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Overwatch’s new hero Doctrine forced Blizzard to consider its cap on attack speed buffs—but they haven’t quite hit the max yet
Overwatch's newest hero, Doctrine, was revealed at BlizzCon and includes an ability that grants allies increased attack speed alongside healing, prompting Blizzard's developers to reconsider the game's existing cap on attack speed buffs. Speaking in an interview, hero designer Scott Kennedy explained that although a 300 per cent attack speed cap already exists, no combination of abilities can currently reach it, and the team debated lowering that ceiling before deciding to monitor how Doctrine performs once combined with abilities such as Juno's ultimate before making changes.
Doctrine's Invigorating Drones ability lets players choose which ally receives a healing and attack-speed boost, echoing the targeting style of Zenyatta's Discord Orb, and works particularly well on high-attack-speed heroes such as Reinhardt, Bastion or Tracer, who can roam freely for six seconds without being tethered like Mercy's damage boost. Senior animator Kyle Disanjh noted that faster attack speeds also speed up animations, sounds and effects, raising a design question about whether these need revisiting. Doctrine is currently playable in a hero test ahead of a full launch next month, and early reactions on social media have been positive.
In short
- Blizzard reveals new Overwatch support hero Doctrine at BlizzCon
- His attack-speed buff sparked debate over the game's 300% speed cap
- Doctrine launches next month; a hero test is live now
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Keeping the 300 per cent cap while gathering live data lets Blizzard avoid changing a system before it knows how Doctrine performs alongside existing abilities. A cautious trial period respects players’ interest in a distinctive new support hero while giving developers evidence about balance and whether faster animations and effects remain clear.
The case against
Lowering the cap before launch could reduce the risk that combinations with Doctrine and other abilities create excessive attack speed or make combat harder to read. Setting a clearer limit in advance may also give players and designers more predictable rules, rather than waiting for problems to emerge in live play.
Explained simply
Overwatch is a team-based game in which players choose heroes with different abilities. Some heroes can temporarily make an ally’s attacks faster, and the game has a limit on how much these boosts can increase attack speed. That limit helps keep the effects of multiple abilities in check.
Doctrine is a support hero, a character who can help teammates by healing or boosting them. Its Invigorating Drones ability lets the player choose an ally to heal and speed up for a short time. This could be especially useful for heroes who attack rapidly, and faster attacks can also make their animations and sounds play more quickly.