Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Guide | How To Play Sciel

In this Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 guide, you're going to take a look at Sciel and how she plays in the game. Sciel is the most complicated character to get the hang of. She has two separate mechanics that overlap in some ways and don't in others, and she can be easily overlooked by players who might get overwhelmed. But she absolutely slaps in this game and might end up being your overall favorite character to play—besides Belle.

Understanding Foretell

Sciel's first mechanic revolves around Foretell. She applies stacks of Foretell to enemies using certain skills, then consumes those stacks with other abilities to boost the damage of those skills.

This is somewhat similar to how Lun boosts her skills by consuming stains. In Sciel's case, Foretell is the key, and each enemy has their own stack count. You can see the number of Foretell stacks above an enemy's health bar.

You can stack up to 10 Foretell on each enemy. If you have three enemies with 0, 10, and 5 stacks, respectively, and you use a skill that consumes Foretell, each of them will take different damage based on the amount of Foretell consumed.

Once Foretell is consumed, it's gone and must be reapplied. This creates a push-and-pull loop where you constantly apply stacks, consume them for power, and repeat.

Sun and Moon Charges

The other mechanic Sciel uses is her sun and moon charge system. Each of her skills grants her either a sun or a moon charge, which you can see in the top right of a skill's tooltip—marked by a sun or moon icon. Sun abilities typically apply Foretell, and moon abilities typically consume it. While there are exceptions, you'll never see a moon skill apply Foretell or a sun skill consume it.

Usually, you want to start with a sun skill to apply Foretell, then follow with a moon skill to consume it. When Sciel has at least one sun charge and one moon charge, she enters Twilight.

Twilight State

Twilight is a powerful state that boosts damage, increases the Foretell cap from 10 to 20, and doubles the amount of Foretell applied from skills. This state lasts for two turns. Ideally, you'll use your strongest skills during Twilight to maximize your output.

What makes Twilight especially interesting is that the damage boost is based on how many charges you've built up before entering it. For example, if you've used eight moon skills and then followed with a sun skill, you'll go into Twilight with a huge multiplier. This allows you to strategically plan your charges—stack up one type, then trigger Twilight with the opposite type for a massive payoff.

The typical flow looks like this: apply Foretell with a sun skill on turn one, consume it with a moon skill on turn two and enter Twilight, reapply Foretell during Twilight's first turn, then unload a high-damage ability on turn four using the enhanced stacks and Twilight boost. This cycle is the core of Sciel's gameplay.

Sciel's Key Skills

Focused Foretell is a starting skill that applies two Foretell or five if the target has zero. It costs only 2 AP, making it efficient. In Twilight, it applies 10 Foretell, which is excellent for setting up damage while conserving AP.

Card Weaver deals low damage and spreads Foretell from the main target to others. It's perfect for setting up AoE damage when fighting multiple enemies. You use this skill to spread Foretell and follow up with a moon AoE skill on the next turn.

Sealed Fate is a high-damage, single-target skill that hits five to seven times. Each hit can consume Foretell for 200% more damage, but critical hits do not consume Foretell. If you have a high crit chance, you can use this skill repeatedly without losing Foretell, making it excellent for crit builds.

Grim Harvest doesn't deal much damage but heals all allies for 30%. The healing increases by 5% for every Foretell stack consumed, giving Sciel strong support potential if you're not running a dedicated healer.

Spectral Sweep applies one Foretell per hit and gains extra Foretell on crits. During Twilight, this can easily apply 20 Foretell in one turn. This sets you up for a massive damage dump on the next turn.

Shadow Bringer is Sciel's first gradient skill. It deals dark damage 10 times and applies one Foretell per hit. In Twilight, it instantly gives 20 stacks. It's perfect for short fights or saving AP while setting up for a burst turn.

A great tip is to organize your skill bar with sun skills on the left and moon skills on the right. This makes it easier to track your abilities in combat without re-reading everything.

Notable Weapons

BLIZZON makes moon skills always crit while doubling incoming damage. This is fantastic if you use Sealed Fate, as you'll never consume Foretell but still benefit from the crit-based damage. It also grants a moon charge from basic attacks, helping when AP is low.

BOURGELON favors sun skills. Consuming Foretell applies 2 burn per sun charge, and Twilight doubles burn damage. Its level 20 bonus lets you gain 2 sun charges per sun skill, letting you stack burn effects quickly.

CORDERON starts you with Curse, which will eventually kill you. But you get 50% more damage while cursed, and entering Twilight resets the curse duration. Twilight also grants an extra turn, so you cycle sun and moon to stay alive and deal extra damage.

GULESON applies Mark to all enemies on Twilight entry, increasing damage taken by 50%. At level 10, attacks won't remove Mark during Twilight. It also applies three Foretell on the mark—six in Twilight—making it a powerful setup tool for AoE damage.

MARTENON deals damage to all enemies based on the number of charges you have when you enter Twilight. It also applies two Foretell per charge to all enemies, doubling in Twilight. Its bonus doubles your charge generation, letting you hit harder more often.

Picto and Lumina Recommendations

Focus on Picto and Luminas that give you AP early in the battle. Sciel relies heavily on rotating between setup and burst skills, so extra AP lets you stay in rhythm. Without enough AP, you're forced to use basic attacks, which slow your rotation and hurt your Twilight turns.

Some of Sciel's skills and weapons synergize with burn, so you can also benefit from items that enhance damage against burning enemies.

Attributes to Prioritize

Attributes depend heavily on the weapon you're using since mid to late game is all about weapon scaling. Outside of that, prioritize Vitality for survivability and to help you learn enemy patterns.

Agility is great for faster turns, and Luck boosts critical chance—especially useful if you're leaning into crit-based builds with skills like Sealed Fate and Spectral Sweep. A typical safe stat spread would be Vitality, Luck, and Agility unless your weapon calls for Might or Defense specifically.

Final Thoughts on Sciel

That wraps up your guide for playing Sciel. She may seem complicated at first glance, but once you understand the core loop—apply Foretell, consume it, build charges, enter Twilight, and explode with damage—it clicks into place. She's incredibly fun, flexible, and powerful, and she is easily one of the strongest and most rewarding characters in the game once mastered.

If you have more tips or questions about Sciel, feel free to contribute or reach out. There's a lot of depth in her design, and with the right planning, you'll unlock her full potential.