ClairObscur: Expedition 33 – Mastering the Ultimate Build for Burn Damage

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 features a combat system brimming with complexity, offering countless possible configurations to cater to virtually all players out there. A specific setup that we've discovered particularly advantageous, however, involves utilizing a Burn build. This strategy inflicts burn status on adversaries at the beginning of each turn, resulting in substantial damage throughout the encounter.

We've compiled what we consider to be the optimal setup for Burn damage in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, as outlined below. Keep in mind that this approach isn't one you can start with at the very beginning of the game; it necessitates specific prerequisites. playable characters , weapons, abilities, and Pictos that appear much later in the game. However, it remains quite formidable even at an early stage and becomes increasingly potent as you gather more necessary components.

For Expedition 33, the top Burn setup for a party composition is highly recommended as follows: Party Lineup

This Burn build centers around three of the selectable characters in the game. Lune, Verso, and Maelle Lune stands out due to her extensive array of Fire-type abilities that cause Burn status effects, whereas Maelle contributes significantly by amplifying both the frequency of Burns and dealing massive damage. Verso complements them well by providing cost-effective methods to apply Burn statuses along with numerous supportive skills.

This setup offers some flexibility, although Verso doesn't perform exceptionally well until he acquires the necessary weapon to fully utilize the build. In the meantime, others can step into his role using their own fire-based abilities to cover for him until Verso becomes dominant in this playstyle.

Expedition 33 top Burn setup: Optimal Lune configuration

At the heart of this squad lies Lune, who consistently deals continuous burn damage each turn using various abilities, ranging from targeted attacks to area-of-effect spells. Additionally, she possesses healing magic at her disposal; although generally not required, these heals can prove invaluable when facing challenging situations.

Lune Burn build: Weapon

Lune prefers to use Lighterim, which is a Fire-type weapon known for enhancing both Defense and Agility. Developing these abilities is crucial because they increase Lune’s attack power, enable her to move more frequently, and help her survive longer during battles.

Lighterim stands out mainly due to its Level 4 capability, which decreases the AP cost for Fire abilities by 1 point. Although this might not appear significant, it allows you to use her less powerful Burn spells almost immediately after combat begins, eliminating the wait time needed to accumulate enough AP initially. This feature proves particularly useful when employing her stronger Burn techniques later in the game and enhances consistency during battles. Additionally, Lighterim receives a 20% enhancement in Fire damage upon reaching level 10, along with starting each fight with an Ice mark at level 20, both of these upgrades amplify her overall damage potential beyond just using Burn attacks.

Lune Burn build: Skills

By the conclusion of the match, you ought to possess these specific abilities with Lune for this particular setup:

• Wildfire
• Hell
• Mayhem
• Healing Light
• Revitalization
• Rebirth

A Wildfire is an area-of-effect Fire skill that inflicts moderate Fire damage along with 3 stacks of Burn on every enemy targeted. You'll rely heavily on this ability until you obtain Hell, a superior option dealing massive Fire damage and applying 5 Burns per strike, striking twice each time. However, keep in mind that using Hell requires spending 9 Action Points (AP), quite demanding initially but more feasible as gameplay progresses. Her remaining abilities are relatively simple: Mayhem poses a risk when Lune accumulates 4 stains; conversely, Healing Light, Revitalization, and Rebirth offer immediate healing and revival support for teammates during emergencies.

Lune Burn configuration: Pictos and Luminas

At the conclusion of the match, ensure you possess these specific Pictos or Luminas for Lune within this particular setup:

• Double Burn
• Painted Power
• First Strike
• Critical Burn
• Energising Cleanse
• Energising Start (1-4)
• Energising Turn
• Dead Energy

The Double Burn technique is crucial for this approach since it amplifies the Burn effect twofold every time it's applied. Even when combined with Wildfire, this proves beneficial; however, it transforms Lune’s Hell skill into an immensely powerful move, capable of delivering a staggering 20 points of Burn whenever activated. With Painted Power, she can dish out more than 9,999 damage—this includes the added Burn damage as well. Additionally, Critical Burn boosts the likelihood of scoring critical hits on foes that are already burning, aiming to make sure they're all affected this way.

