Overwatch 2’s Lifeweaver Brings Life and Growth to a World Overrun by Omnic-Fueled Doom (Hands-On Impressions)

Overwatch 2 has successfully rolled out three seasons of content across different themes since the game’s launch, with Season 4 fast moving to early April 2023. However, Blizzard has not yet announced any official details about the seasonal themes, changes and cosmetics. A very significant factor included in the upcoming season 4 has already attracted the attention of players around the world.

Of course, I’m talking about none other than the newest addition to the support list, Lifeweaver. The Overwatch team released a preview of this new hero on April 3, 2023, and fans immediately showed their love and admiration for the flower-inspired persona.

I recently had the opportunity to explore an Overwatch 2 Season 4 Early Access build and test out Lifeweaver’s hero kit and abilities for myself. And boy, oh boy, when I say there’s so much to talk about, what better way than to dive into the details.

Let’s start with the obvious – its looks. If it wasn’t obvious from the overly enthusiastic reactions of the game’s fans, Lifeweaver has brilliant character design, and to put it bluntly, well, he’s absolutely beautiful. Frankly, he puts some of the notoriously “handsome” heroes to shame, even within the limited material that has been released so far.

Lifeweaver also enters the Overwatch world as the first Thai-born hero. This is a welcome addition to the game that has inspired feelings of inclusion and representation in the fanbase, and it’s great to see Blizzard breaking new ground in terms of hero origins while also tying them into the game’s main story .

For the most part, Lifeweaver sounds and plays like a generally positive and upbeat individual. His healing attitude of support is supported by relaxed, soothing voice play and a nurturing presence. However, Lifeweaver also has a rather sassy, ​​slick streak that pops up on the occasional line of speech, e.g. B. when an enemy is successfully eliminated in melee combat. This is quite amusing and pleasant to look at, and I found myself giving the plant lover a slight chuckle here and there on more than one occasion.

While it’s clear that Lifeweaver will be quite endearing in terms of traits, it really shines in its utility and ability kit as something entirely new and remarkable. All four previous hero additions – Junker Queen, Ramattra, Sojourn, and Kiriko – can each benefit from a fairly aggressive playstyle and have the potential to turn a fight completely on their own when used in the right situations/hands. To be honest, I expected Lifeweaver to fall into this category, but it doesn’t. Instead, he takes a completely new and unique approach.

Lifeweaver’s abilities are unique and different from all other current heroes in the game. While its abilities sound impressive on paper, the opportunity to experience how they work in-game has given me much more clarity about Lifeweaver’s strengths, weaknesses, and overall potential.

First, he has two different abilities associated with his primary fire that oppose each other when it comes to granting healing and dealing damage.

The first ability associated with Lifeweaver’s primary fire is his healing bloom, which generates between 10 and 65 heals per burst depending on how long you click and hold its fire. This ability is a great burst heal that can provide your team with a quick HP regen. This could be effective when used alongside other big burst healers like Baptiste, Moira, or Ana. However, this requires your teammates to know when to retreat and use natural cover, as there’s a slight delay between Healing Blossom’s burst charges.

The alternate fire, which you can access by pressing your Weapon 2 hotkey, is a quick click on his primary fire, which activates his Thorn Volley, which emits a rapid spread of projectiles to damage your enemies. This ability appears to have a spread and control very similar to Ramattra’s primary fire when you hold your click, and can be useful for taking down enemies quickly.

Next comes Lifeweaver’s secondary fire, Petal Platform, which creates a flower-shaped elevator that activates when an ally or enemy steps on it. I could immediately see the value of a skill like this. It could elevate Lifeweaver to escape during a losing teamfight, or used in harmony with an ally to elevate them for 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 BoB being raised 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 large Death Blossom off an enemy Reaper, or lift a Baptiste up and away from its buff matrix. Of course, there is an equal chance of risk and reward when using this ability. You could also inadvertently grant your opponent access to high ground or a more punishing line of sight for the ally ultimates mentioned above.

Another groundbreaking ability takes shape in Lifeweaver’s E key. Have you ever played a support and watched your tank rush into oblivion to die, or felt helpless as you watched your muddy DPS being cornered by the enemy? Now you can bring them back into line with Lifeweaver’s grip of life. This ability will pull an ally back to you from danger and works when you pull someone from low to high terrain and vice versa. It’s essentially a get-out-of-jail-free map.

Unfortunately, while the potential of this ability to hold a save is undeniable, there is also a massive possibility that it can be quite crippling for your teammates if used unnecessarily, as it can be very disruptive to big plays when used as Rein Earthshatters, Hammond wrestles, Pharah lifts to the sky and so on.

parting gift is Lifeweaver’s unique passive ability that causes him to drop a flower on death that grants a small healing boost to the first ally or enemy to pick it up. This ability fits the botanist’s traits more than anything else, giving him a nice touch of personality when it comes to how he works in the field.

Rounding out his kit is a simple titled move ability Rejuvenating Dash. When this ability activates, Lifeweaver briefly moves in the direction he’s moving while regenerating a small portion of his health.

Finally, Lifeweaver’s ultimate ability, tree of Life. After activating the ult, he can place and build a 1,000 HP tree in a location of his choosing, which will deal 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 when it comes to turning a teamfight in your favor with extra healing boosts and helping your allies survive pesky ults like Rammatra’s Annihilation or Genji’s Dragonblade.

When these skills come together, there’s no doubt that Lifeweaver has the potential to be an extremely viable choice. However, he will rely heavily on two things: feel and communication with your team. The gameplay speaks for itself as his abilities have the potential to both save and hurt your allies. You could use them to lead a team fight and ensure victory, but one wrong move could also give your opponent the advantage and benefits meant for your allies.

Communication is critical to making up for Lifeweaver’s greatest weakness, perhaps the most significant weakness for any individual hero in the game. Despite its usefulness, Lifeweaver cannot cause serious damage. This makes him extremely vulnerable to being swarmed by dive heroes like Winston, D.Va, Genji, and Doomfist, and flankers like Cassidy, Sombra, Tracer, and Reaper should he be out of position.

Because of this, you’ll need to rely on your team to help you exfoliate if you get separated from them, and make sure you’re in good position at all times to minimize fatalities. Voice communication is crucial when playing a hero like Lifeweaver. You must quickly let your allies know you’re in trouble before it’s too late, and communicate your skills to aid your team with his powerful arsenal of tricks.

My initial thoughts are that Lifeweaver will perform exceptionally well out of the box at high levels of play such as Grand Master, Top 500 and Overwatch League, but will prove to be a challenge for lower tier players to reach its full potential due to its engineering kit. There’s a lot to consider and your brain has to keep in mind when playing Lifeweaver, and learning the ropes can be a steep climb for some.

Part of me is also a little nervous that he’ll become a “litter pick” to intentionally destroy the odds when a savvy player doesn’t pull through in competition, as some of his abilities have the potential to do more harm than good his team when used with bad faith. I’ve yet to see a Lifeweaver jump off the map and take a teammate with him to his death, but unfortunately I’m sure it will eventually. Unfortunately there isn’t much you can do against these players other than say GG and move on to the next match.

All concerns aside, I’m super excited for Lifeweaver to debut in the upcoming Overwatch 2 Season 4 and see players of all skill levels using it. With his kit in play, there’s plenty of room for clever plays, clever combinations, and stunning saves, while on the lore side he brings a fresh face to a familiar world, meaning anything is possible.