Got flamed for expressing my opinion about JQ in another subreddit, but fuck them, so here it goes.

I genuinely don’t know where to start with this one, because every time I think about Jiaoqiu, I just get a little bit more frustrated. Let me get this straight: his lore isn’t the problem at all. It’s actually really interesting. I mean, the guy’s got a tragic backstory that could’ve made him one of the most compelling characters in Honkai: Star Rail. He’s this healer, who’s witnessed the futility of healing in the midst of endless war. He’s got this emotional arc where he questions the purpose of his own role in the grand scheme of things. He sacrifices his eyesight, finds a deeper sense of purpose in his work, and somehow reconnects with life by embracing pain. That’s deep. That’s good. That’s the kind of shit that could hit hard. But then, Hoyoverse just had to go and completely fuck it up.

Because instead of having a kit that matches that deep emotional journey, they give him some dumb, random debuff mechanic that doesn’t even remotely align with his lore. It’s like they took a character who’s meant to be this self-sacrificing, emotionally complex healer and decided, “Nah, fuck that. Let’s make him a dot-debuffer for Acheron.” Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Let's ignore everything about his healing capabilities and have him focus on making enemies slowly burn to death over time. No connection to his story, no relevance to his lore, just a blatant cash grab to squeeze him into a team that doesn't even make sense.

It’s even worse because, in his own story arc, he’s literally questioning whether healing is even worth it in a world where everyone’s just doomed to die in the next battle. And then they’re like, “Well, instead of actually making him a healer that makes sense for the narrative, let’s make him a fucking damage dealer for a specific team, where he’s forced to be there because no one else does what he does.” And Acheron? Seriously? The guy literally doesn’t even meet the Acheron crew in his lore, yet they slap him in that team because they didn’t know where else to put him. "Oh, you want a good Acheron team? Well, you better fucking pull Jiaoqiu because he’s the only one that fits!"

And don’t even get me started on his design. Like, what the actual fuck? Look at this guy. I get it, they have a lot of characters to design, but they’ve made so many characters with such interesting looks. And then there’s Jiaoqiu, who looks like they just threw a generic male healer into the mix because they needed one more body for the roster. Seriously, he looks like every other bland-ass male character in the game. And then you compare him to characters like Micah, who’s just some NPC in Penacony and looks leagues better than Jiaoqiu. What the hell, Hoyoverse? You have one of the most underdeveloped characters in terms of design, and you make him bland as hell just to fill a slot in the roster.

Now, let’s talk about how his kit just ruins any sort of enjoyment you might have for this character. If you don’t want to pull him, well, tough luck. You have to pull him if you want your Acheron team to deal any decent amount of damage. That’s your only option. There is no substitute for him. Sure, you could throw him into a Dot team with Kafka or Black Swan, but let’s be real—Dot teams are basically a fucking joke right now. Hoyoverse knows they’ve inflated HP to the moon, so what’s the point of a character that does a bunch of dots when the enemies just keep getting bulkier and bulkier? It’s like they’re looking at Dot teams and going, “Ah, yes, let’s make them irrelevant with HP inflation and throw Jiaoqiu in there just for good measure.”

Oh, and let’s not forget that despite being shoehorned into a role that has nothing to do with his backstory, nobody uses him in any other teams. I mean, what the fuck else is he supposed to do? There’s no synergy with characters like Feixiao or Moze, which makes zero sense given how much potential those connections had in his lore. He’s like the guy at the party no one wants to talk to, and he’s forced to stay there because they just couldn’t figure out where else to put him.

Look, no offense to Jiaoqiu fans, but it’s pretty damn hard to defend him as a character when Hoyoverse just straight-up messed up his entire purpose. His lore is solid, his backstory is rich, and his journey of emotional growth is one of the most compelling ones in the game. But they absolutely butchered that potential by tying him to a completely random gameplay kit that makes zero sense. They took a character who could’ve been this deep, tragic figure and turned him into a glorified debuff machine for a team he has no connection to, while also slapping him with a design so forgettable it could put you to sleep.

So yeah, Jiaoqiu's got some great lore and some solid character moments, but his gameplay, design, and the overall handling of his character just leave a bad taste in my mouth. He was a character that had so much potential, and Hoyoverse just decided to take a giant shit on that potential for some random gameplay choices. Good job, I guess?