17GB update. Worth it? Let’s break down everything that landed.
Doctrine is here
The headline addition is Doctrine, the new Support hero freed from his volcanic prison by Doomfist. If you missed my breakdown of his kit and lore, [check that out here]. Short version: he manipulates lifeforce on both sides of a fight, heals allies, damages enemies, and his Ultimate redistributes maximum health between teams. I played him in the playtest and had a great time. He’s back and I’m happy about it.
Doctrine’s Skins
Doctrine’s rare colour variants are named Bhuruu, Girinhi, Pepuru and Yero, which are the words for blue, green, purple and yellow in Shona, a language spoken primarily in Zimbabwe. A lovely bit of detail that adds some depth to the character’s background.
His Crimson Regent skin is exclusively available through the Ultimate Battle Pass bundle, which also includes the Ghost Voyager Venture skin, 20 Battle Pass tier skips, and 2000 Overwatch Coins. For players in Australia that bundle sits at around AU$33.
To put that in perspective, 2000 Overwatch Coins on their own cost roughly AU$30. So you’re essentially paying full price for the coins and getting the two Legendary skins on top, which sounds like a deal until you remember that AU$30 for a single skin is the baseline being used to make it sound reasonable. I’ll leave that one with you.
New Map: Watchpoint Grímsvötn
The first new Escort map since the game launched. You’re pushing through an Icelandic volcanic prison, the same one that held Doctrine and Doomfist. Fire, ice, and a lot of lore happening around you if you take a second to look. It feels significant that this is where Season 5 is set, given this is meant to be the final chapter of the Reign of Talon.
Sombra goes Support, Roadhog gets a rework
Sombra has moved from Damage to Support. Her new kit includes Hotfix, which heals a targeted ally after a brief cast and can even be used while invisible, and Cyberspace, an area that heals allies while inflicting Weaken on enemies, reducing their damage and healing output. Genuinely curious how this plays out.
Roadhog now fires two bursts per volley with a stronger centre projectile. His new Trash Compactor absorbs incoming enemy projectiles and fires them back as an explosive shot scaled to how much damage he absorbed. He’s going to be annoying to play against, isn’t he.
Mythic Skins: Lucio and Wuyang
Lucio Mythic Weapon Skin: Treblemaker
Okay I have feelings about this one.
The little frog living inside the gun is genuinely adorable. The kill effects are cool. The concept of a reactive UI that builds with eliminations is a nice idea on paper. But in practice, when I tested it in game, the UI didn’t appear to change at all. Whether that’s a bug or just very subtle, I’m not sure, but for a Mythic skin that’s supposed to evolve visually as you play, not being able to notice it is a problem.
Then there’s the flourish. The dancing frog is cute, genuinely, but you have to keep tapping reload to keep it going rather than simply holding the button. For a Mythic skin whose whole personality is built around this little frog having the time of his life, the delivery feels like it needed one more pass.
I think that’s the core of my disappointment. This feels like a very polished Legendary skin. The personality is there, the audio effects are fun, and I’m glad Lucio finally has a Mythic. But Mythic should feel like it transcends what a Legendary can do, and Treblemaker doesn’t quite clear that bar for me. The poor little frog deserved better.
Wuyang Mythic: Dragon Shaoxia
This one is genuinely neat, and I want to be fair about it.
My personal take on Mythics is that they should take the core identity of a character and turn it all the way up. Wuyang is a student, a healer, a brother, someone with a deep affinity for water. The Dragon Shaoxia skin leans into Chinese mythology, with a celestial dragon companion that stays by your side and transforms alongside your chosen colours, flowing hairstyles, ethereal horns, and elemental VFX that build through four levels.
Worth noting that Shaoxia, written as 少侠 in Chinese, translates roughly to young hero or young knight-errant, which fits Wuyang’s character beautifully. The skin clearly did its homework and the cultural grounding is evident throughout.
If I’m being honest, I think my hesitation is that it’s not a traditionally western interpretation of what a fantasy skin looks like, and that’s entirely my own bias rather than a flaw in the skin. Judged on its own terms, it hits the brief. The dragon companion alone is doing a lot of impressive work.
Mystery Madness: Graveyard Games (27 days)
The new Halloween event and honestly it sounds chaotic in the best way. You start as a random hero, and every time you die you come back with random new powers that stack up over time. Complete challenges to earn Offerings, then pledge them to vote for which hero gets summoned into the mode next. Current candidates are Ashe, Winston and Moira, resetting weekly until all three rise from the dead.
Completing all the Mystery Madness challenges unlocks the Inflatable Reinhardt skin, which is exactly as unhinged as it sounds. Some challenges require playing the new mode itself, so that’s your excuse to dive in.
Offerings rewards track:
- Name Card: Crimson Regent (Doctrine themed)
- Voiceline: Why Fear Death?
- Lootbox
- Voiceline: Delay the Inevitable
- Spray: Crimson Regent Doctrine
- Lootbox
- Voiceline: Worth Suffering For
- Player Icon: Crimson Regent Doctrine
- Lootbox
- 2750 Battle Pass XP
- Voiceline: Act Erroneously
- Epic Lootbox
Collab: Shadow Monarch (6 Oct to 20 Oct)
Solo Leveling crossover with skins for Genji, Reaper, Reinhardt, Lifeweaver and Anran. Play games to earn free event rewards including weapon charms, name cards and player icons. The paid side includes legendary skins, highlight intros, victory poses and sprays.
Free rewards:
- Weapon Charm: Rank A Hunter
- Name Card: Choi Jong-In
- Name Card: Cha Hae-In
- Name Card: Rank D Hunter
- Name Card: Rank C Hunter
- Name Card: Rank B Hunter
Unvaulted Battle Passes
Seasons 1 through 15 Battle Passes are back for purchase at 1000 Overwatch Coins each, regardless of how much progress you previously made. If you already have progress on a pass, you pick up where you left off, and you can run an Unvaulted Pass alongside the current season simultaneously with XP counting toward both. No expiry once purchased.
Here’s the thing though. I’m currently sitting at level 71 out of 90 on one of these passes. Nineteen levels from the finish line. And it would still cost me the full 1000 Overwatch Coins to unlock it. No discount for existing progress, no acknowledgement that I’m nearly done. Just the flat fee regardless. That stings a little.
