Overwatch Tier List: Best Heroes After the Taking Reign Patch

Overwatch's November 3 update is officially the Season 5 midseason patch, nicknamed "A Grim Doctrine," and it landed alongside the Taking Reign event that runs through December 7. Twenty heroes got touched in one update, which is a lot of change to sort through before you queue into ranked. We read every number in the official patch notes and built an opinion tier list around what the math actually does, not vibes.

01What Changed in Overwatch's November Patch

The headline mover is Junker Queen, who picked up a straight health increase from 375 to 425 (450 to 500 in 6v6) and a Carnage cooldown cut from 9 to 7 seconds. On the support side, Illari's Solar Rifle now reaches max charge in 0.575 seconds instead of 0.65, and her Healing Pylon heals for 50 per projectile instead of 40. Both changes read as clear power increases with nothing taken away to compensate, which is why they anchor the top of this list.

The flip side is just as sharp. Ana's Biotic Grenade explosion damage was cut from 90 to 60, a full third of her burst utility gone in one patch. Doctrine, the hero the update is literally named after, lost ground on almost every number in her kit: primary fire recovery is slower, Infused damage and healing both dropped, and both Shrouded Momentum and Infuse now sit on longer cooldowns. Vendetta, the final boss of the year-long Reign of Talon story and the face of the Taking Reign event, had her melee mobility reined in too.

A hotfix on November 5 also quietly buffed Wrecking Ball's retracting speed limit, and a handful of smaller interaction fixes (Hanzo's Sonic Disruption no longer overriding Sombra's hacked health packs, Sombra's EMP now overriding enemy hacks instead of the other way around) cleaned up edge cases without moving the needle much on their own. The timing isn't an accident: Blizzard has framed this midcycle update as the close of the year-long Reign of Talon story, with Doomfist and Overwatch finally settling things with Vendetta. That narrative beat is why Vendetta and Doctrine, Talon's two most prominent figures this season, both took numbers down rather than up.

02S Tier: The Patch's Biggest Winners

Junker Queen. A 50-point health buff (75 in 6v6) on top of a two-second faster Carnage is the kind of change that just makes a hero survive fights she used to lose. Blizzard's own developer comment on the change says her previous health pool limited her ability to engage, and the new numbers back that up directly — she can throw Carnage more often and live through the follow-up.

Illari. Shaving 0.075 seconds off Solar Rifle's charge time sounds small until you remember Overwatch fights are won and lost in fractions of a second of exposed time. Stack that with a 25% stronger Healing Pylon and Illari goes from a solid secondary healer to one of the best solo-sustain supports in the current patch. If you already play her, lean harder into holding angles at max charge now that you get there faster, and place Pylon earlier in a fight since each tick is worth more.

03A Tier: Still Elite, Now Sharper

Reaper. A flat health increase from 275 to 300 is a near 10% survivability buff with zero downside attached. It's not flashy, but it's the single cleanest buff in the whole patch.

Shion. Execution's starting spread tightened from 8.5 to 5.7 degrees, meaning more of her shots land where you aim instead of scattering. Satsuriku Spree's cast and move time per volley also dropped from 0.6 to 0.5 seconds, letting her reposition faster between hits.

Brigitte. Inspire's internal cooldown fell from 1.25 to 1 second and its instant healing rose from 12 to 15, a straightforward sustain buff for a hero who was already a strong pick into dive comps.

Ramattra. Void Accelerator's ammo pool grew from 100 to 125, letting him hold angles and apply pressure for longer stretches without ducking behind cover to reload.

Mauga. Base armor rose from 125 to 150 and Incendiary Chainguns' burn damage over time increased from 15 to 20. Blizzard frames this as a correction after earlier nerfs left him underperforming, which is exactly how it plays out on the patch notes — he can now afford to hold a front line a little longer before falling back.

Anran. Zhuque Fans' damage ticked up from 22 to 24 and Vermillion Ascent's cast time dropped from 1.2 to 1 second, a real mobility and damage gain even though Inferno Rush lost its knockback and can no longer multi-hit the same target.

