A popular video shared in the Overwatch 2 community shows new Support hero Lifeweaver struggling to fully heal a D.Va player. Lifeweaver has drawn a lot of attention as a key part of Season 4 in Overwatch 2's new content. He has a dynamic kit that allows him to move teammates around mid-battle. However, as a Support character, Lifeweaver also has to prioritize healing, which has been received with much less excitement. The Overwatch 2 video shows just why players are frustrated.
The biggest change in Overwatch 2 is a shift to 5-player teams compared to the original Overwatch's 6 players. That makes the life of each teammate that much more valuable, which puts that much more pressure on Support characters to keep their teammates healed. Not every Support character is necessarily equal in their healing ability, however. Blizzard has to balance their ability to heal with the utility they have with their other skills.
The problem is that Blizzard may have under-tuned Lifeweaver's healing because of how impactful his other abilities can be. This is captured in a video shared by Reddit user Goku-sann, wherein a Lifeweaver is shown healing their D.Va teammate from around 20% health back to full health. Even with the D.Va standing still and the Lifeweaver using their full-power heal as fast as they can, it takes around 10 seconds to heal them fully.
The D.Va is luckily very understanding and thankful for the Liveweaver to heal them, but there's a clear moment where both players acknowledge that the situation is a bit sad. If this was an active combat situation, it's easy to see how the Lifeweaver would struggle to keep the low-health D.Va up. Never mind doing so while also healing other teammates at the same time.
Liveweaver isn't bugged or broken; his healing limitations are by design. Lifeweaver's healing isn't meant to be delivered in a burst but rather sustained over time while his other abilities are used more actively to save the lives of his teammates. Overwatch 2 players will still see plenty of Lifeweavers delivering high healing amounts in their matches, even if Blizzard doesn't buff his healing more than it already has. But taking 10 seconds to fully heal a tank is quite extreme.
Some Overwatch 2 players believe Lifeweaver was designed more toward the original Overwatch's design sensibilities. In the original Overwatch, characters like Symmetra and Torbjorn were considered Supports without the ability to heal. Lifeweaver's abilities suit that style of supporting without healing, only he now has to have healing out of necessity because that's what Overwatch 2 Supports do. Faster healing isn't the only issue Lifeweaver has, but it may lie at the heart of what needs to be improved.
Overwatch 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
