Barbara is Genshin’s Strongest Character: How I Learned to Ignore the Meta & Have Fun Again

A very in-depth look at Genshin’s strongest character, and the meta-game that bends to her will. This is a long one, so I broke it up into chapters:
Intro: Let the Show Begin 00:00
Chapter 1: Teams, Roles, & Combat: Playing Your Part 2:24
Chapter 2: Stayin’ Alive: The Importance of Sustain 5:38
Chapter 3: The Sangonomiya Switch Up 9:51
Chapter 4: Late Bloomers & Big Stonks 13:41
Chapter 5: The Value of a Character 17:00
Chapter 6: Spiral Abyss: Genshin’s Final Frontier 23:06
Chapter 7: The Artifact Treadmill: 90% of Players Quit Before They Win Big 27:11
Chapter 8: Play Your Favorites 31:03
Finale: Learning to Love Again 33:04
Encore: Special Thanks 34:38
Wanna keep up with me? Come say hi at:
Twitter: @dragonhustled
Twitch: dragonhustled
Credits:
Thumbnail artwork/composition: Firestia
@firestiart on Twitter
firestia.carrd.co/
Additional Artwork:
Himawari, Mika Emotes- Zedora (@ZedoraArt , zedoraart.carrd.co/)
Logo- Suwastudios (@suwastudios , suwastudios.bigcartel.com/)
Mika Emotes- Bell (@gardeniamist on Twitter, gardeniamistart.wixsite.com/p...)
Videos Used:
Barbara's Special Video: An Idol's Healing Magic: Genshin Impact
• Barbara's Special Vide...
Vibrant Harriers Aloft in Spring Breeze Cutscene Animation: "Kites in the Wind" | Genshin Impact
• Vibrant Harriers Aloft...
Version 4.4 Special Program｜Genshin Impact
• Version 4.4 Special Pr...
Character Demo - "Alhaitham: Think Before You Act"
• Character Demo - "Alha...
Character Teaser - "Sangonomiya Kokomi: The Ocean's Will"
• Character Teaser - "Sa...
Character Demo - "Sangonomiya Kokomi: A Thousand Waves Under the Moon"
• Character Demo - "Sang...
Character Demo - "Raiden Shogun: Judgment of Euthymia"
• Character Demo - "Raid...
Character Teaser - "Yae Miko: Kitsune's Affections"
• Character Teaser - "Ya...
Character Teaser - "Kaedehara Kazuha: Moonlit Breeze"
• Character Teaser - "Ka...
Character Demo - "Zhongli: The Listener"
• Character Demo - "Zhon...
Story Teaser: The Solitary Pursuit of Lightning
• Story Teaser: The Soli...
Character Teaser - "Kamisato Ayato: Lanterns in the Night"
• Character Teaser - "Ka...
Character Teaser - "Arataki Itto: That's How the Show Should Go!"
• Character Teaser - "Ar...
Character Demo - "Furina: All the World's a Stage" | Genshin Impact
• Character Demo - "Furi...
Character Teaser - "Chiori: Crimson-Woven Heart" | Genshin Impact
• Character Teaser - "Ch...
Character Demo - "Chiori: Thousand Threads of Brilliance" | Genshin Impact
• Character Demo - "Chio...
Character Demo - "Xianyun: Unfettered as the Wind" | Genshin Impact
• Character Demo - "Xian...
Character Teaser - "Xianyun: Discernment and Ingenuity" | Genshin Impact
• Character Teaser - "Xi...
Story Teaser: Echoes of the Heart | Genshin Impact
• Story Teaser: Echoes o...
Artifact Probability: genshin-impact.fandom.com/wik...
Setlist (In Order):
A Sweet Smile (Genshin)
Konan Ja Nai/So Much More! (Instrumental) (Yakuza 5)
Invincible Rainbow Arrow (Instrumental) (AI: The Somnium Files)
Tokyo Emergency (Persona 5)
Some People Call This Teamwork (Hi-Fi Rush)
Sumeru City (Persona 2)
Cool Morning (Danganronpa V3)
Appearance of Iris (AI: The Somnium Files)
Battle 2 (Fate/Extra)
My Homie (Persona 5)
Changing Seasons (Persona 3)
Matter of Factly (Lost Judgment)
Cabaret (Yakuza: Kiwami 2)
Cabaret GP Battle! (Yakuza: Kiwami 2)
Mysterious Destiny, Tomorrow is Mine (Instrumentals) (Smash/Bayonetta)
Time for the Climax! (Bayonetta 2)
Red & Black (Bayonetta)
Ark Mall (Calm, Combat Mix) (Astral Chain)
In The Groove (Lost Judgment)
Try to Have Some Fun for Me! (Yakuza 0)
DND (Do Not Destroy) (No More Heroes)
Bright Sandstorm (Fire Emblem: Engage)
Hurry! (Final Fantasy VII)
Hitsujigamine (Catherine)
Walking on Leaves (No More Heroes)
Pale Blue Quartet, Four Disorganized Flowers (Like a Dragon: Ishin!)
Staff Roll (Nocturne)

[@Partyfisch]

To say it with Zhonglis Words: "One man's stone is another man's gem"

[@Jdogrey1]

Oh goodness, that is their translation for that?

[@Partyfisch]

@@Jdogrey1 Yes. Are there other translations?

[@lightishredgummi9654]

@@Jdogrey1 it's more like Zhongli's own way of saying it, because, you know... rocks.

[@justsomeguy727]

​@@Jdogrey1it isn't a translation thing. That's just how Zhongli speaks. He's very knowledgeable about different rocks within the game so he often makes analogies about them.

[@Jdogrey1]

@@justsomeguy727 the entire game is translated. That line is totally different in Chinese.

[@ReanXAlisa]

So glad there's people out there who just love to play with the characters they want because I feel like it's so clear that if you try to min max prioritize the "objective" best in a game where it's more than just stats you're gonna burn out insanely fast and blame things that aren't always the problem.

[@ashhlsy]

yess ever since i got back into genshin my sorta “goal” for myself is to only get and build characters who i enjoy, a few of them do happen to be “meta” characters like furina and nahida, but i also adore layla and i think her playstyle is super unique and it just helps me to enjoy playing, i cant imagine only following what everyone else uses just for faster clears

[@djailsonfelipe84]

Like it or not meta is important though, it's better to rather have actually efficient characters to do things first, only after you do all of this you can use the bad/for simps characters. Especially when it is costly to use resources on this game, so you gotta be careful on what you choose for efficiency.

[@ReanXAlisa]

@@djailsonfelipe84 you’ve already missed the point. It has nothing to with the meta existing. If that’s how someone wants to play then that’s how they can play. It’s not as simple as you “need” X to do this.

[@Bakagii]

@@ashhlsy for me it's guys like thoma heizou gaming and kaveh. Lucky for them that they do work well in somewhat meta teams which gives them a huge advantage. lesser stronger characters than i do like but is not so good would be lisa

[@djailsonfelipe84]

@@ReanXAlisa Meta is and always will be king. Like it or not it's how most people will choose to play, people naturally tend towards that which benefits the most. You can use and choose, but it really doesn't mean what you're using is the best option. You're free to choose but good and bad still exist.

[@Bigslam1993]

Barbara is the elemental trigger in my Nilou team. Therefore, technically, she is one of my best DPS characters

[@RaonyBenjamim-nb6sz]

I did build a electro taser team with barbara and she is an imortal beast 😅

[@Oz1455]

@@RaonyBenjamim-nb6sz What is this.

[@RaonyBenjamim-nb6sz]

@@Oz1455 An electro taser team? It's a team composed by one hydro (or two) characters and at least two electro ones. The team I built was Barbara, Beidou, Yae Miku and Fischl

[@Bakagii]

barbara is lowkey the second best hydro applier if we're talking about 4 stars. Her rings and basic attack do provide a decent amount of hydro for reactions like hyperbloom, not enough to facilitate vape teams but its still great. Very underrated if i do say so myself in the early game especially since hydro is such a crucial element and not everyone can get a xingqiu or build enough ER for him to be good early on

[@Axterix13]

​@@Bakagii But she's also the second worst four star hydro-applicator ;) Overall, though, I'd say Barbara has three big flaws: 1) Very long cooldown on her E, and without a matching duration on it, which doesn't do damage, so you can't even use a sacrificial weapon to address this, like you can with Qiqi. 2) No elemental particles from her E. This is something that Hoyovese really should address, for her, Noelle ,and Qiqi, but they never will, because Hoyoverse. 3) Wet status. You will get frozen. That said, I used her for the longest time in the Abyss, until I got Kokomi. I was someone who could see the value in Kokomi because I used Barbara, and Kokomi basically fixes all three of those issues.

[@flickerwizz233]

As a Heizou main, I can confidently say that playing your favourite character as a main dps improves the gaming experience much more than playing a big numbers main dps does :3

[@Error403HRD]

As a Venti Main, hard agree. He was definitely NOT meant to be played on-field, but I have a lot more fun when I do! Part of it is the absolutely cursed teams I can make because of it ngl (Example: Venti, Xingqiu, Beidou, Mika. Auto Attacking Venti 😊 absolutely destroyed Floor 11 somehow)

[@tracy-eire]

I so agree!

