Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a deep and lengthy role-playing adventure with multiple characters, each with skill trees to flesh out. So, of course, as you advance through the game and unlock new skills, you’ll find that you can optimize your characters’ synergy with one another.
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During the early hours of the journey, however, you’ll be much more limited—so here are some skills you should pick up first to make the beginning of the game go as smoothly as possible.
- Gustave: Marking Shot
- Gustave: From Fire
- Lune: Wildfire
- Lune: Healing Light
- Maelle: Guard Down
- Maelle: Guard Up
Gustave: Marking Shot
Gustave’s Marking Shot deals decent damage and marks an enemy (indicated by a bright red X). Marked enemies will take 50-percent more damage from the next attack you inflict on them, so you can follow this attack up with some of your hardest-hitting skills to peel off huge chunks of health.
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Additionally, if you use Lune’s Immolation skill against a Marked enemy, you’ll apply two extra Burns on them, which results in a significant amount of damage over time. Fire rules.
Gustave: From Fire
With Lune consistently applying Burn to an enemy, you’ll want Gustave to have “From Fire.” This skill deals three hits of medium damage to foes, but it heals Gustave for 20-percent of his total health if the target has Burn applied. It may not sound like much, but that extra sustain can be extremely helpful against tough foes.
Lune: Wildfire
While “Immolation” will be Lune’s bread and butter for keeping Burn applied to single targets (especially if you’re using it with Gustave’s Marking Shot), Wildfire is the best early-game AOE (area of effect) option for her. This attack will deal solid damage and apply Burn to every enemy hit. And if you have two Ice stains built up for her, it’ll deal even more damage!
Lune: Healing Light
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 isn’t a particularly easy game on its standard difficulty, so unless you are perfect at dodging and parrying, you’ll need to have healing options. One of the best choices is Lune’s “Healing Light,” which can heal an ally while removing status effects. That’s a pretty sweet deal.
Maelle: Guard Down
While Maelle is a heavy hitter when you get her set up to go all out, she’s also great for applying buffs and debuffs. Grab “Guard Down” to apply the Defenseless status effect to all enemies so that your team can pummel them for even more damage than usual.
Maelle: Guard Up
While “Guard Down” is excellent for helping you dish out more damage, Maelle’s “Guard Up” can provide Shell to your party, which reduces the overall damage they take. Taking less damage means less healing is required—and that means you can spend more time beating the hell out of baddies.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available on April 24, 2025 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PCs.
