Best Maelle build in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Maelle is a stance-based fencer who excels at applying pressure through speed, fire-based status effects, and shield disruption in Clair Obscur Expedition 33.

Her combat style is all about tempo – switching between Offensive, Defensive, and Virtuose stances to determine the flow of battle. She doesn’t tank or brute-force her way through enemies.

She’s especially powerful in mid-length fights where she can rotate her stances strategically and exploit shielded enemies with specific skills and weapons.

Best character build for Maelle

How to play Maelle

Dexerto

Maelle is a fast, high-damage fencer who shines when you master her stance-switching style.

She cycles between three stances:

• Offensive (more damage, but you take more too)
• Defensive (cuts damage and gives bonus AP when dodging)
• Virtuose (triple damage and special effects)

You can’t repeat the same stance back-to-back, so smart planning matters. The goal is to flow into Virtuose and use her hardest-hitting skills like Percèe at just the right time. Set up with Swift Stride, land criticals on Marked enemies, and you’ll see huge numbers fly.

Dexerto

Best attributes for Maelle

Maelle benefits most from a build that enhances her agility and damage output:

• Agility: Speeds up her turn order and increases crit chance. Essential for triggering first strikes and stance transitions.
• Might: Increases her physical attack power, scaling her damage across stances and skill types.
• Luck: Boosts critical hit consistency, especially useful when paired with weapons or skills that benefit from crits.

If you want a comprehensive list of the best attributes in general, we’ve got you covered.

Best Skills & Rotation for Maelle

Maelle’s kit revolves around her three stance switches and a small but potent pool of elemental and utility attacks. Her strength lies in timing and tempo; it’s all about rotating stances, exploiting vulnerabilities, and stacking damage-over-time effects.

Skill Name	Description
Feint	Lowers enemy accuracy.
Degagement	Applies elemental weakness to set up big damage.
Swift Stride	Shifts to Virtuose stance and grants extra AP.
Fleurete Fury	A flurry of attacks that deals massive damage in Virtuose stance.
Percèe	A powerful, AP-efficient thrust that hits hardest in Virtuose.
Riposte	Counters enemy attacks, good for defense and returning fire.

Dexerto

Rotation

1. Start with Degagement to apply weakness and prep your enemy for big damage.
2. Use Swift Stride to shift into Virtuose stance and gain bonus AP.
3. Follow up with Fleurete Fury to unleash a high-damage combo in Virtuose.
4. Cast Feint to lower the enemy’s accuracy and reduce incoming risk.
5. Strike with Percèe to deal heavy damage while still in Virtuose.
6. Finish with Riposte if you’re expecting an attack and want to counter.

Best Pictos & Lumina for Maelle

Choose Pictos that reward fast openings, status synergy, and agility-based survival.

Pictos

• Critical Burn: Boosts your chance to land critical hits against burning enemies.
• Dead Energy II: Grants extra AP when you defeat an enemy.
• Attack Lifesteal: Heals you for a portion of damage dealt with base attacks.

Lumina

• Augmented Attack: Boosts base attack damage by 50%.
• Burning Shots: Adds a 20% chance to inflict burn status with free aim shots.
• Dead Energy II: Provides +3 AP upon killing an enemy.
• Dodger: Grants 1 AP on perfect dodge.
• Energising Break: Restores AP when breaking an enemy’s guard.
• Energising Start II: Gives +1 AP at the start of battle.
• Marking Shots: Offers a 20% chance to apply Mark with free aim shots.
• Rewarding Mark: Grants +2 AP on dealing damage to a marked target.
• Staggering Attack: Increases break damage by 50% on base attacks.

Best Weapons for Maelle

Early Game

Weapon	Stats	Why it works
Medalum	• Level 4: Start in Virtuose Stance. • Level 10: In Virtuose Stance, every Burn applied is doubled. • Level 20: In Virtuose Stance, Burn deals double damage.	Did you not read that it starts in Virtuose stance?

Late Game

Weapon	Stats	Why it works
Jarum	• Level 4: Switch to Virtuose Stance on counterattack. • Level 10: Apply 5 Burn on counterattack. • Level 20: 50% increased counter damage per shield.	You can’t use Medalum forever, but the Jarum is the only natural upgrade with its counterattack effect.