When developer Blizzard transitioned Overwatch to Overwatch 2 and began releasing content on a new nine-week seasonal schedule, it committed to adding at least one new hero every other season. Since the tank hero Ramattra arrived in Season 2, Season 3 didn't bring a new character to the roster. However, Season 4 is here, and we finally have our hands on its new hero: Lifeweaver, a "sci-fi druid" support from Thailand that blends the healing powers of nature with the advanced capabilities of technology.
For a variety of reasons, Lifeweaver is a very exciting addition to the Overwatch cast — and now that he's here, we've been able to compile a list of everything you need to know about the character. This includes Lifeweaver's gameplay abilities, how to unlock him, how he fits into Overwatch's lore and story, and more.
Overwatch 2 Lifeweaver: Release date
Like previous new Overwatch 2 heroes, Lifeweaver became available at the same time the season he released in launched. That means that Lifeweaver's release date was April 11, 2023 — the same day that Overwatch 2 Season 4 went live.
For the first few weeks of the season, he's only be playable in Quick Play and Arcade Mode games. The reason why you can't immediately play him in ranked Competitive Play is because the developers want to give free-to-play players some time to unlock him by progressing through the Season 4 Battle Pass. Also, this delay gives Blizzard some time to develop rapid balance patches if Lifeweaver launches in an overly strong or weak state.
Overwatch 2 Lifeweaver: Gameplay abilities and kit
Ahead of Lifeweaver's release, his full ability kit was revealed in various marketing materials, and now that he's playable, we have a deeper and complete understanding of what he's capable of. He's very similar to Ana in that he can both enhance allies and disrupt enemies, although the ways in which he can do this with his "flower powers" are quite unique. Below, you'll find a complete breakdown of each of Lifeweaver's gameplay abilities.
- Healing Blossom (Primary Fire): Hold to charge a healing burst. Release to heal a targeted ally.
- Thorn Volley (Alternate Primary Fire): Rapidly fire volleys of torn projectiles.
- Petal Platform (Secondary Fire): Throw down a platform that springs upwards when stepped on. Jumping as the platform stops rising will boost your jump height. Can be manually destroyed.
- Rejuvenating Dash (Primary Ability): Perform a dash in the direction you're moving in, lightly healing yourself as you do. Can be used while charging Healing Blossom.
- Life Grip (Secondary Ability): Pull an ally to your location, protecting them with a shield as they travel. Allies can cancel the effects of Life Grip by using a movement ability.
- Tree of Life (Ultimate): Create a large tree that heals allies as it sprouts and continues periodically healing them over time. Can be destroyed, and is capable of blocking both abilities and players.
- Parting Gift (Passive): On death, drop a pickup that heals the first player — ally or enemy — to touch it.
Like many other supports, Lifeweaver has 200 health, and none of his HP is damage-reducing Armor. Therefore, he definitely falls into the "squishy" category, though both his Rejuvenating Dash and the support role auto-healing passive help him recover lost health as he fights.
Overwatch 2 Lifeweaver guide: Quick tips
These quick tips will help you effectively use Lifeweaver's abilities and succeed on the battlefield while playing him.
- Don't play out in the open. Lifeweaver only has 200 health and his hitbox is quite large, so it's pretty easy for damage heroes to take him down quickly. Play near cover and shield tank heroes like Reinhardt and Sigma so you can retreat behind protection and wait for the auto-heal support role passive to kick in.
- Charge Healing Blossom as much as possible. The ability won't do much healing if you spam low-charge Healing Blossoms, so fully charging them as much as you can is crucial. By doing so, you'll be able to pump out 65 healing/sec, which is quite effective.
- Lead your shots with Thorn Volley. Thorn Volley is similar to Ramattra's Void Accelerator in that its projectiles can do a good amount of damage, but don't have the fastest travel time. Lead your shots at range to maximize your damage output.
- Save Rejuvenating Dash until it can be used to dodge something. While it's tempting to give yourself a bit of light healing when you take chip damage, the true value of Rejuvenating Dash is the burst of movement it provides. Therefore, you should save it and use it to dodge deadly incoming attacks and Ultimates.
- Rejuvenating Dash can be used to cross small gaps between pieces of high ground. This is particularly useful on urban maps like Rialto, Rio de Janeiro, and Circuit Royal.
- Use Petal Platform to lift teammates to high ground. Heroes that normally can't reach these positions easily can be moved there instantly by the platform, which will likely surprise any opponents contesting that ground. Make sure to ping the platform so your allies know it's there.
- You can also use Petal Platform to lift enemies performing ground-based abilities. This is particularly effective against Orisa's Terra Surge.
- Use Petal Platform under your own feet to save yourself from close-range enemies. It'll lift you into the air and block damage from below for you, saving your life.
- Use Life Grip when a teammate is at low health and can't be saved with regular healing. The cooldown is extremely long, so you only want to use it if it'll get good value.
