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An interesting tidbit: The title term “Obscur” in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 references the complex nature of the in-game systems and systems.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 casts you as a team of glamorous spellcasters, fronted by the audacious British Daredevil, on a mission to reverse a universal phenomenon that stops people from growing old. It merges strategic role-playing encounters with real-time parries drawn from Soulslike games, all presented with a idiosyncratic artistic lexicon.

It has proven to be the major titles of the year, having achieved massive sales and earned top honors recognition. The experience can feel a bit off-putting in the beginning, but after you grasp its systems, you’ll find a rich and engrossing experience that stands apart from many others. Below are a collection of early-game strategies for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Rotate Characters Frequently

In Expedition 33, allies who are active during a fight receive a significant 50% bonus to XP versus those on the bench. Furthermore, the campaign will at times mandate you to field certain characters. The most straightforward solution to both issues is to switch members often and try to keep your roster at a roughly equal strength.

The positive aspect is that grinding is not too tedious. Battles grant a generous amount of XP, often sufficient for a level up after just several. You can refresh an zone's monsters by stopping at an save point—these flags are located across each area. If you need to power level, simply engage in combat near a flag, refresh, and repeat.

Change Items Often

You have two main ways to grant bonus effects to your allies: Picto gems and Lumina skills.

• Pictos are accessories that grant stat boosts and include a constant effect. Each character can equip a maximum of three Pictos. After being worn, finishing four fights with a Picto unlocks its corresponding Lumina.
• Luminas function differently but can be thought of as equippable passives. Every ally has a number of skill points (which can be increased via items). A Lumina has a set cost. As long as a character has enough points, there is no limit can benefit from the same Lumina, allowing you to layer key bonuses across your entire team.

The most efficient tactic is to always one of your characters equips any new accessory and completes four battles to reveal its Lumina. Doing this you gain access for future use.

Should you not have unleveled accessories to unlock, simply slot the Pictos with the most beneficial attributes for your playstyle.

Blocking Is Not Your Sole Defense

Expedition 33’s signature mechanic is its marriage of strategic battles with twitch-based defenses. That said, the timing for a perfect block is incredibly short on all difficulty levels. Instead of breaking controllers trying to master the timing, focus on evading.

While a successful parry restores a resource and inflicts significant bonus damage, failing to parry yields no benefit. Luckily there are several gear and skills that provide resources on a perfect roll. If you can't get the block down, focus on those roll-centric perks instead.

Break Is Your Key Tactic

Break is a decisive state that can swing a fight. As you whittle down health, a gold meter fills up beneath their HP bar. Upon maxing out, you can apply the Break status, which lowers their damage resistance by 20% and skips their turn for an entire round. It is the single most powerful debuff in the game, but only certain attacks can apply it.

Level Up With a Plan

You have the option to reallocate attributes and skills using a scarce resource called a Respec token. Given its scarcity, it's smart to think ahead instead of using your stat investments. Try out a character's playstyle and plan a build strategy first.

Always Stop At the Checkpoint Flag

Stopping at an expedition flag refills the health of your whole team and replenishes every consumables, including Chroma Elixirs and Revive Tints. Make it a habit to use each flag you see!

Expedition flags also act as the only means to fast travel in the game. There is no mini-map, compass, or quest indicators. However, each flag has a identifier. At a flag, you can access a log of all discovered flags in that level under a navigation option. It's a basic yet helpful way to track your progress.

Locked Chests Are Always Worth It

These special containers are basically puzzle caches that need you to locate and shoot three scattered mechanisms in the nearby environment to getting the loot. The contents is always high-tier, often containing Recoats or powerful weapons. The three locks aren't easy to spot, but they are almost always near the cage. If you are stuck, try exploring thoroughly or looking up.

Go Ahead and, Battle the Vendor

All vendors carries a one-of-a-kind piece of gear that doesn't appear in their regular wares. To unlock it, you must pick a champion and win a duel in a single combat. This proves to be worth doing, as these pieces of gear are truly unique. The initial shopkeeper you meet, for instance, offers a Picto that causes the vulnerability status, which amplifies attacks against the target by a significant margin.

Trust In the Automatic Saving

There is no {manual saving