Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 beginner tips and tricks

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a game that mixes classic JRPG design with modern Western game design ideas, and it makes for a unique experience, but it may take some getting used to for some players. Whether you’re a JRPG veteran or this is your first time playing this style of game, there are some pitfalls along the way that you should be careful not to overlook, as you can potentially miss out on some of the great stuff this game has to offer.

We’ve come up with these ten tips and tricks for Expedition 33 that you should have in mind when you start your playthrough. If you're looking for more general information on the game, then check out our Expedition 33 FAQ for the answers to all your questions, and you can also look at our guide for how long to beat Expedition 33 if you want to know just how long of an adventure you're about to dive into.

Dodge to learn

One of the central mechanics in this game is the ability to dodge and parry your opponent’s attack, potentially negating all damage in any fight. However, to do this you’ll need to recognize each enemy’s attack patterns. 

Dodging an attack is much easier than parrying, although it doesn’t offer any bonuses like AP gain or the opportunity to counterattack. However, given that dodging and attacking have a much wider window than parrying, it’s better to dodge when you first encounter a new enemy so you have a margin for error while learning their attack patterns. Once you’re confident you know the pattern, you can start parrying instead.

Give everyone a break

Below an enemy’s health bar, you’ll find the yellow break bar. If you fill this bar, your opponent will be open to being broken, during which they will be stunned for one or two turns. However, it’s not just about filling up the bar – once that bar is full, you need to use an attack that can break, and not every attack can do that.

Make sure that every character has at least one ability capable of breaking an opponent, so you don’t get caught out and take an attack you didn’t have to just because you were caught without breaking capabilities.

Equip every new Picto

The Picto system is central to your party building in this game, as after you’ve used a Picto in a battle four times, it becomes a Lumina that is able to be equipped by every party member instead of just one. This is a huge benefit, so you should always make sure your party has new Pictos equipped so you’re constantly expanding the amount of Luminas you can equip.

If you're not sure where to start with your Pictos, check out our guide on the best Pictos and Luminas in Expedition 33.

Shuffle your stats with your gear

You may have noticed that the game gives you quite a lot of the item that lets you reset and reassign your stats, and this is because you should be doing it regularly. Both a character’s weapons and Pictos have an effect on your character's stats, dramatically boosting them, which means you should be reshuffling a character’s stat points whenever you change your gear to cover their weaknesses.

For example, if you’ve got a weapon that’s giving you a big boost to your HP, then there’s no need to waste your limited stat points on that, so you can put them into something like Might instead. Doing it this way will help maximize every stat on every character.

Center strategies around unique mechanics

Another great thing in Expedition 33 is that every party member has their own unique battle mechanic, and you should always center your strategies around maximizing them. If you have the choice between a strong attack now or setting up for an even stronger attack later, you should always play the long game.

Lune’s spells are always much more powerful with the correct Stains in her weapon, Maelle’s attacks are ridiculously strong when she’s in Virtuos Stance, and Gustave’s fully-powered Overcharge is something to reckon with. The extra damage you do from properly setting these up will always exceed the damage you skipped over getting there, so it’s always worth it.

Burn them all

There are a few different status effects in this game, but by far the most useful is Burning. Burned enemies will take damage at the start of their turn, and that damage will increase depending on how many stacks of burn you’ve inflicted. The extra damage the burn does can often save your life, ending an enemy before they have a chance to strike, and if you stick with this strategy into the late game, you can stack up a truly ridiculous amount for huge damage.

Weak points come in all shapes and sizes

The Free Aim function in battle isn’t always the best option for spending your AP, but you’ll often encounter times when firing off a shot or two is worth it. Enemy weak points become less and less obvious as the game goes on, so you should always be on the lookout for anything that might count. This goes double for boss battles, where weak points can be revealed mid-battle, doing big damage or interrupting/weakening their most powerful attacks.

Overworld portal colors matter

In front of any explorable area in Expedition 33’s overworld, you’ll see a portal inviting you in. What you might not know is that the color of this portal tells you something about what’s inside:

• Red portals mean you are not currently strong enough for the enemies inside. They will also be accompanied by a “Danger!” warning if you go up to it.
• Yellow portals are explorable areas that you are strong enough to tackle.
• Blue portals either mean you are overlevelled for the area, or there are no enemies there.

Make a note of locations you want to revisit

One of the things Expedition 33 is not particularly good at is making it easy to navigate. While there is an overworld map, it only marks enterable locations, and you can’t add any custom markers yourself. Given that there are many optional boss fights and locations that will be too strong for you when you first encounter them in this game, it’s best to make a note somewhere of the locations you want to revisit when you’re stronger, otherwise, you might never be able to find them again.

Visit camp often

During Act 1, you’re safe to visit the camp only when the game forces you too. However, once you enter Act 2 and onwards, you need to remember to visit camp every now and then. Aside from it being the place to upgrade your weapons and Lumina capacity, from Act 2 you start getting relationship scenes with your party, which offer new abilities and fun side quests. If you forget to visit camp often enough, you can miss them completely, though.