Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Best Maelle Build

Maelle establishes herself as a damage-dealing powerhouse from the moment she joins the party in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Throughout the campaign, she plays a key role in many strategies, and unlocking her final abilities in Act 3 solidifies her spot as the Expedition's deadliest member.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Maelle Character Guide

Maelle fights with precision and lots of fire in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Between her unbelievable Skills, top-tier weapons, and the array of Luminas available to the entire team, you can set up Maelle to deal millions of damage in a turn, making her a threat to even the most dangerous bosses in Clair Obscur. Here's our favorite build for the lethal fencer.

Best Weapon And Attributes For Maelle

Maelle has access to arguably the best weapon in the game, so you should try to get it as soon as you can in Act 3 and level it up as high as possible. Lithum, a Void-elemental rapier, is earned by climbing the makeshift tower of The Reacher west of Visages' Island and defeating Alicia in a duel at the top.

Maelle has to fight Alicia alone, and her opponent doesn't hold back, so it's a good idea to set her up with Luminas like Solo Fighter and Recovery before approaching the summit.

Lithum scales best with Luck and Agility, so focus on maximizing those Attributes before distributing points elsewhere. Once both are at 99, give Maelle a little extra fortitude by adding to her Defense and Vitality; otherwise she'll be an easy target if she misses even a single parry.

Lithum Weapon Traits (Level 20+)

• While Maelle is in Virtuose Stance, hitting Marked enemies doesn't remove the Mark.
• Maelle automatically switches to Virtuose Stance when she successfully counterattacks.
• Maelle automatically gains Shell upon leaving Virtuose Stance.

It can be a good idea to have other party members set up Marks for Maelle to exploit. Monoco's Chapelier Slash applies Mark to the entire enemy team, making it a good choice for this.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - 10 Best Pictos

These Pictos and their Luminas are practically must-haves in Clair Obscur.

Best Skills For Maelle

Even if you aggressively level up for Skill Points, Maelle's best powers remain locked until Act 3. Once she has them, though, she can tear through most standard encounters on her own.

Phantom Strike is ideal for clearing out groups, hitting all enemies multiple times with heavy Void damage. Against bosses and elite enemies, it makes a great opener for getting rid of minions.

Against single targets, it's best to open with Pyrolyse for high damage and several Burn stacks, then follow up with Burning Canvas for even more. If you can use a counter to switch to Virtuose Stance between turns, so much the better.

Gustave's Homage makes a great finisher and an easy (if expensive) way to switch into Virtuose Stance. The main thing to note is that it's a Lightning-elemental attack, which isn't part of Maelle's usual lineup, so be aware of enemy resistances.

Your last two slots should have utility Skills. Breaking Rules smashes through enemy Shields for only 3 AP, making it the game's most effective penetrator, while Fleuret Fury lets Maelle Break enemies whose gauges are full while staying in Virtuose Stance.

Best Luminas For Maelle

Like most late-game builds, Maelle's ideal Lumina loadout can get expensive. You'll need to balance her Pictos with the rest of the party, sharing the more expensive abilities to make sure that everybody gets their most important powers.

The Basics

Start by ensuring that Maelle has the Luminas that every party member should have:

• Cheater
• Painted Power
• Dead Energy
• Sweet Kill
• Energising Start 1
• Energising Turn

These all help keep her Health and AP up, while also providing the necessary edge against late-game foes via extra turns and removing the damage cap.

Damage Boosters

Most of Maelle's Luminas should be centered around increasing the damage that she deals, both through Burn and through her Skills and Counters.

Double Burn is a must for Maelle, and since it's less critical for other characters you can equip it to her as a Pictos and save 30 Lumina Points. Pair it withBurn Affinity to deal more damage to Burning foes, but don't bother equipping Critical Burn; at 99 Luck, Maelle won't need the extra help landing critical hits.

Second Chance might be too expensive for Maelle, but taking it alongside Burning Death is a fun trick to pull with Double Burn.

Full Strengh, Auto Powerful, and Augmented First Strike help Maelle open fights strong, and taking as many of the Augmented Counter Luminas as you canafford makes her even more deadly on defense than on offense as long as you can parry effectively. Roulette stacks with Maelle's existing bonuses to push her damage into the millions.

Synergy Luminas

Since Lithum allows Maelle to buff herself with Shell, Luminas that interact with that status effect in particular make great picks. Longer Shell and Powerful On Shell cost 10 LP each, and extend Maelle's survivability while increasing her already formidable damage.

Since Lithum lets Maelle exploit Marks without removing them, and Gustave's Homage gets more benefit from hitting Marked Targets, Rewarding Mark is a good way to help defray the Skill's high AP cost.

Healing Parry helps keep Maelle at full Health, keeping Full Strength in play and saving the rest of the party from having to spend their turns keeping your damage-dealer alive.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Lost Gestral Location Guide

Finding Sastro's Lost Gestrals in Clair Obscur is a scavenger hunt that takes the entire game to complete.