Sandfall Interactive’s wildly popular turn-based RPG
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
has only been out for a few short weeks now, but its players have already discovered ways to transform one of its best character Skills into a wildly overpowered nuke of a hit. As a result, the developer is now toning down its power with a nerf, with the change slated to go live tomorrow, May 9, alongside a variety of hotfixes on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, PS5, and
Xbox Game Pass
.
The Skill in question is Stendhal — an extremely powerful move in Maelle’s kit that players get access to in Act 3 of Expedition 33’s story. In exchange for depleting eight of Maelle’s Action Points (AP), any Shields she has at the time,
and
hitting her with the Defenseless debuff that increases damage taken by 25%, Stendhal allows you to deal colossal high-risk, high-reward damage. On its own, it’s already extremely potent; with various damage buffs and other bonuses, though, players have managed to absurdly spike its lethality, getting its damage numbers
well beyond the
two billion
mark
in many cases.
In case you’re wondering, that’s easily enough damage to one-shot every boss in the game, including the final one that “only” has about 45 million health. Compared to your average endgame attack setups that see you deal roughly 1 million each time, the insane power of a boosted Stendhal hit is on an entirely different, utterly ridiculous level. And for that reason, Sandfall is striking it down.
Expeditioners, a quick note on Stendhal and balance changes: We hadn’t planned to make any balance changes this early—just bug fixes, unless something clearly stood out. Well, Stendhal did.It was underwhelming for most of development, so in our final pre-release balance… pic.twitter.com/JwmC6luh3pMay 8, 2025
“We hadn’t planned to make any balance changes this early—just bug fixes, unless something clearly stood out. Well, Stendhal did,” the developer
wrote
in a social media post early on Thursday morning.
Surprisingly, the studio revealed it was actually too
weak
before release, and got what was evidently a heavy-handed buff: “It was underwhelming for most of development, so in our final pre-release balance pass, we gave it a big damage boost—and clearly overdid it,” Sandfall continued. “It ended up overshadowing most other options. We still want you to be able to break the game—and you absolutely still can—but Stendhal was making it a bit too easy.”
Some have argued that overpowered builds like this shouldn’t be fixed in single player RPGs like Expedition 33, but personally, I’m glad the devs are addressing this one. Rewarding players who intelligently buildcraft with strong and effective performance is great —
ideal
, even — but when setups like this completely vaporize any semblance of challenge that the game has, I’d argue an adjustment is more than warranted. That challenge is a big part of what makes Expedition 33 such an engaging experience, after all.
-
DEAL:
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate 1-month subscriptions are priced at only $17.39 over at CDKeys.
, giving you access to Microsoft’s service for a nice discount
Want to experience the god-killing power of Stendhal as it is now before the incoming nerf? Slap Act 2’s Painted Power Picto onto Maelle to break through the 9,999 damage cap, then follow it up with Picto or Lumina options like Confident Fighter, Inverted Affinity, and At Death’s Door to skyrocket your damage to orbit. Together with things like her Medalum weapon that gives you her 200% damage-boosting Virtuose Stance and enhancements from other team members, this deadly buff cocktail will have you exploding everything in sight with Stendhal in no time — and Sandfall encourages you to do so while you still can.
“You’ve got one more day to enjoy it in its current form and set some wild records. The adjustment will be included in our first full hotfix set, going live tomorrow. The patch will roll out on Steam first, and other platforms will follow,” the studio concluded. “After the change, it’ll still be a strong single-hit skill with great synergy potential… just more in line with everything else.”
Certainly, enthusiasts of the Stendhal nuke might still feel let down. However, here’s some positive news for those fervently interested in Expedition 33.
have already figured out how to achieve something similar using Maelle’s Exfoliation ability
For now, you can still send bosses to the shadow realm with massive amounts of damage.
“Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and Xbox App, as well as on PS5 for $49.99. Additionally, you can play it on Xbox or PC with Xbox Game Pass membership and find it at a discounted price.
$36.19 at CDKeys
. It’s one of the
best Xbox games
and
best PC games
of the year, and an essential play for enthusiasts of turn-based RPGs.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Was:
$49.99
Now:
$36.19 at CDKeys (PC, Steam)
The inaugural role-playing game from Sandfall Interactive masterfully blends the intricate tactics of turn-based battles with the rewarding difficulty and skill-building found in real-time action games, offering an entirely distinctive gameplay. Coupled with compelling narrative, stunning visuals, and solid performance metrics, this title emerges as one of the standout releases of 2025 that gamers shouldn’t miss.
Deluxe Edition:
$42.89 at CDKeys
Xbox version:
$49.99 at Amazon
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