Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has taken the gaming world by storm, and one of its standout characters, Maelle, recently became the center of attention for an incredibly powerful build capable of dealing over 2 billion damage. This explosive potential was discovered by players exploring the game’s endgame content, where challenging bosses and massive HP bars push creativity to the limit.
After completing the main story, players unlock access to deeper narrative layers and intense post-game challenges. These encounters can be extremely difficult—some bosses hit hard and have staggering health pools. However, thanks to a cleverly optimized nuke build, players found a way to fight back with overwhelming force.
Maelle's Nuke Build Breakdown
At the heart of this build is Maelle’s skill, Stendhal, which deals significant damage and scales up to 200% when she’s in her Virtuose stance. To maximize this effect, players rely on two specific Luminas: Cheater and Shortcut. Both grant an extra turn, allowing for a chain of high-damage actions in a single round.
Additionally, equipping Maelle with the Medalum ensures she starts combat already in Virtuose mode. Her Last Stand ability further reinforces this by activating Virtuose while reducing her health to just one point, setting the stage for maximum output.
To push her damage even higher, Maelle can equip any combination of the following skills:
- Painted Power: Removes the 9,999 damage cap.
- Death’s Door: Adds 50% extra damage at low health.
- Confident Fighter: Grants 30% more damage but disables healing.
- Inverted Affinity: Provides another 50% boost, though healing now causes damage.
With these modifiers stacked alongside Picto and Lumina synergies, Maelle can easily surpass 2 billion damage per hit. For context, the endgame boss Simon has around 45 million HP—meaning Maelle could theoretically defeat him nearly 48 times over in a single strike. Players continue to experiment with builds and team compositions, trying to push those numbers even higher.
The Nerf That Was Bound to Happen
It wasn’t long before developer Sandfall Interactive took notice. On May 8, the studio announced upcoming adjustments to Maelle’s Stendhal skill via a Twitter (X) update. Originally intended as a minor patch focusing on bug fixes, the hotfix now includes balance tweaks due to how absurdly effective Stendhal had become.
"We still want you to be able to break the game—and you absolutely still can—but Stendhal was making it a bit too easy."
Sandfall explained that during development, Stendhal initially felt underwhelming, prompting them to add a major damage boost in their final pre-release balance pass—unfortunately going too far in the process. The changes are part of the first full hotfix set, rolling out first on Steam before arriving on other platforms.
Expedition 33’s Commercial Success
Beyond gameplay exploits, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has seen tremendous commercial success. Just 12 days after launch, the game surpassed 2 million copies sold—a milestone celebrated with a social media announcement on May 6.
The game’s cultural impact reached new heights when French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged the achievement, praising Sandfall Interactive for embodying French creativity and innovation. His message read:
"Congratulations to Sandfall Interactive and all the creators of Expedition 33. You are a shining example of French audacity and creativity."
With its deep storytelling, unique art style, and growing player base, Expedition 33 is shaping up to be a strong contender for Game of the Year honors. As updates continue to refine the experience, the possibility of future DLC remains open—making this an exciting time for fans of the series.
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