Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller recently shared his take on the potential significant changes to one of the game's newest playable characters, Lifeweaver. Lifeweaver was added to the roster of Overwatch 2 during Season 4, but is already being considered for a rework to help improve the experience of players who choose him. While the changes that Keller mentioned aren't confirmed, they would likely be implemented in Season 5 of Overwatch 2.
Lifeweaver is the newest support hero added to the Overwatch franchise, and is the first support character to be added within Overwatch 2. While fans were initially excited for Lifeweaver's debut and abilities, it turns out that he hasn't been playing as well as some would hope. Among the common criticisms of Lifeweaver are his abnormally large hitbox when compared to other healers like Mercy, and his lackluster Thorn Volley attack. Although Lifeweaver was officially added to the game in April, he's already being considered for a significant rework in the game's upcoming season. The director of Overwatch 2, Aaron Keller, shared his thoughts about the various changes that could be made to Lifeweaver and his abilities in an article on the official Overwatch website.
The changes outlined in Keller's article follow recent changes to Lifeweaver's control scheme, but aim to further alter the character's core mechanics and gameplay. Among the suggested changes are a reduction of Lifeweaver's hitbox, a slight buff to his Thorn Volley, and a new passive ability that would lean more into the character's role as a healer. While these changes aren't confirmed to be coming, Keller seems adamant that a rework is in Lifeweaver's future.
Keller also mentions in the article that another issue Blizzard has noticed lies in Lifeweaver's various abilities not functioning properly. Keller notes that "Life Grip and Petal Platform both can be game-changing abilities, but they’re also inconsistent." Lifeweaver's Life Grip ability can serve as a counter to Roadhog's hook when used properly, but more often than not players end up misusing the ability. While Lifeweaver has one of the highest healing outputs and lowest death rates of any support character, as noted by Keller, statistics alone aren't enough to justify leaving him as is, according to the article.
Lifeweaver was a change of pace for Overwatch 2 and its growing roster, as he served as a new support character. The support role has been notably lacking in characters, only having eight characters before Lifeweaver. In fact, some fans have been asking for changes to all of Overwatch 2's supports. Although Lifeweaver isn't playing as Blizzard had hoped, fans can hope for a significant change to his mechanics sometime in the near future.
Overwatch 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Blizzard