You'll already be well aware, we have no doubt, that Sandfall Interactive's stellar sci-fi RPG, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, has released today on Xbox Game Pass, and if you've checked out our 10/10 review, you'll know we're fairly excited about it.
Now that the game is here, we thought we'd put together a quick guide of some tips, tricks and pointers we've picked up along the way during our playthrough, as some mechanics can be overlooked quite easily.
So, with this in mind, let's take a look at some top tips and tricks for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33!
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Top Tips & Tricks For Beginners
Prepare To Stay Frosty On Defence
Defending in this game is where things get one of their biggest switch-ups compared to most turn-based RPGs. Here you will be called upon to do some rhythmic bashing of buttons in order to avoid and defend against enemy onslaughts.
As such, it's imperative that you spend the time learning how each enemy attacks. They each have a handful of moves they can perform, and each comes with a window for a timed response, whether that be dodge or a jump, followed by a riposte for extra style points.
Once you've fought most grunts a few times, you'll have their patterns down, but the great thing about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is that it keeps you on your toes with surprise mix-ups and some very tricky timings on boss dodging attempts. So, make sure you've got your A-game on when it comes to QTEs, essentially.
Explore Everywhere For Lore & New Gear
Whilst Clair Obscur is fairly linear overall, it does have plenty of secrets stashed around. It also makes sure that its secrets are worth finding, so make sure to strike out - especially on that gorgeous world map, to take out optional foes, smash open crates, find chests and gather up any super-powerful Pictos you happen to find out in the wild.
Take Your Time To Speak To NPCs During The Prologue
You'll get a rewarded with a few useful gifts for your troubles!
Chroma Lets You Reset Your Team Health Without Respawning Enemies
Chroma is a mechanic that allows you to heal your entire party fully a set number of times from the menu. What's more, Chroma stocks are replenished when you rest - and sometimes when you get lucky in the field - so you can feel free to use it. This is a slick way to charge up without needing to enter a camp and stop the old battle-ball rolling.
Understand Lumina Points & How To Use Them
If there's one thing the game does fall down on, it's in explaining Lumina Points. This is a fairly vital mechanic, as it allows you to use accumulated Lumina to activate any and all Pictos you've found - across all of your characters - as extra buffs, on top of the Pictos you've got equipped. Sexy time.
As we say, the game really drops the ball on telling you much about this, or reminding you to use it, so make sure to hit the in-game menu and spend those points to make sure your party are at their best.
Beware The Mimes (no, seriously)
We mentioned this in our review, too, but the world here has some really creepy mime enemies who attack by surprise at points. These lads are often brick-hard, especially early on, so don't be ashamed to run - you should run when you see them anyway, unless you're spoiling to pee your pants - and know that engaging in combat will test you.
Fight Merchants For Special Rewards
You'll find cute Gestral merchants all over the game world and they'll happily upgrade and sell you goods and all that nice stuff. However, you can also challenge these ragamuffins to a scrap, in order to test your skills and, more importantly, net yourself some especially nice extra items in the shop menus. So yeah...eh...get out there and beat some shop-owners up. We guess.
Walk Away From Tough Battles
You can flee battles in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and we highly advise you do it when you are struggling or feel you've bitten off more than you can chew.
Get To Grips With Skills & Pictos To Crush Foes
Taking the time to settle down, going into your character build and looking at how your skills and Pictos work in tandem is essential to success in difficult battles - and there are plenty of those in this game.
Yes, Pictos equip just as expected, and they add buffs to your attacks, all fairly standard. But be aware that Pictos, after a few uses, become "learned", meaning they are unlocked and ready to be put into use by spending that sweet, sweet Lumina (see above).
Adjust Difficulty - There's No Penalty!
You can do this at any time and, as a bonus, you can even set the QTE events to automatic, so you can forget about stressing on them. Lower difficulties also extend the windows for button prompts across the game.
Use Camps To Save, Heal, Upgrade & Restock
There are lots of camps, left behind by previous expeditions, to stop and stock up at. You know the drill, it's been this way in every game since Dark Souls, and it's no different here. Always make sure to spend the time upgrading, spending points and restocking at camps, as you genuinely never know what's right around the corner, and these camps are where you'll be revived.
Shooting Is Important In More Ways Than you'd Think
Yes, Clair Obscur's flashy combat brings guns into the fray, too, and they are super-useful, as it turns out. Useful against quick-dodging enemies, and for blowing chunks out of shields - the gun is much more than it first appears.
Enemies have gun-specific weak spots, you see, and a lot of this stuff, as with most things in the game, is left for you to discover and use. Investigate potential here, see how some enemies explode when shot, cause AOE damage to all others around them, or how shooting a weak spot can give you bonuses in battle beyond simply damaging an opponent.
Make sure to work your pistol into the mix where you can, and don't think that spending the points on shots, rather than saving them to deploy skills, is always a bad choice.
Perfect Your Build & Max Your Skills Potential
Yes, speaking of skills, it's a very good idea to settle in and explore what you've got on offer and how each skill can feed into others. Combos are crucial with regards to skills, setting up an enemy to break and drop defences before flaming them with their weakness as a key strategy - for example - and there are more interesting twists, besides.
Take Maelle, she can switch stances via her skills, so you may want to have her attack with a view to then being positioned defensively, which then allows her to shift into a further attack stance that powers up her assaults by 200%. Having just the right build will massively improve your chances.
The World Has Unlockable Paths To Explore With New Abilities
You'll find blocked paths set all around the world as you play, and smashing your way through these will unlock new goodies, so it's 100% worth seeking them out on breaks from the main storyline.
Learn The Strengths & Weaknesses Of Your Party Members
Maybe it's something simple like healing, or granting your pal 3 extra AP points so they can rain electric damage down on a boss, or it could just be teeing up a mega attack by breaking your enemy, exposing their weak points before your overcharged squad-mate pirouettes in for a clear shot.
Got any more sweet tips for the game? Let us know in the comments below!