The next Overwatch 2 support hero has finally been revealed, after being teased a few times by the Overwatch team. His name is Lifeweaver and while he has healing abilities, he is more of a Support role than a main healer. With his kits, he’ll be able to save many lives in the process by either protecting teammates from an incoming death, by blocking a dangerous one-shot ultimate kill from enemies, or by constantly healing all your teammates while trying to take a point with his ultimate ability.
He is also a Thai hero and that excites Thai members in the Overwatch team, especially Takki Thammawan, a Senior Character Technical Artist on the Overwatch Team who’s also a Thai. So what are Lifeweaver abilities? What’s his role and what sort of things can Lifeweaver do?
Overwatch 2 Season 4 Support Hero Abilities
He has a similar mechanic like Mercy where you press 1 and 2 to switch between healing and outputting damage.
- Healing Blossom (Left-Click)
This is his left-click ability. Pressing the left mouse button once will heal a targeted ally for 10 hp. Pressing and holding it will charge the ability so you can heal more (with a maximum heal of 65 hp). Unlike Kiriko’s, you can never miss the heals once the ability executes but it is a projectile heal so there’s a chance your target may die before you can heal them. - Thorn Volley (Left-Click)
This will rapidly fire a spread of projectiles (needling). It’s a pretty decent damage and has a very fast rapid rate. However, the weapon also has a big spread so it will be less effective in long range although there are no damage fall-offs since they are projectiles. - Petal Platform (Right-Click)
Lifeweaver throws a platform where a teammate, himself, or an enemy can hop on and the platform will spring upward. Jumping at the right moment will also boost the jump a bit higher and let you reach higher places. This can also be used on an enemy and if you throw it right beneath them, they will go up so if an Orisa is unleashing his Terra Surge, it will render the ultimate skill useless (like what you see in the official video). This can also disrupt many things like Reinhard’s charge or help a teammate’s ult like Cassidy’s High Noon. - Rejuvenating Dash (Shift)
With just a cooldown of 5 seconds, this ability gives Lifeweaver a dash ability for quicker movements, evading shots and cc, while at the same time, heals Lifeweaver 25 hp. This is on top of his passive support ability which heals him overtime when out of combat. - Life Grip (E)
A life-saving ability that pulls an ally to your location, making them immune while being pulled. This will save many lives if you can pull it off: saving a hooked teammate, a booped-into-a-hole teammate, or pulling a flanker like Tracer, Doomfist, and Genji back to your team’s embrace. But if you do it wrong, you’ll probably annoy the heck out of your teammate like a misplaced Mei’s wall. - Tree of Life (Q)
Lifeweaver’s ultimate skill which will place a tree that instantly heals allies for 150hp, and then pulses to heal 50hp each pulse 8 times (or until the tree is destroyed). The tree is a big object which can also be used to block incoming attacks from enemies or placed as a defensive cover. Pretty versatile. Or as Takki discovered, you can also use it to block the enemy’s spawn, awesome!
While chatting with the developers’ team, there were funny moments where they had to redesign the tree when being casted in a small room. There was a prototype where the tree was made small (like a bonsai tree) if the ability was being unleashed in a small room but at the end, the team went for a different, better design idea. - Parting Gift (On death)
When Lifeweaver dies, he will drop a healing pack (or flower) which will heal a teammate for 250hp or an enemy for 75hp when picked up.
Lifeweaver Gameplay Video
Lifeweaver Developer Update Video (design background, etc)
Overwatch 2 Season 4 Support Hero Release Date
Lifeweaver will join in the roster when Overwatch 2 Season 4 launches on 12 April AEST.
For more info on the Overwatch 2 Season 4 Support Hero, Lifeweaver, make sure to visit the official news page.