[@x_azzy]

felt this video as an albedo main. he got recently, directly powercrep by chiori, had a locked event weapon, etc. feelsbad. yet i run him as an on-field dps anyway (getting chiori's weapon and his c2 was a great upgrade!), bc I love him and im willing to invest to make it work. i just wish it wasn't such a struggle sometimes when it feels like there are characters left behind by hoyo and the community

[@cat6th363]

Surprisingly the difference between characters depends mostly on the artifacts. I still can't get over how Dory mains got abyss 12 while I was still struggling with meta characters

[@nobody-xh6ii]

​@cat6th363 team comps, artifacts, weapons and rotations matter ALOT. Plus maxed leveled and 9/9/9 talents

[@umnothanku]

another bedo main 🤝

[@icon_of_horny]

@@cat6th363 Surprisingly C6 Dori is actually usable - especially in Furina teams

[@Of_Crow]

It is honestly very unfortunate that most of his best weapons were locked behind old limited time events, and the best weapon for him now is probably Chiori’s sword, ironically

[@xFreeCookies]

YAY FOR PUTTING SOME RESPECT ON BARBARA'S NAME 🎉🎉🎉 i love love *love* my hydro girlies, it made me so happy to see you talking about them in such an amazing manner

[@degraves2003]

Barbara C6 on Ocean Clam is broken. Bond of Life Lynette teams, Gaming Detonation (Burgeon), Chongyun, Candace, Rosaria, Barbara for a cool. I have only one question? Do you consider Wanderer an Inazuma character?

[@unicorn_xxx3424]

mhm! Barbs has been my fav character since release so glad she's finally getting the respect she deserves 🥰

[@eraba661]

@@degraves2003 Yes his manufacturing and packaging date is from Inazuma

[@kaylise08]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1972">32:52</a> i started playing this game specifically for xinyan- a character i ADORED and could talk about for hours nonstop- and used her as a dps consistently for the first year i played the game, i got her to C6, I pulled Itto AND Eula’s weapons for her, farmed pale flame and shimenawa domains for ages until she had the best pieces on my account, she was even the first character i would triple crown!! Then my boyfriend was on my account and C6ed my Bennett (Who i mainly used to support her as a physical DPS), and it effectively ruined her team in my eyes- I didn’t want to farm to build a character as a substitute and so I tossed her to the side and ended up playing another character instead. I’m blanking on who it was but I loved them less than Xinyan for sure. And it was around that time that Lyney came out, and it was love at first sight with his gameplay, personality, design, character demo- everything about him! and the fact that he had such high scaling, was meta, and runs best on a mono team of my favorite element didnt hurt. So with some pain to my wallet I secured him with yelan’s signature bow to kinda sorta match! And his artifact domain would give me a hard time, but i didnt even need to go through the trouble because even without a 4-pc set he was doing double, TRIPLE the numbers that I had bent over backwards to get Xinyan to do- I loved Xinyan but Lyney made the game so easy… too easy arguably. Sure its cool watching Lyney do 300k and killing everything instantly, but I miss the fun it was reaching new milestones with Xinyan, running around teyvat hearing her little drums jiggling, proving the people that called her the worst character in this game wrong!! And as much as I do like Lyney I dont have the same joy I had for Xinyan about him- it stings knowing I forsook my favorite character who was all about rejecting the status quo and being herself for a character that i s the status quo, is the easiest option for when i need things to die quickly. This video reminded me of the joy Xinyan brought me, meta be damned! ❤🎸

[@AmoritaStorre]

That's such a heartfelt comment❤ Personally, I don't even like having a 'main', and do my best to give every character a fair try. I've played Xinyan for a bit, too (as a shield support/burst sub-dps in melt), and she was fun! She's a good person in the story; loved the second GAA bit devoted to her. Her outfit is fire. For some reason, my fav part of it are the white sleeves. They look so cozy and soft😅 And yes, the small sound of her drums was nice to hear while running around. If I had to choose my own favorites, I'd say Xiao and Nilou. I remember how much I liked Nilou's design and attack effects AND how little the 'community' cared for her. Got her because I loved her, kept playing for the fun destructive chaos she brings to the battlefield. Got Baizhu for more variety (3 star, they said. Waste of primos, they said). This community loves playing experts so much, wonder if they'll ever self-reflect. Probably not😅

[@krystallium_]

omg another xinyan main? i also started the game for her😭

[@-toriizaka46]

@@AmoritaStorre wait they called baizhu a 3 star? no way, hes literally the best healer in the game alongside kokomi

[@AmoritaStorre]

@@-toriizaka46 EXACTLY!!

[@-toriizaka46]

@@AmoritaStorre and he buffs! i got him for my lisa and collei. just need to raise him now lol. i cant believe he was criticised - hes a complete character at c0 and his c1 is a great quality of life const

[@-dataexpunged-9243]

One of my favorite teams is aggressively off meta, it's hyperburgeon with Kirara, Barbra, kuki, and xiangling because running into shit as the box cat is just really fun

[@-toriizaka46]

kuki and xiangling are considered meta. but i guess xiangling burgeon isnt

[@bequiet3944]

sorry for breaking your "look i'm not like others" attitude, but bloom cannot be "off meta", llet alone xl and kuki as ss-tier units

[@nobody-xh6ii]

​@@-toriizaka46 it's because xiangling price too much pyro that rhe only one she truly shines with is childe due to riptide which, that in itself, is VERY busted

[@-dataexpunged-9243]

@@bequiet3944 xiangling burgeon isn't meta lol The whole point of my comment was that it's a team I find fun

[@MrJemoederopeenstokj]

Shinobu supremacy!

[@DefinitelyNotAFerret]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="114">1:54</a> I think what a lot of people I've seen recently do is get meta supports and use them to boost their, let's say, "meme" / "off-meta" dps characters. Aloy, Dori, Barbara, Amber, Dehya, even anemo traveler can perform well with the right supports (and sometimes weapons...)

[@-libertyprimev1-902]

This^ Raiden and Nahida for example are such busted Off-Field Applicators (as well fill several other roles like Batteries to the point you don't really require ER on most characters unless they have exceedingly short cooldowns or an ability that scales off ER) that you can use damn near anyone else in the other two slots either for additional reactions or just any character(s) you want to play with regardless of how they "fit" in the team... I'm kind of doing both with On-Field/Driver Mona, who while normally is one of the few characters that can work on really any team is 95% of the time Off-Field Burst Damage Support, leaving the forth slot open for any exploration/puzzle character or Yaoyao for team EM and a 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘈𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤.

[@-toriizaka46]

the craziest thing is amber best team is diona, rosaria and sucrose lol. ive seen amber mains use her with ganyu, kazuha, bennet, mona. but the most popular is the all mondstat 4 star team lol

[@Marik4295]

I only follow the meta when it suits me in my effort to kill god with a small child

[@Jdogrey1]

​@@-toriizaka46 Amber's best team is Hu Tao, Yelan, and Kazuha, but okay.

[@-toriizaka46]

@Jdogrey1 that's hutaos team, I'm talking abt teams centered on Amber's dps

[@winterdragon2004]

Qiqi is unironically my favorite character since day one, her trailer was what first brought my attention to Genshin Impact. I knew I wanted her on my team since before I even pulled her, and although I'm frequently subjected to all the memes and scorn she gets: "most useless 5 star" "the face of lost pity" ect, each one only solidified my resolve to make her my primary DPS. The community may look down upon her, but I'll show them even Qiqi can go the whole nine yards with enough care and love put into her

[@bAaris]

Fan fact: phys qiqi was such a popular meme in russian community. Everyone was amazed at how good she was doing, and how immortal she was. Some guy even made the song abt it!

[@myakuza4366]

Honestly I've always loved Qiqi too, been my healer for as long as I had her(kinda my main dps for a while too), and she was so immortal it was stupid lmao. The only reason I'm not playing her is because Arlecchino doesn't benefit from healers and I refuse to not play her

[@bangtanssera]

qiqi as a driver in a furina team is incredible, literally chef kiss

[@Dubstep_Gun]

"The strongest character you get early game is Barbara" Proven two times. CN world records abyss 36* speedrun on new account. Barbara Nilou - 6 days. Barbara Raiden - 4 days. Speaks for itself.

[@Dubstep_Gun]

@@AngieB12345 Friend labor involved. One account played by 2-3 players with day-night shifts. Yes, account itself never slept rotated between different players.

[@AleeWiksa]

3 days 36* speedrun didn't include Barbara.

[@Dubstep_Gun]

@@AleeWiksa I can't find 3 days 36* speedrun, where? World record is 4 days.

[@Jdogrey1]

There is no way that she is that strong for a normal player. That is for a very specific method, and let me tell you, this guy does not build Barbara like they do.

[@Jdogrey1]

​@@AngieB12345you can do a month of f2p farming in 3 days with money.

[@glench4693]

The only bad characters are the ones you don't build or use properly.

[@caseydemmings6666]

Then there aloy

[@lnsflare1]

Don't forget that Xianyun's healing is for the entire party at once, not just the on-field character, which gives her great synergy with Furina's stack mechanic.

[@Jdogrey1]

You know what has the best synergy with Furina's stack mechanic? Furina. I seriously do not understand why so many people refuse to vertically invest in their characters instead of getting a bunch of characters they will never use.

[@roguecloud5674]

​@@Jdogrey1do explain, I don't really have the best luck so collecting multiples of the same character isn't an option for me (if that's what you mean).

[@nobody-xh6ii]

​@Jdogrey1 because sub dps furina is stronger than healer furina. Healer is meant for only emergencies, off field and overworld. Bosses however? No. You want her sub dps because MINIMUM is 20k per tick. And you get 3 per 3 seconds.. that's an instant 60k every 3 for 20+ seconds. This is compared to her pathetic 4k+ healing [5k if invested] per tick. Baizhu does more. Not to mention the downside of healer mode furina is: No energy particles. No reactions. No applications. Loss of MASSIVE damage output. Longer rotations for places like abyss.

