Overwatch 2 has successfully run three differently-themed Seasons of content since the game’s launch, with Season 4 fast approaching early April 2023. While there are yet to be any official details revealed from Blizzard regarding the seasonal themes, changes, and cosmetics that will be included in the upcoming Season 4, one very significant factor has already caught the eyes of players all around the globe.
Of course, I’m talking about none other than the latest addition to the Support roster, Lifeweaver. The Overwatch team dropped a sneak peek reveal for this new Hero on April 3, 2023, and fans immediately showed their love and admiration towards the floral-inspired individual.
I was recently given the opportunity to explore an Early Access build for Overwatch 2‘s Season 4 and playtest Lifeweaver’s hero kit and abilities for myself. And boy, oh, boy, when I say there’s so much to discuss, well, there’s no better way than to dive into the details.
Let’s start with the obvious — his appearance. If it wasn’t apparent by the overly-enthusiastic reaction from fans of the game, Lifeweaver has a brilliant character design, and to put it bluntly, well, he’s absolutely beautiful. Truthfully, he puts some of the most notoriously ‘good-looking’ Heroes to shame, even within the limited material released thus far.
Lifeweaver also steps into the world of Overwatch as the first Hero originating from Thailand. This is a welcome addition to the game that has sparked feelings of inclusion and representation among the fan base, and it’s great to see Blizzard head in new directions in terms of Hero origins, all while still tying them into the main lore of the game.
Lifeweaver, for the most part, sounds and plays like a generally positive and upbeat individual. His heal-savvy Support stance is supported with relaxed, calming voice acting and a nurturing presence. However, Lifeweaver also has a rather sassy, smooth streak that pops up in the occasional voice line, such as when successfully eliminating an enemy with melee. This is rather amusing and enjoyable to witness, and I found myself giving the plant enthusiast a slight chuckle here and there in response on more than one occasion.
While it’s clear that in terms of characteristics, Lifeweaver will be rather endearing, it’s in his utility and ability kit that he truly shines as something entirely new and remarkable. All four previous hero additions — Junker Queen, Ramattra, Sojourn, and Kiriko — can each benefit from quite an aggressive playstyle and have the potential to completely turn a fight on their own when used in the right situation/hands. Truthfully, I expected Lifeweaver to also fall into this category, but this is not so. Instead, he takes an entirely new and unique approach.
Lifeweaver’s abilities are one of a kind and different from any other current Hero in the game. While his abilities sound impressive on paper, getting a chance to experience how they work in the game gave me a lot more clarity on the strengths, weaknesses, and overall potential of Lifeweaver.
First, he has two different abilities linked to his primary fire, that contrast one another when it comes to providng healing and doing damage.
The first ability linked to Lifeweaver’s primary fire is his Healing Blossom, which will generate between 10 and 65 heals per burst depending on how long you click and hold his fire. This ability is a great burst heal that can provide quick HP regeneration to your team. This could be effective when used alongside another big burst healer like Baptiste, Moira, or Ana. However, that presumes that your teammates know when to pull back and use natural cover, as there’s a slight delay between Healing Blossom’s burst charges.
The alternate fire, which can be accessed by hitting your shortcut key for weapon 2, is a short click of his primary fire, which will activate his Thorn Volley, sending a rapid spread of projectiles to deal damage to your enemies. This ability seems to have a spread and control very similar to Ramattra’s primary fire when you hold your click, and can be useful in quickly finishing off opponents.
Next is Lifeweaver’s secondary fire, Petal Platform, which creates a flower-shaped elevator activated upon an ally or enemy stepping onto it. Immediately I could see the value in a skill such as this. It could boost Lifeweaver to high ground for escape during a lost team fight or be used in harmony with an ally to lift them for a better line of sight during their Ultimate. I’m sure we’ll all see plenty of Cassidy High Noons, Soldier Tactical Visors, or even Ashe’s B.o.B being lifted to wreak havoc from above.
