All Party Members In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 And Their Abilities

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a modern take on classic turn-based RPGs, offering turn-based combat mechanics with some real-time touches, all in a lush but brutal world. As part of that classic feel, the game features a number of party members, each with a unique mechanic that alters their approach to combat. These mechanics also impact how you build each character's attribute points, equipment, and skills, depending on how you want to use them in combat. Below, we have each party member listed in unlock order, with information about them listed, along with tips for building and maximizing their special mechanics.While story spoilers won't be included, this list does include every party member, which could be considered a spoiler. They are in order based on when you unlock them in the story. GustaveGustave is one of the two party members you start with, and this Robert Pattinson doppelganger is also the character you spend the opening hours of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 with. Gustave charges his Overload ability by landing attacks, allowing him to use the Overload skill to deal a large amount of damage in a single hit. Overload isn't charged based on how much damage you do, but instead by the number of hits you land. This means, outside of the Overload skill itself, Gustave benefits from abilities that hit multiple times, even if it means less damage than one ability that hits harder.For Pictos/Luminas, equipment that provides stat boosts and special passive abilities, boosting the amount of AP Gustave can recharge and the amount of break damage he does are both good ones to focus on. More AP means Gustave can use skills each turn, increasing the number of hits he can land, getting to the big Overload hit much earlier in the fight. Break damage is great too, because Overload is the earliest ability you get that can break an enemies stance, stunning them and increasing the amount of damage they take. LuneLune is the other starting party member, specializing in elemental attacks. Lune accumulates stains from attacking and using her abilities, up to a maximum of four total stains. Different abilities can use certain colored stains to get a boost, either dealing additional damage or adding the ability to break an enemy. Because the stain colors are determined by the elemental type you are using, you will want to make sure her abilities are set up in a way that the elements feed into each other. Since enemies are frequently weak, resistant, or immune to certain types of elemental attacks, it also benefits you to have a variety of attacks at your disposal.Lune also has a healing ability to start, with more available in her skill tree. She will likely be your only healing option outside of items in the early parts of the game, and she remains the best healer throughout, so focusing on Pictos that provide bonuses for healing, like additional AP or shields, are great for her. Lune is also quite AP-hungry, so additional ways to gain AP are also beneficial for her. MaelleMaelle is the third-party member, found fairly early in Act 1. Maelle switches stances with every attack, boosting attack power or defense, depending on the stance she is in. Importantly, she cannot be in the same stance two turns in a row, unless an ability explicitly states otherwise. If you don't swap, Maelle becomes stanceless, which does not provide any bonuses. That means, even if you really only ever want to be dealing more damage, you will still need to pick abilities that can flow between stances. There are three stances: offensive, which increases damage dealt by 50%, but also increases damage taken by 50%, defensive, which decreases damage taken by 50% and increases AP generation on dodge or parry by 1, and Virtuose, which increases damage by 200%.For maximum damage output, the goal should be to get into Virtuose stance using your abilities, and then maximizing by using an ability that deals high damage and deals break. An early ability to pick up is Fleuret Fury, which not only deals three heavy hits that can break, but if you use it in Virtuose stance, you will stay in Virtuose stance. Maelle is also a character you will want to parry with--although you should always be trying to parry--but her counterattacks are impacted by her stance boosts, so Virtuose stance counterattacks hit extremely hard. ScielSciel also joins the party during Act 1, and her special mechanic is her Sun and Moon abilities. After using an ability, she gains a card of either Sun or Moon, depending on what type of ability it is. These provide different boosts. Having a Sun card increases the amount of AP gained when consuming Foretell. Foretell is a stack that some of Sciel's abilities (usually Sun) can apply to enemies when hit. Moon increases the amount of AP you gain per each stack of Foretell applied to an enemy.Now, having both Sun and Moon puts you into Twilight, which lasts for a couple of turns. In Twilight, Sciel does +50% damage, applies do

Apr 24, 2025 - 18:33

All Party Members In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 And Their Abilities

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a modern take on classic turn-based RPGs, offering turn-based combat mechanics with some real-time touches, all in a lush but brutal world. As part of that classic feel, the game features a number of party members, each with a unique mechanic that alters their approach to combat. These mechanics also impact how you build each character's attribute points, equipment, and skills, depending on how you want to use them in combat. Below, we have each party member listed in unlock order, with information about them listed, along with tips for building and maximizing their special mechanics.

While story spoilers won't be included, this list does include every party member, which could be considered a spoiler. They are in order based on when you unlock them in the story.

Gustave

Gustave is one of the two party members you start with, and this Robert Pattinson doppelganger is also the character you spend the opening hours of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 with. Gustave charges his Overload ability by landing attacks, allowing him to use the Overload skill to deal a large amount of damage in a single hit. Overload isn't charged based on how much damage you do, but instead by the number of hits you land. This means, outside of the Overload skill itself, Gustave benefits from abilities that hit multiple times, even if it means less damage than one ability that hits harder.