04B Tier: Solid But Situational

These heroes either got a small, one-sided buff or came out of the patch roughly where they started. Winston loses 5 points of healing per second on Revitalizing Barrier, a minor nerf that mostly matters in prolonged barrier-tanking situations — expect barrier-tank standoffs to end a beat sooner than before. Wrecking Ball's November 5 hotfix raises his retracting speed limit by 15%, and allied speed boosts now stack on top of that limit, which is a real but narrow mobility gain for players who already pair him with a speed-boosting support. Echo gets free ammo refills on Aerial Munitions, a nice quality-of-life change rather than a power spike, since it means one less trip back to a health pack mid-flank. Emre's Cyber Frag now detonates 0.1 seconds faster, a small combo-potential buff that rewards tighter follow-up timing. Hanzo and Sombra only saw their interaction with each other's kits adjusted, with Sombra also losing two seconds of Hotfix duration and 10 percentage points of Cyberspace's weaken effect — net neutral to slightly negative, but not enough to drop her further. Jetpack Cat's base health fell from 225 to 200, partly offset by faster Frenetic Flight acceleration, leaving her in a wash where her survivability depends more on movement than raw health now.

05C Tier: Hit Hardest By the Nerfs

Ana. A one-third cut to Biotic Grenade's damage is the single biggest number change in the entire patch, and it strips away a tool she relied on to punish overextensions and secure picks.

Doctrine. Slower primary fire recovery, reduced Infused damage and healing, and longer cooldowns on both Shrouded Momentum and Infuse add up to a hero who lost power in every part of her kit at once. "A Grim Doctrine" turned out to be a fitting name for her own patch notes.

Vendetta. Palatine Fang's overhead leap is slower and its swing now comes out later, while Whirlwind Dash's Raging Storm knockback was cut in half. She's still a narrative centerpiece of the Taking Reign event, but her in-game mobility took a real hit.

Genji. Deflect's duration dropped from 2 to 1.5 seconds, a 25% cut to one of his two defining defensive tools and a change that will be felt in every high-pressure teamfight. Time your Deflects closer to the exact moment you expect incoming damage rather than holding it early as a safety net — you no longer have the extra half-second of cushion to work with.

D.Mon. Overstrike's lifesteal fell from 150% to 125%, Power Barrier now has a slower, more rigid deploy window, and Propulsors no longer deal any impact damage at all. Three separate nerfs to one kit is a clear signal.

06Quick Adjustments After the Patch

Quick Adjustments After the Patch

1. 1With 50 more base health (75 in 6v6) and a 2-second-faster Carnage, she can engage and follow up more often — play her more aggressively than before this patch.This patch
2. 2Solar Rifle hits max charge faster and Healing Pylon heals for more per tick — commit to holding an angle at full charge sooner.This patch
3. 3Slower primary fire recovery and longer Infuse/Shrouded Momentum cooldowns mean less uptime — ration Infuse for must-win trades instead of using it on cooldown.This patch
4. 4Biotic Grenade's damage is down a third — treat it as a utility and anti-heal tool first, not a reliable kill confirm.This patch
5. 5Palatine Fang's leap is slower with a later swing — commit to the dive only when the landing is guaranteed, not as a poke tool.This patch
6. 6Deflect now only lasts 1.5 seconds — time it to the exact moment damage arrives instead of holding it early as a buffer.This patch

07How We Ranked This List

This is an opinion ranking built directly from Blizzard's own patch notes, not a claim about verified win rates or ranked ladder data — treat any specific win-rate number you see elsewhere on this patch as unconfirmed until Blizzard or a tracked stats site publishes it. We weighted buffs and nerfs by how directly they affect a hero's core strength: a flat health increase or a damage number going up with nothing removed counts for more than a situational interaction fix. Heroes who gained power in multiple parts of their kit at once (Junker Queen, Illari) sit at the top; heroes who lost power across several abilities in the same patch (Ana, Doctrine, D.Mon) sit at the bottom. Hotfix changes from November 5 are folded into the same ranking since they're part of the same live patch.

Doomfist reclaiming his throne was only the beginning 💪 Join Doctrine and the newly reformed Talon for their first meeting since Vendetta's defeat in our newest short story, 'All That Follows' 📖 https://t.co/nQBC4dNGz4

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) · Nov 5, 2026 on X

The Taking Reign event runs through December 7, which is also roughly how long this tier list should hold up barring another hotfix — check back here if Blizzard adjusts any of these numbers again before the season ends. Until then, the heroes to prioritize learning are the ones who gained power with no strings attached: Junker Queen, Illari, and Reaper are the safest picks to climb with on the current patch.