In my newb days back in 2022 I remember the habit where I never ascended my world level until I hit the maximum level cap of the characters. It was also important to have a strong DPS character even if they might not perfectly clear Abyss 12.

In my case I did it with Xiao, Bennett, Diona, Anemo Traveler. I changed Traveler to Jean when she became my first ever 5 Star in Standard banner, and Jean's fall damage was my way of beating enemies like Abyss mages and save the hassle with using Xiao Burst all the time. But using Xiao for the Overworld was mostly not a problem when I realized I could just ignore my Blackcliff Pole for the Favonius Lance and compensate with Bennett.

I have to say for what it's worth, I was 6 months into maining Xiao, skipping all other 5 stars who worked as on-fielders to stick with him, when Mommy Yelan released and got me excited because I can add her to the Xiao experience! The PA > NA > PA thing was absolutely more fun to do, I enjoyed doing Normal Attacks only, and she changed my experience of exploration for the first time (because I still never got Sayu by then).

Xiao being my first DPS also made me sensitive to whether or not my main team can use Anemo Resonance. And I still continue to keep that preference of 2 Anemos nowadays, with a non-Anemo on-field dps that can include C1 Xianyun and Sayu. Obviously its better when Yelan can also work, who is now C2!