"Clair Obscur Nerfs Maelle's 2B Damage Build"

Discover how Maelle's nuke build in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 can unleash over 2 billion damage, and learn about Sandfall Interactive's response to this game-breaking strategy.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Updates

Stendhal Hurts, A Lot

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 keeps surprising players with new discoveries each day, such as the revelation that Maelle, the Expeditioner, can deal up to 2 billion damage. After completing the main storyline, the game's endgame opens up, offering more story elements and challenging bosses with massive health pools and one-hit kill abilities. To counter these threats, players have developed a potent nuke build. Note: This article contains minor spoilers.

Maelle's skill, Stendhal, is central to this strategy, capable of inflicting significant damage that can be boosted to 200% in her Virtuose stance. To achieve this nuke build, players need two specific Luminas, unlocked through Pictos (items that enhance various effects). The required Luminas are Cheater, which grants an additional turn, and Shortcut, which provides another turn when Maelle's health falls below 30%.

Additionally, players must equip Maelle with the Medalum weapon, enabling her to start battles in Virtuose stance. The skill Last Stand is also crucial, as it activates Virtuose stance and reduces Maelle's health to one hit point.

To maximize damage, Maelle should also equip three of the following skills: Painted Power to exceed the 9,999 damage cap, Death’s Door for an extra 50% damage at low health, Confident Fighter for another 30% damage at the cost of healing, and Inverted Affinity for an additional 50% damage, though it turns healing into damage. Various combinations of Pictos and Luminas can be explored, but with the right setup, Maelle can surpass 2 billion damage. For context, the endgame boss Simon has about 45 million HP, meaning Maelle’s nuke could theoretically defeat him 48 times over.

Players continue to experiment with different strategies and characters to achieve even higher damage outputs, driven by the challenging nature of Expedition 33’s post-game content.

Stendhal Getting Nerfed

Sandfall Interactive acknowledged that Stendhal made the game too easy, announcing upcoming adjustments to Maelle’s skill in a May 8th Twitter (X) post. Initially, the studio planned only bug fixes, not balance changes, but the extreme damage from Stendhal prompted a rethink. Sandfall admitted that during their final pre-release balance pass, they overcompensated, making Stendhal far more powerful than intended.

"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. The first full hotfix, including these changes to Stendhal, will be deployed today on Steam, followed by other platforms.

2 Million Copies in 12 Days

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has reached yet another milestone, selling 2 million copies within just 12 days of its launch, as announced in a May 6th Twitter (X) post. Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron praised the game on Instagram, commending Sandfall Interactive for showcasing French creativity and audacity.

With its rapid sales success and ongoing updates, Expedition 33 is a strong contender for this year's Game of the Year award. The developers are committed to enhancing the game and considering potential DLCs.

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