In, or answer the call of the Shadow Army as Igris and Iron.

Genji × Sung Jinwoo takes you from the bottom Hunter to top Shadow Army commander. Level up, grow stronger with every fight, and prove there's always another limit to break.

Reaper × Igris answers the call to arise. Once the Blood-Red Commander, Igris returns from defeat as one of Jinwoo's most formidable Shadow Soldiers-and Reaper knows his way around resurrection.

Anran × Cha Hae-In brings the heat to S-Rank as one of the strongest Hunters around. Calm, serious, and deadly when it counts, Cha Hae-In's strength is a natural fit for any fight.

Reinhardt × Iron puts some serious muscle behind the Shadow Army. Once an A-Rank Hunter, Iron rises from defeat to fight again, and he certainly has the armor for it.

Lifeweaver × Choi Jong-In makes S-Rank look effortless, pairing Lifeweaver with the intelligent, composed Mage Hunter and Guild Master known for leading with both brains and firepower.

From Hunters to Shadows, E-Rank to S-Rank, and everything in between, each Overwatch x Shadow Monarch collab skin draws from a unique visual identity to bring a darker world together with the colorful Heroes of Future Earth.

The Gate won't stay open forever. Take the quest, enter the Overwatch x Shadow Monarch collaboration and level up from October 6-26!

©Solo Leveling Animation Partners

Sombra Changes Roles, Roadhog Changes the Rules

If you thought you knew Sombra, think again. One of the biggest changes we've ever made to an existing Hero is hitting the roster in Season 5 as Sombra moves from Damage to Support.

Our favorite hacker is now a Support Tactician, using the battlefield information and control she's always been known for in an entirely new way. Hotfix lets Sombra target an ally for healing after a brief cast and can even be used while Invisible without immediately breaking stealth. Cyberspace creates an area that heals allies while inflicting the new Weaken status on enemies, reducing their damage and healing effectiveness.

And Sombra isn't the only old fav learning new tricks.

Roadhog has been tinkering with the Scrap Gun, which now fires two bursts per volley with a stronger center projectile in each. His new Trash Compactor does exactly the sort of thing you'd expect from an ability called Trash Compactor: swallow incoming enemy projectiles, then send an explosive shot back whose damage scales with how much punishment you absorbed.

They say "old habits die hard" but these two are forming new ones!

Resurrect Battle Passes Past

Unvaulted Passes arrive in Season 5, putting revised Battle Passes from Seasons 1-15 back into play and giving you another shot at eligible rewards you may have left behind.

Already made progress on one? You'll pick up where you left off. Even progress made on the Free track carries forward, so picking up its Unvaulted Pass unlocks eligible Premium rewards through the progress you previously earned.

Better yet, you don't have to abandon the current season to do it. You can progress one Unvaulted Pass alongside the current Battle Pass at the same time, with the XP from your matches contributing to both. Your active Unvaulted Pass will automatically roll into the next available one when completed unless you choose another yourself, and once acquired, an Unvaulted Pass remains permanently available on your account. No expiration date lurking behind you. Take your time and enjoy!

*Unvaulted Passes do not include Overwatch Coins, XP Boosts, Mythic Prisms, Prestige Titles, or Mythic Hero and Weapon Skins.

Mythical Power and Volume

Dragon Shaoxia Wuyang Hero Skin

The heavens have issued a challenge, and Mythic Dragon Shaoxia Wuyang intends to answer.

Wuyang becomes a young warrior cultivating his command over floods and storms on a journey toward immortality, accompanied into battle by a celestial dragon companion that remains by his side and changes alongside your selected colors. Customize the look further with flowing hairstyles, ethereal dragon horns, a striking mask, colors, Mythic Aspects, transformative VFX, and custom ability effects.

• Level 1: Begin your cultivation with the Dragon Shaoxia's Mythic form, accompanied into battle by a dragon familiar.
• Level 2: Advance along the path with new customizations, including flowing hairstyles, ethereal dragon horns, and a mask.
• Level 3: Command the elements in your own colors with additional palettes that transform you and your dragon familiar together.
• Level 4: Ascend to immortality with transformative VFX that bring the full power of Dragon Shaoxia Wuyang to life.

Treblemaker Lucio Weapon Skin

Okay, enough "quiet contemplation of immortality" and whatnot...time to turn up.

