Summary

  • Sandfall Interactive suggests using a Picto in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to break the game's damage cap.
  • Developers acknowledge an overpowered attack, Stendhal, in the game and will nerf it in a balance update.
  • Stendhal, a powerful attack in the game, will be adjusted to be more in line with other skills starting May 9 on Steam.

Minor spoilers for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and its Act 2 boss ahead.

According to its developers, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was made to be broken. Following the end of Act 2 and the defeat of The Paintress, players will unlock a Picto that lifts the game's damage cap. This Picto is a must-have for the game's later stages, as it allows for some attacks to deal truly horrifying damage.

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While the game was made to be broken, though, the team at Sandfall Interactive has admitted it took things too far with one attack, pledging it will be nerfed in a new balance update coming tomorrow.

"A Quick Note On Stendhal And Balance Changes"

Stendhal is one Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's most powerful attacks. It's unlocked by Maelle in Act 3 and deals extreme single-target Void damage, removing all of her shields and applying Defenceless in the process. It does have a couple of downsides, such as removing the shields and applying Defenceless, but when combined with buffs from other characters, Stendhal is a menace, and the development team has realized this.

In a new message on social media, the Clair Obscur team said, "We hadn’t planned to make any balance changes this early—just bug fixes, unless something clearly stood out," adding, "Well, Stendhal did. It was underwhelming for most of development, so in our final pre-release balance pass, we gave it a big damage boost—and clearly overdid it. It ended up overshadowing most other options. 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."

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.

Because of this, the team will be nerfing the attack starting on Steam from Friday, May 9. It says that Stendhal will "still be a strong single-hit skill with great synergy potential... just more in line with everything else."

The nerf makes sense, given just how powerful the move is, especially when combined with some of Sciel's buffs. It comes a little late, with many players now finishing the game, but it's wise from the development team. Now spend the next 24 hours trying to get that damage number as high as possible, while you can.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Like Follow Followed Turn-Based RPG JRPG Fantasy Systems OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 92/100 Critics Rec: 97% Released April 24, 2025 ESRB Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence Developer(s) Sandfall Interactive Publisher(s) Kepler Interactive 10 Images Close
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Engine Unreal Engine 5 Genre(s) Turn-Based RPG, JRPG, Fantasy Powered by Expand Collapse