[@kasuha]

I like Barbara too. I have less use for her recently, but I still call her when it's about breaking pyro shield of the pyro flower or the pyro cube. But her greatest time to shine was when I got Nilou and Nahida and started playing Nilou bloom team still not having Kokomi. Even on healing build and only equipped with sacrificial fragments (and leveled up to 90) she was my driver in that team and seeing her emerge from a pile of dissolving enemy remains was absolutely hilarious. For me, that was second game changing moment with the first being getting Zhongli and experiencing the game in Easy mode for the first time. And yes, I am clearing one half of Abyss with Nilou bloom ever since then. When it comes to Abyss, it seems to me you're about in the phase where I was about a year ago. Could beat it to 36 stars but it was hard and I needed to switch teams for floor 12 more often than not. Give it another year and I'm sure your characters will be good enough to even have fun clearing it. I have a lot of favorite characters. In fact I think the list of those that are not my favorite would be shorter. And with it comes another problem. I have too many characters I like to play. With regards to Meta, I did pay attention to it when I was not good enough to beat Abyss and when I still had problems with it. Paying attention to which characters to prioritize, how to build them and how to use them in battle really paid off. I am now strong enough that I can afford to neglect it and still succeed but that first phase was very important in my opinion. And finally a note about healers. I like to help other people in the game when I run out of things to do for me. And I realized that absolute majority of people who need help totally neglect the sustainability part of the game, collecting and building DPS characters only and then struggling in combat. Kokomi is my single most used character whenever I am helping them.

[@Jdogrey1]

About Kokomi, the reason she is so good is because she is not just a healer. She deals incredible damage and applies a ton of hydro. Because of that, she is just better than a normal healer like Barbara.

[@marimmarMR]

I come from years of playing MMORPGs like WOW and having a dedicated healer on the team is something I value very much. When all hope is lost, the cool DDs are all either dead or low on HP, Barbara sings her song and instantly everyone is good to go again. Adding hydro to your enemies is also quite a benefit.

[@sugar5507]

Barbara was the entire reason I started playing Genshin Impact. My friends had been urging me for months, but I finally caved when they showed me a list of characters and I got to see Barbara for the first time. Sure, it helped that we share a birthday, but I was in love with her character design and her personality. I felt like I could relate to her and she inspired me to play Genshin even after all my friends had given up on it. Barbara was my first character to 90, my first character with a full five star artifact set, my first C6, and my first triple crowned character. Perhaps I don't use her as much as I did that first year of playing but Barbara has a very special place in my heart. Thank you for this video.

[@HyperXCITE]

Klee and Nahida are my little babies who could be as or least meta as they wanted and I would still give the world for them. Nahida is extremely easy to slot into basically any team, as you stated, specially with Fountain's latest Hydro powercreep (plus Furina is amazing in her own right) but poor Klee is so hard to use in most situations due to Pyro leaning to big one shots, rather than consistent DPS. You can tell she was just about the first non-Archon limited 5 star lmao. But my little sparkle knight got a new spotlight for me, as basically everyone does, with Furina, with me running Klee, Nahida, Furina and YaoYao for so much explosion fun!!

[@DefinitelyNotAFerret]

Burgeon Klee and Klee Xianyun Plunge are pretty cool

[@krumi_hazuki1440]

Try New artifact for burning Klee

[@kotarouinugami1745]

A lot of bosses have a narrow window of opportunity to hit them really hard, while they're invulnerable (or keeping you busy) much of the time. That's when "burst DPS" like Klee are needed, raining apocalyptic destruction in the span of a few seconds.

[@squidonglitter2320]

I farmed FoPL for Klee and witnessing the absolute destruction burgeon Klee commits is so satisfying and hilarious. I knew I had to pull for Klee when she got her rerun alongside her new skin~ I was determined to make her powerful with burgeon! She's not even holding a 5* weapon, she's holding R5 Magic Guide x'D and she's already breached past 1000 EM. I'm sure if I pulled for Nahida's signature and C2 Nahida, her damage will be nuclear! But that's a fun long-term investment for the future >:3 Also, what's great about farming a great FoPL set is that I can borrow it for another character. When I finally get to pull Nilou on her rerun, I'll lend FoPL to either Barbara or future Kokomi~

[@mr.fabulousmegardev6256]

I am a Sayu main. Anemo and element infusion in skill, adorable Daruma mascot, heals, small character wielding a greatsword, extremely useful passive... And most of all, impressive character development: humorous hangout that's engaging and endearing, and as she ascends she goes from sleepy ninja who avoids responsibilities to focus on growing taller, to fighting her sleepiness to spend more time with MC, to saying she doesn't need to grow taller anymore cause she's got MC to reassure her and becomes overall mature enough to forge her own path. So now, I bring her as my main member alongside MC, and I document their travels in the my novel, "The Legend of Sayu", where she travels Teyvat and maybe beyond for her sensei, to find herself and the constant drive for growth.

[@exo_eve7575]

Im a big lover Xinyan and Aloy. Ive made build that make them really shine and im so proud that i did. They both deserve so much more love from the community!

[@aroace-energy2597]

Same - I've been an Aloy main since her release and she's great to me lol

[@natsuyuki8415]

This video is just what I keep telling people who want to know who is best. It doesn't matter how good or 'meta' a character is, if the character is not fun. I'm a bit tired tonight after having been told over and over again how bad Baizhu is and how much these people hate him. I enjoy having Baizhu in my team and I've never been disappointed with his usefulness either. Thank you for making this video it cheered me up.

[@nobody-xh6ii]

Baizhu is the zhongli of healers. I've legit argued with someone who claimed yaoyao does more than him when she doesn't. And people arguing that hosting cons suck and should be on the standard literally don't know how broken his cons truly are too. At c2 he's so hard to replace in any team comp. At c6 someone posted screenshots of 1 E [1 BTW!] Doing 20k hp. FKING. 1 TAP! that's half of a hp% units Hp bar. 2 taps is 40k! That's half of a nilou or yelan's health bar! Add his signature and you don't have ER issues.

[@HorriblyDated]

I follow meta and theorycrafting quite actively (theorycrafting generally being the term used for calculating and simulating the damage of characters in different teams), and do find it odd that Baizhu is getting so much hate in your experience, the general consensus I've seen is that he's a rather excellent character. A step below those considered the 'best of the best', your Furinas, Kazuhas, Bennetts, and whatnot, but still a great unit overall and very worthwhile. Of course, I don't mean to say that your liking of Baizhu is changed in validity in any way with this comment, I'm fully in support of playing the characters you like most and finding ways to make them work for you. Consider this just a small observation I found a bit interesting when I read the comment!

[@nobody-xh6ii]

​@HorriblyDated the entire argument for why he got hate is because "all he does is heal" when he's literally the best at it. No one can compare. Especially in furina teams. Yet before furina he was the 2nd most hated next to dehya.

[@HorriblyDated]

@@nobody-xh6ii Weirdly I think you're both overselling and underseling Baizhu here, since in terms of raw healing, he's probably not 'the best', Yaoyao actually beats him on that front, and it's arguable a couple of others do too. The thing that makes Baizhu so great isn't that he has the most healing in the game, it's that he provides enough healing to very comfortably survive and enable Furina with less caveats than other options while also providing additional useful benefits. It feels like a disservice to reduce him down to just his healing when he has plenty of other useful attributes he can bring to a team too, so I wanted to bring some of them up. To highlight some of them, the biggest one is that he can do his teamwide healing without taking a ton of field time whereas other options that may heal more require more field time to do so, a substantial downside. Baizhu also can apply better dendro than the vast majority of characters off field, giving him that as an additional advantage, and he can also provide his micro-shields with burst which serve as useful interruption resistance for teams where you use a character prone to getting knocked back. Before Furina I will admit I and a lot of others did view him as somewhat replaceable from a meta standpoint, as he was only a minor upgrade over or arguably a sidegrade to Yaoyao, a 4 star, but I still found most to view him as very competent and effective at his role if he was chosen, so he was considered a pretty decent pull if you liked him, even back then. I don't mean to invalidate what you saw by saying this though, it's likely that we were simply in different communities at the time, and there is certainly a large subset of rather toxic players who will doompost everyone and act as if a new character not being the next coming of Christ means they're completely useless and 'unviable'. Something I'm very much against as one of the best qualities of genshin to me is that even when following the meta, nobody is truly unusable, some may take more effort to make work than others, or require more planning around, but with sufficient investment into them and the right teams, I believe every character can clear abyss in some way or another.

[@BerylMorgan]

I came down here to talk about Barbara on the Nilou Bloom team and I'm SO GLAD that so many other people are here to talk about her too. She is legit SO FUN to play on a bloom team. She heals in a way that I like, on hit during a high uptime skill, and because of that I don't ever think that I'll pull for Kokomi. Barbara and Noelle have that "heal on hit" trigger that I know I can rely on, especially in such an HP-sapping team such as Nilou bloom. Not to mention the bloom playstyle is INSANELY FUN. Barbara has been on my team since 1.0, and I expect her to stay that way well into the Khaenriah chapter.

[@S_8_F]

Hello! I just want to ask what team you use for Barbara and Nilou bloom team since I’m trying to build one currently.

