"Clair Obscur Nerfs Maelle: 2 Billion Damage Build Impacted"

Discover how Maelle from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 can unleash over 2 billion damage with her nuke build, and learn about Sandfall Interactive's response to this game-changing skill.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Updates

Stendhal Hurts, A Lot

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 continues to surprise players with new discoveries, including a method to achieve up to 2 billion damage using the character Maelle. After completing the main storyline, the game's endgame unfolds, offering additional narrative elements and formidable bosses. These bosses often have massive health pools and can deal one-hit kills, prompting players to develop powerful strategies like Maelle's nuke build. Be aware that this article contains minor spoilers.

Maelle's skill, Stendhal, is key to this high-damage output, especially when amplified to 200% in her Virtuose stance. To maximize this nuke build, players need two specific Luminas, unlocked through Pictos (equipable items with various effects): Cheater, which grants an extra turn, and Shortcut, which provides another turn when Maelle's health drops below 30%.

Additionally, Maelle requires her weapon, the Medalum, which allows her to start battles in Virtuose stance, and the skill Last Stand, which activates Virtuose stance and reduces her health to one hit point.

To further enhance her damage, Maelle should equip at least three of the following skills: Painted Power, which allows damage to exceed 9,999; Death’s Door, which boosts damage by 50% at low health; Confident Fighter, which increases damage by 30% but prevents healing; and Inverted Affinity, which adds another 50% damage but makes healing harmful. With the right combination of Pictos and Luminas, Maelle can deal over 2 billion damage, enough to defeat the endgame boss Simon, who has around 45 million HP, 48 times over.

Players continue to experiment with different strategies and characters to achieve even higher damage numbers, making the challenging post-game content of Expedition 33 both fun and engaging.

Stendhal Getting Nerfed

Sandfall Interactive has acknowledged that Stendhal's extreme damage was making the game too easy. In a May 8th post on X (formerly Twitter), the studio announced upcoming adjustments to Maelle’s skill. Originally, no balance changes were planned so early in the game's lifecycle, only bug fixes. However, the overwhelming power of Stendhal prompted a reevaluation.

Sandfall Interactive admitted that Stendhal was underwhelming during development but received a significant damage boost in the final pre-release balance pass, which was too much. "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," they stated. The changes to Stendhal will be included in the first full hotfix, set to go live today on Steam, with other platforms to follow shortly.

2 Million Copies in 12 Days

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has reached another milestone, selling 2 million copies within just 12 days of its launch, as announced on X on May 6. Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Sandfall Interactive on Instagram for their success and for showcasing French creativity and audacity.

With its ongoing success and updates, Expedition 33 is a strong contender for this year's Game of the Year award. The developers are committed to enhancing the game further, with potential DLC on the horizon.

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!