4. Hero Design
Scott Kennedy: Hello, BlizzCon. What’s up? I’m so excited to be here. When the team started building out Doctrine’s kit, we asked ourselves an important question. What does it really mean to be a support hero? Sure, you’re keeping your team healed and out of the spawn room, but you’re also responsible for giving your team every advantage you can.
With Doctrine, we wanted to see if we could take the support role to different and maybe more sinister places. Having heard about his fuel in the world, you can probably guess that Doctrine isn’t a pacifist support hero. His kit rewards precise accuracy to keep his allies alive while taking out the opposition. The biggest thing that sets our new support hero apart from other heroes is a simple yet devastatingly strong ability we call “Infuse.”
Infuse is Doctrine’s secondary fire. It has two charges that can either strengthen or alter other abilities within his kit. Knowing when to use or save your Infuse charges is the key to mastering our new hero. Let’s start with his primary fire, though.
Doctrine wields the Eternal Scepter. It’s a mid-range hitscan weapon that damages enemies and heals allies, like a more lethal take on Anna’s biotic rifle. But let’s take a look at it when you infuse the primary fire.
It turns into a more formidable version of itself, creating a larger, more powerful piercing blast. This makes it a useful tool for healing up allies and finishing off enemies. While infusing your primary fire can be powerful, there are times when saving those charges for other abilities can have an even greater impact. When creating this hero, we also wanted to provide a unique utility that revolves around speed, but not the kind that you’re used to.
That’s where his faithful flying drones come in.
We call this ability Invigorating Drones. Using it sends drones to aid an ally, granting them increased attack speed for six seconds. These drones won’t solve all of your team’s problems, though. Giving bonus attack speed to a Hanzo who is only hitting walls isn’t going to do your team much good.
If you want even more value out of Invigorating Drones, try Infusing them. When Infused, they grant attack speed to your ally and to yourself. Whether you use that power for quicker healing or quicker bloodshed, that’s up to you.
If you find yourself in danger, while inflicting that bloodshed, there’s a movement ability to help you avoid an untimely end: Shrouded Momentum.
Doctrine and his drones block incoming fire, granting damage reduction as he rushes away from danger. However, sometimes a quick escape isn’t enough. When Shrouded Momentum is Infused, you gain even more movement speed and full flight to take off into the night. You can fly away from your problems and back into the loving arms of your other support.
Of course, spending your infused charges always comes with a cost. Use them too early on other abilities, and you might find yourself grounded when you need an escape. Now, flight is cool, and all that, but Doctrine’s true masterpiece is his Ultimate: Deliverance.
Doctrine unleashes his drones, summoning a ravenous swarm that move across the battlefield. His drones peel away to seek out nearby allies and enemies, delivering very different fates depending on who they find. Allies get healed and gain overhealth, while enemies have their lifeforce drained from them, reducing their maximum health by up to 50% for 8 seconds.
Now, before you get the wooden stakes out and ask for a nerf, know that Deliverance is more disruptive than deadly. Its true strength comes from tipping the scales of battle by empowering allies and weakening foes at the same time. At his core, Doctrine is an ideal choice for support players who want to influence every fight through precision and strategic decision-making. Success with Doctrine comes from landing your shots, managing your infused charges, and knowing exactly when to empower your team and enfeeble your enemies.
And even though you spent a long, long time in GrÃmsvötn Prison, Doctrine plays surprisingly well with others. Heroes who thrive on attack speed will want him in their corner, making him a powerful partner for aggressive teammates looking to press an advantage. But look at me, tank players: increased attack speed doesn’t mean you can win a 1v5, okay?
| BLIZZCON 2026 OVERWATCH: WHAT'S NEXT PANEL TRANSCRIPT | ||||
| 1. Intro | 2. Narrative Design | 3. Art Direction | 4. Hero Design | 5. Animation/Audio |
