Lifeweaver, Overwatch 2’s new assist hero, has a reasonably excessive talent ceiling. There’s an argument to be made it’s because he’s not an incredible healer, and his assist package requires a reasonably sturdy sport sense to get probably the most out of. It’s nonetheless unclear how Lifeweaver would possibly play into the aggressive meta, if in any respect, and for many of us, new Overwatch 2 heroes are simply new methods to play alongside our buddies and randos in fast play. However in the event you’re enjoying Lifeweaver and need to get somewhat bit extra out of his advanced plant-based skills, let’s speak suggestions and techniques for getting probably the most out of Overwatch 2’s latest character.
Lifeweaver just isn’t your fundamental healer
One of the vital issues to learn about Lifeweaver is that he’s not right here to be your workforce’s main healer. His therapeutic output is likely one of the sport’s lowest, along with his main fireplace Therapeutic Blossom being, at max, 65 factors of therapeutic per shot, and that’s provided that you cost it as much as max energy. Charging to that threshold takes a full second, and it’s essential to accomplish that for every shot. Comparatively, characters like Baptiste, whose alt-fire heals at a a lot sooner charge and may heal a number of teammates without delay, are simply higher choices for therapeutic. If you happen to had been to attempt to make Lifeweaver your main healer, it might be a full-time job, and even then he wouldn’t be as environment friendly as different assist characters.
Due to this, it’s vital to pair him with the precise assist hero who might help stability the scales when it comes to therapeutic output. This implies Lifeweaver pairs nicely with sturdy healers like Baptiste and Moira however might be not one of the best character to make use of if the opposite assist participant is a low-healing character like Zenyatta or Lucio. Lifeweaver’s package has numerous utility, however proper now, he’s simply not constructed to pocket your tank.
How does Lifeweaver’s Life Grip work?
Placing his weak therapeutic apart, Lifeweaver’s skills are all about positioning. He has Life Grip, which permits him to drag a teammate towards him whereas granting them invincibility. In principle you should utilize this to save lots of a teammate from a precarious scenario, however trolls produce other concepts and have been utilizing it to pull allies to their deaths. However I’ve had a good bit of luck with it when enjoying alongside a very keen Reinhardt who dashes far too deep into the enemy’s backline. Simply as he will get surrounded and practically taken out, I’m capable of pull him again to security the place my assist teammate and I can heal him earlier than he inevitably does it once more.
As a result of Life Grip solely targets one teammate, it may’t fairly be a well-timed team-saving potential like Baptiste’s Immortality Discipline or Kiriko’s Safety Suzu, each of which briefly grant a number of heroes immortality. However I‘ve nonetheless managed some heroic moments, similar to pulling a teammate out of Mei’s final earlier than they had been frozen in place or dragging them out of vary of Orisa’s Tera Surge earlier than she may convey down her javelin. I’ve additionally had numerous luck pulling teammates out of Sigma’s Gravitic Flux ult, even when he’s already lifted them off the bottom. If you should utilize Life Grip earlier than he slams your friends, the Lifeweaver seize is a superb counter Other than ultimates, generally it can save you a teammate from one thing fairly mundane, like pulling them away from a Reinhardt Cost earlier than they’re pinned to a wall. Life Grip has a protracted, 20-second cooldown, so that you shouldn’t spam it with out intent. However Life Grip can simply do extra hurt than good in the event you don’t use it with care.
Life Grip is likely one of the few Overwatch 2 skills that lets a single participant make an government resolution for his or her workforce, and you could possibly very nicely make issues worse through the use of it, even when solely accidentally. In one in all my first Lifeweaver matches, I used to be taking a look at a workforce battle wherein the payload obscured my view of a scrap my Reinhardt was in, however he was at low well being so I needed to get him out of there. He was utilizing Cost on the opposing workforce’s tank, and due to my viewing angle, I assumed he had already efficiently pinned the enemy. However it turned out he hadn’t fairly hit the wall but, and by pulling him earlier than the flexibility was full, I interrupted his play. Recreation sense is on the core of utilizing Life Grip, and even probably the most seasoned Overwatch participant is certain to mess it up from time to time. It’s all about discerning when is greatest to make use of it, and who to apply it to.
One other tip for Life Grip is that very like ready for Mercy outdoors spawn can let her fly to you and rapidly shut distance, ready inside line of sight outdoors spawn can allow you to pull teammates to you to get again into the workforce battle extra rapidly. This may, after all, imply you’ll be coping with a cooldown as you head again into the thick of it, however it would allow you to convey some slower teammates with you slightly than having them trickle in and feed your opponent’s final cost by giving them straightforward targets.
