Then to answer your question, no, she doesn't need to be awakened to be a good defender. Her awakened ability mainly makes her into a better questing champion. As she wins fights and complete her investigations against various classes, she gains permanent dossiers against those classes that grants her various boons. However, since you're only ever fighting a single champion with her in Battlegrounds, it doesn't affect anything in there in any way.
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Then to answer your question, no, she doesn't need to be awakened to be a good defender. Her awakened ability mainly makes her into a better questing champion. As she wins fights and complete her investigations against various classes, she gains permanent dossiers against those classes that grants her various boons. However, since you're only ever fighting a single champion with her in Battlegrounds, it doesn't affect anything in there in any way.