Overwatch Season 5: Sombra Joins Support Roster and Roadhog Rework

Alongside the new hero reveal at BlizzCon 2026, Overwatch developers dropped a major bombshell: reworks for two previously reworked heroes, Sombra and Roadhog. While Roadhog's rework comes in the form of a new ability and weapon changes, Sombra's involves a shift in her role from DPS to Support.

Both heroes have had their fair share of being overpowered. In fact, Sombra is known for being one of the most‑banned heroes in Competitive Play. While Sombra's sneaky yet lethal approach was what made her a threat, Roadhog's problem was his one‑shot potential with the Chain Hook.

Despite multiple sets of changes to each of their kits, these two continued to pose a problem for Overwatch's competitive landscape. With these upcoming overhauls, Blizzard aims to tackle the balancing issues they have been facing for a while.

Let's take a look at the Roadhog and Sombra reworks coming in Season 5 and how they could impact the game.

Sombra Switches From DPS to Support

Sombra's rework is perhaps the most astonishing, as a role change is a major transition. It is only the third instance of this happening in Overwatch. The first was Symmetra's transition from Support to DPS in 2018. Then, in 2022, when Overwatch 2 launched, Doomfist was reworked from DPS into a Tank. 

What Stays the Same

• Primary Fire: Sombra's Machine Pistols remain unchanged and will continue to deal impactful short‑range damage, though with a small reduction. They go from dealing 8-2.1 HP per bullet at a 15-35 meter range to 7-2.1 HP at a 20-35 m range, with slightly reduced spread.

• Translocator: The core ability will continue to be part of Sombra's kit, albeit with reduced range.

• Ultimate: Sombra's EMP remains the same and will continue to be a decisive utility in team fights.
  

What's New

• Role: Sombra moves from Damage to Support.

• Subrole: Her subrole shifts from Recon, which revealed enemies below half health when damaged, to Tactician, which allows her to store excess ultimate charge.

• Passive: Prior to the rework, Sombra could detect enemy ultimates on nameplates and deal more damage to hacked enemies. Starting in Season 5, fully charged enemy ultimates will be revealed to Sombra.

• Hotfix Replaces Hack: A new ability, Hotfix, takes the place of Sombra's iconic Hack. Instead of disabling enemy abilities, Hotfix heals an ally over time, restoring 65 HP instantly, followed by 25 HP/sec over time (up to 200 HP). Like Hack, it can also disable Health Packs and deployables. Though the Health Pack hack duration has been reduced from 45 seconds to 30 seconds, it no longer costs a cooldown, making the trade‑off fairer.

• Cyberspace Replaces Virus: Instead of dealing damage over time to enemies, Sombra's new ability creates a small zone that heals teammates, damages opponents, and reduces enemy damage and healing output by 50%. It deals 40 HP explosion damage, followed by 25 HP/sec over 3 seconds. For healing, it restores 60 HP on detonation and then 30 HP/sec afterward.

Overall, the rework retains some of the fun and engaging aspects of Sombra's kit while toning down her lethality. Despite being a Support hero, she has reduced healing upkeep since her primary fire is solely for damage. This allows players to remain stealthy and play the character without straying too far from her original identity and playstyle.

Roadhog Gets a New Ability 

When it comes to Roadhog, his balance changes have almost always focused on reducing his one‑shot potential. With the Season 5 rework, Blizzard appears to have hit the mark.

What Stays the Same

• Role and Subrole: Roadhog will continue to be a Tank under the Bruiser subrole.

• Self‑heal: Roadhog's Take a Breather remains largely unchanged and will continue to provide healing and damage reduction, though at a reduced rate. It now heals 200 HP/sec for 2 seconds instead of 150 HP/sec for 3 seconds, reducing the total healing by 50 while increasing the average healing per second. The damage reduction during the ability has also been halved, dropping from 40% to 20%.

• Ultimate: Being a core part of Roadhog's playstyle and one of the more balanced parts of his kit, Whole Hog will remain the same.

What’s New

• New Primary Fire: The Scrap Gun now fires in two bursts instead of one. Previously, it dealt 175-52.5 damage, falling off with distance. After the rework, a single volley deals an increased 204-61.2 HP, but it's split into two shots, requiring more precision for maximum damage. Its falloff range has also taken a hit, going from 30-50 meters to 20-35 meters. Combined with the two‑shot mechanic, this forces Roadhog into more close‑combat fights.

• Secondary Fire Replaced by Trash Compactor: The Scrap Gun's alt‑fire has been removed. Taking its place is the new Trash Compactor ability, which lets Roadhog absorb projectiles and convert them into an explosive ball of damage. It deals 85-210 HP of direct‑hit damage depending on charge, and up to 200 HP of area‑of‑effect damage within a 2‑meter range. For reference, the old secondary fire could deal 50 damage before detonation and up to 175 after.

• Chain Hook's Range Reduced: Roadhog's hook damage and range remain the same, but an increased distance between Hog and the enemy after getting pulled now makes it tougher for the hero to deal lethal damage. Between getting hooked and shot by Roadhog, opponents now have a bigger window to use abilities and escape.

While these changes curtail Roadhog's one‑shot potential, they don't completely remove it. Instead of a hook‑and‑shoot combo, Hog can deal potentially lethal damage to full‑health DPS and Supports by combining Trash Compactor with his Chain Hook and primary fire. The old combo isn't rendered useless; it simply requires more technique and precision. 

Both Roadhog and Sombra will re-enter Overwatch in a rejuvenated state with Season 5 on October 6. Stay tuned to Strafe for the latest updates. 

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Featured Image Credit: Blizzard Entertainment

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