Usually in an RPG, when you think “absolute assbeating swordwielder” in a video game, you picture the likes of Cecil from Final Fantasy IV, Auron from FFX, or even someone like Hulkenberg from Metaphor ReFantazio. What you’re usually not thinking of is a tiny befreckled orphan girl who wins the Mia Goth soundalike contest.
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But don’t get it twisted, once the rapier comes out, everything that ain’t part of the Expedition is about to get their life expectancy cut real short. Maelle is Clair Obscur’s indisputable five tool player, and we’re gonna show you how to start running shit the second she’s in your party.
Basic kit
Maelle’s weapon of choice is a fencing rapier; and you best believe she knows how to use it. Actually, so should you, since nearly all of her additional moves are, basically, fencing strategies disguised as stat changes. With only a couple of late game exceptions, and a couple of stray Fire abilities we’ll get into, the vast majority of her obtainable skills are about doing either heavy Physical damage, or applying some diabolical shit to enemies in order to do heavy Physical damage. Even if she’s not the one to do the damage, she’s got the skills to set someone else up for success.
“Oh ho ho ho,” you might say, “but those are all 1-3 hits and Fire skills. She still has her work cut out dealing with shields.” Au fucking contraire, mon ami, she’s got a skill called Breaking Rules that’s not even terribly far into her skill tree that literally nullifies shields, no matter how many the enemy’s got slapped on. You know that one Nevron with the floating orbs, and shooting one puts six shields on everybody else on the field? Light work. The game should literally come up with a prompt that asks “Are you sure you want to make the biggest mistake of your stupid life” if you ever try to remove Maelle from your party?
Special mechanic: Stance
But of course, there’s the real reason you’re here, which is to figure out how to effectively use the Stance system. And the key word is “effectively,” because it’s extremely easy to get caught out there in Offense Mode, wondering why Maelle just got merked by a leaf hitting her face in a stiff breeze.
To be fair, the game explains her mechanic way too quick, so let’s go over bascis again.. Every one of Maelle’s abilities puts her into one of four Stances each with their own perks/drawbacks:
- Stanceless: Where you start in every battle. No effects.
- Defensive Stance: Take less damage; gain 1 extra AP on every successful dodge or parry.
- Offensive Stance: Deal 50% more damage, but also take 50% more damage.
- Virtuose Stance: Deal 200% damage.
Now, while Maelle’s skill set can absolutely slay a field of enemies, you still have to think of her in fencing terms. Overextension can get you stabbed, while being a turtle on constant defense doesn’t get things done. Meanwhile, the game actually incentivizes you to keep moving by giving you an additional AP every time you change stances. So, figuring out what to put on her to give you the least vulnerability while still being as effective as she needs to be is the trick of it, but there’s a lot of flexibility therein.
The dream, of course, is to get in Virtuose Mode, where Maelle is become death, destroyer of worlds. But even then, you only get two turns to do the most damage with that, and your team may have other needs, like with one of her skills that grants Shell, or if, say, they’re all dead, and you need to use Phoenix Flame to rez them all.
Recommended builds/synergy
For much of the game, the only elemental damage Maelle will have access to is all Fire-based. You get Void damage way down the line. You’ll figure out how that plays out on your own by then. And even then, Fire is going to be enough, especially since the easiest way to get Maelle into Virtuose Mode most of the time is Burning an enemy and hitting them with Swift Stride. Yes, that means go get that off your Skill Board ASAP; it’s gonna be a mainstay through much of the first half of the game.
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So, naturally, giving Maelle or her companions Fire abilities to back her up and take advantage of the constant Burn is gonna be an imperative. But, even if you decide otherwise, Maelle’s got plenty of her own. She’ll start with Spark which will get the job done, just know that you’ll have to blow a turn to cast it and it’s already gonna cost you another one to cast Swift Stride. Screw that, let somebody else get that ball rolling, least till you pick up the far more devastating Rain of Fire skill for her later. Both are effective, though worth noting that while Spark will put Maelle in Defensive Mode, Rain of Fire ends with her in Offensive. Be prepared for whatever’s coming next.
Once she’s Virtuosed out, though, you’ll need to capitalize as best you can, and in the early going, the Critical Burn Picto/Lumina (Critical Hit chance goes up 25% on Burning enemies) is a pretty easy place to start. It’d be nice if one of your companions can slap a Mark or Defenseless on your prey, but the irony there is that if the enemy is Burning already, that first hit will remove the status. Be mindful of the play order on the left of the battle screen so you can line that up just right and have Maelle go right after an enemy’s been afflicted.
Percee and Fleuret Fury are usually a death sentence for enemies after that, and since she’s likely gonna be the last thing a lot of lesser enemies see, Maelle can get a lot of use out of the Dead Energy Picto (3 AP after killing an enemy). But in the event those two skills don’t put a Nevron out of its misery, Fleuret Fury will at least re-up on Virtuose. The main issue here is that Fleuret Fury’s expensive. Keeping Maelle topped off on AP is crucial but, especially for a character like Lune who’s less useful in a fight where the elements aren’t as effective, it’s worthwhile having someone whose primary job it is to keep Maelle juiced up if her Pictos haven’t gotten to kick in.
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Once she’s tapped out, though, your new job is making sure Maelle can build up to a full bar of AP again. And early on, that’s not as easy as it sounds. A Picto like Energising Pain (1 AP after taking damage) can help, but this is the exact situation Defensive Mode is good for, making sure she can take a hit and likely survive longer than her friends.
Nail these principles and our little fencer will be an absolute menace against anything that threatens the Expedition.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PCs.