"Clair Obscur Nerfs Maelle: 2 Billion Damage Build Impacted"

Dive into the world of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 where Maelle’s nuke build can unleash over 2 billion damage. This article explores how players can achieve such mind-boggling damage and how Sandfall Interactive is addressing this overpowered skill.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Updates

Stendhal Hurts, A Lot

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 continues to surprise and delight players as they uncover new strategies and secrets every day. One standout discovery is Maelle’s ability to deal up to 2 billion damage with her nuke build.

After completing the main story, the game's endgame opens up, offering more story elements and challenging bosses. This can be intimidating, especially with bosses boasting massive health pools and some even capable of one-hit kills. To counter this, players have developed a nuke build strategy. Note: This article contains minor spoilers, so proceed with caution.

Maelle's skill, Stendhal, delivers significant damage, which can be amplified to 200% when she's in her Virtuose stance. To maximize this nuke build, Maelle requires two specific Luminas, which can be unlocked with Pictos (equipable items with unique effects).

The essential Luminas for this build are Cheater, which grants an additional turn, and Shortcut, which provides another turn when Maelle's health drops below 30%. Additionally, Maelle needs her weapon, the Medalum, to start 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 output, Maelle should equip at least three of the following skills: Painted Power (enables damage to exceed 9,999), Death’s Door (adds 50% damage at low health), Confident Fighter (increases damage by 30% but disables healing), Inverted Affinity (boosts damage by 50% but turns healing into damage), and other skills that amplify her damage percentage.

With the right combination of Pictos and Luminas, Maelle can achieve over 2 billion damage. To put this in perspective, the endgame boss Simon has approximately 45 million HP. With Maelle’s nuke strategy, she could theoretically defeat Simon 48 times over, highlighting the build's extreme potency.

Players are continuously experimenting with different strategies and characters to push the boundaries of damage output. Expedition 33’s challenging post-game encourages players to devise innovative tactics to enhance their gameplay experience.

Stendhal Getting Nerfed

Sandfall Interactive has acknowledged that Stendhal's damage was making the game too easy. In a Twitter (X) post on May 8, the studio announced upcoming changes to Maelle’s skill. Originally, they planned only to address bugs early in the game's lifecycle, but Stendhal's overwhelming power necessitated a balance adjustment.

During development, Stendhal was initially underwhelming, but a significant damage boost in the final pre-release balance pass resulted in it being too powerful. Sandfall Interactive stated, "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." The studio will implement the Stendhal changes in their first full hotfix, rolling out first on Steam and then on other platforms.

2 Million Copies in 12 Days

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 continues to set records, surpassing 2 million copies sold within just 12 days of its launch, as announced in a Twitter (X) post on May 6. The game has also received recognition from French President Emmanuel Macron, who praised the team on Instagram, saying, "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, Expedition 33 is a strong contender for this year’s Game of the Year award. With potential for further milestones and even DLC, the future looks bright for this game.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Stay updated with the latest news by clicking on our article below!