[Update #2]: Overwatch 2's Season 5 is nerfing snipers, buffing Lifeweaver and bringing back soft crowd control.

[Update]: I'm afraid I have some bad news. Overwatch 2 will be drastically downscaling the scope and amount of its long-awaited PvE missions.

Instead of going with a fairly generic support hero concept that's all about spamming healing, Blizzard decided to do something a bit more interesting with the recently released Lifeweaver. With him they opted to focus on utility over raw power, with the end result being a hero that's capable of manipulating the position of both allies and enemies, thus changing the course of the battle with the flick of a wrist.

Unfortunately, while the concept may be incredibly cool, the actual implementation left a lot to be desired. I say this because Lifeweaver not only released in a remarkably underpowered state, but his default keybinds were also really messy which just made him awkward to play. Luckily, most of this is now a thing of the past!

Thanks to the recently release update, Lifeweaver's keybinds have now been rejigged and feel as natural as they do on any other hero, while many of his abilities have been buffed in order to give him a fighting chance against the other supports. Here's a quick rundown of all the balance changes:

• General

- Automatic reload time for the inactive weapon increased from 1.5 seconds to 2.5 seconds

• Healing Blossom

- Ammo count increased to 20 from 12
- Slow now steadily applies after 1 second of max charge being held

• Thorn Volley

- Projectile Size reduced from .125 to .1
- Spread pattern adjusted, with random spread reduced. 1 of the 2 projectiles per shot now fires closer to the crosshair

• Tree of Life

- Health increased from 1000 to 1200
- Healing pulse increased from 50 to 75

• Parting Gift (Passive)

- Parting gift has been removed

Where exactly this leaves Lifeweaver in terms of balance, especially on the competitive scene, I must admit I honestly don't know. He's such a complex hero that I don't think there are many people that have managed to master his abilities yet, which makes gauging his performance quite tricky. That said, he does feel decently impactful in his current incarnation, so even if the numbers aren't right just yet, I don't think we're all that far off.

Whatever the case may be, I'll make sure to let you know once the next big update goes live. Until then, you can read a few more tidbits about Lifeweaver's changes over at the official patch notes. Enjoy!