[@amari7782]

@@S_8_Fjust put any 2 dendro characters and your golden

[@user-py6ep5sb2q]

it used to be better until hoyo slaped her with a hard icd limit in 3.1

[@pavelcastillo9513]

I'll not stand this TCG slander. Great video tho

[@LyndiusFEH]

Very well said my friend. This here is exactly why I value favorites/waifus over meta because I want to have fun playing this game. Just because they said that they're quote on quote "low tier character", I still pull for them regardless for my enjoyment. I even did my very first 36 star in the abyss with my favorite characters and it was rewarding.

[@invarkul7831]

You see these 1-5% of ppl who 36 abyss with Eula? I'm one of them and won't give up on her

[@xZAUSTion]

I’m sorry I called you Dragon slacker ❤

[@gstarlight6269]

This has actually happened to me. Before I got my ex-best friend getting into my account and deleting my weapons and artifacts, also spending all my wishes on the standard banner, I was quite a bit of a meta-player. After losing everything, I had to start from zero with my characters, and, surprisingly, I had Dehya in my account, which was a character that I didn't have and wanted. So, I started playing with her and... Damn, I was having a lot of fun with her. I loved playing with her despite how bad she was. I replaced Zhongli for her, and I love how fun she is to have (I love characters that make areas of effects tho). I feel like the main issue with genshin is that the meta tends to take appart the "fun" concept of this game, and, sometimes the game should recieve some things to make these characters stand out even more (like what happened with the artifact sets from fontaine, that made characters like Fischl powerful again)

[@infrnlmssh9719]

People usually aren't fair to characters' strength without proper investment. If we were fair, a 5*C0 power should be measured against a 4* C0R1. Xiangling is almost never used without abusing Benny snapshot, and C4, which could be considered unintended like Barbara's Bloom incident. Characters like Benny also does not scale that well with investment, whereas if you have C6 Amber with Elegy/Noblesse (ALWAYS buy your starter constellation), you give your team half of Benny's ATK buff, no circle impact, lot less ER requirements, Extra EM, shred elemental shields and *deals damage herself.* Everything is decent with proper investment and everything can be made OP by finding the right strats or just being that skilled. I main Lisa. I'm trying to build her for a Charged ATK/TF set. Swap, use skill, burst, time your NAs and CAs properly to always proc Aggravate. This stacks conductive on enemies to use skill again before swapping out. Deals a surprising amount of damage. About 15K CAs/35K skill without Benny. I love Barbara too. I gave her one of the two Tomes I got from pulling for Homa. Passive can be activated with Bloom. Get some Anemo resonance/Stamina reduction and you can permanently spam Charged attacks.

[@effortlessfury]

I'm not sure I agree with your "fair measurements." HoYo designs 4* characters under the assumption that most players will C6 them at some point in time. A C6 4* character is roughly comparable to a C0 5*. Their value has some margin below and above that benchmark, depending on which two characters you're comparing, but generally speaking C6 is the character's proper kit.

[@infrnlmssh9719]

​​@@effortlessfury Yes. But if we are talking in terms of investment vs value it would make sense to compare a 5* C0 with a 4* C0 R1 (on average). We can easily do 5* vs 4* C2 or 3 if you get lucky with pulls.

[@effortlessfury]

@@infrnlmssh9719 I mean, you can compare them like that, but in that case a 4* will almost always lose.

[@Ardenaax]

Not really C6 is needed for 4* I think,I mean it can but not that much...Maybe only Faruzan

[@positivelybobby]

Nice work -- great production value

[@shopnil4]

Finally to see some love for Barbara. Ever since I got her, I've always had her in my main team. (Granted she's the healer along with Hu Tao on the team lol) but she's always been reliable and even helps with vape reactions! Her C6 also had saved me more times than I'd like to mention.

[@MoonBeanBun]

I recently started building Xinyan because I genuinely loved her design for the longest time but thought she was just not good because of what people have told me, but one day after getting tired of the same boring routine of farming for a pyro goblet for my Lyney, I decided he was good the way he is, he doesn't need perfect artifacts and he can beat this game with the drop of his hat, and so I finally build Xinyan, despite what people thought of her, and I don't regret that at all, I love playing her so much as a pyro/melt dps with my c6 Bennett, Xianyun and Rosaria, She's far from perfect yes, but she's amazing in my eyes and I won't ever feel bored when I play with her, I only regret not building her earlier, maybe I wouldn't have been so burnt out every other month, but that's beside the point, Xinyan is everything to me and I'll keep playing with her no matter how pressured I feel from the meta (Lyney is my best boy but wow did I get drained while farming for that dumb goblet)

[@MisoSanSoup]

This is such a great video! I love nerding out about my favorite topics

[@Pikatwig16]

I can relate to this feeling of playing who I like. My main lineup is Electro Lumine, Ganyu, Barbara, and Thoma. I don't care for the meta, but I just love Ganyu's design, voice, and gameplay style. I saved up for months to get her during her first rerun and got her on my final pull. To me, there's always merit in doing something for the love of it.

[@junipurr666]

Such a great vid 😂 I just started genshin during Eula's chronicled wish banner. I wanted her the moment i saw her bc i did not want to play as a cryo man starting out. I really wasnt worried about stats or meta. Now shes 100% my main and slays my entire life💙💙💙 As well as Barb!!! hope this vid blows up

[@Eltanin]

This video was a journey. I had it in the background as I did my dailies and at some point I had my controller down and stopped playing cuz I was just focusing on what was being said while nodding in agreement. This was a fun shared experience as I went through a nostalgic memory trip about my own genshin journey going from stubbornly putting Amber in all my teams to moving on and trying out different teams to falling in love to other character playstyles I didn't think I would love.

[@r3dr3dr3d]

this was a really fun video. i love your narration style, it’s seriously charming! usually i watch videos on 2x speed but i really enjoyed this one beyond what information you offered.

[@momsaccount4033]

Beidou is my favorite character in this game. She had and will continue to be my main DPS in the game. She’s not the *only* character I use as a main DPS, but uh she doesn’t have some of my best artifacts for no reason lol

[@Silvermoon.9336]

Tbh any character can be good if you know how too use and or can get/have a good build for them 👍

[@user-py6ep5sb2q]

yea but some can never reach the ceiling of others and some r better than others chars at high invest at a lower investment

[@SorarikoMotone]

@@user-py6ep5sb2q but at this point its good to ask yourself - do you even need that ceiling being met? or what you have is enough for what you need to do?

[@user-py6ep5sb2q]

@@SorarikoMotone if ur like f2p and u wanna maximise rewards asap then its ok to play off meta but u should just lie to them abt whats good. that or they just find doing the abosloute most in the game fun

[@kanoaika]

@@user-py6ep5sb2q Except popular understanding of meta is not very relevant to low investment/early players. The fundamental truth underlying all of this is that strength is highly situation dependent. Any analysis is only useful if your situation is similar to the assumptions used in the analysis. Understanding the game and how to use the characters you have is extremely important and often neglected in the popular 'meta enthusiast' community. For example people rightfully think that Hu Tao is strong, but very few people actually optimize her and use her well enough that they see the ceiling performance that earned her her reputation. I just so happen to be the very type of person you were talking about. I started in 3.7 with the goal to figure out how to beat abyss as early as possible. I first cleared in 4.0 and have been getting 36* since 4.4. I have done lots of analysis and calculation on this problem and my position on popular meta is that it is often missing the point because most people don't actually have the skill, knowledge, or intention to fully understand it and the assumptions and reasons behind everything. Popular meta also doesn't focus particularly on resource management which is the core for success with limited resources. Most ratings of characters are based on optimal/ceiling teams which resource limited accounts will not be working with. Aside from learning to do the analysis and optimization yourself so you can see the value of a character for your specific situation (which I understand is not practical or fun for most normal people), the 'meta' resource I feel best aligns with the situation of new players is KQM because they don't gloss over the basics, give detailed analysis complete with reasoning (which makes it adaptable), and they cover investment levels that are attainable for those players. Knowledge and analysis are the ultimate source of the value of 'meta' to players and sadly much of the popular side of 'meta' does not focus on that and things simply become uninformed parroting of half-truths stripped of nuance and often aimed to mock (rather than genuinely help) other players. Popular meta findings and evaluations of characters *are not generalizable to all situations and goals*. If meta is popular meta then I think that its value and applicability is vastly overrated, and that it leads to some negative aspects of the community. Analyzing and learning about the game and how to use things to your advantage is the foundation upon which all useful findings are built and people will get more value from learning that than they would from listening to the popular horse-race/teir list meta.

[@isaiassaraviabuendia9635]

Im so impressed you have music names listed in the video. Very few creators take the time to show that so it's impressive.

[@thechaosofcaffeine]

this was such a cute video

[@coffeepeppers]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1515">25:15</a> "..they allow for more leeway in combat" the Liyue pun was on purpose right..... 😂😂 Good stuff!

[@ramatoulengane]

I play characters I like. Randomly pulled Heizou when I started playing but couldn’t level him up until Inazuma. Still played with him for exploration until then, now he’s my pride and joy even tho he’s not completely built yet! I really try new team comps every once in a while and even my favorites feel fresh with new teammates. Loved your video, well spoken and fun! The edit is top tier too, love the quality!!

