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A fun fact: The name “Obscur” in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 hints at the complex nature of the game's menus and systems.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 places you in the role of a team of social media mages, led by the audacious British Daredevil, on a journey to combat a universal phenomenon that prevents aging. It fuses turn-based RPG combat with real-time parries reminiscent of action RPGs, all cloaked in a idiosyncratic aesthetic language.

It has become one of the biggest titles of the period, having sold millions and secured top honors accolades. The game can feel somewhat dense in the beginning, but after you grasp its systems, you’ll uncover a rich and fascinating role-playing game that differentiates itself from many others. Below are a collection of starting pointers for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Change Characters Often

In Expedition 33, party members who are active during a fight receive a sizable bonus to Experience Points compared to those on the bench. Additionally, the narrative will sometimes mandate you to field certain characters. The simplest solution to these challenges is to rotate your team and aim to keep everyone at a roughly equal power level.

The positive aspect is that farming experience is not too tedious. Encounters provide a substantial amount of XP, often sufficient for a level up after just several. You can refresh an area's enemies by stopping at an checkpoint banner—these markers are located throughout each level. If you need to accumulate XP fast, simply battle monsters near a flag, rest, and do it again.

Change Gear Frequently

The game features two primary ways to grant bonus effects to your party members: Picto gems and Lumina skills.

• Pictos are items which give stat boosts and come with a constant effect. Each character can slot up to three Pictos. When equipped, finishing four battles with a Picto will unlock its linked Lumina.
• Luminas are not gear pieces but are similar to skill tree nodes. Every ally has a pool of Lumina Points (which grows via level-ups). A Lumina has a set cost. If a character has enough points, you are not restricted can use the same Lumina, allowing you to layer key bonuses across your whole party.

The most efficient approach is to always a party member equips each fresh Picto you find and completes the required fights to gain its Lumina. This ensures you’ll have it for future use.

When you aren't have new Pictos to work on, simply equip the Pictos with the highest bonuses for your playstyle.

Perfect Guards Are Not Your Sole Defense

Expedition 33’s signature mechanic is its marriage of turn-based combat with action-oriented blocks. But, the parry window is incredibly short on every setting. Rather than struggling endlessly trying to land parries, concentrate on dodging.

Even though a well-timed block grants a resource and causes significant bonus damage, not blocking yields no benefit. Fortunately there are several accessories and abilities that grant AP on a perfect roll. If you can't get the block down, use those evasion-based perks instead.

Breaking Enemies Is Your Secret Weapon

The Break status effect is a battle-altering mechanic that can secure victory. As you whittle down health, a special bar increases under their life bar. When full, you can apply the Break status, which slashes their damage resistance by a fifth and skips their turn for an entire round. It is the most impactful debuff in the game, but only specific attacks can trigger it.

Build Characters With a Plan

You have the option to reallocate stat points and abilities using a limited consumable called a Recoat item. Because it's rare, it's wise to consider your path before spending your attribute points. Try out a party member's role and chart a skill tree path in advance.

Make Sure to Rest At the Checkpoint Flag

Stopping at an save point refills the health of your all characters and refreshes every potions, including Chroma Elixirs and revival items. Develop the routine to stop and heal up!

These flags also serve as the closest thing to navigation in the game. The game lacks a traditional map, waypoint system, or floating icons. Instead, each flag has a identifier. When you interact with one, you can view a list of every flag you've found in that level under a teleport list. It's a basic yet helpful way to track your progress.

Locked Chests Are Consistently Worth the Effort

These special containers are basically puzzle caches that demand you to locate and shoot three concealed seals in the nearby environment before getting the loot. The reward is always valuable, often containing Recoats or powerful weapons. The required seals aren't in plain sight, but they are typically within the same area. If you are stuck, try exploring thoroughly or looking up.

Go Ahead and, Battle the Merchant

Every merchant stocks a secret, unique item that doesn't appear in their regular wares. To gain access to it, you must select a party member and beat them in combat in a one-on-one fight. This proves to be rewarding, as these items are truly unique. The initial shopkeeper you meet, for reference, provides a special accessory that inflicts the vulnerability status, which boosts damage against the foe by a quarter.

Trust In the Automatic Saving

There is no {manual saving