All remaining features aim to maximize her Action Points (AP). The Energising Start ability grants 1 AP at the beginning of combat for every instance activated, whereas Energising Turn provides 1 AP at the onset of each turn. Energising Cleanse nullifies the initial status effect applied to her and simultaneously awards 2 AP, particularly beneficial during later stages of gameplay. Conversely, Dead Energy yields 3 AP whenever an opponent is defeated.

"First Strike" significantly aids Lune's strategy because it enables her to act first in combat. By equipping all the aforementioned Pictos or Luminas, Lune begins every fight with ample Action Points (AP) to use "Hell" during her initial turn. This swiftly initiates "Burn," preventing foes from retaliating until after they've been set ablaze. In following rounds, she can sustain this effect using either "Hell" or "Wildfire," based on her available AP when her next turn arrives.

For Expedition 33, the top Burn setup is considered the finest Maelle configuration.

Maelle excels as an immense source of damage due to her distinctive stance mechanics, and she can deliver massive amounts of Burn damage later in the game, making her ideal for this particular setup.

Maelle Burn build: Weapon

For Maelle in this setup, Facesum is the perfect choice because its skills provide excellent Burn-associated effects that boost the amount of Burn damage she can inflict—sometimes even surpassing what Lune could do—and enhance the overall potency of Burn damage.

At Level 4, Maelle can apply twice as many Burn stacks using her abilities when she adopts the Offensive stance. This is easily achievable and synergizes well with associated Picto effects. By reaching Level 10, her Burn damage gets a significant boost of 50%. Moving on to Level 20, we encounter an intriguing yet somewhat ambiguous ability described as "Base Attack spreads Burn." Essentially, this indicates that whenever she executes her basic attack, enemies not directly targeted may also receive doubled Burn stacks. Should these doubles be cumulative with another multiplier effect, they might elevate from 20 Burn stacks to potentially 60, causing massive harm. Although highly dependent on specific circumstances, this makes for a compelling choice overall.

Maelle Burn build: Skills

By the conclusion of the match, ensure Maelle has acquired these abilities for this setup:

• Pyrolyse
• Rain of Fire
• Swift Stride
• Flueret Fury
• Breaking Rules
• Sword Ballet

Pyrolyse is Maelle’s strongest Burn ability, dealing 15 Burn and dealing extreme Fire damage to a single enemy. When she’s in Offensive stance, this increases to 21 Burn, which is bumped up further to a potential 63 from her weapon and Pictos. Rain of Fire is a weaker version of this, dealing 6-10 at the base level while in Defensive stance – which she’ll be in after using Pyrolyse – but it also puts her back into Offensive stance, allowing you to get the most out of Pyrolyse again. You’ll want to bounce back and forth between these two moves to deal the most possible Burn damage.

Swift Stride becomes advantageous toward the latter part of combat because it places her in the Virtuose stance if the opponent is Burning. Coupled with Fleuret Fury, you can sustain this stance and potentially break your foe. The Virtuose stance amplifies her offensive power twofold; thus, combining it with Sword Ballet allows for five severe attacks against one enemy, each doubling upon landing critical blows to deliver the final strike. This breaking ability serves as a utility tool, annihilating every Shield possessed by enemies and restoring 1 Action Point per Shield removed from play. Although situational, having access to this capability will prove invaluable at crucial moments during battles.

MaëleBurn's setup includes Pictos and Luminas.