Don’t sleep on his alternate fireplace
Like the remainder of the assist heroes, Lifeweaver has methods of dealing harm alongside therapeutic and utility. Equally to Mercy, he has an alternate weapon that it’s a must to shift to and from. That rapid-fire alt, Thorn Volley, is form of just like the Needler from Halo in that it fires purple, needle-like projectiles at enemies, however with out the homing or the explosion on the finish. It’s not a hitscan weapon, so it received’t be tremendous efficient towards quick-moving or flying heroes, however its harm output is fairly respectable and may make for some good suppressing fireplace.
As a assist character, Lifeweaver is handiest when he’s utilizing his utility to bolster harm heroes and tanks. Nonetheless, he’s not totally helpless offensively, and switching over to Thorn Volley when the time requires it may assist your workforce in its personal means. However not like Moira or Baptiste, he has two modes that require you to decide between doing harm or therapeutic, so figuring out when to change between the 2 is vital to benefiting from each second. Normally, Lifeweaver shouldn’t be the one prioritizing harm, but when the chance presents itself, swap over to Thorn Volley. Nicely-aimed photographs can nonetheless give your opponent a run for his or her cash.
Hold your distance
Whereas Lifeweaver can shoot thorns to deal harm, it’s greatest to remain within the backline at any time when doable. Staying farther away from the motion will after all preserve you secure whilst you’re therapeutic, however it would additionally allow you to get probably the most worth out of Life Grip, as a result of whenever you use it you’ll be pulling your teammates out of the scrap, slightly than simply barely off to the facet. Lifeweaver additionally has a passive potential known as Parting Present, which drops a therapeutic flower the place he dies if an opponent manages to get the higher of you. The difficult half is, the flower will be picked up by both a teammate or an enemy. Whereas enemies received’t get as a lot therapeutic from the merchandise, any benefit you’ll be able to deny your adversaries is a boon for you. Staying farther away out of your enemies will give them fewer alternatives to choose up the Parting Present, and make it simpler in your workforce to seize it as an alternative. All in all, Lifeweaver simply works greatest when he’s at a distance, so don’t get too grasping pushing into the enemy’s defenses. You’re there to assist get others to security after they push too far.
Fortunately, Lifeweaver additionally has a capability that means that you can create distance ceaselessly. Rejuvenating Sprint is a mobility talent that lets Lifeweaver sprint a brief distance and self heal. It doesn’t cowl as a lot house as Tracer’s Blink or Moira’s Fade, nevertheless it works nicely sufficient to each create house between you and your enemies, and to rapidly transfer to the place your teammates might be in your line of sight to heal.
When ought to I exploit Petal Platform
The Petal Platform is one other Lifeweaver potential that focuses on positioning, however this one additionally helps with traversal. Lifeweaver units down an elevating platform formed like a flower, and if a participant steps on it, the platform rises up for 10 seconds or till it’s destroyed. Personally, I’ve gotten probably the most use of it as a method of attending to locations extra rapidly, similar to utilizing it to succeed in excessive floor on King’s Row so I can take shortcuts to the target. Nevertheless, it does have some tactical utility, as nicely. Excessive floor is typically arduous to return by for characters who can use it fairly successfully, like Cassidy or Soldier: 76. Loads of Overwatch 2 maps are constructed with excessive floor, but additionally loads of locations to take cowl ought to a hitscan hero make their solution to the highest of a constructing or balcony. Petal Platform lets gamers make their very own excessive floor, and if paired with the precise hero, it may flip the tables of a battle.
For instance, I used to be enjoying a match with a Cassidy on King’s Row’s first level. We had been holding the enemy workforce again fairly nicely, however Cass had his final and lacked an excellent line of sight to make use of it. As Lifeweaver, I put my Petal Platform down in entrance of the primary wall, which took the cowboy up above the impediment. He was then clearly capable of see a number of members of the enemy workforce and use Deadeye, taking out a pair foes with a single shot. By creating a simple means for Cassidy to succeed in excessive floor, we had been capable of overcome the map’s limitations and execute a game-changing play.
Whereas excessive floor is one perk of Petal Platform, it can be utilized in much less methodical methods. The platform will be disruptive to a number of enemy final assaults, each as a solution to get your workforce out of a bind and in addition through the use of it in your opponents. Some require exact timing, similar to getting out of a Sigma ult earlier than you’re caught in his telekinetic grip. Nonetheless, Petal Platform is a reasonably dependable counter for ults like Zarya’s Graviton Surge or D.Va’s Self-Destruct in the event you can place it proper underneath your self because the enemy casts their potential.