[@usnavis]

your video style is really nice, the way you talk in your videos aren't demanding or too soft!!! thank u sm for being such a good background noise slash gen

[@jeffhutchins5870]

Genuinely the best youtube video I've watched in a long time

[@shiroi7885]

As a kaeya main I ressonate so much with you! I farmed like hell for him, pulled him r2 (as of now) mistsplitter and got some comments saying its a waste to not get ayaka instead and other times to switch him off the team in coop. I also feel you so much on pulling a character everyone tells you not to pull! This mondstat banner I finally pulled albedo that I wanted for a long time, even when everyone says he is crap and got powercrept I am still having so much fun with him! (Trolling people in boss battles with his elevator is the highlight of my week now LMAO). I have a top 2% wrio but If i can play cryo in abyss I'll always pick kaeya or find someway to put him on the team and I CAN clear the abyss. This is why I love this game it's so versatile and with enough love and dedication you can make any character SHINE! So I preach once again, PLAY WITH THE CHARACTERS YOU LIKE! Even if the meta discourages you and you cant clear the abyss with that character as the main focus find a way to slot them in! It's so much more fun figuring out teams where you can put them and gaining the satisfaction of suceeding than just folding and always building the same paper cut teams everyone uses! This is a game, HAVE FUN!

[@zeldawolff358]

I've also been building Kaeya for as long as I've been playing the game. He's lvl 80 now and I'm at AR45. I got told multiple times that I could use Chongyun instead, but I like Kaeya the most

[@shiroi7885]

@@zeldawolff358 I wish you the best in your journey! Ignore what other people say and have fun :D

[@alicesck01]

Lol I love Albedo on co op. I could not get him 🥲

[@starlette7820]

While I agree that being disappointed that she wasnt what they wanted is fair, I do think the backlash against the devs who were just trying to make her stand out from the other anemo units and give her a unique playstyle for a playstyle that had been largely ignored for a long time was completely unjustified lol I saw people saying horrible things because of their disappointment directed at the devs, and I have to say this community is one of the most childish, entitled, garbage communities I have ever had the displeasure of saying I was a part of. The way the playerbase treats the devs is absurd, blaming them for things that are the higher ups/producers fault (like how many reward primos we get during anniversary/per update which is decided by the producers who manage the developer team, not the developers themselves) and when they personally arent happy with a character, even though you literally cannot please everyone and the people who end up displeased act like the devs should have catered to THEIR preferences specifically because...well, I guess they're special in their own minds and deserve to be catered to lol The way the fans of this game handle disappointment is just a damn mess, and I feel worse and worse for the devs every day.

[@Vivienne-fi2ke]

I love it, when I find smaller channels like this with well made and interesting content. Really nice video.

[@kittiimelon]

This is a such a good intro video on building and character usage! As someone who's honestly really interested in meta discussion because I enjoy math and statistics, I personally play with "meta" characters and dynamics. (my first ever limited five star was ayaka, which probably informed this LOL) however, i get so much joy out of seeing offcolour dpses and interesting builds! I've been building my amber recently as a charged shot dps inbetween farming navia and arle pieces and I've been REALLY enjoying watching her damage go up even if she's not like, endgame viable. (also I am a staunch defender of lisa playstyle I think she is an extremely good unit especially for early/midgame). genshin is such a varied game in experience - I love talking to people about their favourite characters and builds so much

[@evgenyyakut2716]

The first time I logged onto genshin was during 1.6 update. It was a different time with me not understanding that it's a gacha game and expecting to get every character for free the same way I get amber et al, nor I completely understood artifacts or team rotations, I just spammed normal attacks. At some point I pulled on a standard banner and got a yanfei. Instantly fell in love. Her animations, her voice, her attacks. It was just simply too good. I stuck with her. She was in my party all the time during the time when I came back to genshin after inazuma release. Granted yanfei does get a "pass" to be a good character, unlike some other characters like barbara (who, by the way was also on my team throughout my journey in teyvat and I got her to level 80), but she was my favourite character regardless of how much damage she dealt because it wasn't that much until some point, I just liked her. By the time I got to ar45 and could farm 5-star artifacts I think I've started to grasp how to build teams to bring out the most out of your DPS character. I learned that I could pair yanfei with xinqiu or yelan to build vapefei. I learned that she could also be used with raiden. My experience with yanfei and raiden wasn't that good, so I stuck with vapefei for the longest time. I can't recall how much hours I spent in crimson witch domain, and currently she is THE strongest character on my team. Times have changed after I completed the content in sumeru and fontaine and I've got a few more toys to play with. Xiao, Raiden, Nilou, Nahida. And all the characters have decently good numbers, but there's still something nice about assemblin' a good ol' roaster of overvape (yelan + xq), and beating the smack out of everyone around. With proper supports (bennet, yelan) she can deal solid 70k's all around with her E and charged attacks and it manages to kill the life out of most enemies around. I was kinda shocked that people in multiplayer were acting surprised at my yanfei's damage, I think I got used to it, but that gave me an understanding just how much I've grown. Kazuha banner rolled in this patch and I've finally upgraded my yanfei from c0 to c4 and managed to get kazuha! Great video, thanks for posting! I got really inspired to build that silly DPS barbara build now :)

[@fuzzykilla8841]

As a beidou main there is something soooo satisfying about learning the atk patterns of enemies and punishing them for it with your perfect timing and although she is often overshadowed by fichyl(idk how to spell her name😂) and yae miko she deals actually really juicy dmg in two enemy situations and she’s soooo fun and she was one of my first c6 characters that I grinded to max.

[@CrimsonArua]

Barbara is amazing! Thank you for giving her some credit :)

[@convergeman7825]

That stuff you mentioned at the end about how the real fun is growing your favourites, I think that really resonated with me. As much as I have my misgivings with Genshin's story and writing, and even during Genshin's dry spells, I still do feel a sense of satisfaction from growing my favourites and seeing how powerful I can make them. There are so many characters at this point that there's a good chance anyone could be someone's favourite, and I think that's a wonderful thing. Also I dunno why but I've always felt like Barbara has some of the quickest and snappiest basic attacks in the game, certainly among the other catalyst users anyway, so playing her like a DPS can honestly feel quite good imo

[@Thedarkbunnyrabbit]

Honestly, the ever increasing push for Genshin meta is ANNIHILATING the fun of Genshin. Any person who says they're burned out on or tired of Genshin and used to love it but don't anymore most likely (with some exceptions, of course) has that rooted in the eternal push for meta. Instead of playing who they enjoy and want, they're constantly throwing characters away, complaining characters are 'weak', and giving up any playstyle that isn't hyper-swap hyperbloom because 'big numbers'. Personally, my metric for whether I will pull a character is first 'are they male'. If no, is there a male character I don't have coming up soon? If no, is the unit powerful enough to spend my primos on or am I bored saving up primos and do I feel like pulling on the gacha? I got lucky getting Nahida because I took a break from Genshin, came back and didn't know what my pity was, didn't look at leaks and so didn't know who was coming, and had free lantern rite pulls. (and then I immediately learned Neuvillette was coming and had to panic scramble around Teyvat to ensure I could get him...) But outside of the rare times when I'm 100% caught up on men (I quit right before Fontaine for a bit because I hit 100% male units) the female SSR units just don't exist to me (and I neglect the four stars). Genshin's meta means nothing to me, I build my own.

[@-toriizaka46]

"Personally, my metric for whether I will pull a character is first 'are they male'" this made me laugh lol, husbando collector i guess?

[@Thedarkbunnyrabbit]

@@-toriizaka46 I am indeed! I shall get all the boys and make my own husbando meta.

[@maevethefox5912]

Swapping to Candace and Kaveh as mains has made this game 1000% more fun

[@Thedarkbunnyrabbit]

@@maevethefox5912 Aw, yeah. I love playing silly things with Kaveh. Like using Kaveh + someone like Baizhu or Tighnari against Oceanid and watching everything explode.

[@SorarikoMotone]

personally my meta is similar, but i dont pull for every male character, only those that "strike my fancy" so to speak which led me to c6r5 itto, c0 childe, cyno, wanderer, lyney and a buncha 5* from standard. and currently am maining itto because bonk is fun reject meta, embrace playing with your oshi's

[@nyctophobia5885]

Fontaine igniting the love for genshin is so true I loved exploring it sooooo much, that i created 2nd account just to relive the story, the exploration with amazing music and ended up 100% whole Fontaine twice And that 2 account got me to finally get to play main dps heizou, who i wanted to play since his release Great video

[@XiaoIsMyHusbandBTW]

honestly, im actually finishing the sumeru quest for it (i don't know why it was so hard)

[@HMK.]

Dude I actually forgot I had clicked on a video about Barbara until you mentioned it at the end 😅 This felt like watching an expertly made movie, I was so sucked in

[@oyoyong]

First video I've seen of yours and I already love your style. These are super fresh takes on Genshin content creation so keep it up 💕 really enjoyed it

[@00Kalypso]

people hated kokomi bc they didn't understand how to use her. She's not a healer, she's a tank, hydro on field driver, especially for dendro teams where you will be damaging yourself, adds her own clam set damage, gets interruption resistance, she's THE best on fielder u could pick. People were too used to damage being a single big hit from the big carry and they weren't ready for dendro to shift the meta towards quickswap or a no crit reaction playstyle where every teammate is necessary to get the damage, but neither is actually hitting for anything lol

[@deadlysound5711]

Ah yes people didn't know she would be great in dendro teams and that clam would do some dmg while those things didn't exist 🤦‍♂️

[@00Kalypso]

@@deadlysound5711 dot teams already existed with electrocharged and she spiked in use way before dendro lol the concept of a driver has existed since forever and people just incorrectly assumed it had to be the dps driving which has never been true. esp when sucrose on field was already a thing people shitting on kokomi had no excuses. great way to out yourself as one of them tho!

