Clair Obscur Nerfs Maelle's 2B Damage Build

In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Maelle can unleash over 2 billion damage with her devastating nuke build. Discover the secrets behind achieving this staggering damage output and how Sandfall Interactive is responding to this overpowered ability.

Latest Updates on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Stendhal Inflicts Massive Damage

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 continues to surprise players with new discoveries, including a method to deal up to 2 billion damage using the Expeditioner Maelle.

After completing the main story, players unlock the endgame content, featuring additional narrative elements and formidable new bosses. These challenging encounters are particularly demanding, as many bosses possess enormous health pools and some can unleash one-hit-kill attacks. In response, players have developed a powerful nuke build strategy. Please note that this article contains minor spoilers.

Maelle possesses a skill called Stendhal, capable of delivering immense damage. When she enters her Virtuose stance, this damage increases by 200%. To execute her nuke build effectively, Maelle requires two specific Luminas, which are unlocked through Pictos—equipable items that grant various effects.

The essential Luminas for this build are Cheater, which grants an additional turn, and Shortcut, which provides another turn when her health drops below 30%.

Additionally, players must acquire Maelle's weapon, the Medalum, which allows her to start battles in the Virtuose stance. Another crucial skill is Last Stand, which activates the Virtuose stance while reducing her health to a single hit point.

Furthermore, Maelle should equip any three of the following skills: Painted Power, which allows damage to exceed 9,999; Death's Door, which increases damage by 50% at low health; Confident Fighter, which adds 30% damage but disables healing; Inverted Affinity, which boosts damage by 50% but converts healing into damage; and other skills that provide percentage-based damage increases.

While numerous Picto and Lumina combinations can be experimented with, the setup described here enables Maelle to deal over 2 billion damage. For perspective, the endgame boss Simon has approximately 45 million HP. With this strategy, Maelle could defeat Simon 48 times over, making it an incredibly overpowered tactic.

Players continue to explore new methods and characters to achieve even higher damage numbers. Expedition 33's challenging post-game content encourages creative strategies to enhance gameplay and enjoyment.

Stendhal Receives Nerf

Sandfall Interactive has recognized that Stendhal is making the game too easy for players. In a Twitter (X) post on May 8, the studio announced upcoming adjustments to Maelle's skill. Although they initially planned only bug fixes at this stage, Stendhal's extreme damage output necessitated changes.

The skill was originally underwhelming during development. However, a final pre-release balance pass resulted in an excessive damage boost, leading to its current overpowered state.

"We still want players to break the game—and they absolutely can—but Stendhal was making it too effortless," explained Sandfall Interactive. The Stendhal adjustments will be included in the first comprehensive hotfix, launching today on Steam and subsequently on other platforms.

2 Million Copies Sold in 12 Days

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 continues to set records, surpassing 2 million copies sold within just 12 days of launch, as announced in a Twitter (X) post on May 6.

Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron responded to one of Expedition 33's Instagram posts, congratulating the team for their achievements and for showcasing French culture. He stated, "Congratulations to Sandfall Interactive and all the creators of Expedition 33. You exemplify French audacity and creativity."

With its remarkable success, Expedition 33 is a strong contender for this year's Game of the Year award. The developers are committed to enhancing the game through updates, with potential DLC depending on future developments.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. For the latest updates, refer to our article below.