For instance, she’s a good Kokomi replacement in Ayaka Freeze teams. So if you don’t have Kokomi but still want her healing, then Barbara is a great option. She’s basically an easy source of Hydro application, and she can fit into many teams that need a bit of Hydro or healing – usually both. Plus she doesn’t need a lot of investment, so it’s really easy to build her. Just stack HP and level her until you think it’s enough to prevent her from dying. So Barbara is an overall good free-to-play healer, Hydro applicator, and buffer. Note: This is about meta only. If you like Barbara regardless of her power level don’t let this stop you from pulling her.
Pros & Cons
Barbara Strengths
Barbara can fit into any team that needs healing or a bit of Hydro application – or both. For instance, Barbara’s role in Xiao teams is simply as a healer and buffer. Her Hydro application isn’t at all needed, but she definitely works there. The same applies to any team that simply wants a healer. While some teams use both her Hydro application and healing, such as Taser (Electro-Charged teams). Taser teams with Beidou-Fischl-Xingqiu-Sucrose don’t have any dedicated healers, so it can be difficult to play for more casual players. In this case, Barbara is a great alternative for Xingqiu. She provides enough Hydro application to maintain Electro-Charged reactions and increases team survivability. It basically sacrifices Xingqiu’s damage for Barbara’s healing. This also applies to most Freeze teams. Simply building enough HP and using the Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers (TTDS) is enough to make Barbara work. TTDS is an amazing catalyst that gives Barbara the ability to buff teammates’ ATK, so it’s her best weapon option by far. And the amount of HP you need really depends on you. Just gauge how much HP is enough to prevent Barbara from dying – which is usually around character level 60-70 and full HP artifacts. There’s also no need to level the TTDS weapon unless you need more HP. If you want to invest in her a bit more, using 4pc. Tenacity of the Millelith further increases her buffing abilities. Or you can also use the 4pc. Ocean-Hued Clam to let her contribute a bit of team damage. Barbara provides teamwide healing and a big chunk of emergency healing from her burst. Her skill periodically heals the active character – and performing normal attacks with Barbara during its duration also heals the entire team. Plus casting her burst regenerates a large amount of HP for the entire team. This makes her an overall great way of increasing team survivability.
Barbara Weaknesses
Barbara works (almost) everywhere, but she’s not the best anywhere. For instance, Barbara definitely works in Xiao teams, but Diona is a better option for this slot. This is because Diona offers shielding, energy generation, damage reduction, and increased attack speed on top of healing. Similarly, she works in Freeze teams, but Kokomi is simply an upgrade. Kokomi offers more Hydro application with a longer uptime and larger AOE. So Barbara is often just an alternative for units you don’t have or can’t use. Barbara’s Hydro application is only enough for teams and reactions that don’t need a lot of Hydro. This is especially true for Electro-Charged and Freeze teams that can simultaneously maintain two auras on the opponent – so you just have to make sure you’re periodically applying both elements. In contrast, reactions like Vaporize consume an elemental aura from an opponent. So if you apply Pyro to an opponent affected by Hydro, the Pyro consumes some of that Hydro aura. Barbara doesn’t apply enough Hydro to keep up with these types of reactions. Pyro will easily overtake her Hydro application – which is a damage loss because she’ll steal the damage bonus gained from triggering Vaporize. So she doesn’t work with units that rely on Vaporize reactions like Xiangling and Hu Tao. This is basically Barbara’s limitation in team drafting.
Are Barbara’s Constellations Good?
Barbara has pretty good constellations, but she’s already a complete unit at C0. None of her constellations are needed to make her work. Instead, they just increase her healing and buffing abilities and decrease her energy requirements. C6 is her most significant constellation thanks to its ability to revive teammates every 15 minutes. It’s good but not that good – so it’s not worth actively pulling for in the limited or standard banner. This is because of its long cooldown that’s not reliable enough in battle content. For instance, resetting Spiral Abyss chambers or changing floors will not reset this cooldown – you actually have to wait for a full 15 minutes before using it again. So it’s best to just get her C6 naturally. You’re bound to get it while pulling in gacha banners anyway.
C1: Gleeful Songs
Barbara regenerates 1 Energy every 10s. This is a small quality-of-life buff that very slightly helps charge her burst.
C2: Vitality Burst
Decreases Barbara’s skill cooldown by 15%. The active character also gains a 15% Hydro damage bonus during her skill duration. This increases her skill uptime, which is especially useful in teams that use her Hydro application. The Hydro damage bonus also gives her an additional supporting ability – but it is situational. It simply makes her a better teammate for on-field Hydro DPS units.
C3: Star of Tomorrow
Increases her elemental burst talent level 3. This increases her burst’s healing, which is appreciated.
C4: Attentiveness be My Power
Every opponent Barbara hits with her charged attack regenerates 1 Energy for her. Up to 5 energy can be regenerated this way per charged attack. This mainly helps charge Barbara’s burst but only occasionally. It’s often not optimal to use her charged attacks unless you need the stronger healing or when she’s the on-field driver. Otherwise, this can be a waste of field time and stamina.
C5: The Purest Companionship
Increases her elemental skill talent level 3. Like C3, this simply increases her healing.
C6: Dedicating Everything to You
When Barbara is off-field and one of your party members falls, she automatically revives them up to full HP. This can only occur once over 15 mins. This is Barbara’s best constellation – but it’s not that reliable because of its really long cooldown. This 15-minute cooldown applies to both Spiral Abyss and the overworld. So if you trigger it once during Abyss, you won’t be able to trigger it again in any chamber until the 15 minutes end. It also won’t trigger for your co-op teammates or if your character dies while switching characters.
