Overwatch 2 buffs see this weak support return to the meta—but some aren’t convinced he’s back

With how flawed his original kit was, Lifeweaver’s initial release in Overwatch 2 was rightfully met with huge disappointment. Albeit, over time, the nature wielder welcomed several micro buffs, and now, thanks to season six’s patch, he has finally joined the club of strong Overwatch heroes. Unfortunately, while most players consider him perfectly balanced, some are convinced his victory lap isn’t going to last long.

In a Reddit post dated Aug. 23, a player named SamElias1997 showcased a clip of them using Lifeweaver’s healing and damaging stats perfectly to make an impressive support play. They stressed how the hero is fairly balanced at the moment, calling out players who still flinch at having to play with Lifeweaver.

Under the post are several comments that reiterate why Lifeweaver was bad initially and how he has grown to become a great support pick in Overwatch 2. But interestingly, a lot of players said while the buffs have helped him create space for himself in the meta, he’s still yet to surpass his peers in terms of overall value.

“Definitely improved a lot, although I still think LW’s kit is a little niche,” one player said. “Raw healing output being increased, I feel, helps his case a lot and propelled him to a “normal” character, as others have been saying. Would still prefer a Kiriko or Lucio, who have arguably better kits for a lot more scenarios. Petal can seem super redundant and useless for common team fights.”

Another player highlighted Lifeweaver’s strengths in certain scenarios, including maps and heroes. “Yeah, I still think there’s less reason to pick him compared to other supports, but he’s definitely not a throw pick anymore. My duo likes playing him on maps with enviro kill potential (i.e. Ilios well) and with heroes like Doom, Genji, Sombra, Tracer, Winston, because his healing is super consistent on them,” they said.

A third in-depth comment from Reddit user AvailableTension explained that while the season six buffs for Lifeweaver are massive, we should wait for a couple of weeks to know how it helps his pick rate. 

The discussion also featured a few minor debates, where some players claimed that Lifeweaver wasn’t bad before, but his kit required more effort on the player’s part to offer team value. “He wasn’t bad, people were just bad at him and mad at him. I had several no-death games as him near release, but that didn’t translate into comp because people would throw at character select if you picked him,” one player said.

Related: Seagull calls Overwatch 2 season 6 Lifeweaver buffs ‘f*g insane’

Expectedly, a lot of players were quick to dismiss the claim, saying that Lifeweaver’s original state was too weak to survive in Overwatch 2’s meta. 

“Nonexistent damage, very long cooldowns, worst support Ult in the game, and 0 proactive gameplay. He was a tried and true healbot, which Ana and Moira STILL outdid him in, on top of having their own utilities,” a player said, summing up everything that was wrong with Lifeweaver a while back. Well, it’s safe to say he’s clearly the most disputed character designs we’ve seen from Blizzard’s side so far.

Lifeweaver’s saturated kit has finally found its place in the Overwatch 2 meta, now that he’s a ‘normal’ hero after the buffs, according to players. But is it enough for players to pick him over other supports, including the game’s newest Peruvian healer-cum-damage expert Illari?

In competitive, he’s currently one of the lowest-picked support heroes, although Brigitte and Lúcio are doing worse, according to Overbuff stats considering all ranks. As much of this may seem promising to fans, it’s worth noting that in high ranks like Master and Grandmaster, he’s still the bottom of the barrel.

Looks like Lifeweaver’s yet to prove his potential, even after so many buffs.