Overwatch 2’s lead hero designer, Alec Dawson, announced today the specific tuning adjustments coming to Lifeweaver, the game’s new hero, in a patch next week. And while the much-needed buffs are welcome by support mains, they might not be exactly what the doctor ordered.
In a tweet, Dawson noted changes to Healing Blossom, Thorn Volley, and Tree of Life, as well as saying Parting Gift would be removed from the game. Along with upping the ammo of Healing Blossom, Blizzard is making a slight change to Lifeweaver’s movement speed while holding a Healing Blossom charge. Lifeweaver is also getting a tighter spread for his Thorn Volley, and his ultimate is getting a little bit more HP as well as more healing per pulse.
Since Lifeweaver’s introduction to Overwatch 2, the hero has gotten a bad reputation for having a “clunky” control scheme, but along with changing his controls, something game director Aaron Keller detailed earlier this week, the hero clearly needed some buffs as well.
Here are all the changes coming to Lifeweaver’s tuning:
- 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.
These specific buffs might not be exactly what Blizzard originally intended for Lifeweaver, though. In interviews ahead of the hero’s release, developers said that their original idea was for Lifeweaver to have the capacity of a “main healer.” In other words, the devs wanted Lifeweaver to have the healing throughput of someone like Mercy, Ana, or Moira.
In testing, many players have noticed that Lifeweaver’s healing doesn’t exactly match up with someone like Mercy, and while his utility can be used in exceptional ways, he can’t necessarily hold it down as the primary healer in a team comp.
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Improving his Healing Blossom ammo to 20, up from 12, might help to increase his HPS, but the change will likely be marginal enough that players won’t feel a tangible difference unless they’re in elongated team fights.
Lifeweaver’s healing throughput may very well still end up being on the lower end of support heroes, and given his inability to be used as a catchup healer, due to the charging required from Healing Blossom, players might not see a ton of Lifeweaver’s in competitive games once he becomes available.
