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A fun fact: The “Obscur” in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 references the complex nature of the in-game systems and gameplay loops.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has you leading a team of magical influencers, fronted by the audacious British Daredevil, on a quest to halt a universal phenomenon that halts the natural aging process. It fuses turn-based RPG battles with real-time parries inspired by challenging titles, all cloaked in a idiosyncratic aesthetic language.

It has emerged as the biggest titles of the season, having garnered a huge player base and earned Game of the Year accolades. The experience can feel a bit off-putting at first, but when it clicks, you’ll discover a layered and fascinating experience that is quite unique from other games. Here are are a collection of starting pointers for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Rotate Party Members Often

In Expedition 33, allies who are active during a fight earn a sizable bonus to XP relative to those not fighting. What's more, the campaign will at times force you to field certain characters. The most straightforward approach to both issues is to switch members often and strive to keep everyone at a similar power level.

The positive aspect is that grinding is fairly fast. Encounters provide a substantial amount of XP, frequently sufficient for a stat increase after just several. You can refresh an area's enemies by stopping at an save point—these flags are placed in each level. If you need to accumulate XP fast, simply engage in combat near a flag, rest, and continue the cycle.

Rotate Items Frequently

There are a couple of key ways to grant constant buffs to your characters: Pictos and Lumina skills.

• Pictos function as gear that give numerical bonuses and also feature a special ability. A character can slot a maximum of three Pictos. Once slotted, completing four fights with a Picto will unlock its associated Lumina.
• Luminas are not gear pieces but essentially act as skill tree nodes. A party member has a number of LP (which can be increased via level-ups). Every Lumina ability has a required LP amount. Provided that a character has sufficient LP, there is no limit can equip the same skill, allowing you to layer key bonuses across your whole party.

The smartest tactic is to make sure a party member has equipped any new accessory and fights through the required fights to unlock its Lumina. This ensures you’ll have it for later builds.

Should you not have unleveled accessories to level up, simply slot the Pictos with the highest bonuses for your needs.

Perfect Guards Are Not Your Only Option

Expedition 33’s key feature is its combination of RPG systems with real-time parries. That said, the opportunity to deflect is incredibly short on every setting. In place of breaking controllers trying to land parries, focus on rolling.

Even though a successful parry restores a resource and causes a huge damage spike, failing to parry gives you nothing. The good news is there are several accessories and abilities that provide resources on a successful dodge. If you find parrying difficult, use those dodge-focused perks instead.

Break Is Your Greatest Advantage

Break is a battle-altering condition that can secure victory. As you whittle down health, a gold meter charges under their life bar. Once charged, you can apply the Break status, which lowers their armor by 20% and skips their turn for an entire round. It is the single most powerful debuff in the game, but only particular attacks can apply it.

Allocate Points Intentionally

You can reset attributes and skills using a limited consumable called a Recoat item. Since they are uncommon, it's smart to consider your path prior to using your skill points. Get a feel for a character's playstyle and map out a skill tree path first.

Don't Forget to Use the Save Flag

Stopping at an save point fully heals your entire party and restocks all of your consumables, including healing potions and revival items. Make it a habit to stop and heal up!

These flags also function as the only means to navigation in the game. The game lacks a mini-map, compass, or quest indicators. Instead, each flag has a designation. When you interact with one, you can see a menu of all discovered flags in that zone under a fast travel menu. It's a basic yet helpful way to see how far you've come.

Glowing Cages Are Invariably Worth the Effort

Paint Cages are effectively sealed loot boxes that need you to find and hit three concealed seals in the nearby environment before getting the loot. The contents is consistently high-tier, often containing Recoats or unique gear. The required seals aren't easy to spot, but they are usually near the cage. If you can't find one, try exploring thoroughly or checking elevated spots.

Yes, Battle the Merchant

Each shopkeeper carries a one-of-a-kind piece of gear that doesn't appear in their regular wares. To get them to sell it, you must choose one character and win a duel in a solo battle. This is invariably worth doing, as these rewards are exceptionally powerful. The earliest vendor you meet, for reference, sells a special accessory that applies the Defenseless debuff, which amplifies attacks against the affected enemy by 25%.

Trust In the Auto-Save System

The game lacks {manual saving