For Pictos/Luminas, equipment that provides stat boosts and special passive abilities, boosting the amount of AP Gustave can recharge and the amount of break damage he does are both good ones to focus on. More AP means Gustave can use skills each turn, increasing the number of hits he can land, getting to the big Overload hit much earlier in the fight. Break damage is great too, because Overload is the earliest ability you get that can break an enemies stance, stunning them and increasing the amount of damage they take.

Lune

Lune is the other starting party member, specializing in elemental attacks. Lune accumulates stains from attacking and using her abilities, up to a maximum of four total stains. Different abilities can use certain colored stains to get a boost, either dealing additional damage or adding the ability to break an enemy. Because the stain colors are determined by the elemental type you are using, you will want to make sure her abilities are set up in a way that the elements feed into each other. Since enemies are frequently weak, resistant, or immune to certain types of elemental attacks, it also benefits you to have a variety of attacks at your disposal.

Lune also has a healing ability to start, with more available in her skill tree. She will likely be your only healing option outside of items in the early parts of the game, and she remains the best healer throughout, so focusing on Pictos that provide bonuses for healing, like additional AP or shields, are great for her. Lune is also quite AP-hungry, so additional ways to gain AP are also beneficial for her.

Maelle

Maelle is the third-party member, found fairly early in Act 1. Maelle switches stances with every attack, boosting attack power or defense, depending on the stance she is in. Importantly, she cannot be in the same stance two turns in a row, unless an ability explicitly states otherwise. If you don't swap, Maelle becomes stanceless, which does not provide any bonuses. That means, even if you really only ever want to be dealing more damage, you will still need to pick abilities that can flow between stances. There are three stances: offensive, which increases damage dealt by 50%, but also increases damage taken by 50%, defensive, which decreases damage taken by 50% and increases AP generation on dodge or parry by 1, and Virtuose, which increases damage by 200%.

For maximum damage output, the goal should be to get into Virtuose stance using your abilities, and then maximizing by using an ability that deals high damage and deals break. An early ability to pick up is Fleuret Fury, which not only deals three heavy hits that can break, but if you use it in Virtuose stance, you will stay in Virtuose stance. Maelle is also a character you will want to parry with--although you should always be trying to parry--but her counterattacks are impacted by her stance boosts, so Virtuose stance counterattacks hit extremely hard.

Sciel

Sciel also joins the party during Act 1, and her special mechanic is her Sun and Moon abilities. After using an ability, she gains a card of either Sun or Moon, depending on what type of ability it is. These provide different boosts. Having a Sun card increases the amount of AP gained when consuming Foretell. Foretell is a stack that some of Sciel's abilities (usually Sun) can apply to enemies when hit. Moon increases the amount of AP you gain per each stack of Foretell applied to an enemy.

Now, having both Sun and Moon puts you into Twilight, which lasts for a couple of turns. In Twilight, Sciel does +50% damage, applies double the Foretell, and the Foretell stack cap doubles from 10 to 20. The usual flow here is to apply Foretell and then follow up with an attack that consumes Foretell, and rinse and repeat. You have enough turns during Twilight to apply Foretell and consume it before Twilight ends, and you can apply more during it. Sciel excels at large, high-damage, attacks, boosting her critical rate, along with break damage, to maximize her abilities.

Verso

Verso joins the party early in Act 2. Verso has one of the easiest to understand mechanics, which is his perfection rating. Starting at a D letter grade, Verso gains perfection by landing hits and either dodging or parrying incoming attacks. Getting hit lowers his Perfection rating, but having a higher rating unlocks extra power for his abilities and increases his damage. Verso has abilities that give more perfection when you are low, so just make sure to have one or two of those at your disposal. Verso benefits from having Pictos/Luminas that provide bonuses for dodging or parrying, since you want to avoid taking any damage to build Perfection.

Monoco

Monoco joins the party during Act 2, and is the final member of Expedition 33. Monaco's special mechanic has two layers to it. First, Monoco does not unlock abilities in his ability tree using skill points like the rest of the characters. Instead, Monoco unlocks transformations by defeating enemies in combat, gaining an ability from them. Monoco only gains new abilities if he is in the party for combat, if he is benched he won't learn new abilities. Once you have unlocked a bunch of abilities, you can worry about the second layer, which is the Bestial Wheel.

In combat, Monoco has the Bestial Wheel, which gives him a different mask depending on the ability he last used. These masks can enhance different abilities, provided the mask is the correct one. That means you will want to select abilities that complement each other through the masks. If you can set up a full six abilities that loop together, you will be in business, but even just a couple can maximize your damage and other capabilities. Monoco's build really depends on what abilities you have picked up, but the best thing you can do for him is keep him in the party whenever you reach a new area with new enemies, so he can unlock more abilities.