Blizzard hotfix targets D.Mon, Doctrine, and Sombra after Stage 3 opener

On October 13, Blizzard released a hotfix update with balance changes aimed at heroes who have dominated since Season 5 launched, alongside buffs for two who have barely featured.

The update arrives two days after OWCS Stage 3 began in NA and EMEA, where D.Mon, Doctrine, and Sombra were clearly ahead of the pack in performance, while Roadhog and Kiriko were almost entirely absent.

Roadhog receives the most substantial changes. Take a Breather’s cooldown drops from 2 to 1.25 seconds, its damage reduction rises from 35% to 40%, and its maximum duration increases from 2 to 2.5 seconds. Those figures largely restore the survivability cuts from his rework a week ago, while keeping the higher healing rate it introduced. Scrap Gun’s centre projectile also now deals 40 damage, up from 34.

Kiriko gets a smaller survivability boost, with base health rising from 225 to 250.

Sombra will now deal less damage overall. Machine Pistol damage falls from 7 to 6.5 per projectile, and Cyberspace’s initial explosion now deals 20 damage instead of 40. Cyberspace’s cooldown also increases from 12 to 13 seconds.

D.Mon’s base armour has been reduced by 25, from 275 to 250.

Doctrine’s Eternal Scepter now deals and heals 55 instead of 60, and the attack speed boost he provides allies through Invigorating Drones now lasts 5 seconds rather than 6. It is his second round of adjustments in as many patches, following the cuts made after his trial weekend.

With OWCS Japan already underway this week, we’ll see how these changes affect the meta established last week across the broader regions.

Catch the full hotfix notes here.