Expedition 33 Complete Character Build Guide

There are six different playable characters in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, each with his or her own unique weapons, combat styles, skills, and even their own fancy outfits to stay fashionable, of course. These include Gustave, Lune, Maelle, Sciel, Verso, and Monoco, and you’ll have to master the strategies for each character’s individual skills and find different ways to synergize your party if you want the best chance of defeating some of the more difficult enemies in Clair Obscur. As you traverse The Continent on your expedition to defeat the Paintress, you’ll unlock increasingly better skills and weapons for each character.

WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR CLAIR OBSCUR: EXPEDITION 33 !Ultimately, you’ll need a good understanding of how every character operates in order to take down the hardest bosses, even if you elect to play on the easiest difficulty setting. Fortunately, Clair Obscur gameplay provides useful tutorials for each character once you unlock them in the story, explaining the fundamental aspects of their individual combat mechanics. I’d highly recommend playing each tutorial on your first playthrough to make things a bit easier for yourself.

Gustave Can Inflict Extreme Damage

Overcharge Can Break Enemies & Deal Massive Damage

The starting character in Clair Obscur is Gustave, and he’ll be your first introduction to combat in the game. He has a magical mechanical arm that can be overcharged to inflict extreme damage against enemies. Gustave is the most basic playable character and is really designed to teach you the ropes. You’ll have a limited number of skills, and (spoiler alert) Gustave only lives through the first act, so don’t get too attached.

Gustave uses a pistol and sword combo with weapon suffixes -am. He’s primarily built to deal high stance break and lightning damage, with his featured Overcharge skill being maxed out at 10 charges for successful attacks. You can gain Overcharges by successfully parrying, dodging, or from landing basic attacks and/or skills. You’ll see that many of the skills in Gustave’s tree are locked, and you won’t actually have access to these skills playing as Gustave. Instead, the skills you have unlocked are transferred over into Act 2 under Verso, and he can unlock the remaining skills in the tree.

Gustave’s weapons do not have additional level-based buffs as the other characters’ weapons do, probably because you won’t find the required weapon upgrade materials to level any of his items that high before he dies at the end of Act 1. There are only eight skills that Gustave can unlock total, with Strike Storm requiring 10 skill points.

Lune Deals Elemental Damage In Clair Obscur

Use Elemental Stains To Buff Lune’s Attacks

Lune is the second playable character you’ll meet after you pass through the Prologue and enter into Spring Meadows and begin Act 1 proper. Lune specializes in skills that deal elemental damage and accumulate Stains. Stains will automatically accrue after using their corresponding elemental attacks, i.e., a fire-based attack will deal Burn damage and give Lune a Fire Stain. These Stains can then be used to further buff attacks of a different elemental type, such as Electrify dealing more damage by consuming a Fire Stain.

Lune’s weapons end with the suffix -im and feature some of the core elemental types in Clair Obscur – Fire, Ice, Earth, Lightning, and Light. Light is a unique Stain that can be used in place of any other elemental Stain, and is typically generated alongside other Stain types. Lune’s weapons will be the first you collect with level-based upgrades at Levels 4, 10, and 20.

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Lune is a personal choice for best character and combat design, as she has a wide variety of skill options and types of attacks. Finding a rhythm with Lune’s skills that synergizes each element is essential. You’ll be able to deal massive elemental damage of a given type by incorporating attacks of a corresponding element.

Maelle Is Great For Offense & Defense

Switch Battle Stances Each Turn For Varying Effects

Maelle is the third playable character you’ll meet once you travel through Flying Waters and finally enter the Manor for the first time. Maelle uses fencing-style combat, with skills and weapons focusing on her three different Battle Stances: Defensive, Offensive, and Virtuose Stance. Each of Maelle’s skills will be more (or less) effective depending on the stance she’s in at the beginning of the turn. Performing a Base Attack from either Defensive or Offensive Stance will switch Maelle to the opposite stance. Virtuose Stance is the strongest, giving Maelle +200% damage.

Maelle cannot stay in the same stance for two turns in a row – with some exceptions. Unless a specific weapon designates otherwise, she will start off combat Stanceless, moving to either a Defensive or Offensive Stance based on the chosen attack. Maelle’s weapons end with the suffix -um and will also have level-based upgrade bonuses.

Maelle is capable of ridiculous damage if you can coordinate well with the rest of your party composition. For example, the Percee skill’s damage is increased if Maelle is attacking a Marked target, and will be increased even further if she is in Virtuose Stance.

