Summary
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33developer Sandfall Interactive reveals planned changes coming to the Stendhal ability, part of a very broken, but popular build for players. One of the big surprises of 2025 so far isClair Obscur: Expedition 33, a new IP from a smaller studio that has seemingly taken the world by storm.
Although there was initial worry after Bethesda effectively shadow dropped theElder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remasterjust days before the launch ofClair Obscur: Expedition 33, it hasn’t stopped the game from finding an audience. Not only hasClair Obscur: Expedition 33reached impressive sales milestones, the physical versions of the game continue to be sold out, with scalpers setting huge prices online. However, even though it’s a single-player experience, Sandfall Interactive has plans to keep the game balanced over time.
In a post on social media, Sandfall Interactive confirmed an upcoming balance update, which has certainly left some fans a bit concerned considering it being a single-player game. Essentially, one of Maelle’s skills called Stendhal is causing issues, allowing players to deal billions of damage to enemies when paired with her Virtuose stance. This broken build is so powerful that the potential damage it is capable of dealing can killone ofClair Obscur’s secret superbossesabout 45 times over.
Stendhal Wasn’t Always Broken in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
While the post clearly indicated that Sandfall wasn’t intending to make a balance update so soon, the issues with Stendhal essentially forced their hand as it completely overshadows otherExpedition 33build options. Interestingly enough, the skill wasn’t always a damage-dealing powerhouse, as Sandfall revealed that it was actually underwhelming during most of the game’s development, prompting the team to give it a damage boost. The developer wants players to continue breaking the game, but with Stendhal, it made things way too easy. After the patch, Sandfall promises that Stendhal will still be a strong, single-hit skill, but it’ll be more in line.
Among all the sales successes so far,Clair Obscur: Expedition 33even managed to catch the attention of the French president. Recently,Emmanuel Macron publicly congratulatedClair Obscur: Expedition 33, even stating that Sandfall Interactive has made “France’s creativity and audacity shine across the world.”
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
WHERE TO PLAY
Once a year, the Paintress wakes and paints upon her monolith. Paints her cursed number. And everyone of that age turns to smoke and fades away. Year by year, that number ticks down and more of us are erased. Tomorrow she’ll wake and paint “33.” And tomorrow we depart on our final mission - Destroy the Paintress, so she can never paint death again.We are Expedition 33.Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a ground-breaking turn-based RPG with unique real-time mechanics, making battles more immersive and addictive than ever. Explore a fantasy world inspired by Belle Époque France in which you battle devastating enemies.
