Doctrine is the next Support hero to join Talon in Overwatch

Doctrine is the answer to the question nobody asked: what if we took the vampire Blade but made him a Support hero in Overwatch? Doctrine has crisp styling and a swarm of batlike drones that do his bidding, and the sort of mobility you’d expect from a vampire.

The next Overwatch hero to join the roster was showcased in another gorgeous animated trailer, which also showed off the upcoming map Watchpoint: Grimsvotn. Both the new map and new Hero will be coming in Season 5, which begins October 6. In the story, Doomfist frees Doctrine from the supermax prison with the help of Reaper, Widowmaker, and Sombra, to assist with his attempt to retake Talon from Vendetta.

Doctrine is another of those Support heroes who will truly be at his most effective while he’s dishing out the DPS, because his main attack will either damage enemies or heal allies. His core healing ability is similar to Zenyatta’s healing orb, so you set it on an ally and click heads. Doctrine also has a bit of a twist on his right click with Infuse, which can change the nature of his core kit. If you Infuse and then use your main attack, your next attack will do penetrating damage. His Shrouded Momentum ability is sort of like a weaker version of Moira’s movement ability, but if you Infuse that you’ll gain free flight for a short time. Like any other Support, decision making on the fly and triage will be key to success.

While the Overwatch deep dive panel at BlizzCon had a lot to say about his moves, it also discussed the inspiration for his character and styling, and how he came to be in the world. The developers are trying to explore a “non-creepy vampire” archetype, like Anne Rice didn’t walk this earth among us mortals. Doctrine very much occupies that kind of suave and tantalizing but deeply dangerous baddie space in the tradition of Lestat, Eric Northman, Edward Cullen et al, and I’m excited to sink my teeth into him.