The newest openly-pansexual hero in Overwatch 2, Lifeweaver, is breaking boundaries both within and outside the team matches.
Overwatch 2 Season 4 will see plenty of new features appear in the FPS live service game, but the most notable of these is the welcome introduction of a new support hero, Lifeweaver. This new addition to the Overwatch 2 roster marks a conscious change in what constitutes a support hero in their abilities and goals during a match.
We’ll hopefully see Lifeweaver shake up the strict Overwatch 2 meta with his intricate strategizing and team coordination tools. Want to learn more about this latest hero and how to excel best with his abilities? Read our guide for more details.
Overwatch 2 Lifeweaver
Overwatch 2 Lifeweaver: story and background
In Overwatch 2, Lifeweaver’s story is one of restriction, family strife, and freedom. Belonging to an extremely wealthy Singaporean family, Lifeweaver was told from a young age that uniformity was the formula for success.
His family sent the young scientist to a prestigious school controlled by the Vishkar Corporation (the multinational conglomerate that attacked Lucio and his hometown). Despite hoping this would make the rebellious youth settle down, it did quite the opposite.
This institution provided Lifeweaver with advanced technology and bright fellow students, inspiring him to push past his boundaries. The up-and-coming support hero even roomed with Symmetra during his short stay at the school. With all of these powerful features at Lifeweaver's disposal, he harnessed a new kind of power drawn from planets, which had the potential to be disastrously powerful.
This new power caught the attention of the Vishkar Corporation, who sought to use it to aid their hostile takeover of small and unsuspecting communities. To escape the Vishkar Corporation’s evil machinations, Lifeweaver ran away, choosing to live among the plant life in deserted forests while improving his technology.
Unable to return to his home or see his family again thanks to an arrest warrant issued by the Vishkar Corporation, Lifeweaver has dedicated his life to helping those in need and to celebrating human diversity.
Overwatch 2 Lifeweaver: abilities breakdown
Primary Weapon: Healing Blossom
Description: Charge and release a healing burst to a targeted ally.
Healing Blossom is similar to Baptiste’s Biotic Launcher in giving allies gradual and partial support. Unlike supports like Mercy or Moira, which can give their partners a somewhat constant supply of health, Lifeweaver has to charge up his Blossom first. This makes the hero harder to play, as the timing of healing and reloading is critical to a team’s success.
Some tips and tricks for this weapon:
- Charging will give allies more health. However, this may not be possible in chaotic skirmishes, so go for short and sweet bursts.
- Lifeweaver doesn’t deal out massive amounts of healing compared to some counterparts like Ana, so ensuring every teammate is topped up before a fight is crucial.
Secondary Weapon: Thorn Volley
Description: Rapidly fire a spread of projectiles
In Overwatch 2, Lifeweaver joins the troop of heroes with different secondary weapons. Like Torbjorn and Mercy, Lifeweaver has a separate weapon for his defensive capabilities. This suits his character well as his exceptional mobility means that this support hero could likely find himself in some sticky situations behind enemy lines. Although you should never go looking for trouble as a support hero, we know that trouble may well find you, anyway.
Some tricks and tips for this weapon:
- As Thorn Volley is a rapid hitscan weapon, you can get headshots with it, so aim well.
- Thorn Volley should be used as a preventative weapon to discourage enemies from chasing you, not as a primary fire.
Ability: Petal Platform
Description: Throw a platform that springs upwards when stepped on by the first person.
This ability treds some new territory for Overwatch 2, as it can help allies and enemies. Regardless of steps on the platform, it will rise up, meaning that this ability can massively backfire if an ambitious enemy Cassidy who is gearing up for an ultimate or an aggressive Soldier 76 decide they want to grab the high ground.
Some tips and tricks for this ability:
- Jumping just as the platform reaches its full height will give the player a boost, allowing them to get even higher.
- Using Petal Platform and Rejuvenating Dash together will allow Lifeweaver to reach previously unattainable locations.
Ability: Rejuvenating Dash
Description: Dash towards your travelling location and lightly heal yourself.
Similar to Moira’s Fade ability, Rejuvenating Dash allows Lifeweaver to cover ground faster than the usual support hero. This is perfect for rushing unsuspecting enemy heroes or getting yourself out of some sticky situations.
Some tips and tricks for this ability:
- As Lifeweaver can heal himself with Rejuvenating Dash, this is the perfect ability for a last-ditch attempt at capturing an objective or stalling out the end of a game.
Ability: Life Grip
Description: Pull an ally towards your location, protecting them as they travel.
This is a game changer for Overwatch 2. Life Grip gives Lifeweaver has an ability unlike anything we have ever seen. However, with great power comes great responsibility. This ability allows Lifeweaver to bring allies to his side as a defensive capability, almost like summoning a personal bodyguard.
However, you can effectively combine this power with allies to create an effective offensive weapon. Life Grip can drag an ulting Pharah that would have previously been stationary, effectively allowing her to chase retreating enemy heroes. This applies to many heroes with stationary or mobility-limiting ultimates like Cassidy’s High Noon or Reaper’s Death Blossom. Thanks to Life Grip, there will be fewer places to hide for the opposing team.
Some tips and tricks for this ability:
- As allies are protected by a bubble while being dragged, this is the best ability to drag overlay ambitious tank heroes out of sticky situations; Reinhardt and Winston will benefit heavily from this.
Passive Ability: Parting Gift
Description: On death, Lifeweaver drops a health package for enemies and allies.
This passive ability also benefits everyone on the battlefield, which is highly unusual. However, allies will receive more healing from this package than enemies do.
Some tips and tricks for this Passive Ability:
- As this is a passive ability, it means that this will function automatically.
Ultimate: Tree of Life
Description: Place a tree that instantly heals allies upon sprouting and continues to do so periodically.
In Overwatch 2, Lifeweaver’s ultimate is primarily defensive, allowing you to heal large swathes of your team within a medium radius while using the tree as a de facto shield. Tree of Life can create a barrier between you and Zarya after she groups your team using Graviton Surge.
It’s worth noting that Blizzard spent a lot of time coding the Tree of Life to take shape in different ways depending on the size of the room, so the smaller the space, the better the coverage.
Some tips and tricks for this ultimate:
- Tree of Life is a great ultimate to use in the final stages of a fight for the objective, so saving it for later in the game is worth it.
Overwatch 2 Lifeweaver: gameplay breakdown
In Overwatch 2, Lifeweaver is a new species of support hero. Combining elements of familiar characters like Moira’s mobility and Kiriko’s attack, this latest character seeks to take old features and make a new picture.
His primary ability, Life Grip, is an astoundingly powerful and game-changing power that finally gives control back to support players. While support heroes would usually be at the behest of their tank and DPS heroes, relying on their good nature to protect and coordinate with them, Lifeweaver forces this protection with an iron grip. Now if an overly aggressive Genji or Tracer decides to dive, you'll have comfort in the knowledge that you can force your teammates to come back and protect you.
Life Grip is an excellent example of what Lifeweaver brings and how he changes the Overwatch 2 landscape. You can also use this new ability defensively or offensively to move around teammates using their ultimate to get the best outcome possible, like a game of chess. This power, along with Petal Platform and Tree of Life, can change the landscape and, therefore, the outcome of a match, making Lifeweaver the first support hero with ultimate control of strategy and team coordination.
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