Sciel Can Make A Great Support In Clair Obscur

Use Foretell Charges And Stack Sun & Moon Cards

Sciel is a dual-bladed scythe wielder with fortune-teller-based combat that utilizes stacks of Foretell and special Sun and Moon Skills, as well as a unique status called Twilight. Sciel can stack up to 10 Foretells to enemies, which is increased to 20 Foretells on an enemy with Twilight active. Skills that apply Foretell will give Sciel Sun charges, while skills that consume Foretell will give her Moon charges. If she has both Sun and Moon charges available, she will enter Twilight. The Twilight state increases damage based on Foretells consumed and doubles the amount of Foretell applied.

Her skill tree includes some of the best support skills available, and I prefer to use her as a support unit by incorporating these skills into a “Harvester” build. This build takes advantage of the Harvest, Grim Harvest, and Plentiful Harvest skills, giving your party a dedicated healer/support unit. Sciel is equally viable for offensive strategies, however, and specializes in dealing Dark damage, another of Clair Obscur’s various elemental effects. Her weapons end with the -on suffix, most of which will have upgrade bonuses aside from her starting scythe.

Verso Is A Nice Upgrade From Gustave

Seek Perfection & Rank Up Verso’s Attacks

Verso is essentially a Gustave upgrade, replacing Gustave at the end of Act 1 and taking over his weapons and skill tree. You’ll be able to use all of Gustave’s weapons, but Verso also has his own unique weapons with the -so suffix. All of your weapon upgrades from Gustave will transfer over to Verso, though they will reset with Verso-specific level upgrades. For example, the Abysseram weapon has no upgrades when playing as Gustave, but has Level 4, 10, and 20 upgrades once you enter Act 2 with Verso.

Verso will be able to use all the same weapons as Gustave, but will start to collect more powerful ones with level-based upgrades. Unlocking Verso will eventually give you access to Gradient attacks, which are unique and powerful character-specific skills. Gradient charges accumulate with each AP used from all party members, with up to three Gradient charges possible. New Gradient attacks for each character can be unlocked by increasing their relationship with Verso by spending time alone with them at camp.

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Verso’s combat mechanics incorporate something called Perfection, which is earned by landing hits and successfully dodging and/or parrying attacks. Accumulating Perfection points will increase Verso’s Rank, from the lowest D Rank all the way up to S being the most powerful Rank that gives the highest buffs. Ranks are lost upon getting hit, though Verso’s weapons can alter the mechanics of how Perfection and Ranks operate. For example, the Gaulteram, my preferred weapon of choice for Verso, loses Perfection on getting hit instead of Ranks, among other advantages.

Monoco Is The Most Unique Character

A Gestral With A Foot Fetish

Monoco is the final playable character you’ll be introduced to once you’re well into Act 2. Monoco, a quirky Gestral with a thing for Nevron feet, is easily the most unique character in Clair Obscur. Unlike the other characters, his skills are unlocked by fighting and defeating specific enemy types… and collecting their feet. You need to have Monoco in your party for him to unlock new skills from Nevron feet, and you’ll need to master his Bestial Wheel. The Bestial Wheel has five different Masks: Agile, Balanced, Heavy, Caster, and Almighty Mask which is the most powerful, increasing damage for all skills.

The Bestial Wheel turns in a designated direction based on each attack. Each skill is more effective when used while the combat wheel is set on its corresponding type, i.e., the Chalier Combo skill will deal increased damage with the wheel set on the Balanced Mask. Monoco has a ton of different skills and unlocking them will require exploring and defeating a wide range of enemy types. Monoco has his own unique weapons ending with the -ro suffix.

Overall, Monoco is a lot of fun in combat and has some of the best single-target damage-dealing skills, though he is equally viable as a support class as well, with healing buffs and other defensive skills such as Orphelin Cheers which will give the party AP points and apply Powerful. Monoco is by far one of the most creative playable characters and is simply a great time, and he also has some hilarious banter with his good buddy Verso.

No matter which characters you choose for your party composition in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, you’ll need to find a way to synergize all three characters’ skills. Each character’s selected skills should benefit the other two characters’ skills and vice versa, and striking a balance between offensive and defensive skills will give you much better odds against some of the more difficult enemies in the game.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Systems

9/10

Released

April 24, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence

Developer(s)

Sandfall Interactive

Publisher(s)

Kepler Interactive