Summary
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG featuring unique battle mechanics and abilities.
- The game offers different party formations for strategic combat scenarios.
- Players can optimize team compositions for specific situations that might require buffs, AoE attacks, or breaking the enemy.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG that follows a young group of heroes as they attempt to vanquish a mysterious being known as The Paintress. Throughout your journey, you'll meet like-minded individuals who want to join your party, but you can only use three characters in battle scenarios.
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PostsEvery playable character in the game has a unique battle mechanic and abilities that create seemingly endless strategies for combat. If you're overwhelmed by the amount of customization or need to find the right team for a certain boss or obstacle, these are the best party formations in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
7 Gustave, Lune, Maelle
Opening Team
CloseLike most RPGs, you'll slowly begin to add characters to your ensemble as you find them during your adventure. After the epic prologue, you'll begin with only Gustave and will slowly find your first couple of allies - Lune and Maelle - as you progress through the first two areas in the game.
These will be your main party until you find Sciel in the Gestral Village, and they work together incredibly well. It will be mentioned again, but Maelle can do massive amounts of damage to enemies who are burned by Lune's attacks, and this can be even more effective after Gustave marks the enemy with his Marking Shot.
6 Maelle, Monoco, Verso
Quick Battle Team
CloseWhen you're returning to areas to search for missing collectibles or to look for optional bosses, the last thing you want to do is waste your time fighting inferior field enemies. With this line-up, you can easily hop into a battle against three or four opponents and wipe them out before they even have a chance to attack.
Monoco has a variety of strong attacks, like Chevaliere Ice, which deals high ice damage to all enemies and applies Slow, so you have more time to take them out. Following this move with Maelle's Fencer's Flurry (medium damage to all enemies with the weapon's element and gives them Defenseless) and then Verso's Radiant Strike should decimate your enemies before they know what hit them.
5 Maelle, Monoco, Sciel
Buff And Debuff Team
CloseSometimes, the best strategy in a tough fight is to hold your attacks back so you can make your team stronger or the enemy team weaker. Maelle, Monoco, and Sciel each have abilities that can buff the entire squad, so you can have a fighting chance against some of the toughest bosses in the game.
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PostsMaelle's main status attacks are Guard Up, which decreases the amount of damage the party takes for a few turns, and Guard Down, which lowers every enemy's defense for a bit. Sciel can use Rush to increase your allies' speed, or Fortune's Fury to let someone deal double the damage on their next turn. Monoco has a bunch of great moves as well that either apply status effects or deal extra damage to anyone suffering from one.
4 Lune, Maelle, Verso
Burn Team
CloseYou can build a party around a variety of status effects, but Burn is both a common and useful one for taking out larger enemies or bosses. Lune, Maelle, and Verso each have skills that either apply Burn or benefit from attacking enemies with it, and when used correctly, they can take out some of the Clair Obscur's hardest foes with ease.
It's best to start the battle with Lune, who can easily use skills like Immolation or Wildfire at the start of battle to apply Burn to all opponents. Maelle can also apply Burn with moves like Spark and Rain of Fire, or benefit from them by using Swift Stride to enter her Virtuose Stance. Equipping Verso with Corpeso lets him apply Burn with his base attack, and when the weapon is level 20, he can deal up to 300% more damage to enemies on fire.
3 Monoco, Sciel, Verso
Break Team
CloseEvery enemy in Clair Obscur has a break bar that you can fill to deal a massive amount of damage and stun them, making them unable to move on their next turn. There are a few times when breaking an enemy is your best strategy for victory, and Monoco, Sciel, and Verso are all capable of making it happen quickly.
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PostsMonoco's Stalact Punches move only requires 4AP and deals four devastating attacks that each increase the enemy's break bar significantly. Sciel will mostly act as your support for healing allies, but Fortune's Fury can help her team fill the bar up faster, and she can use Phantom Blade to consume Foretell and deal massive damage. Verso can damage and break one opponent with Radiant Slash, or multiple with Phantom Stars, which deals extreme damage and only costs 5AP when he is at S rank.
2 Lune, Maelle, Monoco
AoE Team
CloseMany of your encounters in Clair Obscur will be against multiple enemies, and no matter what level you are, it can be hard to handle them one at a time. Fortunately, characters like Lune, Monoco, and Maelle can work together to quickly take them all in a turn or two.
It's best to have Maelle go first if possible, so she can use Fencer's Flurry to deal medium damage and apply Defenseless to all enemies. Monoco can strike next with moves like Clair Enfeeble or Chapelier Slash, which will deal high physical damage to every opponent and Mark them to receive extra damage. Lune can then easily close the deal with powerful AoE moves like Wildfire, Crippling Tsunami, and more.
1 Lune, Sciel, Maelle
Girl Power Team
CloseThe women in Clair Obscure are arguably the strongest party members in the game, so it's not too surprising when you discover that they work incredibly well when teamed up together in combat. Not only are they powerful on their own, but they each have abilities that can help each other out as well.
As mentioned in previous strategies, Lune should start by using attacks like Immolation or Wildfire to apply Burn to enemies, so Maelle can follow up with Swift Stride and enter Virtuose Stance. Sciel can either focus on applying Foretell on enemies to buff her own attacks, or she can act as a support with moves like Grim Harvest that simultaneously damage enemies while healing the entire party. There is so much more you can do with them beyond this, but this line-up is guaranteed to get you through most of Clair Obscur without a problem.
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Turn-Based RPG Fantasy Systems 55 9.6/10 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 Engine Unreal Engine 5WHERE TO PLAY
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