Utilizing it on opponents can be a great way to bypass some high-impact ultimates. The Petal Platform prompts at any time when anybody, good friend or foe, steps on it. So throwing it underneath a Reaper as he prompts Dying Blossom, for instance, will elevate him up within the air and transfer him out of vary of gamers on the bottom. The identical is true for Orisa’s Tera Surge, which might normally make her immovable, however Petal Platform nonetheless works even when she’s fortified by her final. These performs will be difficult to drag off, nevertheless it proves Petal Platform isn’t just for reaching the excessive floor. TikTok person aspen.ow has carried out some testing on which ultimates Lifeweaver can circumvent with the platform, so you’ll be able to see a number of use instances for it right here:
Tree of Life
Lifeweaver’s final potential, Tree of Life, has are available in fairly helpful for me throughout some hectic workforce fights. In comparison with different defense-based ultimates like Lucio’s Sound Barrier or Zenyatta’s Transcendence, Tree of Life isn’t going to single handedly preserve your workforce alive within the face of an onslaught of injury. Nonetheless, it does have its personal makes use of as a burst of therapeutic and a buildable impediment.
Lifeweaver builds a therapeutic tree wherever you place the ult. Upon solid, teammates inside its vary get a excessive burst of therapeutic, adopted by eight smaller therapeutic pulses earlier than it disappears. That is the one means Lifeweaver is ready to heal a number of teammates at a time, as his main fireplace can solely goal one character. The therapeutic’s respectable, however Tree of Life additionally acts as cowl. Consider it like a Mei wall, which acts as a short lived defend from enemy fireplace and may cease enemies of their tracks. If you happen to felt so compelled, you could possibly drop the Tree of Life in entrance of your enemy’s spawn, they usually’d be caught there till they ran to a unique exit. Tree of Life can at the very least quickly maintain enemy forces at bay, however it may be destroyed if enemies assault it, or if Sombra casts her EMP. It’s, nonetheless, resistant to her normal hacking potential.
Whereas safety from common fireplace is one factor, Tree of Life can be used as safety from some highly effective ultimates if timed accurately. I had one match wherein a D.va threw her Self-Destruct into my workforce’s backline, and our tank wasn’t there to place up a defend. As a substitute, I used to be capable of drop Tree of Life in entrance of the explosion, saving myself and my teammates from the assault and getting a burst of therapeutic that gave us a second wind earlier than we headed again into the battle.
So is Lifeweaver any good?
Whereas I used to be excited when Blizzard first revealed Lifeweaver as a result of I used to be compelled by his story and playstyle, he feels much more situational than different assist characters. Performs just like the Cassidy one I discussed are solely doable with a good quantity of coordination, which makes him much less ultimate for solo queuing or for characters who don’t pair nicely along with his package. His therapeutic output is, frankly, fairly poor, and the truth that it solely targets one teammate at a time means he’s simply not constructed to be a fundamental healer, although low-skill gamers will little doubt use him that means anyway. I count on he’ll thrive extra in high-level play, nevertheless it doesn’t really feel just like the numbers are fairly there to maintain up with, a lot much less outpace different assist heroes’ therapeutic.
Life Grip is well his standout transfer, however even it’s susceptible to trolling or simply easy accidents like a teammate strolling into your line of sight whilst you’re desiring to apply it to a unique participant additional into the enemy workforce’s backline. I’ve had that occur a number of occasions after I needed to drag a Tank to security, just for our Mercy to fly in to attempt to save them and get pulled again as an alternative. Loads of Lifeweaver’s skills rely not on intention however on the sport’s lock-on system. This may be finicky, as a result of it’s largely decided by what’s closest to your reticle, and somebody can get in the best way in a cut up second and throw off your play.
In brief, I feel Lifeweaver is a personality who takes numerous time to grasp, however has numerous potential in the event you’re keen to place within the work. For everybody else, there are characters who do numerous what he does higher, if perhaps not as stylishly. Moira has extra therapeutic, and Baptiste has extra all-encompassing defensive skills. I’m curious to see what tweaks Blizzard brings to the brand new hero sooner or later, as a result of regardless of my reservations, I’m an enormous fan of Lifeweaver conceptually. I need to see him succeed, and hopefully the extra time the neighborhood spends with him, the extra obvious his price will turn out to be.
