Best Maelle build guide in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

If you’re looking to melt enemies with style, Maelle is your girl in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. She shines as a solo fighter thanks to her unique Stances — Defensive, Offensive, and Virtuose. Each stance gives her different buffs and lets you build a rhythm in combat. Her true strength lies in Virtuose, where she gets a +200% damage boost.

With the right weapon and loadout, you can keep her in Virtuose most of the time and decimate even the toughest bosses.

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Best weapon choice for Maelle in Expedition 33

The Medalum Saber is Maelle’s ultimate weapon in Expedition 33. It is designed for her Burn-focused, Virtuose-centric playstyle. Its upgrades are as follows:

• Level 4: Enhances Virtuose Stance access, often allowing Maelle to start battles in Virtuose with the right setup.
• Level 10: Applies double Burn stacks while in Virtuose, accelerating damage over time.
• Level 20: Doubles all Burn damage while in Virtuose, making Burn stacks devastating.

Medalum scales primarily with Defense (boosting damage resistance and output) and secondarily with Agility (increasing turn speed and damage). Earn it by playing as Maelle and winning the final fight of the Gestral Village Tournament in Act 1.

Upgrade Medalum as soon as possible through combat and resource investment to unlock its Burn synergies. This makes Maelle a boss-killing machine in Expedition 33.

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Best skills for Maelle in Expedition 33

Maelle’s fire-based skills are central to her build, especially with her Virtuose Stance, which boosts damage by 200%. This lets her stack Burn quickly and deal high damage over time.

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Best early-game skills

In Act 1, focus on accessible skills that apply Burn and maintain Virtuose Stance while managing AP (Attack Points) efficiently.

• Rain of Fire: A skill that applies Burn to multiple enemies, perfect for crowd control in early encounters.
• Combustion: A reliable single-target skill that deals moderate damage and adds a Burn stack. Use it to focus down key targets or maintain Burn on bosses.
• Swift Stride: Essential for stance management. When used on a Burning enemy, it returns Maelle to Virtuose Stance, ensuring her damage boost persists. It’s a low-AP skill which is available early.

Start with Rain of Fire or Combustion to apply Burn, then use Swift Stride to stay in Virtuose. This rotation maximizes damage and keeps Maelle in her strongest stance.

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Best late-game skills

In Acts 2 and 3 of Expedition 33, Maelle gains access to high-damage skills that amplify her Burn output and capitalize on her upgraded Medalum Saber:

• Pyrolyse: A high-AP, single-target skill that deals heavy damage and stacks Burn. It’s ideal for chunking down tanky enemies or bosses when AP is plentiful.
• Burning Canvas: A late-game nuke that applies massive Burn and can wipe out entire enemy groups. Its high AP cost is worth it for the devastation.
• Fleuret Fury: A powerful single-target skill that maintains Virtuose stance and excels at breaking enemy Break Bars. Use it to finish off weakened enemies or trigger breaks for bonus AP.

Open with Burning Canvas or Pyrolyse to stack Burn, follow with Swift Stride to stay in Virtuose, and use Fleuret Fury when enemies are near breaking. This keeps Maelle’s damage and control at peak performance.

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Best Pictos for Maelle in Expedition 33

Pictos are equippable items that grant passive bonuses (Luminas) and can be mastered after being used in four battles, allowing any party member to use them with enough Lumina Points.

Prioritize Pictos that enhance Burn, AP management, and survivability to complement her Fire-based build (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Kepler Interactive)

• Double Burn: Doubles Burn stacks applied in Virtuose Stance, massively increasing damage over time.
• Critical Burn: Boosts critical hit rate against Burning enemies, amplifying Maelle’s damage in prolonged fights.
• Burning Mark: Enhances Burn stacking when paired with Marking allies, adding synergy with other party members.
• Healing Fire: Heals Maelle when she hits Burning enemies, improving her durability during Burn-focused rotations.
• Energizing Break: Grants 3 AP when breaking an enemy’s Break Bar, fueling more skills and Burn applications.
• Energizing Start: Provides extra AP at the start of battle, enabling early Pyrolyse or Burning Canvas casts.
• Dead Energy: Increases AP gain during combat, ensuring Maelle can sustain her skill rotation.
• First Strike: Ensures Maelle acts first in combat, letting her apply Burn or set up Virtuose immediately.

Rotate Pictos frequently to master them, then equip these Luminas to create a Burn engine that keeps Maelle dominant and self-sustaining.

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Best Attribute to level up for Maelle in Expedition 33

Maelle’s attributes should prioritize balancing damage, survivability, and turn frequency (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Kepler Interactive)

Focus your attribute points in this order:

• Defense is the top priority, as it boosts Maelle’s survivability and scales the Medalum Saber’s damage output. Higher Defense ensures she can tank hits while dishing out Burn damage.
• Agility increases turn frequency and boosts Medalum’s damage scaling, letting Maelle act more often and maintain Virtuose Stance.
• Might adds extra damage to Fire-based skills and Burn stacks, ensuring her attacks hit harder.

Allocate most points to Defense, followed by Agility, with a few in Might for balance. Experiment with it at each level-up to maximize stat synergies, as some attributes indirectly boost others (e.g., Agility enhancing Speed).

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Maelle’s Fire-based build with the Medalum Saber is one of the most powerful in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It’s versatile, consistent, and incredibly fun to play. With her stance-based mechanics and insane Burn stacking, Maelle can solo-duel bosses and clear waves of enemies like a pro.