🔗 Share this article

A fun fact: The name “Obscur” in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 hints at the initially cryptic nature of the interface systems and systems.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 places you in the role of a team of glamorous spellcasters, led by the daring British Daredevil, on a quest to reverse a worldwide curse that halts the natural aging process. It fuses traditional RPG battles with timed defensive moves inspired by challenging titles, all presented with a idiosyncratic aesthetic language.

It has proven to be the major games of the season, having garnered a huge player base and secured the premier award accolades. The adventure can feel slightly intimidating in the beginning, but after you grasp its systems, you’ll discover a layered and fascinating experience that is quite unique from contemporary titles. Listed here are 10 essential starting pointers for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Swap Team Members Often

In Expedition 33, party members who are active during a battle gain a significant 50% bonus to XP relative to those not fighting. What's more, the campaign will periodically require you to field certain characters. The most straightforward approach to these mechanics is to rotate your team and strive to keep everyone at a comparable level.

The upside is that grinding is not too tedious. Battles grant a sizable amount of XP, often enough for a character progression after just a few. You can respawn an area's enemies by taking a break at an save point—these markers are placed across each area. If you need to gain levels quickly, simply engage in combat near a flag, use the flag, and continue the cycle.

Rotate Accessories Often

There are two primary ways to grant passive perks to your characters: Picto accessories and Luminas.

• Pictos are accessories that give attribute increases and also feature a special ability. Each character can equip up to three Pictos. When equipped, finishing four battles with a Picto will unlock its linked Lumina.
• Luminas function differently but are similar to skill tree nodes. Every ally has a pool of Lumina Points (which you can raise via level-ups). Each Lumina has a specific point cost. If a character has the required amount, there is no limit can use the same skill, allowing you to combine key bonuses across your entire team.

The most efficient tactic is to ensure a party member has equipped every new Picto and completes the required fights to gain its Lumina. Doing this the ability will be available for future use.

Should you not have fresh gear to level up, simply use the Pictos with the best stats for your playstyle.

Perfect Guards Are Not Your Sole Defense

Expedition 33’s key feature is its fusion of turn-based combat with twitch-based defenses. However, the opportunity to deflect is notoriously tight on every setting. In place of breaking controllers trying to land parries, prioritize evading.

Even though a well-timed block grants one AP and deals significant bonus damage, not blocking yields no benefit. The good news is there are several accessories and abilities that restore Action Points on a well-timed evade. If you struggle with the timing, focus on those roll-centric abilities instead.

Break Is Your Secret Weapon

Inflicting Break is a game-changing condition that can turn the tide. As you damage an enemy, a special bar charges beneath their life bar. When full, you can apply the Break status, which lowers their damage resistance by a significant amount and stuns them for their next action. It is the single most powerful status effect in the game, but only certain attacks can trigger it.

Allocate Points With a Plan

You can reset stat points and abilities using a rare item called a Recoat item. Given its scarcity, it's prudent to consider your path prior to using your attribute points. Get a feel for a party member's role and plan a progression route in advance.

Always Stop At the Checkpoint Flag

Resting at an expedition flag fully heals your all characters and refreshes your supply of healing items, including Chroma Elixirs and phoenix down equivalents. Develop the routine to rest at every flag!

Checkpoints also function as the only means to quick traversal in the game. You won't find a traditional map, compass, or quest indicators. But, each flag has a name and number. By resting, you can see a menu of your progress in that zone under a teleport list. It's a minimalist way to track your progress.

Locked Chests Are Consistently Rewarding

Paint Cages are effectively puzzle caches that require you to discover and activate three hidden locks in the nearby environment to getting the loot. The reward is consistently valuable, often containing rare resources or powerful weapons. The required seals aren't in plain sight, but they are almost always within the same area. If you can't find one, try breaking objects or looking up.

Go Ahead and, Fight the Vendor

Each shopkeeper carries a hidden special good that won't show up in their regular wares. To get them to sell it, you must choose one character and defeat the merchant in a one-on-one fight. This proves to be rewarding, as these items are exceptionally powerful. The first merchant you meet, for instance, sells a Picto that applies the Defenseless debuff, which increases damage dealt against the affected enemy by a quarter.

Have Faith in the Auto-Save System

The game lacks {manual saving