[@deadlysound5711]

@@00Kalypso but the thing is kokomi tazer was way weaker than the sucrose one at the time because furina didn't exist lol.

[@00Kalypso]

@@deadlysound5711 it wasn't if your characters were built correctly. If your builds were so ass that you absolutely need viri I guess that's another story but it's a you problem not kokomi problem lol

[@deadlysound5711]

@@00Kalypso sure buddy sure

[@angelanice]

I *love* Barbara ❤ I've been playing for less than a year and she was my main dps from the moment I discovered hyperbloom until I pulled for Ayaka (my favorite character) on my birthday! She's on the bench most of the time now, but when I'm in a pinch or trying something new (hello narwhal 😅) she's my go to gal. I wouldn't play this game if it made my favorite characters not viable and you outline that perfectly in this video. My stance with artifacts and spiral abyss is that I use it as a measure to see how well I'm doing as I slowly build my strongest teams. The past few months I've been consistently getting one or two more stars each new run! I'm currently loving Furina, Yaoyao and EM Kuki since the potion event gave us a beautiful polearm 😊 Bonus is that I can change that flex slot to fit the situation, Sucrose for bigger hyperblooms, Ayaka for gorgeous burst damage, even Noelle for Kuki's annoying boss lol. The customization and flexibility to not just play the meta is essential for me ❤

[@hrh7436]

This expresses a lot of what I love about Genshin so well 💖 Building different characters and trying out new teams is always exciting, but I'm a Lynette main and putting lots of hard work and care into making her as strong as possible is so rewarding to me!

[@CheeryCherri]

subbed for the AI:somnium files music in the bg, keep up the good work!

[@starsserpentis.system-zj6ce]

as someone who has been maining klee since her initial release, ignoring anything anyone had to say about her or her playstyle: i’ve tried other team comps and main dps’s ( hu tao, eula, xiao, to name a few ) but i always come back to my little bomb slinging kiddie . i love her animations and voice lines, just cant part with her as my main quite yet :)

[@kanoaika]

Just a note (doesn't matter if you don't care anyway) but honestly there is a good possibility that your Klee team can work better than at least all the other on-fielders you listed (depending on your investment and skill). Since Furina was released Klee teams (without high skill or investment) are comparable in strength or stronger at the casual investment/skill level than the ones you listed (Hu Tao takes much more skill or higher investment to become significantly higher, Eula generally requires higher investment, and Xiao same (except more of the investment is in getting the right teammates/Faruzan C6). Particularly for the non-plunge option (so you can still throw bombs) Klee Furina Bennett Kazuha/Xiangling/Zhongli/other non-interfering flex character teams are quite strong while being easy to play (the team is kinda like a reverse of Child ones where Klee is the Childe (pun not intended) applying pyro for Furina, the Xiangling, to vape). The only note is that you probably want Bennett on a healing build to get enough healing to keep up with Furina's drain by over-healing to trigger the team heal from her passive Klee is much more easy to make strong now than ever before (in recent history idk the initial release days hehe) so damage should never need to be a reason you stop maining her. Also tbh lots of the negative stuff on her (like power wise) and her playstyle were unfounded and came because most people didn't know how to play her or overestimated the importance/difficulty of animation cancels. I only really think the targeting one is truly problematic. Anyway keep having fun with Klee :>

[@starsserpentis.system-zj6ce]

@@kanoaika thank you !! i’ve done hella research into klee’s kit and would love to run a kleerina team. i would be saving for furina but with my affinity for all the child model characters (small characters, big damage is one of my favorite tropes ) im saving for sigewinne and nahida 😭

[@kanoaika]

@@starsserpentis.system-zj6ce Oh since you were here from the beginning I assumed you already had Nahida lol. Also I totally get you--I spent a pretty long time figuring out dragon-strike on Sayu despite how hard it is with her because it is so cute/hilarious to watch her jump like 3 times her height to plunge.

[@starsserpentis.system-zj6ce]

@@kanoaika i had to take like a year long break from genshin because i didnt have a device to play on- i started this year right after nahida’s banner ended 🥲

[@kanoaika]

@@starsserpentis.system-zj6ce Well good luck then :>. Also I looked at Sigewinne stuff so far (hopefully she gets buffed before the beta ends lol) and I think you could use her reasonably well on the Furina Klee team in the flex team slot. She does very little hydro application (so won't steal from Furina), gives team wide healing (which decreases reliance on swapping and Bennett as a healer), gives hydro resonance (again helps Furina and makes Klee a bit harder to one-shot), and gives a for now sadly not so great buff to skill damage (hopefully that gets better--its not super relevant now). Overall as it is now, she will not be the best in the team, but pretty good especially for being pretty comfortable with the healing and letting you use 2 of you favorite characters on the same team.

[@planetriftenproduction2939]

My favorite character is Gaming. The moment I saw him... I knew I'd enjoy him and I do.

[@mermaidnebula]

I’m so excited to see this! I’m Barbara’s biggest fan (probably) and I really really relate to her! I’ve tried to build a DPS Barbs but it’s never worked the best for me, so I hope this can help me a little bit!

[@4Angel4x]

What a wonderful Video!! Very much agree with everything said. I adore Barbara and use her lovingly to this day. Chongyun was the reason I even started in the first place and I'd be damned I didn't spent everything I had on him. And in the end I could quite comfortably clear the abyss with him. It's totally valid to enjoy meta teams and to focus on that, but I love mentioning that if you really wanted to, you could bring any character to clear the abyss and be useful. What I love about this game is that it encourages you to try a bunch of different mechanics and ways to play. Infusion shenanigans, Xianyun enabling plunging teams, physical catalysts, there's so many options in this game that aren't amazing or ideal, but viable and insane and fun.

[@Newt-Man]

Bayonetta music playing when Xianyun appeared is just gold

[@Arbiter__]

My favorite character is Nilou. I've been running her as a hydro dps ever since her release because I like her a lot and find her sword stance extremely fun. Slowly perfecting her animation cancels over time, allowing me to frequently reposition and get occasional s without wasting any uptime, was very satisfying, especially considering how tight they are. The way her skill uptime works is also very nice, with the cooldown starting immediately after the first skill input while the duration only starts ticking down after she changes states. I also don't like bloom or harsh team restrictions. I prefer being able to run her with my other favorites (most of which aren't dendro/hydro) and use her unconditionally in co-op.

[@risenssbu7344]

Very high quality video! So open minded! Will subscribe and hit the bell!

[@baka_reeboo]

This video brings me so much happiness... I love xinyan, i loved her since i first saw her and 4 years into the game she still is one of my favourites. It's just devastating to know that your fav is not only bad in the eyes of meta, but even "unusable". I myself am a meta player? I like numbers going high but I guess sometimes I don't have to be so serious about it... Thank you for letting me think about it

[@darkdude1996ify]

The Kokomi drama was pretty much of Hoyo's own making. The issue was (and kinda still is) that Hoyo doesn't seem to know how to make challenging content without putting a time limit on things, which inevitably means that the win condition is primarily just to deal enough damage in a short amount of time. The fact that one of the primary multipliers was completely shut off from the beginning meant that Kokomi was never going to deal good damage, and she didn't give any easy to understand buffs to let your other characters deal that damage instead either. The AoE Hydro application was good, but we kinda already had Mona for that, so that didn't seem that amazing either (at least not at first glance). Tbh Dehya is kinda in the same boat (though she probably has it worse) where we haven't really figured out many ways for Dehya to not be bad. Her kit is unique, so in theory there should be roles to use her in that no other character can fulfill, but because her numbers are so bad it's just incredibly difficult to find scenarios where she's not actively holding back your team.

[@Wizard_Lizard_]

Dehya's unique role is that she can't really die to environmental damage in the overworld. That is her niche. Unfortunately that niche doesn't affect any of harder content in Genshin. The thing that would make Dehya's value increase would be Spiral Abyss or a variant of it including mechanics or enemies that straight up harm you via just existing. Example: an enemy that triggers Sheer Cold when you aggro it.

[@darkdude1996ify]

@@Wizard_Lizard_ In other words, bring back leyline disorders in Abyss. Tbh to this day, I think the Regisvines are some of the most well-designed bosses in the game, simply for the fact that they don't have annoying invul phases, they don't TP all over the place, they just deal a lot of damage and have some unique dmg reduction. It feels like the kind of fight where, as long as you're not stupid, you can somehow make it work. Instead of facing an enemy that is designed to waste your time and takes basically no skill to defeat and where, for some godforsaken reason, movement speed is a useful stat because 90% of the battle is spent running after the enemy instead of attacking them.

[@Wizard_Lizard_]

​​@@darkdude1996ify Leyline disorders coming back is a good call. They just need to make sure they aren't too intrusive as players complaining about them is why they rarely show up anymore. This is the only way I know how to give Dehya something without directly buffing her. Because as it stands, in any situation where her Pyro application is good Xiangling's (a free character) is simply just better and deals more DMG. And situations where her Pyro application isn't good she's effectively just a very bad shielder.

[@alexd8092]

this video talking about learning to love the game again couldn't have come at a better time for me. I ost my day one honkai star rail account last week. 10 five stars at least, 600 dollars spent, so much investment. and I cried when i lost it. i spent weeks moping around feeling sorry for myself, thinking i would never have the energy to make a new account after losing one i put everything into. and yet recently i made a new account and this is the most fun ive had with it in so long. with all my spending, swiping and grinding i lost sight of how to have fun with the game. now i'm rekindling my love for it while starting fromt he bottom and it's more fun than ive had in almost a year!

