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An interesting tidbit: The name “Obscur” in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 references the initially cryptic nature of the game's menus and gameplay loops.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 casts you as a team of social media mages, led by the bold British Daredevil, on a journey to reverse a worldwide curse that stops people from growing old. It fuses strategic role-playing battles with timed defensive moves drawn from Soulslike games, all presented with a idiosyncratic visual style.

It has proven to be the most successful games of the year, having sold millions and earned the premier award praise. The game can feel somewhat dense in the beginning, but after you grasp its systems, you’ll find a layered and captivating experience that stands apart from contemporary titles. Here are are ten crucial starting pointers for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Rotate Team Members Often

In Expedition 33, allies who participate in a fight receive a significant 50% bonus to experience relative to those on the bench. What's more, the story will sometimes mandate you to field certain characters. The easiest method to these mechanics is to change your lineup frequently and try to keep your roster at a comparable level.

The upside is that leveling up is not too tedious. Encounters grant a generous amount of XP, frequently enough for a level up after just a few. You can respawn an local foes by taking a break at an save point—these flags are placed across each zone. If you need to gain levels quickly, simply engage in combat near a flag, rest, and repeat.

Rotate Accessories Often

The game features two primary ways to grant passive perks to your party members: Picto gems and Lumina skills.

• Pictos function as gear that grant numerical bonuses and also feature a constant effect. A character can slot up to three Pictos. Once slotted, winning four encounters with a Picto will unlock its associated Lumina.
• Luminas are not gear pieces but can be thought of as skill tree nodes. Each character has a amount of Lumina Points (which can be increased via consumables). Each Lumina has a set cost. If a character has sufficient LP, multiple characters can use the same skill, allowing you to combine powerful passives across your full roster.

The optimal strategy is to make sure one of your characters is wearing any new accessory and wins the required fights to reveal its Lumina. That way you gain access for future use.

Should you not have new Pictos to unlock, simply equip the Pictos with the most beneficial attributes for your current build.

Perfect Guards Are Not Your Sole Defense

Expedition 33’s defining element is its marriage of strategic battles with real-time parries. However, the timing for a perfect block is extremely brief on any mode. In place of breaking controllers trying to master the timing, prioritize dodging.

Even though a perfect guard refunds Action Points and deals significant bonus damage, missing the timing yields no benefit. The good news is there are multiple Pictos and Luminas that restore Action Points on a successful dodge. If you struggle with the timing, focus on those evasion-based options instead.

Breaking Enemies Is Your Greatest Advantage

Break is a battle-altering state that can secure victory. As you damage an enemy, a special bar increases below their health bar. Once charged, you can inflict break, which slashes their defense by a fifth and stuns them for an entire round. It is the single most powerful debuff in the game, but only particular abilities can cause it.

Build Characters Deliberately

You are able to re-spec stat points and abilities using a scarce resource called a Respec token. Given its scarcity, it's prudent to consider your path before spending your attribute points. Experiment with a character's playstyle and map out a skill tree path first.

Always Use the Checkpoint Flag

Resting at an save point fully heals your all characters and replenishes your supply of consumables, including healing potions and phoenix down equivalents. Make it a habit to stop and heal up!

These flags also serve as the primary method to quick traversal in the game. You won't find a traditional map, waypoint system, or objective markers. Instead, each flag has a designation. By resting, you can view a list of your progress in that area under a navigation option. It's a basic yet helpful way to see how far you've come.

Paint Cages Are Consistently Rewarding

These special containers are effectively locked treasure chests that require you to discover and activate three scattered mechanisms in the nearby environment before opening them. The contents is without fail valuable, such as Recoats or strong equipment. The required seals aren't easy to spot, but they are typically within the same area. If you are stuck, try smashing crates or checking elevated spots.

Yes, Challenge the Merchant

Each shopkeeper carries a one-of-a-kind piece of gear that won't show up in their normal inventory. To gain access to it, you must choose one character and defeat the merchant in a one-on-one fight. This proves to be worth doing, as these rewards are exceptionally powerful. The earliest vendor you meet, for example, sells a special accessory that applies the vulnerability status, which increases damage dealt against the target by a significant margin.

Rely On the Auto-Save System

The game lacks {manual saving