Overwatch 2’s Lifeweaver has undergone a dizzying number of changes since Blizzard released him at the start of season four, but that didn’t stop the team from taking one more stab at making the hero viable to start season five.
Giving him buffs to virtually every aspect of his kit, Blizzard tried to make the practically-unplayable hero someone worth locking in, but after taking a look at what the healer has to offer in season five, former Overwatch League pro Seagull still isn’t sold.
Related: Here are the Overwatch 2 season 5 patch notes
Commenting on the state of Lifeweaver with his viewers on a June 14 Twitch stream, Seagull noted that the buffs to Lifeweaver this season don’t necessarily make him a surefire staple of the game’s new meta.
Typically when a hero is gifted so many boosts by the development team, it’s safe to assume that they will have some sway in the way players approach the game. For instance, Junker Queen’s plethora of buffs in the mid-cycle season four patch made her a popular tank pick. But Lifeweaver’s buffs haven’t solicited the same level of enthusiasm for the hero.
“Lifeweaver is a big question mark,” he said. “I assume he’s still not great, but I could be wrong… I just think his buttons and overall gameplay is not very satisfying.”
Earlier on Tuesday, another popular Overwatch 2 streamer Emongg joked around that Lifeweaver is effectively a new hero to the game in season five because his buffs might make him playable. However, even Emongg wasn’t the most sure about how Lifeweaver’s buffs would translate to the game.
Along with getting a reduction to his hitbox, Lifeweaver received buffs to his healing and damage throughput as well as both of his utility abilities, Life Grip and Petal Platform.
Related: Seagull proves why you should always read Overwatch 2’s new patch notes before playing
Experienced players with talent and knowledge, like Emongg and Seagull, can often draw sound conclusions about a hero’s power based on balance updates. So if they’re still unsure about Lifeweaver’s power level after so many buffs, it doesn’t bode well for the handsome Thai gentleman’s potential pick rate on the competitive ladder.
At the very least, there isn’t much of a chance that Lifeweaver will be worse off than he already was. Not only was he the least selected hero in competitive play, but he also had the lowest win rate in the game by a wide margin, according to stats from Overbuff.