Alternatively, Petal Platform could potentially even be used to disrupt an enemy. With precise timing, I believe it could be possible to ruin a big Death Blossom from an enemy Reaper or lift a Baptiste up and away from his Amplification Matrix. Of course, there’s an even chance of risk and reward when using this ability. You could also accidentally grant your opponent access to high ground or a more punishing line of sight for the ally ultimates mentioned above.
Another game-changing ability takes form in Lifeweaver’s E key. Have you ever been playing a Support and witnessed your tank charge into oblivion to die, or felt helpless as you watched your squishy DPS get cornered by the enemy? Now you can pull them back into line with Lifeweaver’s Life Grip. This ability will pull an ally back towards you from danger and works when pulling someone from low ground to high ground and vice versa. It’s essentially a get-out-of-jail-free card.
Unfortunately, while the potential for this ability to clutch a save is undeniable, there’s also the massive possibility for it to be rather crippling to your teammates if used unnecessarily, as it can very much disrupt big plays if it were to be used as Rein Earthshatters, Hammond grapples, Pharah boosts into the sky, and so on.
Parting Gift is Lifeweaver’s unique passive ability, which causes him to drop a flower on death that grants a small burst of healing to the first ally or enemy that picks it up. More than anything, this ability suits the botanist’s characteristics, creating a nice little touch of personality regarding how he operates on the field.
Rounding out his kit is a simple movement ability titled Rejuvenating Dash. When activating this ability, Lifeweaver will perform a brief dash of movement in the direction he is traveling and simultaneously regenerate a small portion of his health.
Last and certainly not least is Lifeweaver’s Ultimate ability, Tree of Life. Upon activating the Ult, he can place and build a 1,000 HP tree in a position of choice that performs an initial burst of healing to all allies within AoE and several more waves of healing for about another eight seconds. This ability can be a monster in turning a team fight in your favor with extra healing boosts and helping your allies survive pesky Ults such as Rammatra’s Annihilation or Genji’s Dragon Blade.
When these abilities come together, there’s no doubt that Lifeweaver has the potential to be an extremely viable pick. However, he will rely heavily on two things: game sense and communication with your team. Game sense speaks for itself in that his abilities have the potential to both save or hurt your allies. You could use them to clutch out a team fight and secure victory, but one wrong move could also give your opponent the advantage and benefits meant for your allies.
Communication is crucial in making up for Lifeweaver’s biggest vulnerability, perhaps the most significant weakness for any one Hero in the game. Despite his utility, Lifeweaver cannot do heavy damage. This leaves him extremely vulnerable to being swarmed by dive heroes, such as Winston, D.Va, Genji, and Doomfist, and flankers, such as Cassidy, Sombra, Tracer, and Reaper, if he were to find himself out of position.
Because of this, you’ll need to rely on your team to help peel for you when you get separated from them and ensure you have good positioning at all times to minimize deaths. Voice comms are crucial when playing a hero such as Lifeweaver. You’ll need to quickly let your allies know you’re in trouble before it’s too late and communicate your abilities to enable your team with his strong arsenal of tricks.
My initial thoughts are that Lifeweaver will immediately do exceptionally well in high levels of play, such as Grand Master, Top 500, and Overwatch League, but prove a challenge for players in lower ranks to utilize to his full potential due to the technicality of his kit. There’s a lot to keep your eye on, and your brain thinking of when you’re playing Lifeweaver, and learning the ropes may be a steep climb for some.
There’s also a part of me that is somewhat nervous he’ll become a ‘throw pick’ to destroy chances of winning on purpose when a salty player doesn’t get their way in Competitive, as several of his abilities have the potential to do more harm than good to his team when used with ill-will. I’ve yet to see a Lifeweaver jump off the map and pull a teammate with him to death, but sadly, I’m sure it will happen eventually. Unfortunately, not much can be done against these players apart from saying GG and moving on to the next match.
All hesitations aside, I’m entirely thrilled for Lifeweaver to debut in Overwatch 2’s upcoming Season 4 and to see how players across all skill levels use him. There’s a lot of room for big-brain plays, clever combinations, and jaw-dropping saves with his kit in-game, while in the lore side of things, he brings a fresh face to a familiar world, meaning that anything is possible.
