Genshin Impact’s Barbara is a self-proclaimed idol who is loved by every citizen in Mondstadt. You get her for free very early on, and she’s a four-star character that provides some decent heals and is best placed in a support role. Our Genshin Barbara build features all of her skills, constellations, best weapons and artifacts, and more, so you can make the most of this adorable little optimist.
Head on over to our Genshin Impact codes guide and check out our Genshin Impact tier list to see where your newly obtained character ranks. We’ve also got full guides for other strong characters like Genshin Impact’s Arlecchino, Genshin Impact’s Wanderer, and Genshin Impact’s Gaming.
Here’s everything in our Genshin Impact Barbara guide:
What’s the best Genshin Impact Barbara build?
Barbara is a four-star that you can get for free, who uses a catalyst weapon and the hydro element.
| Best weapon | Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers |
| Weapon substitutes | Prototype Amber |
| Best artifact set | Maiden Beloved |
| Main stats | Sands – HP Goblet – HP Circlet – Healing bonus |
| Sub stats | HP, energy recharge |
Barbara is best suited to a support role as she can dish out some pretty impressive heals and automatically revive characters at constellation level six. We recommend using her in a team with another hydro character, such as Genshin Impact’s Mona, to take advantage of hydro elemental resonance, which increases healing by 30%.
Alternatively, since the arrival of Sumeru and the dendro element, players have found Barbara to be amazing when combined with Genshin Impact’s Collei and either Genshin Impact’s Tighnari or the dendro Genshin Impact Traveler. This is due to the way her elemental skill’s ring treats entities and the way the game treats the dendro seed pods created by the bloom reaction.
How do I use Barbara?
Barabara doesn’t need to be on field for you to use her – select her, use her elemental skill, and then swap to your DPS to heal them as they go – and apply the wet status to enemies. When Barbara’s burst is ready and your team needs a little TLC, swap to her and activate it for a full team heal.
What are the best Barbara weapons?
Don’t let the three-star rating fool you – the best catalyst for Barbara is the Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers. We recommend switching Barbara in and out of combat every 20 seconds to take full advantage of the attack bonus. Remember to refine this up to rank five as soon as you can.
Prototype Amber is also a great choice of catalyst as it’s craftable, which makes it very affordable for F2P players. Its energy refund and team heals scale well with refinements. Alternatively, you can pick Everlasting Moonglow. Its passive isn’t very useful for an off-field Barbara, but it works as a stat stick, increasing her HP% and healing bonus.
| Weapon | Effect | How to obtain |
| Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers (three-star) | Bonus effect: HP increase Skill: After switching characters, the new character on the field has an attack increase of 24% for ten seconds. This can only occur once every 20 seconds |
All banners |
| Prototype Amber (four-star) | Bonus effect: HP increase Skill: Elemental bursts regenerate four energy every two seconds for six seconds. All party members also regenerate 4% HP every two seconds for the duration of the effect |
Craft via blacksmith |
| Everlasting Moonglow (five-star) | Bonus effect: HP increase Skill: Increases healing bonus by 10%, and normal attack damage by 1% of Barbara’s max HP. For 12 seconds after using her elemental burst, any of Barbara’s normal attacks that hit opponents restore 0.6 of her energy |
Weapon banner |
| Favonius Codex (four-star) | Bonus effect: Energy recharge increase Skill: Crit hits have a chance to generate elemental particles, which restore six energy for Barbara |
All banners |
What are the best Barbara artifacts?
We highly recommend a full set of Maiden Beloved artifacts in order to make Barbara the best healer she can be. If you haven’t quite got the right set, then Ocean-Hued Clam can help in the meantime.
If the artifact archons aren’t giving you what you want, then a two-piece set of Tenacity of the Millelith or Vourukasha’s Glow can help stack up Barbara’s HP for more healing power. Whichever set you go for, make sure you have plenty of HP main stats, and a healing bonus circlet if you can get one.
| Artifact set | Effect | How to obtain |
| Maiden Beloved | Two equipped: Increases healing effectiveness Four equipped: Increases healing received for all party members by 20% for ten seconds when using an elemental skill or burst |
Valley of Remembrance domain |
| Ocean-Hued Clam | Two equipped: Increases healing effectiveness Four equipped: When Barbara heals a character in the party, a Sea-Dyed Foam appears for three seconds, accumulating the amount of HP recovered. At the end of the duration, it explodes, dealing damage to nearby opponents based on 90% of the accumulated healing. Each Sea-Dyed Foam can accumulate up to 30,000 HP. This effect triggers even when Barbara is not on the field |
Slumbering Court domain |
| Song of Days Past | Two equipped: Healing bonus Four equipped: When Barbara heals a party member, the Yearning effect applies to them for six seconds, which records the total amount of healing provided – including overflow. When the duration expires, the effect transforms into Waves of Days Past: When your active party member attacks an opponent, the damage increases by 8% of the total recorded healing. The effect lasts for either five uses or ten seconds. A single instance of Yearning can record up to 15,000 healing, and only one instance can exist. Standby characters can trigger this. |
Waterfall Wen domain |
Artifact stat recommendations
Energy is not required, as you should only use Barbara’s burst as a last resort. As such, you should focus on HP to increase her healing.
Main stats:
- Sands: HP
- Goblet: HP
- Circlet: Healing bonus
Sub-stats:
- HP
- Energy recharge
What are the best Genshin Impact Barbara team comps?
As a healer, Barbara is very useful in almost any team. Due to her elemental skill constantly applying the wet status, she works well in vaporize, freeze, bloom, and other elemental comps, too – but be warned, you may also freeze a lot, too.
| First character slot | Second character slot | Third character slot | Fourth character slot |
 Barbara |
 Nahida |
 Nilou |
 Flexible slot |
| Barbara |
 Raiden |
 Yelan |
 Kazuha |
| Barbara |
 Ganyu |
 Ayaka |
Kazuha |
| Barbara |
 Hu Tao |
 Xiangling |
Kazuha |
What are Barbara’s abilities?
