Blizzard says Lifeweaver heals more and dies less than any Overwatch 2 hero, but players still fundamentally misunderstand him. Director Aaron Keller posted an in-depth reflection about the multiplayer game’s latest addition to the roster a month after his release and said the team needs to work on giving Lifeweaver a more defined identity.
“Overwatch is more than the raw numbers that get assigned to a hero’s weapons and abilities,” Keller said. “Players need a reason to pick one hero over another. For Lifeweaver, those reasons are supposed to be his utility abilities. Life Grip and Petal Platform both can be game-changing abilities, but they’re also inconsistent. When they work right, they can change the state of a fight, but many times they are waiting to be used or just not being used well, either by Lifeweaver or his team.”
Life Grip is a gamble that only pays off if your team’s Lifeweaver knows what they’re doing. It might save a tank or healer from a sticky situation or drop them into the worst scenario imaginable. Petal Platform seemed solid initially, though as Lifeweaver became a more common sight in matches, it seems pretty evident most players are using it for just one thing – attacking enemies from above.
Keller didn’t say what the team might do to fix Lifeweaver in the future, though he did float the possibility of a new passive talent to boost his healing even further or giving more benefits to his utility skills. He might get another Thorn Volley buff too, but Keller mentioned that as an afterthought.
For now, even though there’s no real reason to pick Lifeweaver in a pinch, there’s no reason not to either. Keller said Lifeweaver now provides the most healing of any character in the game and, for one reason or another, he dies less often. Whether that hardiness stems from his healing dash, Petal Platform, or his healing tree ultimate, Keller didn’t say.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