Treblemaker is Lucio's first Mythic and one of our most ambitious yet, making everything you do part of the portable party performance. Healing and firing come with special audio, final blows build an increasingly elaborate reactive UI, and eliminations send your competition out beneath rotating graffiti-style frog effects.

Also, there is a tiny frog inside Treblemaker. He dances. That's it, that's the Mythic.

Hit the flourish and let the real star take over as your little resident hype frog comes alive to the beat. The battlefield becomes your stage, so crank the volume and give the other team a show.

• Level 1: Drop the beat with Treblemaker's base Mythic look, featuring audio effects for healing and firing.
• Level 2: Make every elimination part of the show with custom kill effects rotating through graffiti-style frog poses.
• Level 3: Keep the set building as Treblemaker's custom reactive UI gets more elaborate with your final blows.
• Level 4: Bring down the house with the full music-inspired flourish and reload experience, starring your very own amazing dancing frog.

Darkness Descends in the Battle Passes

Feed your hunger for rewards with spooky skins and more! It wouldn't be Halloween without a few stylish new nightmares for the costume collection.

Darkness descends across the Season 5 Battle Passes with chilling prizes. Fight through frightening tracks to unlock five Legendary skins, three Epic skins, plus other cursed cosmetics, and currencies - including up to 80 Mythic Prisms to fully unlock Mythic Dragon Shaoxia Wuyang, Lucio's Treblemaker Mythic Weapon, or other Mythics and customizations for your collection.

Trick or treat and then compete as Legendary Ghostly Belle Ashe, Jack O' Ripper Soldier: 76, Ghost Bride Mei, Bat Empress Junker Queen, and Autumn Fox Zenyatta. Three Epic skins, Skelly Bastion, Witching Hour Brigitte, and Spectral Shroud Symmetra, join the haunting haul alongside other seasonal cosmetics and currencies.

Feed that hunger further with Crimson Regent Doctrine and Ghost Voyager VentureLegendary skins from the Ultimate Battle Pass, plus 20 Battle Pass Tier Skips, and 2000 Overwatch Coins. Plus Haunted Emre can be found creeping around in the Starter Pack, with 1000 Overwatch Coins.

And the revamped Battle Pass keeps your progression flexible. Choose which Legendary Battle Pass skin you want to pursue first, with the eligible Swap Pool giving you another way to shape the rewards you chase throughout the season. Witch Kiriko, Streetwear Hazard, Magma Sombra, and Evening Wear Tracer return from beyond the veil, among a few others.

Tech Witches Collection

A new coven is brewing up trouble this Halloween as Tech Witches D.Mon, Shion, Juno, Sierra, and Jetpack Cat trade the traditional broomsticks and dusty spellbooks for cutting-edge technology. This collection channels ancient magic through enchanted circuitry, futuristic familiars, and spell-infusions, giving each Hero her own colorful take on what witchcraft might look like with a few centuries of upgrades. The result is bright, magical, and pretty adorable. Which is good, because the rest of this season adds enough scares to the air.

Put a high-tech hex on the battlefield from October 9-26!

Team Drives

Before the Reign of Talon reaches its end, there's still time for one more Competitive run.

Team Drives return October 29-31, giving you a chance to find your Competitive chemistry right in the queue. Jump in solo or bring friends, and when you win, matched teammates automatically stick together for the next fight. Found a squad that clicks? Run it back.

Keeping the team together boosts your progression through Gladiator Ranks, while Hero Bans and Map Voting still give your newly assembled crew more chances to strategize and figure out what works. Climb for Competitive Points, Player Card Frames, and a Dynamic Title for the first 10,000 groups to finish the final Trial.

Just make sure you finish your Competitive placements before jumping in!

The Final Chapter Is Here

Season 5 is built around hunger, and everyone wants something.

Doctrine wants the power to decide who gets to keep living. Doomfist has broken into prison to get what he wants. Sombra has found an entirely new way to control the battlefield. Heroes are cheating death for fun. Hunters are leveling beyond their limits. Wuyang apparently has his sights set on immortality. Oh, and Lucio's frog wants to DANCE. Fair.

But behind all of it is something we've been building toward for a long time - the Reign of Talon is reaching its conclusion, and the events set in motion at Grímsvötn are the beginning of the end. This is the season we've been waiting for.

So, step into the prison. Raise the dead. Try a Hero you thought you knew. Dig up something you missed. Feed your hunger for whatever brought you here in the first place.

Overwatch: A Grim Doctrine begins October 6. Beware, the end is near.

Happy Halloween, Heroes!