- You can also use Life Grip to pull an ally out of the path of hard crowd control or enemy Ultimates. For example, the ability can save a teammate being charged by a Reinhardt, or someone stuck in a Zarya Graviton Surge.
- Save your Tree of Life Ultimate for fights on objectives. Since your allies will likely be clumped up around control points and payload carts, using the Tree of Life near or on them will result in tons of area-of-effect healing.
- Use the Tree of Life as cover from enemy attacks. The tree has a large hitbox and 1,000 health, so in a pinch, it's an excellent barrier. It can save you and your teammates from dangerous line of sight Ultimates like Soldier: 76's Tactical Visor or Mei's Blizzard, as well as explosive ones like Pharah's Barrage.
Overwatch 2 Lifeweaver: Counters
Like any Overwatch hero, Lifeweaver can struggle quite a bit against certain characters and playstyles. One hero that matches against Lifeweaver favorably is Sombra, as she's able to hack his Petal Platform to instantly destroy it and can also use her EMP Ultimate to shut down his Tree of Life.
Heroes with lots of vertical movement capabilities, such as Doomfist, Winston, Pharah, Echo, and Genji, are also effective picks against Lifeweaver. This is because their vertical mobility allows them to keep up with Lifeweaver and his allies when they use his Petal Platform, reducing the value of the ability.
Overwatch 2 Lifeweaver: How to unlock
Players can unlock Lifeweaver in two ways in Season 4. The first method is to simply purchase Season 4's Premium Battle Pass (1,000 Overwatch Coins, or $10 worth), as doing so will instantly give you access to Lifeweaver. While this route will require you to spend some money if you don't already have enough Overwatch Coins, it's the fastest way to get your hands on Lifeweaver as soon as possible.
Alternatively, you could opt for the free route, which allows you to unlock Lifeweaver by reaching Tier 45 on the free track of the Season 4 Battle Pass. Battle Pass tiers can be progressed through by finishing matches and completing daily and weekly gameplay challenges to earn XP. Individual tiers can be purchased with Overwatch Coins, too, although this is quite expensive and you'd be better off simply buying the Premium Battle Pass instead.
Notably, Lifeweaver is freely available to all Overwatch 2 players for a limited time, and a special in-game event that celebrates his arrival will run until April 25. This event also celebrates the Thai New Year, and will add a new Arcade mode called B.O.B. and Weave in which fans can play Lifeweaver. By participating, you can earn Lifeweaver’s Cassia skin, which is heavily inspired by the Ratchaphruek, Thailand's national flower.
Overwatch 2 Lifeweaver: Lore and origin story
Lifeweaver's origin story was released ahead of Season 4's launch. You can watch it in the video embed below.
Lifeweaver, whose real name is Niran Pruksamanee, was born in Chiang Mai, Thailand and was sent to work and study with the Vishkar Corporation by his family. While there, he became close friends with his roommate, Satya Vaswani (Symmetra), but eventually grew disillusioned with Vishkar due to the company's obsession with trying to build a "perfect world" with its hard-light technology.
For a time, Pruksamanee stepped away from Vishkar and explored the world, marveling at its natural beauty. After seeing firsthand how conflicts like the Omnic Crisis devastated the environment, though, he chose to return to Vishkar to invent a new material called bio-light. This material fused nature and technology together, and could be used to mend damage caused by destructive conflicts.
When the Vishkar Corporation saw what Pruksamanee created, they demanded control of it since it was developed using their resources. Ultimately, Pruksamanee refused and is now on the run from the company. He has vowed to wield bio-light for good and has become Lifeweaver, the hero that players can control in-game.
Overwatch 2 Lifeweaver: Trailer
Blizzard has released a gameplay trailer for Lifeweaver that shows off all of his abilities in action. We've embedded the video below, so you can watch it that way.
Blizzard has also released a Developer Update video centered around Lifeweaver that focuses on his abilities, lore, and design. You can watch it below.
Take a deep dive on how our newest Support Hero came to life 🌸The team behind Lifeweaver explores his beautiful design, his botanical background in Thailand, his time at the Vishkar Architech Academy where he met Symmetra, and how he came to develop biolight! pic.twitter.com/W9fpVgFI1HApril 4, 2023
Overwatch 2 Lifeweaver: Voice actor
Lifeweaver's voice actor is Phuwin Tangsakyuen, a Thai actor that first appeared in the television drama Sunshine My Friend (2014). Recently, he starred in 'Cause You're My Boy (2019), The Gifted: Graduation (2020), and Fish upon the Sky (2021). Over the years, he has performed in a variety of other shows, music records, live events, and more.
Overwatch 2 is one of the best Xbox games on the market for fans of multiplayer shooters, and it's available now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, PS5, and PS4. Season 4 is live, too, bringing both Lifeweaver and its new Battle Pass to players. If you're a new player and want a head start on progression, consider getting the updated Ultimate Battle Pass Bundle. It includes Premium Battle Pass access, 20 instant Battle Pass levels, 2,000 Overwatch coins, and several Starwatch skins.
