Season Four of Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch 2 begins on Wednesday, 12 April at 11 am AEST, and you can unlock the game’s newest hero, Lifeweaver.
Introducing Lifeweaver
Born Niran PruksaManee (meaning Jewel of the Forest) Liveweaver is an entrepreneurial Thai scientist who uses his unique biolight technology to heal. Despite being on the run from the Vishkar Corporation, Lifeweaver is determined to share his skills and make a positive difference to those around him.
Lifeweaver is the first hero from Thailand, and his debut will coincide with Songkran, the Thai New Year’s national holiday on April 13th. He is also the first openly pansexual Overwatch hero. According to the developers, World of Warcraft’s Druid class heavily inspired Lifeweaver’s design.
Lifeweaver Gameplay
Lifeweaver is a support character with 200 HP, zero shields and zero armour. He has a surprisingly large hitbox, equivalent to Junkerqueen or Rammatra, despite his relatively small health pool. The new support has a fairly unique kit, and paired with his low HP and lack of defensive abilities, we think Lifeweaver will take some time for even the most seasoned Overwatch players to master. For those eager for the challenge, we’ve provided a better look at Lifeweaver’s abilities below.
Passive – Parting Death
On death, Lifeweaver drops a lotus blossom that heals the first hero to pick it up. If an ally picks it up, they receive 250 HP but if an enemy picks it up, they receive only 75 HP.
Primary Fire 1 – Healing Blossom
By holding down the primary fire button, players charge a healing burst that heals a targeted ally on release. It takes 1 second to fully charge the burst, which can target allies up to 30 meters away and through barriers. A fully charged Healing Blossom provides 10 health points, but casting results in a 25% reduction in movement speed, so Lifeweaver players will have to choose their timing wisely.
Primary Fire 2 – Thorn Volley
A single click of the primary fire button ejects a burst of projectile thorns, dealing 5 damage each. This ability takes 1.5 seconds to manually reload but automatically reloads while Healing Blossom is in use.
Ability 1 – Petal Platform
Lifeweaver lobs a platform onto the ground that can lift allies and/or enemies into the sky. The platform stays afloat for 9 seconds unless destroyed by Lifeweaver or an enemy hero. The Petal Platform has 400 HP and though it’s not specifically designed for this purpose, it can also be used as a shield or to block a line of sight.
Ability 2 – Rejuvenating Dash
This ability provides Lifeweaver with a small horizontal dash (maximum distance of 6.15m) that also heals him for 25 HP.
Ability 3 – Life Grip
Life Grip allows Lifeweaver to directly pull an ally to him. While in Life Grip, your teammate is protected from damage and crowd control, but won’t cleanse any debuffs. This ability can be used to pull allies out of stuns and slows, such as Graviton Surge, Gravitic Flux, Chain Hook and Charge. It cannot pull enemies through terrain-like defences such as Mei’s Ice Wall.
Ultimate Ability – Tree of Life
Lifeweaver’s ultimate ability summons a massive healing beacon, planting a beautiful, blossoming tree of life. When it sprouts, the Tree of Life heals all allies within 12.5 metres for 150HP. It lasts 15 seconds and provides an additional 50 HP per 1.75 seconds to allies in range until it despawns or is destroyed. Tree of Life requires a line of sight to heal and can be interrupted by terrain defences like Ice Wall.
Season 4 starts next Wednesday, 12 April at 11 am AEST. Overwatch 2 is free-to-play on all platforms, including Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4|5, Nintendo Switch and PC via Battlenet. You need an internet connection to play Overwatch 2, but won’t need an active online subscription.
