🔗 Share this article

A fun fact: The title term “Obscur” in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 hints at the initially cryptic nature of the game's menus and mechanics.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 places you in the role of a band of magical influencers, led by the daring British Daredevil, on a mission to combat a universal phenomenon that halts the natural aging process. It merges traditional RPG combat with action-game reflexes drawn from challenging titles, all cloaked in a unique aesthetic language.

It has proven to be the major releases of the period, having garnered a huge player base and secured Game of the Year praise. The experience can feel slightly intimidating at first, but after you grasp its systems, you’ll discover a layered and engrossing role-playing game that stands apart from many others. Here are are 10 essential starting pointers for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Swap Team Members Frequently

In Expedition 33, allies who are active during a fight gain a hefty increase to XP relative to those not fighting. What's more, the campaign will periodically force you to include particular characters. The easiest solution to these challenges is to rotate your team and aim to keep everyone at a roughly equal strength.

The good news is that farming experience is fairly fast. Fights grant a substantial amount of XP, sometimes sufficient for a character progression after just two or three. You can refresh an local foes by taking a break at an save point—these markers are placed throughout each level. If you need to power level, simply battle monsters near a flag, use the flag, and do it again.

Swap Items Often

You have two main ways to bestow passive perks to your allies: Pictos and Luminas.

• Pictos are items which grant stat boosts and include a unique passive skill. A character can slot up to three Pictos. Once slotted, winning four battles with a Picto grants access to its linked Lumina.
• Luminas aren’t physical items but are similar to equippable passives. A party member has a pool of Lumina Points (which grows via items). Each Lumina has a set cost. If a character has sufficient LP, multiple characters can equip the same skill, allowing you to stack useful effects across your entire team.

The smartest approach is to make sure a party member equips any new accessory and completes the required fights to unlock its Lumina. Doing this you’ll have it for later builds.

When you aren't have new Pictos to unlock, simply use the Pictos with the highest bonuses for your playstyle.

Blocking Is Not Your Single Choice

Expedition 33’s signature mechanic is its marriage of RPG systems with twitch-based defenses. That said, the parry window is extremely brief on all difficulty levels. Rather than frustrating yourself trying to hit perfect blocks, focus on evading.

While a well-timed block grants one AP and deals a huge damage spike, missing the timing yields no benefit. The good news is there are a number of accessories and abilities that provide resources on a successful dodge. If you struggle with the timing, use those dodge-focused perks instead.

Breaking Enemies Is Your Greatest Advantage

Inflicting Break is a decisive mechanic that can secure victory. As you whittle down health, a special bar increases beneath their life bar. Once charged, you can stun the enemy, which slashes their defense by 20% and stuns them for an entire round. It is the most impactful debuff in the game, but only particular abilities can cause it.

Level Up With a Plan

You are able to re-spec your build using a limited consumable called a Recoat item. Because it's rare, it's prudent to plan your build prior to committing your attribute points. Get a feel for a hero's kit and chart a progression route first.

Make Sure to Rest At the Checkpoint Flag

Stopping at an expedition flag refills the health of your all characters and replenishes all of your potions, including HP restoratives and revival items. Make it a habit to stop and heal up!

Checkpoints also act as the closest thing to fast travel in the game. The game lacks a overworld map, waypoint system, or floating icons. Instead, each flag has a designation. At a flag, you can see a menu of your progress in that level under a fast travel menu. It's a basic yet helpful way to track your progress.

Glowing Cages Are Consistently Worth the Effort

Paint Cages are essentially puzzle caches that demand you to find and hit three scattered mechanisms in the immediate vicinity to opening them. The treasure inside is without fail worthwhile, often containing Recoats or strong equipment. The required seals aren't always obvious, but they are almost always located close by. If you are stuck, try smashing crates or checking elevated spots.

Absolutely, Battle the Merchant

All vendors stocks a one-of-a-kind piece of gear that won't show up in their regular wares. To unlock it, you must select a party member and defeat the merchant in a one-on-one fight. This is invariably rewarding, as these items are exceptionally powerful. The earliest vendor you meet, for reference, offers a Picto that inflicts the vulnerability status, which boosts damage against the foe by 25%.

Rely On the Autosave

You cannot perform {manual saving