[@alexanderminas28]

"I think the real fun from this game comes from the freedom to play and enjoy it however you want." Those words are why i decide to try other characters as time goes by.

[@minerlionheart]

It usually just takes one video to elevate a creator from obscurity to greatness. For me, it is this one. Well done, @dragonhustle, you just gained one new subscriber. Great video.

[@briannitzschke2767]

Furina has boosted my favorite character in a big way. People dunk on Noelle, but ill just keep swinging my redhorn for 70,000 a pop while being invincible.

[@nara-yana]

Playing Genshin with "suboptimal" characters is my bread and butter! My Fischl's build has been glued to Barbara's from day 1, as they are my main duo since release: Of course I play all of the other teams, but I always keep on coming back to that simple "core" of on-fleid Barbara making Oz go _Pew pewpew pew pew_ like crazy on all the things, ignoring defenses and doing silly reaction damage! Kazuha likes Electro-Charged? Into this team he goes! Albedo buffs EM? Another friend was found! Nahida likes reactions and EM? Welcome into the fray, Dendro Archon! Dehya can do Burgeon? another silly teammate added! Layla can shield 'n' Freeze, while Freminet wants to break the ice? Another two teammates into my silly comp! Eula wants Electro and a healer? Welcome too, my Physical goddess! And the list goes on and on. XD

[@rebeccadevere8034]

Im subscribing I loved this video and Im actually reaaallly excited to go play right now! ❤🎉 yay for lighthearted videos

[@W4cky_]

I put my yt on autoplay and just happened to stumble across this video, wasn't paying much attention at first but the points you've made really pulled my attention. I totally agree with what you've said and I have always thought about and genuinely love how genshin go with it's character "balancing", it's really nice to see it be recognized and shared in the form of a video. btw I love your commentary style and editing, keep it up ^^

[@unknownkw]

I only started from 4.0 and Barbara was in teams that first cleared floor 12 and also first full-star (current abyss is the third time I reached 36 stars and all of them involve Barbara). She is the sole hydro applicator in a hyperbloom team (with Raiden as trigger) and I discovered some techniques to maximize the amount of hydro application she can provide, that involve dash-cancels. She is the key for the current 2nd chamber to deal with the dendro immune specters with her clam bubbles (since the party pretty much only deal dendro damage otherwise). She was only c1 when I did all of it, the lowest constellation of the three 4-star characters in my teams (Collei is c3 and Noelle is c6, the rest are c0 5-star characters). I actually pulled the current banner for her c2 and finally get it in 55 pulls. My c5 Xingqiu and c0 Neuvillette are still level 1 and I have no plans to build them (still have Keqing, Mona and Chiori in line).

[@kevinslater4126]

I switched off my main exploration team (which includes Barbara, not gunna lie) just to check out something on my underleveled Navia and got stuck in an unexpected fight with two Fatui and a mirror maiden. Took 20 minutes. Kept thinking how much I wanted my Barbara team back! So I hear you

[@nobody-xh6ii]

Could of just teleported away and if navia's underleveled.. yeah... she's not going to perform her best.

[@hydraails]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="170">2:50</a> “passing the baton” while playing persona 5 music was unintentionally clever

[@progrockplaylists]

this video is a masterpiece that gets to a ton of points

[@viridiannnn]

the way i was yelling for kuki shinobu to be mentioned and was so VINDICATED when you did, they did my girl DIRTY and she has CARRIED my alhaitham team since he came home, healer mains rise up

[@thearchivist250]

Kuki and Chevreuse on my overload team have been an amazing duo. All the heals.

[@nobody-xh6ii]

Tf you talking about? Kuki was only ever bad during inazuma. The moment dendro hot the scene she shot up to SS rank.

[@viridiannnn]

@@nobody-xh6ii that's when i got her and the "they did my girl dirty" is in reference to the community not hoyoverse themselves, i was delighted when dendro came out and she got the respect she deserved

[@solo_product357]

I mean tbf they didn't really "do her dirty" before dendro bc she was very bad.

[@mmdinnovations2990]

The biggest problem with the "meta" is that a lot of people fail to understand that it specifically applies to the merits (or lack thereof) of a character's value in being able to successfully perform in a very, very small part of Genshin Impact. Specifically, the 12th Floor of the Spiral Abyss. Outside of that, the only metric that matters is whether a character is "fun". And "fun" is subjective. So by this logic, Barbara isn't very good for the 12th Floor of the Spiral Abyss, but, for myself and many other people, she has a lot of intrinsic value that makes her both "useful" and "fun". But here too, her value is subjective. I can, and have, beat the 12th Floor with teams that includes Barbara. Seriously, outside of "speed running", you don't need meta characters to beat the Spiral Abyss. If anything, at least for me personally, trying to beat the Spiral Abyss with non-meta approved characters is way more fun and satisfying. Additionally, characters like Barbara and Amber, for example, are or can be a valuable part of the Genshin experience. Another thing that is seldom mentioned is that combat in the open world and combat in the Spiral Abyss are very different experiences and challenges. The Spiral Abyss is simply a boxing arena with a timer. Open world combat gives the characters context - it gives meaning and value to combat. There is a different set of objectives, such as trying to obtain a chest or materials plus there's other factors thrown in such as terrain and the environment in which the combat takes place. All of these gives "real" meaning for combat; why the characters fight is given context and because of this textural context, it makes using each one much more value. Think about it this way. How many Spiral Abyss fights do you remember? As opposed to, for example, the satisfaction you get from using Amber to snipe a hilichurl off a watch tower and giving her team a way into their camp without worrying about being sniped at from above or behind? Open world fights really do enrich your Genshin experience in a way that an Abyss fight can never do, simply because these experiences deepens your connections to your characters. In the final analysis, your Genshin experience is really about what you do with, and the times you experience with your (favorite) characters within the context of the world in which they exist.

[@-toriizaka46]

this is the most perfect explanation. ive decided to bench xiangling bcs grass kept burning lol and using her burst in the overworld is a waste. i raised amber, easy overworld use, 40 burst cost and taunt. some cryo apllication and baron bunny expolsion kills everything (i got c2)

[@rurikko]

This. I've always been an advocate for people playing how they enjoy the game. I love using Xiao especially since I like his design, story and gameplay. That said, I'm aware how my favorites will not be the best in every situation and forcing them in these situations only makes the game hard for me, and that is not something I find fun at all. I do get how being able to achieve something with the characters you like can be really satisfying and fun for everyone else though. It's just that I mostly play games to chill and I don't enjoy making things difficult for myself. The only time I really play meta is when doing spiral abyss for the primos because I suck at games and just want to get it over quickly. And then afterwards, I go back to playing my Xiao in the overworld and doing quests and story.

[@coral_pine]

I went through 12 floor exactly once - to see what in the end (underwhelming). After that I understood that spend literal hours of my day and a ton of stress for completing Spiral Abyss for primogems is seems like an absurdly not fun idea for me personally So now I often don’t even remember that Spiral Abyss exists lmao it just isn’t a part of the game I interact with. So there is no need to measure my characters against hp-bloated npc with unskippable animations and whatever else My mains (played since almost the beginning): Amber -> Phys Keqing -> Xiao -> Wanderer It is a blissful way of playing and I have lovely memories from that (My favorite is my first confrontation with Raiden Shogun where she unexpectedly blocked all abilities and my Phys Keqing was… unimpressed. And bodied her)

[@GlermG]

"Cryo is far more effective in the rain" is my favorite quote.

[@razziberri_]

lovely video! I have a main dps triple crowned Lynette and though everyone says she's one of the weakest anemo units, I'm happy whenever I play as her, and that's really what matters. it was lovely hearing how much you love Barbara and this game. I tip my bogglecat box to you :)

[@Julianaronconi]

Great video. I was a Kaveh main for the longest time just cause I loved to hear him say “FEAST YOUR EYES”. Couldn’t care less about meta. I’m now using Xianyun a lot, love her play style

[@zandikaa]

Never wanted to C6 a character before, but I C6'd Wriothesley against everybody's advice and oh my GODDDD he is THE funnest character I own now. I have done everything with him at this point, and I'm having the craziest fun with plunge Wriothesley with Xianyun. I C2R4'd her and she's turned every single character I own into FUN. Just pure, raw fun. PLAY WITH WHO YOU FIND FUN. END OF. Invest in your favs.

[@hypernovao]

Tbf c6 wriothesley is busted idk why they said not to do that unless its a financial decision

[@passwordyeah729]

Oh my God, I love your humor. Instant sub.

[@thatisdepressing]

FINALLY SOME BARBARA LOVE!! she's my favorite character (of all time tbh not just in genshin) and to see her get the love she deserves makes me so happy 🥲

[@bunuhead]

THANK YOU FOR GIVING BARBS THE LOVE AND RESPECT SHE FUCKING DESERVES. YOU SIR ARE A GEM

[@Zeke1460]

“Children’s card games” smh. Genius Invocation TCG is beautiful! Cyno would be ashamed of you.

[@justvibingowo736]

LES GOOO HE'S BACK WITH A NEW VIDEO,I'm someone who dosen't care about the abyss it's just a regular domain but the enemies have millon hp and if you don't clear them in one minute you won't get rewards in my eyes(THIS IS JUST MY OPINION BTW) ,I also don't need those extra primogems since I haven't touched the game since 1.5 and have a pile of quests and exploration to do and no characters I want to pull atm,so I tend to use a lot of characters and have been having a lot of fun so far!!