Here is a full breakdown of Barbara’s kit and what each of her moves does.
Active skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Normal attack: Whisper of Water | Normal: Performs four hydro attacks Charged: Consumes stamina to deal AoE hydro damage Plunging: Deals AoE hydro damage upon impact with the ground |
| Elemental skill: Let the Show Begin | Summons a Melody Loop that deals AoE hydro damage and afflicts the wet status. As long as the Melody Loop is active, Barbara’s normal attacks heal the full party at once, including in co-op. Charged attacks will generate four times the amount of healing. The healing scales off Barbara’s maximum HP. While Barbara is not on the field but her skill is active, the on field character heals at regular intervals. The wet status applies to the character and any enemies that come in contact with them |
| Elemental burst: Shining Miracle | Barbara heals all party members using a large amount of HP, which scales off her maximum HP |
Passive skills:
| Skill | Effect |
| Glorious Season (unlocked at ascension one) | When your active character has Barbara’s Melody Loop around them, their stamina consumption reduces by 12% |
| Encore (unlocked at ascension four) | Melody Loop lasts a second longer each time a character gains an elemental orb or particle |
| With My Whole Heart (unlocked automatically) | Perfect cooking has a 12% chance of doubling the product |
What are Barbara’s constellations?
You get Barbara nice and early in the game, so there’s plenty of time for you to collect some constellations and unlock new talents for her. Here are the extra boosts she can get. Her C6 is especially useful no matter how far you are in the game.
| Constellation | Effect |
| C1: Gleeful Songs | Regenerates one energy every ten seconds |
| C2: Vitality Burst | Decreases the cooldown of Let the Show Begin by 15%. The current character gains a 15% hydro damage bonus while the skill is active |
| C3: Star of Tomorrow | Barbara’s elemental burst (Shining Miracle)’s level increases by three, up to a maximum of 15 |
| C4: Attentiveness Be My Power | Each charged attack regenerates one energy for Barbara. She can gain a maximum of five energy from one charged attack |
| C5: The Purest Companionship | Barbara’s elemental skill (Let the Show Begin)’s level increases by three, up to a maximum of 15 |
| C6: Dedicating Everything to You | If Barbara is in your party but not currently the active character and a party member falls, she revives them with 100% HP. This can only occur once every 15 minutes |
What are Barbara’s ascension materials?
Barbara needs a lot of Mondstadt and early-game materials to ascend through the levels.
| Required level | Mora | Materials |
| 20 | 20,000 | One varunada lazurite sliver, three philanemo mushrooms, three divining scroll |
| 40 | 40,000 | Three varunada lazurite fragments, two cleansing hearts, ten philanemo mushrooms, 15 divining scroll |
| 50 | 60,000 | Six varunada lazurite fragments, four cleansing hearts, 20 philanemo mushrooms, 12 sealed scroll |
| 60 | 80,000 | Three varunada lazurite chunks, eight cleansing hearts, 30 philanemo mushrooms, 18 sealed scroll |
| 70 | 100,000 | Six varunada lazurite chunks, 12 cleansing hearts, 45 philanemo mushrooms, 12 forbidden curse scroll |
| 80 | 120,000 | Six varunada lazurite gemstones, 20 cleansing hearts, 60 philanemo mushrooms, 24 forbidden curse scroll |
Here is where to find each of Barbara’s ascension materials:
- Varunada lazurite – these hydro gems drop from weekly and normal bosses, especially the hydro hypostasis, Rhodeia of Loch, and Solitary Sulani
- Philanemo mushrooms – these mushrooms grow around Mondstadt city and Springvale, primarily on buildings
- Cleansing heart – this boss drop comes from the Rhodeia of Loch oceanid boss in Liyue
- Divining, sealed, forbidden curse scrolls -these items drop from Samachurl enemies in the overworld all across Teyvat. You can also buy them from the Starglitter exchange
What are Barbara’s talent materials?
Here’s the list of items you need to level up Barbara’s talents. We recommend focusing on her skill, burst, and then normal attack to get her healing up to scratch.
| Talent level | Mora | Materials |
| Two | 12,500 | Six divining scrolls, three teachings of freedom |
| Three | 17,500 | Three sealed scrolls, two guides of freedom |
| Four | 25,000 | Four sealed scrolls, four guides of freedom |
| Five | 30,000 | Six sealed scrolls, six guides of freedom |
| Six | 37,500 | Nine sealed scrolls, nine guides of freedom |
| Seven | 120,000 | Four forbidden curse scrolls, four philosophies of freedom, one ring of Boreas |
| Eight | 260,000 | Six forbidden curse scrolls, six philosophies of freedom, one ring of Boreas |
| Nine | 450,000 | Nine forbidden curse scrolls, 12 philosophies of freedom, two rings of Boreas |
| Ten | 700,000 | 12 forbidden curse scrolls, 16 philosophies of freedom, two rings of Boreas, one crown of insight |
To find all these boss drops and talent books, head to these locations:
- Divining, sealed, forbidden curse scrolls -these items drop from Samachurl enemies in the overworld all across Teyvat. You can also buy them from the Starglitter exchange
- Freedom talent books – farm these in the Forsaken Rift domain in Mondstadt on Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays
- Ring of Boreas – you can get these as a reward for the Andrius weekly boss in Mondstadt. If you don’t get the right drop, you can transform them at an alchemy station
Talent priorities:
- Elemental skill > elemental burst > normal attack
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