Maelle from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 can unleash over 2 billion damage with her nuke build, showcasing the game's potential for high-impact strategies. Dive into the details of this powerful build and see how Sandfall Interactive is responding to this game-breaking skill.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Updates

Stendhal Hurts, A Lot

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 continues to surprise its community with new discoveries every day, including a player's revelation of a 2 billion damage build using Maelle. Post-main story, the game's endgame unfolds with additional narrative and formidable bosses, challenging players with massive health pools and one-hit kill mechanics. This has led to the discovery of the nuke build, which we'll explore in detail. Be warned, minor spoilers ahead.

Maelle's key to this devastating build is her skill, Stendhal, which can be boosted to 200% damage in her Virtuose stance. To achieve this, Maelle needs specific Luminas—Cheater, which grants an extra turn, and Shortcut, which does the same when her health drops below 30%. Essential to this build is her weapon, the Medalum, allowing her to start battles in Virtuose stance, along with the Last Stand skill, which activates Virtuose stance at the cost of reducing her to one hit point.

To maximize her damage output, Maelle should equip three of the following skills: Painted Power to exceed damage caps, Death’s Door for a 50% damage boost at low health, Confident Fighter for a 30% increase at the cost of healing, Inverted Affinity for another 50% damage but with a healing penalty, and other skills that enhance damage by percentage. With the right combination of Pictos and Luminas, Maelle can deal over 2 billion damage. To put this into perspective, the endgame boss Simon has around 45 million HP—Maelle's build could theoretically kill him 48 times over.

Players continue to experiment with different strategies and characters to push the limits of damage output, making the challenging post-game of Expedition 33 a playground for creativity and innovation.

Stendhal Getting Nerfed

Sandfall Interactive has acknowledged that Stendhal's massive damage output was making the game too easy. In a tweet on May 8, they announced upcoming changes to Maelle's skill. Initially, balance changes were not on the agenda, but the developers decided to adjust Stendhal due to its overpowering effect. Sandfall Interactive admitted that the skill was underwhelming during development until a final pre-release balance pass overdid its damage boost.

"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," Sandfall Interactive stated. They will implement these changes in their first full hotfix, which will first roll out on Steam and then to other platforms.

2 Million Copies in 12 Days

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has achieved another milestone, selling 2 million copies within just 12 days of its launch, as announced on Twitter on May 6. The game's success has even caught the attention of French President Emmanuel Macron, who congratulated Sandfall Interactive on Instagram for their representation of French culture and creativity.

With its ongoing success and updates, Expedition 33 is a strong contender for Game of the Year. Sandfall Interactive continues to enhance the game, with potential future DLCs on the horizon.

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