The very first Dendro character that was ever teased in Genshin Impact is finally making his way to Teyvat as a playable unit in the Version 3.6 update. Due to how long players have been waiting for Baizhu to debut, the community was excitedly anticipating his release until leaks unveiled his actual abilities.
Baizhu is the owner of Bubu Pharmacy in Liyue and players have known him for quite a while since the Geo region of Teyvat launched with Genshin itself in the Version 1.0 update. Because he runs a pharmacy, players had an idea of what they suspected his playable skillset would look like, and that idea mostly included a powerful healing and shielding kit combined with excellent Dendro application.
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Following the immensely lackluster release of the five-star Pyro Claymore Dehya, players are quite weary and easily worried at any indicator that might mean a future Genshin character is heading down the same path. But while the community was mostly in unanimous agreement that Dehya would be bad, for Baizhu, the situation is much more complex.
The controversy among the community began when a few different showcases of Baizhu’s skillset surfaced online. The Dendro character won’t release until April, but leaks usually surface months ahead of time for upcoming content in Genshin and many leaks have already been uncovered for Version 3.6.
While the general Genshin community usually agrees on a character’s skillset being good or bad, Baizhu has quickly become a uniquely divisive character. Many players already feel that his skillset is lacking for a five-star character, while others believe he’ll be quite powerful if used correctly.
The main concern that players have about Baizhu’s leaked skillset is that his Dendro application seems very inconsistent and generally lacking. Elemental application is a key component of how players judge a character’s skillset because it is essential for powerful damage output, so players’ concerns surrounding Baizhu are understandable.
After watching the showcase, one Reddit player said, “in terms of application, we have no application” in regard to Baizhu’s insufficient Dendro application.
Ahead of their release, Genshin characters usually undergo some changes and many members of the community expected Baizhu to be nerfed today. But this did not happen and many members of the leak Reddit page believe that the reason is that his skillset is already weak.
“Now we know why he wasn’t nerfed today,” said one player in response to the Baizhu showcase.
While many players seemed to agree with this sentiment and shared similar comments, another player speculated that perhaps those who were worried about the Dendro character were viewing his skillset the wrong way. This player believed that perhaps Baizhu was meant to function as a Dendro version of the four-star Cryo Bow character Diona.
The player explained this idea by saying that “elemental application doesn’t really matter” because Baizhu’s skillset is instead tailored for healing and shielding just like Diona’s.
Many players had hoped to use Baizhu alongside the five-star Dendro Sword character Alhaitham, but most of their hopes seem dashed now that his skillset has been unveiled and players are just generally not sure what to do with him. After seeing what he can do, some players already feel that Yaoyao, a four-star Dendro character, performs better than what has been unveiled for him, a character who is supposed to be better due to his five-star status.
The controversy seems to be present across all areas of the internet where Genshin players interact as much discussion surrounding the Dendro character is also occurring across Twitter and YouTube. One Genshin Twitter account highlighted some updates directly from those who have had a chance to beta-test the character.
While the beta testers seem to have had a positive experience with Baizhu, the discourse in the thread of this tweet was also rather divisive as players discussed the Dendro character’s leaked skillset and numerous showcases.
One player defended him by arguing that Baizhu’s shielding is meant to mimic “a snake shedding its skin” rather than function as an impenetrable shield that is made to last.
The Dendro character has a pet snake named Changsheng and it seems that Baizhu’s skillset may have been uniquely modeled after him.
The player then added that while Baizhu’s shielding is indeed weak, this may be intentional because “its purpose is to break” and then release a “Dendro attack when it shatters.”
While Baizhu is already a controversial character, Genshin players will have to wait until his official release in April to decide for themselves how they feel about the Dendro character’s skillset. But if he does turn out to be as disappointing as many suspect he will, Genshin players will certainly be extremely let down to have had two inadequate five-star releases back to back.
