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A curious piece of trivia: The name “Obscur” in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 references the somewhat obscure nature of the game's menus and mechanics.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 places you in the role of a group of glamorous spellcasters, spearheaded by the audacious British Daredevil, on a mission to reverse a worldwide curse that prevents aging. It merges traditional RPG combat with real-time parries reminiscent of action RPGs, all presented with a unique artistic lexicon.

It has emerged as the biggest releases of the season, having sold millions and earned top honors accolades. The game can feel slightly intimidating at first, but after you grasp its systems, you’ll discover a layered and engrossing RPG that stands apart from other games. Below are 10 essential beginner's tips for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Change Team Members Often

In Expedition 33, characters who are active during a fight earn a sizable bonus to XP versus those on the bench. What's more, the narrative will sometimes mandate you to use specific characters. The easiest approach to these mechanics is to change your lineup frequently and strive to keep everyone at a roughly equal strength.

The upside is that farming experience is fairly fast. Encounters grant a generous amount of XP, frequently enough for a character progression after just several. You can reset an local foes by taking a break at an expedition flag—these points are placed throughout each area. If you need to accumulate XP fast, simply engage in combat near a flag, use the flag, and continue the cycle.

Change Accessories Frequently

There are a couple of key ways to grant passive perks to your characters: Pictos and Lumina skills.

• Pictos are items which provide stat boosts and also feature a unique passive skill. Every party member can equip a maximum of three Pictos. After being worn, finishing four encounters with a Picto will unlock its linked Lumina.
• Luminas are not gear pieces but essentially act as equippable passives. Each character has a number of Lumina Points (which grows via items). Each Lumina has a required LP amount. If a character has enough points, there is no limit can benefit from the same skill, allowing you to combine powerful passives across your entire team.

The smartest strategy is to always a party member is wearing every new Picto and completes four encounters to unlock its Lumina. This ensures you’ll have it for future use.

When you aren't have unleveled accessories to unlock, simply equip the Pictos with the highest bonuses for your needs.

Parrying Isn't Your Only Option

Expedition 33’s signature mechanic is its marriage of strategic battles with real-time parries. However, the parry window is incredibly short on all difficulty levels. Rather than frustrating yourself trying to hit perfect blocks, concentrate on rolling.

Even though a well-timed block restores one AP and causes massive extra damage, not blocking yields no benefit. Fortunately there are a number of Pictos and Luminas that provide resources on a successful dodge. If you find parrying difficult, equip those dodge-focused options instead.

Break Is Your Key Tactic

Break is a battle-altering condition that can turn the tide. As you attack a foe, a gold meter charges beneath their life bar. Once charged, you can inflict break, which reduces their damage resistance by 20% and skips their turn for their next action. It is the top-tier status effect in the game, but only certain attacks can cause it.

Allocate Points Deliberately

You are able to re-spec stat points and abilities using a scarce resource called a Recoat item. Since they are uncommon, it's prudent to think ahead instead of committing your skill points. Get a feel for a hero's kit and chart a progression route first.

Don't Forget to Use the Checkpoint Flag

Stopping at an save point fully heals your entire party and refreshes your supply of healing items, including HP restoratives and phoenix down equivalents. Make it a habit to rest at every flag!

These flags also function as the primary method to navigation in the game. The game lacks a overworld map, compass, or quest indicators. However, each flag has a designation. At a flag, you can view a list of all discovered flags in that level under a navigation option. It's a minimalist way to see how far you've come.

Paint Cages Are Always Worth the Effort

These special containers are effectively sealed loot boxes that demand you to find and hit three concealed seals in the nearby environment prior to claiming the prize. The contents is without fail valuable, including items like rare resources or strong equipment. The three locks aren't always obvious, but they are almost always within the same area. If you are missing a lock, try breaking objects or scanning the environment vertically.

Yes, Fight the Vendor

Each shopkeeper carries a hidden special good that doesn't appear in their standard shop. To unlock it, you must select a party member and beat them in combat in a one-on-one fight. This is always worth doing, as these rewards are truly unique. The earliest vendor you meet, for example, offers a special accessory that inflicts the Defenseless debuff, which boosts damage against the foe by a significant margin.

Have Faith in the Autosave

The game lacks {manual saving