Clair Obscur Nerfs Maelle's 2 Billion Damage Build

In the world of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, players have discovered a way to unleash devastating damage with Maelle's nuke build, capable of dealing over 2 billion damage. This article delves into how to achieve such colossal damage and the response from Sandfall Interactive to this overpowered skill.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Updates

Stendhal Hurts, A Lot

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 continues to surprise and engage players with new discoveries every day, such as the revelation of Maelle's ability to hit up to 2 billion damage. After completing the main storyline, the game unlocks its endgame content, which includes additional narrative elements and formidable bosses. This can be challenging, as bosses boast massive health pools and some can even deliver one-hit kills. To counter this, players have developed a powerful nuke build. Be aware that this article may contain minor spoilers.

In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Maelle's skill, Stendhal, inflicts significant damage, which can be amplified to 200% when she enters her Virtuose stance. To maximize her nuke build, Maelle requires two specific Luminas, which players can unlock using Pictos (equipable items with various effects).

The necessary Luminas for this extreme damage are Cheater, granting an additional turn, and Shortcut, providing another turn when Maelle's health drops below 30%. Additionally, Maelle needs her weapon, the Medalum, which allows her to begin battles in Virtuose stance. Another crucial skill is Last Stand, which triggers Virtuose stance and reduces her health to one hit point.

Maelle also needs to equip any 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 enhances damage by 50% but makes healing harmful. With the right combination of Pictos and Luminas, Maelle can achieve over 2 billion damage. For context, the endgame boss Simon has approximately 45 million HP, meaning Maelle's nuke could theoretically defeat him 48 times over, highlighting the build's sheer overkill.

Players continue to experiment with various strategies and characters to achieve even higher damage outputs. Expedition 33's challenging post-game content encourages players to develop innovative tactics to enhance their gameplay experience.

Stendhal Getting Nerfed

Sandfall Interactive has acknowledged that Stendhal's ability to make the game too easy prompted a reevaluation. In a May 8 Twitter (X) post, the studio announced upcoming adjustments to Maelle’s skill. Initially, they planned only bug fixes without balance changes this early in the game's lifecycle. However, Stendhal's excessive damage necessitated action. The skill was underwhelming during development, but a last-minute boost before release went too far.

"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 changes to Stendhal will be part of their first comprehensive hotfix, which will go live today on Steam before rolling out to other platforms.

2 Million Copies in 12 Days

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has continued its impressive sales trajectory, reaching 2 million copies sold within just 12 days of launch, as announced in a May 6 Twitter (X) post. The game's success has even caught the attention of French President Emmanuel Macron, who congratulated Sandfall Interactive on Instagram for their achievements and for showcasing French creativity and audacity.

Given its ongoing success and frequent updates, Expedition 33 is a strong contender for this year's Game of the Year award. With potential future DLCs and continuous improvements, the game is poised to achieve even more milestones.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. For the latest updates and more information, check out our related articles below!