Maelle Still Dominates Boss Fights in Clair Obscur Despite Nerfs – Insane Damage Numbers Revealed!
Three months after the launch of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Maelle continues to dominate as the game’s ultimate boss-killing machine—even after a significant nerf. The game, developed by Sandfall Interactive, offers a rich story and a deeply layered combat system that challenges players to master synergies between party members’ abilities. Yet, when it comes to raw damage output, Maelle remains the undisputed queen.
- Maelle’s powerful skill tree unlocks fully by Act 3, granting devastating abilities.
- Despite a nerf to her Stendhal ability, Maelle still easily shreds bosses and enemies.
- Players are sharing insane damage numbers on the game’s subreddit, some reaching billions.
- Other characters like Sciel also boast massive damage potential, with some players pushing the limits to absurd levels.
Maelle’s Unstoppable Damage Even After Nerf
By the time you reach Act 3 in Clair Obscur, Maelle’s full skill tree is unlocked, giving her access to some of the most powerful abilities in the game. Before the first patch, her Stendhal ability was so strong it literally broke the game, allowing players to deal billions of damage and one-shot bosses. Sandfall Interactive acknowledged this on X (formerly Twitter).
Even after the nerf in May, Maelle remains a powerhouse. Many players find themselves using other characters’ turns mainly to set Maelle up for success, such as burning enemies with Lune to let Maelle activate Swift Stride and enter Virtuoso Stance, which boosts her damage by 200%. For longer, tougher fights, watching Maelle’s damage numbers climb is nothing short of thrilling.
Players Pushing Damage to Insane Levels
The community is obsessed with pushing Maelle’s damage to the extreme. A simple search for “billion” on the Clair Obscur subreddit reveals countless posts of players hitting mind-blowing damage numbers. Some have used Maelle’s Gommage gradient attack to reach 1.3 billion damage, while others smashed records with 5.8 billion damage.
Beyond Maelle, fellow expeditioner Sciel is no slouch either. Players intentionally aim to “break” the game by maximizing damage rather than just winning fights. One Reddit user posted about dealing over 46 billion damage with Sciel’s attacks, saying they “broke the boss early” and could probably push the damage even higher. Another player took it even further, hitting an unbelievable 256 billion damage with Sciel’s End Slice attack.
46 billion damage with Sciel
byu/Sandwich_Unlikely inexpedition33
Other Characters and Overall Combat Depth
While Maelle and Sciel are the top damage dealers, other characters have their own niches. Lune often focuses on healing or dealing damage to multiple enemies rather than single-target burst. Verso’s Perfection is still a bit tricky to maximize, and Monoco took time for players to get the hang of. Although Monoco can dish out some serious damage, reaching Maelle-level numbers like 1.1 billion damage is rare.
Sandfall Interactive has stated that despite Maelle’s nerf, “you absolutely still can” break the game, and players have proven it repeatedly. The game’s toughest enemies, especially in the Renoir’s Drafts level, ensure that even overpowered builds face a serious challenge.