By the conclusion of the match, Maelle needs to have these specific Pictos or Luminas set up for her chosen setup:

• Draining Cleanse (Picto)
• Double Burn
• Painted Power
• Augmented First Strike
• Critical Burn
• Energising Cleanse
• Energising Start (1-4)
• Energising Turn
• Dead Energy

Each of these Pictos functions similarly for Maelle as they do for Lune—they gather AP and cause extra Burn damage. However, instead of First Strike, they feature an Augmented First Strike ability, allowing her initial attack during battles to be 50% more damaging—ideal for delivering a powerful Pyrolyse. Additionally, the inclusion of Draining Cleanse, used as a Picto, though not essential, significantly boosts her health points and defense, helping her survive longer. This is particularly crucial for Maelle because she has the capability to resurrect fallen teammates and apply massive Burn effects using one of her Gradient Skills.

Expedition 33 top Burn setup: Optimal Verso configuration

The last addition to the team is Verso, who mainly functions as a support unit. While he deals moderate levels of Burn and harm, he holds back some of his Ability Power for critical moments. Over time, particularly with higher ranks, he accumulates additional resources, enabling him to deliver significantly greater Burn damage—outstripping what would typically be expected from such an attack.

Verso Burn build: Weapon

In this setup, Corpeso is the preferred choice for Verso because he primarily relies on basic attacks, which align perfectly with how this weapon functions. Although it doesn’t provide as much Burn effect as weapons like Lune or Maelle, it allows Verso to deal greater overall damage through accumulated Burn stacks. Additionally, it ensures a steady stream of these Burn stacks even when Lune and Maelle might be engaged elsewhere.

At Level 4, Verso’s basic attack can apply 2 Burn stacks for every rank, reaching up to a total of 10 Burns naturally (or doubling to 20). Upon achieving S-Rank status, this becomes even more potent. At Level 10, he gains 1 Ability Point whenever he levels up, providing some assistance. By the time he reaches Level 20, each subsequent rank amplifies Burn damage by an additional 50%, culminating in a staggering 300% increase when at S-Rank.

Verso Burn build: Skills

By the conclusion of the match, Verso should have these abilities activated for this setup: 1. Skill A 2. Skill B 3. Skill C 4. Skill D

• From Fire
• Light Holder
• Leadership
• Blitz
• End Bringer
• Phantom Stars

When a target is burning, From Fire allows Verso to restore 20% of his health, which can be quite helpful during critical moments. None of his remaining abilities have any interaction with burn status. The Light Holder skill aids in accumulating rank and inflicts light damage on foes not vulnerable to fire damage. Meanwhile, Leadership enables him to expend AP to replenish up to 5 points of AP for all allies, essentially providing an energy boost across the entire team. Since he primarily relies on his basic attack and does not require much AP himself, this ability proves useful without being wasteful; spending just 3 AP here makes sense.

Blitz, End Bringer, and Phantom Stars are all ultimate moves. Blitz can immediately defeat any non-boss enemy left with under 10% health and allows an additional turn for the player, whereas End Bringer and Phantom Stars each unleash several powerful attacks without relying on weapon properties, offering greater flexibility.

Burn Build for Verso: Pictos and Luminas

By the conclusion of the match, Verso should have these specific Pictos or Luminas activated for this setup:

• Combo Attack (1-3)
• Augmented Counter
• Augmented Attack
• Double Burn
• Painted Power
• Critical Burn
• Energising Cleanse
• Energising Start (1-4)
• Energising Turn
• Dead Energy

Apart from all the details mentioned earlier for Lune and Maelle, Verso gains access to three occurrences of Combo Attack. With this ability, he can strike four times during one use of his basic attack. Given that he receives two stacks of Burn per rank for every successful hit with his basic attack, coupled with Double Burn, he could potentially dish out as many as 80 Burn stacks in just one basic attack—assuming he achieves an S-Ranking, where damage triples. Additionally, this allows him to save Action Points (AP) for crucial moments like aiding teammates or delivering a finishing blow. Furthermore, we have equipped him with Augmented Counter, enhancing his damage dealt upon counter-attacking, along with Augmented Attack, boosting his standard attack power by half.

This piece was initially released on www.The News Pulse as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Optimal Build for Fire Damage .