Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a wonderfully emotional and surreal adventure that starts strong and continues in that vein right until the closing credits. But to get anywhere near those closing credits, you need to get your head around a lot of unique systems and make sense of an enigmatic world if you want to stand a chance.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Not Only Inspired By JRPGs, But Also By One Very Hard Souls-Like
Clair Obscur was inspired by old Final Fantasy games and eve one title from FromSoftware.
Your expedition is an arduous one, and there will be bumps along the way. But, there are a lot of helpful things that you’re able to do to make sure your party is in the best position to succeed and not end up like those that came before.
Whether it’s a dense system that you can’t work out, or a unique aspect of the game that completely went over your head, we have you covered with some amazing beginner tips that will help you hit the ground running.
11Get All Lumiere Missables
Give Me Those Tokens!
As the game introduces you to the world and its characters, you might think that there’s nothing you need to do other than understand the basics and enjoy the story. But, that’s where you are wrong.
There are actually a few missable things that you’ll need to get while in the starting area of Lumiere. For one, you’ll be able to find one of the Mime enemies hidden near the harbour, which is tied to an achievement.
Plus, when theGommageis over, you’ll be able to talk to various characters and get Festival Tokens which can then be used to acquire a Weird Picto, anOld Key, and some alternative attire for your character.
The additional outfits aren’t all that important, but the Picto and the Key are vital for later in the game. So, be sure to grab those by gathering Festival Tokens.
10Learn & Equip Luminas
Pick Your Pictos Wisely
As you begin your expedition, you’ll come to understand that the passive buffs that Pictos offer are vital when it comes to creating solid character builds. However, the game doesn’t signpost how Luminas work very well.
You see, once you complete a certain number of battles with a Picto, that becomes a learned skill, or a Lumina, and can be equipped without taking up a Picto learning slot.
So, best practice here is to equip Pictos until they are learned, and then swap them out for unlearned ones, while simultaneously equipping them as Luminas.
You will need to find colours of Lumina, which can be traded at camp for additional Lumina Points if you want to have lots of these on the go at once. But, once you have a stack of these learned, these passives can help you steamroll enemies.
9Establish Builds Early
Solid Strategies Needed
Unless you’re playing on easy mode, Clair Obscur is a game that will force you to engage with its deep, tactical combat to progress. Which means that players need to have solid tactics to take down any enemy that stands before them.
This means understanding every party member’s core combat gimmick, whether that be stances,Overcharge, or stains. Plus, players will need to unlock useful skills, level attributes that suit each character, and understand status effects and enemy weaknesses.
Your build will likely change depending on the area you’re exploring, and will evolve as the game progresses and you gain more resources. However, if you don’t want to get bodied on the regular, you’ll need to work out strong strategies from the off.
In short, don’t be afraid to hop into the menus and tinker with your setup regularly.
8Parrying Is Key
Parry And Riposte
While you could easily make your way through the game by primarily dodging attacks, the game establishes pretty early on that the rewards for successful parries are so great that you would be foolish not to refine your craft and nail combo parries from one fight to the next.
If you do this, you immediately launch a counter-offensive that has the potential to break enemies. It usually deals high damage, and a lot of Pictos will allow you to gain HP and AP through successful parries.
I won’t sugar coat it; parrying is hard, and the dodging window is much more lenient. But, if you may get your timing right, you’ll melt enemy health bars much faster.
7Avoid Red Areas Initially
Red Means Dead
As you start exploring the grand map of Clair Obscur, you’ll come across some areas that have red portals and are often marked with the word ‘Danger’.
This usually means that these areas play host to one of the many super-strong Chromatic optional bosses. Which are a source of amazing rewards, but also happen to hit like a ton of bricks and will likely one-shot your entire team.
Theoretically, you could win the fight if you’re damn-near flawless at parrying, but this is often more hassle than it’s worth and you’ll have the chance to come back later when you’re much stronger anyway. So, for now, just give these areas a miss.
6Try To Strike First
Sucker Punch
If you’ve played games like Persona 5, you’ll know how important it is to get the jump on enemies, as this ensures that your party gets to go first.
However, if an enemy gets the jump on you, or you don’t time yourFirst Strikecorrectly, you may have to endure a full enemy cycle, which could put you in a terrible situation, depending on whether the enemy applies buffs or not.
So, before you sprint along one of the game’s many gorgeous corridors, scan around and look for any enemies, and be bold enough to make the first move, as fortune favors the brave.
5Explore Every Side Path
Rewarding Exploration
While the player is free to explore the map’s locations in whatever order they like, and each area is usually vast and richly detailed. It has to be said that Clair Obscur is pretty linear in terms of its design.
This means that, if you just steamroll ahead, you may miss some side paths with really useful loot, and since there’s no fast travel, missing an item is a real pain.
Exploring these side paths and being diligent will mean that you’ll find more weapon upgrade materials, more items that grant Lumina Points, more Chroma to spend on key items with merchants, and upgrades for your Tints.
You will get a lot of items on the natural path, but the best stuff is hidden away down optional paths. So be sure to explore thoroughly.
If you’re wondering if you’re on the main route or an optional one. If you’re traveling away from the monolith, then chances are that it is optional.
4Visit The Camp Regularly
A Home Away From Home
Speaking of rare items, when you find these, you’ll probably want to spend them, and the place to do that is back at camp.
This area will only be unlocked after you unlock Maelle and The Curator. But after that, you’ll be able to head to camp via the overworld mao anytime you like.
You should make a habit of heading there after every major area explored, as you’ll likely be able to add more Lumina Points, upgrade your weapon, and you might have some Lost Gestrels to turn in.
It’s the best way to ensure you aren’t underpowered at any point in the adventure. Plus, there tend to be some worthwhile plot points to explore and relationships to advance at camp, too.
3Don’t Be Afraid To Respec
Rip It Up & Start Again
As is the case with just about every JRPG, you’ll be afraid to use any rare and finite resource just in case you don’t have one when you need it most. So, players may be hesitant to use aRecoatto respec their party members.
Well, this is a PSA to all you item hoarders. It’s actually advised that you use these regularly, because not only will you get at least 1-2 of these items with every passing chapter. You’ll also be able to tailor your build and attributes to the enemies you face in each section.
It can make various boss fights a lot easier, it can help you scale into alternate weapons you would prefer to use, and it can correct any mistakes you make when building each character. So, in short, don’t hoard these like you did every Elixir in every game ever.
2Upgrade Stats & Skills At Every Flag
Bonfire Lit
On the subject of stats and skills, it’s advised that players take a moment at every Expedition Flag to add acquired item points from leveling up their character, and unlock any skills that could be useful.
These flags serve a similar purpose to bonfires in Dark Souls, where you’re able to rest and heal, with the caveat that all enemies will respawn. But, unlike bonfires, you don’t need to hoard souls to ensure you can trigger an upgrade.
You’ll find that, most of the time, there will be enough of a gap between one flag and the next where you will have gained enough XP to acquire some new points to spend. Provided you are fighting most of the enemies you encounter along the way.
So, to verify you are at your optimal best at every checkpoint, stop, rest, and power up at every given opportunity.
