Discover the incredible power of Maelle's nuke build in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which can unleash over 2 billion damage. Learn how to achieve this massive damage and find out how Sandfall Interactive is addressing this overpowered skill.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Updates
Stendhal Hurts, A Lot
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 continues to surprise players with new discoveries every day, such as the revelation of Maelle's ability to deal up to 2 billion damage. After completing the main story, the game's endgame unfolds, offering more story elements and challenging bosses. These bosses often have enormous health bars, with some capable of one-hit kills, pushing players to innovate with strategies like Maelle's nuke build. Note: This article contains minor spoilers, so proceed with caution.
In the game, Maelle's skill, Stendhal, delivers significant damage, which can be amplified to 200% in her Virtuose stance. To execute Maelle's nuke build, players need two specific Luminas, unlocked through Pictos (equipable items with various effects). The required Luminas are Cheater, granting an additional turn, and Shortcut, which provides another turn when Maelle's health drops below 30%.
Additionally, Maelle needs her weapon, the Medalum, to begin battles in Virtuose stance, and the skill Last Stand, which activates Virtuose stance while reducing her to one hit point.
To further enhance her damage, Maelle can equip any three of the following skills: Painted Power, allowing damage to exceed 9,999; Death’s Door, boosting damage by 50% at low health; Confident Fighter, increasing damage by 30% but removing healing ability; Inverted Affinity, adding another 50% damage but causing healing to harm; and other skills that boost damage by percentages.
With the right combination of Pictos and Luminas, Maelle can achieve over 2 billion damage. For context, the endgame boss, Simon, has about 45 million HP. Maelle's nuke build could theoretically kill Simon 48 times over, showcasing its extreme power.
Players continue to experiment with different strategies and characters to maximize damage, as Expedition 33's challenging post-game encourages creative gameplay to simplify and enhance the experience.
Stendhal Getting Nerfed
Sandfall Interactive has acknowledged that Stendhal's ability to make the game too easy prompted them to announce upcoming changes to Maelle’s skill. In a May 8 Twitter (X) post, the studio explained that they initially planned only bug fixes, not balance changes, at this early stage.
However, the overwhelming damage from Stendhal necessitated adjustments. Sandfall Interactive admitted that the skill was underwhelming during development but received a significant damage boost in the final pre-release balance pass, which went too far.
"We still want you to be able to break the game—and you absolutely still can—but Stendhal was making it a bit too easy," Sandfall Interactive stated. They will include the Stendhal changes in their first full hotfix set, which will be live today, starting on Steam and rolling out to other platforms shortly after.
2 Million Copies in 12 Days
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has achieved another milestone by selling 2 million copies within just 12 days of its launch, as announced in a May 6 Twitter (X) post.
Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Sandfall Interactive on Instagram for their success and for showcasing French culture. He remarked, "Congratulations to Sandfall Interactive and all the creators of Expedition 33. You are a shining example of French audacity and creativity."
Given its rapid success and ongoing updates, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a strong contender for this year’s Game of the Year award. The developers are committed to enhancing the game further, with potential DLC on the horizon.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Stay updated with the latest game news by clicking on our article below!
