Is Lifeweaver the Savior of Supports in Overwatch 2?

(AfroGamers.com) Along with many meta changes in season 4 of Overwatch 2, came the arrival of a long-awaited support character, Lifeweaver. While people are just getting their hands on him and are still figuring out the best way to play him and all the crazy things that he can do, one thing is common between most people. Lifeweaver is not the answer. Here are my thoughts on this new support character, where he fits in, and how they can improve him going forward.

First Thoughts on Lifeweaver

One of the main complaints from support players in Overwatch 2 is the lack of variety that we have in characters to choose from. As a forced support main, I can say that it is an issue, but the Overwatch development team has done a good job of trying to fix that until they can introduce some new heros.

Kiriko, the first new support hero in Overwatch 2, was met with overwhelming praise from support mains, love from tank players, and fury from DPS players. Lifeweaver on the other hand, got mixed reactions when he was released. I think that many people see him as a “troll” pick because of some of his abilities and others see him as a throw pick because he doesn’t offer as much instant utility as the other support characters.

From my standpoint, while Lifeweaver is a good and fun character on his own, when put next to the rest of the pool of support characters, you start to see the issue. Kiriko came in and was instantly a viable pick in most games. With Lifeweaver, there is always a better pick. While the meta of the game changes over time and different team comps come and go, I think as he is now, Lifeweaver will have a hard time fitting in. That isn’t to say that he is completely useless or unplayable, it’s just saying that there may be some small changes that could help him out a bit.

Where Lifeweaver Fits into the Overwatch 2 Support Pool

If you want the complicated answer, then his fit is yet to be seen. Many of the top players are still getting a feel for him and we need to get closer to finishing point of him, after he receives changes from the developers, to see where he will land in the meta. If you want a simpler answer, then it’s nowhere. The main issue with Lifeweaver coming out the gate is that while he is a cool character and can do some cool things with his abilities like lifting the team into the air with his flower ability or pulling an ally to safety with his lifegrip ability, it just isn’t enough to warrant picking him over the support characters that are currently in the game.

If you look at every aspect of what support characters bring to the table, you can find better options that do more for the team overall than Lifeweaver. If you look at healing, Lifeweaver’s healing is great. It locks on to characters and doesn’t require pinpoint accuracy that some of the other supports need to do large amounts of healing like Ana or Baptise. The biggest problem is that this is where  Lifeweaver’s usefulness ends. Many players in a game like Overwatch don’t have issues with their aiming as much so, Lifeweaver may be good for a new player until they can get their aim on point, but as soon as they do, they should probably move to Ana or Baptise.

If you look at another aspect of what supports bring to the table, you have utility. This is basically what their abilities do and how they impact the rest of the team. While support has the lowest number of heroes in the game, almost everyone that you ask will tell you that support is the most critical and game deciding role in the game. Not only do they keep their teammates healed up, but they offer other benefits to the team that can turn the tide of a fight. Would you rather have Lifeweaver give you a flower to lift you into the air or Kiriko completely cleanse you of all negative effects while making you invurable for a second or two? Ok, maybe that isn’t fair. How about would you rather have Lifeweaver save your life and pull one person to possible safety once every 20ish seconds or Ana throw a grenade that can make it impossible for the enemies that it hit to get healed for a few seconds? Still too much? How about would you rather Lifeweaver use his ultimate to pop a tree that heal everyone in a large area for a few seconds but can be easily destroyed or have Kiriko use her ultimate to speed up the whole team, make them attack faster, and speed up time that their abilities come back? Are you starting to see the trend here? EVERY other support character has more utility than Lifeweaver and that is a problem.

The last aspect of what supports bring to the table is their damage. While this is probably the least important part for every support except for probably Moria, Baptise, and Zen, it is something that supports have at their disposal and guess what? Lifeweaver is at the bottom of that too. His attack is so weak that he either needs his team to drop the enemy HP down low so that he can get a kill or just have a enemy that just don’t care about you long enough for you to get a kill.

What Can be Done to Help Lifeweaver

This is a loaded question. As we know from the Overwatch 2 development team and from playing the game, sometimes the smallest changes can have a large effect on not only how the character feels and plays, but on how they impact the team altogether. A good example of this is Cassidy. Before last season, he was in the dumps, then they gave him an extra 50 hp and he started to feel a little better, but he was still underpowered. Then they gave him a buff to the damage that he did a medium and long range, and you couldn’t join a game that didn’t have a Cassidy going crazy in them. Then they took the 50 hp buff away and he started to even out again.

With Lifeweaver, the only thing that I can think of to help him out is to either buff his damage which I don’t think would make him overpowered. Don’t make it to the point where he can kill DPS players with one clip of ammo, but to the point where he can defend himself against diving characters. The other option I can see would be to buff or change his ultimate in some way. I think that it is probably his biggest flaw. Maybe something like a damage reduction while in the tree’s aura or a small amount of armor or something.

What are your thoughts on Lifeweaver and do you think that he is a great addition to the support character pool in Overwatch 2?

Let me know in the comments down below!

Staff Writer; Tardell Swift

This brother is new to writing yet has many different interests such as gaming, hip hop, wrestling, and manga.

You can follow him on Twitter; PhirewoodGaming and keep up with his thoughts there as well.

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