Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Guide| 10 Strongest Weapons and Upgrades

Build an early powerhouse with game-breaking combos, critical bonuses, and AP-efficient setups.

Game Guide by Monarch on May 01, 2025

The Core Concept: Damage, Breaks, and Roulette

Right away, you want to go for some special items that unlock one of the strongest builds in the game. This setup allows you to spam abilities from the very first turn, and a Roulette mechanic adds the chance for massive damage buffs.

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This whole build relies on the Roulette Picto. Every hit has a 50% chance to either deal 50% or 200% of its damage. On average, this nets about 25% more damage across fights. Since the more hits an attack has, the higher the odds of proccing that 200%, you increase your chances of one-shotting targets or dealing massive damage.

Roulette affects more than just damage—it also boosts break mechanics. That 4x multiplier can apply to break damage, allowing you to break even tough enemies instantly.

One ability that takes full advantage of this is Lune’s Mayhem. This four-hit combo costs only 3 AP but requires you to generate stains. You solve that by getting the early weapon Trebuchim, which grants stains on every free-aim shot. Your next step is to focus on generating as much AP as possible and stacking damage buffs so that your roulette-boosted attacks hit for extreme values.

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Building the Combo: Where to Get Each Item

Start by getting Critical Burn. You’ll find it just past the first flag in the Spring, through a small gap on the right side. This grants you a +25% critical chance against burning enemies—one of the best Pictos early in the game.

Next, head to Flying Waters. Near the entrance, follow the left path, ignore the enemies, and look for a side gap guarded by an enemy. Defeat it to obtain Marking Shots, which gives a 20% chance to apply a mark on a free aim shot. Many abilities get extra effects from marked enemies, and it sets you up for an AP bonus from another Picto soon.

Push further into Coral Cave within Flying Waters. After the flag, keep left until you face a jumping enemy. Defeat it and go left into a gap to get a Rewarding Mark, which gives +2 AP per turn when you deal damage to a marked target. This stacks perfectly with the Marking Shots Picto.

Now, head to the Ancient Sanctuary. From the Sanctuary Maze waypoint, follow the path to the village until you reach an arena with a blue crystal and a Trebuchim enemy. Defeat it to get Trebuchim, a weapon that generates random stains on free-aim shots. It starts at level 4 and lets you generate enough stains on turn one to cast Mayhem immediately.

To get the roulette, go to the Gestral Village. From the entrance, go through the arena and to the back. Talk to the gambler and tell them you don’t care about the odds. You’ll then receive the Roulette Picto.

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Find an Energizing Start Picto near the Stone Wave Cliffs. Go a bit left along the beach near a vendor to pick it up. There’s a level 3 version you can find later, just after recruiting Sciel. Right after exiting the arena, you’ll spot Energizing Start III as you descend.

To keep the AP flowing after kills and breaks, find Energizing Break near Lumiere Streets. Move toward the secret Chromatic Troubadour boss at the end of Flying Waters, circle around, drop below, and either fight or skip the boss. The Picto sits behind it and gives +3 AP when you break a target.

You can also pick up Dead Energy much earlier. After defeating the main enemy and entering Spring Meadows, take the right route near the jar and reach the Abandoned Expeditioner. This gives +3 AP on enemy kills.

To boost burn stacks and critical synergy, go to the entrance of Ancient Sanctuary and follow the downward path. Navigate a small platform puzzle, and you’ll receive Burning Mark, which applies a burn on hitting marked enemies. That’s going to happen often with this build.

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Turn Execution and Example

Open with Gustave, who can apply marking shots and break shields. Two shots can apply the mark, and you can spend the remaining AP on casting Powerful, a party-wide buff that adds critical hit chance and speed.

Then, switch to Lune. Use a free-aim shot to generate a stain. The second hit generates another stain and returns 2 AP if you hit a marked target. Keep doing this until you have four stains. At 3 AP, you’ll be able to unleash Mayhem.

If the target is marked and burning, your critical chance increases. Once you cast Mayhem, the damage will skyrocket. You’ll often see over 7,000 damage on the first hit. If roulette procs, you can shatter even powerful enemies in one turn, and since breaking a target returns 3 AP, you’re set for the next move.

You can then switch back to Lune later and repeat the process. Or you can follow up with Thunderfall, a multi-hit skill that also benefits from high crit chance. Thunderfall can easily one-shot multiple enemies, even if not every hit procs the bonus.

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Your Skill and Attribute Loadout

For Lune, focus on Mayhem. It’s cheap at 3 AP and devastating when used correctly. Support it with Wildfire or Emulation if you want to apply more burn stacks. Thunderfall benefits from crit builds, and Elemental Trick becomes more viable as your crit rate climbs past 65–75%.

For Gustav, use Marking Shot early on. Later, switch to the Marking Shots Picto to handle this automatically. Skills like Lumiere Assault and Overcharge remain strong all the way to Midame.

Between Sciel and Maelle, either can work. Sel offers excellent AoE with Bad Omen and Grim Harvest, which is one of the best groups heals in the game. Maelle offers strong single-target damage with Virtuoso Stance and Pierce, which combine for massive boosts when burning and marking are active.

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Attributes and Final Optimization

Focus on Might and Agility to go first and deal high damage. For Lune, you may want to prioritize Luck for critical rate, especially with Thunderfall. Between 40% from attributes and 25% from Critical Burn, you’ll reach 65%. Swapping some Picto’s will easily push that to 75%.

Use Picto’s that prioritize critical rate and speed. For Lune, these are the most important. What matters more than what you equip directly is what you apply through Lumina. Use Critical Burn, Energizing Start III, Roulette, Marking Shots, and Rewarding Mark. Include any others that grant AP on kills or breaks.

You want every character to have AP-generating Picto’s to let you spam abilities every turn.

Once you’ve got all the right tools, you can start your buff sequence with Gustave, mark and burn the target, rotate to Lune to generate stains with free aim shots and unleash Mayhem for massive, potentially game-breaking damage. This works early on and only becomes stronger as you optimize the crit rate, AP generation, and attack flow.

Whether you love high-damage builds or want to sprinkle in some chaotic luck with the roulette mechanic, this setup offers both power and spectacle from the first few hours of the game.

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