Overwatch 2’s new heroes are its most complex, and that’s not stopping
As the Overwatch 2 roster continues to grow, its latest addition is one of its most complex yet, following a trend of more complicated Overwatch 2 characters that Blizzard says it intends to continue for the future of its multiplayer game. Following a series of rapid-response alterations to newcomer Lifeweaver, game director Aaron Keller reflects on the Overwatch 2 team’s modern hero design philosophy and the importance of “high-impact abilities.”
It didn’t take long after the release of Overwatch 2’s Lifeweaver for overwhelming player sentiment to drive Blizzard to make changes. In particular, his control scheme was criticised as “clunky,” while concerns were raised around his relatively limp healing speed and abilities that include the power to yank teammates over to your location, with or without their consent, and a ‘Parting Gift’ that dropped on death that would heal whoever picked it up – friend or foe.
The Lifeweaver changes are set to arrive with the next patch. Parting Gift is gone, and Lifeweaver’s control scheme has been reworked to place his damaging Thorn Volley on secondary fire, rather than requiring a weapon swap. But the Thai healer reflects a greater trend in Overwatch 2; that of increasingly complicated heroes with a higher learning curve.
Before Lifeweaver came Ramattra, with two different forms specialising in midrange and up-close combat, and unique primary and secondary attacks tied to either state. Rolling back further is Junker Queen, who might seem straightforward until you realise that playing the brawly tank correctly requires maintaining multiple independent bleed effects on your enemies to keep her lifesteal passive ticking up nicely.
Junker Queen’s Overwatch 2 launch partner Kiriko is less
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