Overwatch 2’s upcoming support hero, Lifeweaver, has largely been touted by Blizzard as providing some of the most utility in the game for his role.
With a Life Grip ability that can make heroic saves and a Petal Platform that can artificially create a high ground advantage that otherwise wouldn’t exist, Lifeweaver opens a plethora of creative options for players to explore.
However, as a support hero, healing is always among the most important functions in the game. In an interview with the game’s developers, Dot Esports was told that Lifeweaver’s healing throughput is intended to make him a “main healer.” The term is often used to refer to support characters that have among the strongest healing throughput in the game. This would effectively liken him to heroes like Baptiste, Mercy, Ana, and Moira.
Unlike those heroes though, Lifeweaver only has one healing ability, his primary fire, and using it isn’t necessarily as easy as holding down left-click.
“There’s a couple of things that take some getting used to with the healing, especially in live matches,” hero design producer Kenny Hudson said. “You kind of have to telegraph your healing and be prepared to launch it on time. If you’re trying to play catch-up or you’re tap healing, it’s designed to not catch up like that.”
Healing Blossom uses soft-lock targeting and can be used from a reasonable range, but it requires players to charge their heal. In order to give an ally a healing burst, Lifeweaver players must hold down left click and release it at the apex of the charge.
Related: All Lifeweaver abilities in Overwatch 2: How to play the game’s newest support
If your teammates are taking consistent damage, it can be difficult to master the timing of holding a charge until it reaches its maximum healing output and releasing it immediately before starting another one. If you hold too long, your healing throughput will suffer because you haven’t started your next heal yet, but if you don’t hold on long enough, your heal won’t be as powerful.
Hudson said that the intention of the team was to make Lifeweaver’s healing throughput rival that of Mercy. However, in an early playtest with Dot Esports, his throughput felt significantly less powerful compared to every other main healer in the game.
This could be due to issues with getting used to timing, but according to the game’s developers, it could also be due in part to the way his healing abilities are used. Overwatch 2 lead narrative designer Gavin Jurgens-Fyhrie lauded the internal playtesting prowess of senior tech artist Chonlawat Thammawan as Lifeweaver.
The biggest tip that Thammawan had to offer was for players to always try to keep a fully charged Healing Blossom prepared before encounters. For Thammawan, the throughput strength of Lifeweaver stems from the initial burst he can provide if a fully-charged heal is ready as soon as a team fight begins.
For those looking to try their hand at Lifeweaver, he will be available to all players beginning next week with the start of season four on Tuesday, April 11. He can be unlocked immediately by those that purchase the premium battle pass and at level 45 for free-to-play gamers.
