Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has flashy, thrilling battles, however the perfect factor about them is how one can twist the sport’s many programs to your benefit. The turn-based RPG fight would possibly really feel acquainted, but it surely presents plenty of methods to customise your method to battles so that you could do completely devastating quantities of harm.
In Expedition 33, you play as a gaggle of Expeditioners who goal to destroy The Paintress, a mysterious being that erases everybody of a sure age yearly. In battles, you’ll be able to have as much as three of your get together collaborating in a struggle, and may all of them die, you’ll be able to name in your teammates who’re in reserve to attempt to end off the enemies.
To indicate you ways deep the rabbit gap can go in customizing your staff, right here’s my method to constructing out only one character, the fencer Maelle. Each character can equip three “Pictos,” which supply passive buffs like providing you with the defense-boosting Shell standing in the beginning of a struggle. However after you win a couple of fights with a Pictos outfitted, different characters can additionally equip the Pictos as a “Lumina” through the use of “Lumina Factors,” which you accumulate via leveling up and through the use of a useful resource yow will discover within the recreation.
Picture: Kepler Interactive
If you combine and match Pictos and Luminas to stack complimentary bonuses, issues actually get going. For my model of Maelle, I set a mix of Pictos and Luminas that would let her deal probably huge quantities of harm, particularly if a fortunate essential hit and a coin-flip 200 % injury buff went via. However as a counterbalance to Maelle’s big energy, a few of the Pictos and Luminas additionally elevated the quantity of harm she obtained, so I added defensive ones that helped her higher stand up to hits.
In battle, every character additionally has a singular mechanic that, when used correctly, permits you to make their assaults simpler. Maelle, for instance, depends on completely different “stances” which you could shift into: an offensive stance that will increase the injury you give but in addition the injury you obtain, a defensive stance that reduces the injury you’re taking, and a “virtuous” stance that does 200 % injury however will be tougher to arrange.
With Maelle, you’ll be able to transfer into the completely different stances primarily based on which of your six completely different “expertise” you utilize in battle — and like with Pictos and Luminas, these are additionally customizable and have their very own traits and potential synergies.
It may be so much to handle, and the sport usually helps in battles by including a bit of sparkle to recommend a transfer on your present scenario. However even throughout the first few hours of the sport, I used to be in a position to grasp the potential of what was doable with the battle system. And with Maelle, after I nailed the mix of organising the proper stance and a fortunate break from my Pictos and Luminas, I often might completely demolish my foes by dealing hundreds of factors of harm. (A late-game Pictos that allow me exceed 9,999 factors of harm in a single hit was significantly welcome.)
That’s simply my method with one character; every of the opposite get together members has their very own playstyles to experiment with and potential expertise to make use of. Your outfitted weapons are a component to contemplate, too. The sport shines when everybody’s skills and expertise line up completely for a sequence of explosive hits, and it’s particularly satisfying when issues come collectively to soften down a tough boss’s well being bar.
I positively didn’t use Expedition 33’s battle system, which makes issues simple to experiment with, to its fullest. As soon as I discovered a mix of characters and expertise that I appreciated, I not often deviated from them. However I’ve plenty of concepts on how one can strive issues otherwise for a tough mode run — I’m positive there are much more methods to utterly break the sport.
