Summary
All six playable characters inClair Obscur: Expedition 33have a separate skill tree. They can equip six skills to use in battle at a time, which is limiting like thePokemonseries, but not in a bad way. While they all have their uses, only a handful are truly worthy of being ranked at the top.
Gradient Attacks will not be included in thisClair Obscur: Expedition 33breakdown because they are different and are obviously more powerful by nature. They are like Limit Breaks in theFinal Fantasyseries. With that said, let’s rank these skills out without the need for spoilers.
8Twilight Dance
Conditional Dark Pain For One
The Twilight Dance skill is for Sciel, who can control tarot-like cards called Foretell. Most attacks will build Foretell like Final Path, which will be a good one to pair with Twilight Dance. That’s because Twilight Dance can consume all Foretell on the playing field to increase its dark-based damage, and if Sciel is in Twilight mode, things will go even better.
It’s certainly Sciel’s best attack, although it is conditional, as she is a tricky party member to play, but with the right build,Sciel can sing inClair Obscur: Expedition 33.
7Defiant Strike
Criss, Cross, Applesauce
The Defiant Strike skill is not in the “Extreme” category of damage and yet it can rival any of these skills. The attack will strike an opponent two times with physical-based damage. On the first attack, the enemy will be Marked, which is astatus effect inClair Obscur: Expedition 33.
The next attack will do more damage, as that’s what Marks do to enemies: amplify damage received. The AP cost is wildly low, so even though Verso technically has stronger skills, players may gravitate to spamming Defiant Strike nonstop.
6Chapelier Slash
Hit Enemy Party And Mark Them
The Chapelier Slash skill is for Monoco, who can learn skills by being in the party and defeating monsters. It’s similar to how Blue Mages learn spells in theFinal Fantasyseries, although they aren’t collecting legs likeMonoco does inClair Obscur: Expedition 33.
With Chapelier Slash, he will strike the enemy party three times, marking them in the process and doing more damage as he goes. Like Verso’s Defiant Strike, Chapelier Slash is not doing “Extreme” amounts of damage, and yet it is a great one to use against enemy parties.
5Gustave’s Homage
Attack Target With Multiple Lighting Strikes
The Gustave’s Homage skill is for Maelle, who is easily the strongest party member in the game. This attack will strike one foe, dealing a large amount of lightning-based damage. The damage is strong, but what makes this skill better is that it will automatically switch Maelle into her Virtuous Stance.
She has three Stances in all, with Virtuous being her strongest as it is able to increase damage by 200%, which is a good boost for her other skills on the list. Plus, if an enemy is Marked, Gustave’s Homage will do even more damage.
4Phantom Stars
Attack All Enemies With Light-Based Damage
The Phantom Stars skill is Verso’s best attack, and it will strike an enemy party multiple times with light-based force. Technically, Steeled Strike is Verso’s best attack, doing a massive amount of damage. However, players have to sacrifice a turn to do it, and if Verso gets hit, he returns to his normal stance and is unable to complete the attack.
If players have the Cheater Picto equipped, Verso could act twice in a row, but even so, that would be sacrificing a turn just to do one skill. That’s why Phantom Stars is the better choice, as there aren’t as many conditions to make it work properly, plus it does high Break damage.
3Burning Canvas
Deals Void Damage To One Target, Amplified By Burn
The Burning Canvas skill is strong on its own, but with a good fire-based build forMaelle, it will get better inClair Obscur: Expedition 33. The base damage is Void-based, but it will also Burn enemies. The more Burn stacks are applied to the enemy, the more damage Burning Canvas will do.
Rain of Fire is a weaker skill for Maelle, but it’s a good one to pair with Burning Canvas to stack those Burn effects high and dry to let those flames touch the sky.
2Elemental Genesis
Use Stains To Rapidly Attack All Foes
The Elemental Genesis skill is for Lune, and it’s easily her best attack skill. When Lune uses skills, they will generate Stains, and with the right combo, players can summon Elemental Genesis. This attack will use the Stain elements accumulated to do a full round of rapid strikes against a group of foes.
Besides Gradient Attacks, it’s the strongest group-based skill by far, with the only downside being that it can be tricky to get the right Stain combo together. That’s why a goodLune build is valuable inClair Obscur: Expedition 33.
1Stendhal
Blink Enemy Out Of Existence Or Cause Great Harm
The Stendhal skill is easily the strongest in the game, and it belongs to Maelle. It’s a single strike, but the damage can easily get over a million points if players are in the right state of mind.
The only other attack that comes close to this is Maelle’s final Gradient Attack, which will not be listed because even the name could be a bit of a spoiler. Regardless of that, Stendhal makesMaelle a must-have party member at all times inClair Obscur: Expedition 33.