[@bighat8794]

That video was so inspiring and relaxing at same time. You got yourself a new sub, keep up the good work 👏 PS: I'm part of the Yae mafia

[@hollyberry0602]

For me it's never been worth it to spend primos on "meta" characters rather than spend for characters I actually like, in fact the character I regret most is considered very meta (Sorry Nahida I do like you, just not as much as everyone else), I tried running a hyperbloom and it just wasn't fun for me. Constantly trying to balance reactions for the perfect hyperbloom made all combat a test. When I got Klee, it definitely made the difference obvious. I was having fun playing a team with Klee! It's good to have a good team comp, but even the least meta characters can find their place on the right team. Dehya, considered one of the worst 5 stars, does extremely well on my Navia team to crystallize, so does Thoma! I used Yun Jin on my Xiao team to give him a damage boost for when he's charging his burst, and the improvement is noticeable! Dori and Sayu remain my favourite healers and are really fantastic at it! These are all characters I love and enjoy having on my teams. At the end of the day, Genshin is a game and games should be fun. So you should play characters who you find fun! Barbara is a great character and she's FREE! I remember getting her early game and it became so much easier because now I actually had a healer who WAS HEALING! (Lookin at you Bennett, mid heals) and she was a hydro! She remained my only hydro until I got Nilou and man did Barbara come in handy. I even soloed the pyro regisvine with her, granted it took a while. I still intend to rebuild Barbara and find a place for her.

[@marqkc]

Honestly, my own account is odd. Me being an absolute simp ended up making me play into meta because I LOVE Heizou. He pairs very well with Xingqiu, Xiangling, Benny, and Fischl. So I built all of them + Heizou... And then I realized abyss was no longer a challenge. Even though I had a self-imposed "Heizou must always be on one side" restriction since his debut, Xiangling is so broken that it didn't matter. 36 stars is just the average day for me, and has been for nearly the past 2 years. So my only goal after that was to C6 Heizou, which I did (now I'm at C12). Then my goal was to C6 Faruzan in order to do a Heizou nuke, which I did on Xianyun banner. Then my goal was to R5 my Widsith because I was at AR60 for a year with only an R3 Widsith to my name, and then I got it. Then my goal was to use Heizou Hypercarry to 36 star abyss because I refused to acknowledge it was even a team due to Heizou's horrible normal attack multipliers.... And I did it. Because I got mother Xianyun and she practically fixed that issue by allowing him to spam plunges. So what now, really? Being a SIMP. Still being a SIMP, all day every day. Heizou has brought me immense joy. I got Xiao, I got Wanderer, I got Lyney, I got Ayaka - none of them are as as great as my favorite short detective twink is. I try new 4 stars, I try new 5 stars, but everything leads back to Heizou. Because Heizou is what keeps me playing this game. Yes genshin has its dry patches. Yes all I do is log in, scream at DPC for not giving me anything good, and do my commissions... BUT WHOOOO HEIZOU IS FINALLY OUT OF THE HOYOVERSE BASEMENT AFTER 481 DAYS OF NOT A SINGLE IN-GAME APPEARANCE. The 4.6 livestream made me jump in glee, I am so HAPPY. I am EXCITED. Who cares about shiny new 5 star Arlecchino, HEIZOU IS BAAAAAACKKKK. YEEEEAAAAAHHHHH. I LOVE GENSHIN!! I LOVE HEIZOU!!! WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!!!!!!!!!

[@-toriizaka46]

IM SO GLAD HEIZOUS OUT THE BASEMENT TOO!

[@ultrabadguy]

Great video! keep'em coming :) (Yalen fav)

[@certifiednun]

this video is so based, thanks. i appreciate your love for barbara, coming from a barbara main

[@Jdogrey1]

Kokomi is still one of the most underused characters to this day. She is extremely good and always has been, and people still get caught up on her crit rate.

[@EinSilverRose]

The Kokomi debacle is what convinced that the large majority of Genshin players who only want meta and big numbers lack any form or creativity. A similar thing happened to Shinobu because she seemed so underwhelming at the time of her release. She only got the recognition she deserved after Dendro was properly released as an element. Personally, I'm waiting for a popular team that needs Dori just because I want to see how baffled these meta sheep react to her being good because Dori already has a solid niche in Freezebloom without ever having to attack with her weapon and after trying it myself it just makes me love Dori even more. I heavily regret not pulling for Xianyun. I try to figure out on my own how a character works in their try out and I simply couldn't wrap my head around her gameplay. Now I see that she's incredibly useful and helps out many characters especially with how strong plunging attacks are. So now that I've written a whole essay I just wanna say: Yes, Barbara is actually pretty good. Thanks to how her healing skill's Hydro aura works she has some solid niches in some teams. My favorite Barbara team is by a youtuber called Furu who made a C4 Layla team that uses Diluc, Nahida that utilizes Barbara's insane Charge Attack multiplier for solid Vape damage. The team enables C4 Layla to allow Diluc to apply Burn and Melt and Barbara comes in with the steel chair for the added Vape damage with said charge attack.

[@-toriizaka46]

you watch furu too? i love their amber teams! also theres no particular team that necesarily needs dori, but dori can fill roles in lots of teams. energy regeneration, healing, electro resonance and even more application at c1, c2 and c6, you'll find a team for her. also her c4 is the greatest con ever lol also the 'meta sheep' will most likely say how abt dori is not needed in x team, that shes a 'sidegrade' (a replacement character), but i say whats the problem with a sidegrade character? we need those for variety! who wants to play only raiden, so dry lol also one more thing; (sorry for my yapping, i just really love talking abt meta lol) i saw a comment saying 'not best in slot, does not mean not viable' and its perfect for dori! she was helpful for my account and heals well

[@kotarouinugami1745]

With Kokomi it felt really weird. Do these people really think there is no other way to improve damage than by using criticals? That said, I did feel she is just a 5-star version of Barbara for a while, but since I prefer stable and reliable gameplay over trying to rush Spiral Abyss, it did not bother me as much. In practice, she is different from Barbara in a lot of important details. Such as her jellyfish staying in place, while Barbara allows me to run all over the place.

[@deadlysound5711]

I think it is wrong to say that the community was wrong saying Kokomi and Kuki were underwhelming at release, because at that time we didn't have the tools (mainly dendro in this case) to make those units shine. Heck kokomi didn't even had an artifact set on release. Kuki was really bad at release, the best team that she had was an overload one. And in Kokomi's case her best comp at the time was ayaka freeze, but if you already had mona there wasn’t that big of an insentive go for the fish. Because at the time the abyss didn't have alot of bosses and the rifthounds weren't a thing (and even with those conditions you could still get away playing with mona). Kokomi really started to shine with dendro, so to say that from the get go she was good is really dishonest

[@-toriizaka46]

@deadlysound5711 kuki can fit into anywhere as an electro though? I think the problem with kuki is that people didn't like electro and then also she was a healer. there was no where to put her bcs no one wanted to use alternatives for what they already had

[@Axterix13]

I don't think players were wrong about Kokomi, per se. And I say that as a day 1 Kokomi puller. I played Barbara, so for me, Kokomi was Barbara 2.0, who fixed all three of Barbara's biggest issue: no particle generation, overly long recharge time on her E without an uptime to match, and the wet factor. But at the time, Zhongli dominated the defensive side of the meta. And when you have Xingqiu to handle the hydro application, Kokomi isn't ideal, especially because, unlike Fischl, she can't relocate her pet. At the time, she was a relatively easy skip. She definitely was a good choice if you liked to play healers, but... Zhongli. Kuki, conversely, they were sort of wrong about. She was always decent enough, on par with other four star healers not named Bennett (who is OP and should have been nerfed way, way back when). Decent on-field healing, with very good reaction triggering abilities. Supercharged isn't terrible. It was pretty much the only other reaction team played at the time, beside vaporize, and National made use of the reaction. Overload is worse, same damage but knockback. But really, the issue is that Vaporize was OP. And because Hoyoverse didn't nerf what needed nerfing, things were unbalanced and everything else looked bad. Then we got dendro reactions, which are at Vaporize levels, so suddenly the playing field evened a bit. Now Overload and supercharge still look bad, but hey, dendro and vaporize are good. Melt sits in limbo... strong reaction, but lacks the elemental applicators to really cash in on it.

[@versusdxxth_4928]

As a big dehya fan. I relate to this vid so much. i got her at AR15 and loved her kit design and personality before even the liyue story. So when i got to experience her story in sumeru along with the archon quests it solidified my love for Dehya. Since then shes my strongest character with my best artifact +beacon and she'll be triple crowned tomorrow and C6ed when she appears on a banner again.

[@EchoKaslana]

Really enjoyed this video, especially as someone who recently returned from a long break l. As for your question. As going back and forth with it for awhile, my favorite is Amber. She's 75% of my reason for coming back to the game with the last 25% being split between Keqing and Ayaka.

[@MoonMilkuu]

Hey, great video! Faves>meta every time. I've always been something of a "hydro girl main" myself, so my favorites have always been the women of the hydro element. Furina reigns supreme as my number 1 genshin character, with Mona and Nilou as super close seconds. I recently got back into using Barbara as well, using her as the Healer/Driver in a Burgeon team with Furina, Nahida, and Xiangling. It's very cute and very fun!