Maelle from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 can unleash over 2 billion damage with her nuke build. Dive in to discover how to achieve this staggering damage and how Sandfall Interactive is responding to this overpowered skill.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Updates

Stendhal Hurts, A Lot

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 continues to surprise players with new discoveries, such as the ability to deal up to 2 billion damage with Maelle, the Expeditioner. After completing the main storyline, the game's endgame unfolds, offering additional narrative elements and challenging bosses. This can be intimidating, as many bosses boast immense health pools and some even have one-hit kill capabilities. Players have countered this with a powerful nuke build. Be aware that this article might contain minor spoilers.

In the game, Maelle's skill, Stendhal, inflicts significant damage, which can be boosted to 200% when she enters her Virtuose stance. To maximize Maelle's nuke build, she requires two specific Luminas, unlocked by using Pictos, which are equipable items that offer various effects.

The essential Luminas for this high-damage build are Cheater, which grants an additional turn, and Shortcut, which provides another turn when Maelle's health drops below 30%. Additionally, equipping Maelle with the Medalum weapon allows her to start battles in Virtuose stance. Another crucial skill, Last Stand, also puts her in Virtuose stance and reduces her health to one hit point.

Maelle should also equip any three of the following skills to enhance her damage output: Painted Power, allowing damage to exceed 9,999; Death’s Door, boosting damage by an additional 50% at low health; Confident Fighter, increasing damage by 30% but disabling healing; and Inverted Affinity, which adds another 50% damage but makes healing harmful. With the right combination of Pictos and Luminas, Maelle can achieve over 2 billion damage. For perspective, the endgame boss Simon has roughly 45 million HP, meaning Maelle's nuke could theoretically defeat him 48 times over—an extreme example of overkill.

Players continue to experiment with different strategies and characters to push damage limits further. The challenging post-game content of Expedition 33 encourages players to develop innovative tactics to enhance their gameplay experience.

Stendhal Getting Nerfed

Sandfall Interactive has acknowledged that Stendhal was making the game too easy. In a post on Twitter (X) on May 8, the studio announced upcoming adjustments to Maelle’s skill. Originally, they planned only bug fixes without balance changes at this early stage. However, Stendhal's extreme damage prompted a rethink.

Initially, Stendhal was underwhelming during development, but a last-minute balance pass before release unintentionally made it overly powerful. Sandfall Interactive stated, "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." The changes to Stendhal will be part of their first full hotfix set, launching today on Steam and soon on other platforms.

2 Million Copies in 12 Days

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is breaking records, having sold 2 million copies in just 12 days since launch, as announced in a Twitter (X) post on May 6. Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated the team on Instagram for their success and for showcasing French culture, saying, "Congratulations to Sandfall Interactive and all the creators of Expedition 33. You are a shining example of French audacity and creativity."

Expedition 33 is a strong contender for this year's Game of the Year award, with potential to reach even more milestones. The developers are committed to enhancing the game through updates, and future DLCs are on the horizon if the game's success continues.

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