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

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 places you in the role of a team of magical influencers, led by the bold British Daredevil, on a mission to combat a global affliction that halts the natural aging process. It fuses traditional RPG encounters with timed defensive moves inspired by Soulslike games, all presented with a unique aesthetic language.

It has emerged as the major games of the year, having sold millions and secured the premier award praise. The experience can feel slightly intimidating initially, but after you grasp its systems, you’ll find a layered and captivating role-playing game that stands apart from contemporary titles. Here are are 10 essential starting pointers for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Change Characters Frequently

In Expedition 33, characters who are active during a encounter receive a significant 50% bonus to experience relative to those on the bench. Furthermore, the story will sometimes require you to include particular characters. The easiest method to these challenges is to rotate your team and strive to keep all characters at a similar strength.

The upside is that farming experience is fairly fast. Fights award a generous amount of XP, sometimes enough for a stat increase after just several. You can reset an zone's monsters by stopping at an expedition flag—these points are scattered in each level. If you need to power level, simply engage in combat near a flag, refresh, and repeat.

Swap Accessories Often

There are two primary ways to bestow bonus effects to your characters: Picto gems and Lumina abilities.

• Pictos are accessories that give attribute increases and also feature a unique passive skill. Each character can equip three different Pictos. When equipped, completing four encounters with a Picto unlocks its associated Lumina.
• Luminas are not gear pieces but can be thought of as equippable passives. Every ally has a pool of skill points (which you can raise via items). A Lumina has a set cost. If a character has the required amount, there is no limit can benefit from the same Lumina, allowing you to stack useful effects across your whole party.

The optimal tactic is to ensure someone is wearing any new accessory and fights through the required fights to reveal its Lumina. This ensures you gain access for future use.

When you aren't have unleveled accessories to unlock, simply slot the Pictos with the best stats for your needs.

Blocking Is Not Your Sole Defense

Expedition 33’s signature mechanic is its marriage of turn-based combat with action-oriented blocks. That said, the timing for a perfect block is incredibly short on every setting. In place of struggling endlessly trying to master the timing, focus on evading.

Although a successful parry restores Action Points and inflicts massive extra damage, missing the timing yields no benefit. Luckily there are a number of Pictos and Luminas that grant AP on a successful dodge. If you find parrying difficult, focus on those evasion-based abilities instead.

Break Is Your Secret Weapon

The Break status effect is a decisive state that can swing a fight. As you whittle down health, a gold meter fills up below their health bar. Once charged, you can stun the enemy, which reduces their armor by a fifth and prevents them from acting for their next action. It is the single most powerful status effect in the game, but only specific skills can apply it.

Level Up With a Plan

You are able to re-spec your build using a rare item called a Recoat item. Because it's rare, it's wise to consider your path instead of using your attribute points. Experiment with a party member's role and map out a skill tree path in advance.

Don't Forget to Stop At the Expedition Flag

Stopping at an checkpoint refills the health of your whole team and replenishes your supply of healing items, including HP restoratives and phoenix down equivalents. Remember to rest at every flag!

Checkpoints also act as the primary method to quick traversal in the game. There is no mini-map, compass, or floating icons. But, each flag has a designation. When you interact with one, you can access a log of all discovered flags in that zone under a navigation option. It's a minimalist way to track your progress.

Locked Chests Are Always Rewarding

Glowing chests are effectively puzzle caches that need you to find and hit three concealed seals in the surrounding area to opening them. The treasure inside is always worthwhile, including items like Recoats or powerful weapons. The associated mechanisms aren't in plain sight, but they are almost always located close by. If you can't find one, try smashing crates or looking up.

Yes, Battle the Shopkeeper

All vendors has a secret, unique item that won't show up in their regular wares. To gain access to it, you must select a party member and beat them in combat in a single combat. This proves to be worth doing, as these rewards are truly unique. The initial shopkeeper you meet, for reference, offers a Picto that applies the vulnerability status, which increases damage dealt against the foe by a quarter.

Rely On the Automatic Saving

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