Overwatch 2’s new support hero Lifeweaver is set to get a slew of changes to his controls and specs next Tuesday after entering the game as one of the most undertuned new heroes in recent memory.
While Blizzard oftentimes has been known to release interesting new heroes that are a bit too powerful out of the gate, Lifeweaver’s introduction to the game has been almost the opposite, with many players loathing his “clunky” controls and underwhelming healing.
Along with giving him some buffs, Blizzard next week is giving Lifeweaver some control changes that are aimed to make Lifeweaver feel less awkward to control in hopes that he will be more excited to play.
The changes are set to come Tuesday, April 25, the same day that Lifeweaver is set to be unlocked for competitive play. It’s unclear if the balance changes will result in Lifeweaver being temporarily suspended from competitive play for a week or so as players try to adjust to his new controls and tuning.
All Lifeweaver buffs coming in Overwatch 2 season four
Overwatch 2’s lead hero designer, Alec Dawson, disclosed today the tuning changes coming to Lifeweaver next week, and they include buffs for Healing Blossom, Thorn Volley, and Tree of Life. The changes also include the removal of Lifeweaver’s after-death passive Parting Gift, which had the potential to heal enemies that kill Lifeweaver.
Here are all of the buffs coming to Lifeweaver next week:
- Healing Blossom ammo increased to 20, up from 12.
- Slow during Healing Blossom will begin one second after fully charging.
- Thorn Volley spread tightened.
- Tree of Life health increased to 1,200, up from 1,000.
- Tree of Life healing per pulse increased to 75, up from 50.
- Parting Gift removed.
While the increase to Healing Blossom aim will improve Lifeweaver’s healing uptime, it might not necessarily result in the boost to his healing throughput that the developers might want. In interviews prior to his release, the game’s devs admitted that they wanted Lifeweaver to have the ability to be a “main healer” with an HPS comparable to someone like Mercy.
Tightening his Thorn Volley spread will certainly make Lifeweaver more lethal though. So while he may not be the primary healer Blizzard originally wanted him to be, he could very well end up being a solid selection for a team looking to capitalize on his utility and flexibility.
OW2 Lifeweaver rework: All control changes coming in season four
Earlier this week, OW2 game director Aaron Keller detailed updates coming to Lifeweaver’s controls after players found that the character’s combination of abilities felt difficult to use given the way they were laid out.
Perhaps the biggest gripe by fans was that his ability to swap between healing and damage was too difficult. While he has weapon swapping that works the same as Mercy’s, his kit isn’t conducive to that type of swapping.
While using her staff, Mercy can heal a teammate and also amp their damage. Lifeweaver’s healing weapon can only heal, however, making it so he needs to swap regularly if he wants to take advantage of any time he doesn’t need to spend healing.
To address that feedback, Blizzard is changing his healing and damaging abilities to left-click and right-click, respectively, similar to the way that Moira and Baptiste operate.
Here are all of Lifeweaver’s control changes:
- Alternate fire will fire Thorn Volley.
- Petal Platform will be ability one, replacing Rejuvenating Dash.
- Petal Platform will be cancelable with the same button.
- Rejuvenating Dash will be double jump.
- Auto-reload on Thorns will be slowed to compensate for no weapon swapping.
- Players will have the option to use the original controls through the game’s settings menu.
In combination with his buffs, these control changes will make Lifeweaver a more suitable support hero for swapping between healing and damage. It will also make him a little bit more lethal in the hands of projectile weapon savants.
