Summary
InClair Obscur: Expedition 33’s world, money is known as Chroma, and players get some amount rather often, either finding some Chroma during exploration or getting it as rewards for every combat encounter. Shops are plentiful inClair Obscur: Expedition 33, with many Gestral merchants that can be found across the Continent offering unique items to the Expedition’s members, so there’s no question about what to spend one’s hard-earned Chroma on.
However, as is typically the case with any sprawling RPG, some items inClair Obscur: Expedition 33are way more useful or unique than others, so players should be aware of the best choices for getting items from the shop. Below, we’ll highlight the most useful things, consumables, and other items that players should always buy from in-game traders, as well as briefly mention some things that aren’t worth spending Chroma on.
1New Outfits
Get An Alternate Outfit For A Specific Character
New character outfits would most likely be among the top priorities forClair Obscur: Expedition 33players, because who doesn’t want to switch suits for their party? Given that outfits are rarely given to players during exploration, theonly ways of getting themare either by buying or completing optional mini-games and small side quests.
With a pretty huge number of available outfits,including fan-favorite Baguette, Sakapatate, and Swimsuit outfits, most players would certainly aim to find and get as many of those as possible. Given that outfits are typically pretty affordable to purchase, they should be among every player’s priorities when discovering a new shop. Be wary: some Gestral merchants only grant access to the best and rarest items, including outfits and hairstyles, to those who beat them in hand-to-hand combat.
2New Hairstyles
Get An Alternate Hairstyle For A Specific Character
When it comes to merchants, thenew hairstyles are basically in the same categoryas the outfits inClair Obscur: Expedition 33. They are rare, they are unique, they aren’t available when exploring, and each one is tied to one specific character, meaning that the same hairstyle, such as Ponytail or Short Hair, are different items for different characters.
With prices comparable to outfits and typically easily affordable, most players would likely grab any new cosmetic items at the earliest opportunity when finding a new Gestral merchant, and there is absolutely no reason not to.
3Colour Of Lumina
Grants An Additional Lumina Point To Any Character
Colour of Lumina is easily the most useful consumable inClair Obscur: Expedition 33. Every single Colour of Lumina consumedpermanently expands a character’s Lumina pointsby one, which allows players to equip more passive bonuses from Pictos to a certain character. Players need to carefully spend their Colour of Lumina, as even though this item isn’t the rarest, there’s no such thing as too many free Lumina points.
Luckily, almost every Gestral in the game sells Colour of Lumina (usually x3), and the price is very appealing. To put it simply, players shouldn’t pass up any opportunity to get more Colour of Lumina, and some might even start grinding for it in the late game, which is why buying this item is mandatory.
4New Pictos
Important Gear, Usable By Any Character
InClair Obscur: Expedition 33, Pictos (something akin to gems) serve as a vital part of equipment, containing bonus stats and passive bonuses for characters, while outfits are cosmetic-only items. Any Picto can be equipped by any character. Moreover, once players win four combat encounters with a Picto equipped, theyunlock its passive ability for use through the Lumina systemby any character, without the need to equip that specific Picto.
This is why Pictos are easily the most valuable gear in the game.With so many different options, stats, abilities, and bonuses, players are encouraged to get as many various Pictos as possible to gain an advantage against tougher enemies. Buying unique Pictos from traders is really a must. The only drawback is that Pictos are often among the most expensive items in shops, with prices often exceeding 10,000 Chroma.
5New Weapons
Get A Unique Weapon Usable Only By A Specific Character
Like Pictos, every weapon inClair Obscur: Expedition 33is unique, with various damage types and values, special abilities, and attribute scaling. Playersobtain new weapons in the game regularlyby defeating enemies and exploring the world, and some powerful weapons can be bought directly from Gestral merchants (usually requiring defeating a merchant in combat to become available).
Even if purchasing new weapons can be quite costly, most players will likely agree that there’s no such thing as too many weapons for every character to choose from. Undoubtedly, these death tools should always be one’s priority to get from every shop, provided that players have gathered enough Chroma to buy them.
Note that some merchants inClair Obscur: Expedition 33may sell upgrades for existing weapons rather than entirely new ones. It’s recommended to carefully review each merchant’s offerings, as purchasing upgrades is often less cost-effective than upgrading via Chroma Catalysts at the Camp.
6Things To Avoid Buying In Clair Obscur Expedition 33
While generally every merchant’s stock inClair Obscur: Expedition 33offers more useful items that players would like to purchase, there are a few exceptions that are typically not worth spending hard-earned Chroma on, at least unless players can afford extra spending or desperately need such items (which is hard to imagine).
Chroma Catalysts & Polished Chroma Catalysts
Chroma Catalysts are used to upgrade weapons to different levels and are commonly available for purchase from almost every Gestral shop that players can find. However, players really shouldn’t spend their Chroma on the usual Chroma Catalysts and Polished Chroma Catalysts, even given these items' relatively low price.
The reason is that players will get a ton of these items from victories, quest rewards, and exploration, oftenexceeding the number of weapons that need to be upgradedwith them. Not to mention that when playingClair Obscur: Expedition 33, players sometimes receive weapon upgrades as rewards for defeating enemies, possibly skipping several non-upgraded tiers at once (it’s not uncommon to get an upgraded sword from +6 to +10 in an instant), meaning that players would hardly ever need large amounts of Chroma Catalysts and Polished Chroma Catalysts.
Note that other high-tier Catalysts, especially the Grandiose Chroma Catalyst (Level 32), are much less common, so these might be worth getting from merchants if available and if players can afford them.
Recoat
On paper, Recoat seems like an important consumable item worth getting inClair Obscur: Expedition 33, but more often than not, it’s not worth the high price of 10,000 Chroma, especially unless players have amassed plenty of Chroma in the game (which is hardly possible,at least during the entire Act 1).
Additionally, there are plenty of Recoat items scattered all across the Continent that players can get for free while exploring. Not to mention that, if playing the game mindfully, they may not even need to use Recoat too often. In our experience, we hadn’t used any until the middle of Act 2, and by that point, we had plenty of Recoat simply by collecting the item andgetting it as a reward for questsor defeating tougher enemies.
