Best Skills to Use in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Ranked

Patrick_Yu

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 puts a strong focus on skill-based combat, where the right abilities can make the difference between victory and defeat. With dozens of powerful moves available across the cast, knowing which skills are worth investing in is essential for surviving late-game bosses and optimizing your team’s performance. This guide ranks the best skills in the game based on raw damage output, utility, and reliability across all phases of the expedition.

1. Lightning Dance (Lune)

Cost: 7 AP
Effect: 6-hit Lightning skill that scales heavily with stains and can trigger extra hits on critical strikes

Lightning Dance is one of the strongest single-target skills in the game. Once fully empowered with Fire, Ice, and Earth stains, it significantly outdamages Elemental Genesis, and the difference is noticeable. The total damage multiplier sits around 33 percent higher, and when paired with a high Luck build to trigger extra hits on crits, the results are ridiculous.

The skill also builds momentum. Each use grants Lune one Lightning and one Light stain, which feeds into other stain-based abilities and stacking bonuses. This makes it ideal for long fights, especially boss battles where maximizing elemental output matters. If you're using Lune as a main damage dealer, Lightning Dance should be a core part of her kit. It's not just one of her best skills, it's one of the most efficient damage options in the entire game.

2. Creation Void (Monoco)

Cost: 9 AP
Effect: Hits random targets 3 times with high Void damage. Each additional hit on the same target increases total damage. Gains bonus damage when used at the Caster or Almighty mask positions on the Bestial Wheel.

Creation Void is Monoco’s best offensive skill and one of the most explosive nukes in the game, if used correctly. While it targets randomly, the value of this move goes up dramatically when there’s only one enemy left. If all three hits land on a single target, the damage scales up fast, with each consecutive hit doing more than the last.

To get the most out of this skill, time it for when the Bestial Wheel pointer lands on the Caster Mask. This gives it a big damage boost, and combined with Void scaling, it can wipe out bosses or high-HP enemies in one turn. You also move the wheel forward by four ticks when casting, which helps you cycle through masks faster for Monoco's long-term playstyle.

The downside is its inconsistency in multi-target fights, but if you're facing a single boss or have already cleared the adds, Creation Void is a reliable finisher. It’s a high-risk, high-reward skill that becomes essential for Monoco-focused builds.

3. Phantom Stars (Verso)

Cost: 9 AP (reduced to 5 at S Perfection Rank)
Effect: Deals extreme Light damage to all enemies. Hits 5 times. Can inflict Break.

Phantom Stars is one of Verso’s best all-around skills and easily one of the strongest area-of-effect attacks in the game. It hits all enemies five times, deals heavy Light damage, and contributes significantly to building the Break gauge. Against clustered enemies or bosses with multiple phases, it clears space fast and keeps pressure on every target.

The real value comes when Verso is at S Perfection Rank. At that point, the skill’s cost drops from 9 to 5 AP, making it both efficient and devastating. It allows Verso to use a high-damage skill without draining his AP pool, which pairs well with aggressive or sustained builds.

Phantom Stars also has solid utility thanks to its wide coverage and synergy with Break-focused team compositions. Whether you're farming mobs or chipping away at a boss while applying status effects, this skill always pulls its weight. It might not be a one-shot move like Stendhal, but it’s consistent, efficient, and reliable across most of the game.

4. Twilight Dance (Sciel)

Cost: 9 AP
Effect: Deals heavy single-target Dark damage across 4 hits. Consumes all Foretell stacks for bonus damage and extends Twilight by 1 turn.

Twilight Dance is Sciel’s strongest single-target skill when used with max Foretell stacks. Each stack consumed adds more damage, turning this into a reliable option for deleting high-value enemies or bosses that need to go down fast.

It also works seamlessly within her overall rotation. The skill extends her Twilight state by one turn and generates a Moon Charge on use, allowing Sciel to maintain her resource loop without wasting momentum.

What makes Twilight Dance stand out is how well it rewards proper planning. It delivers strong damage and also fuels the rest of Sciel’s toolkit, making it essential for players who want to build her around consistent pressure and high burst windows.

5. Elemental Genesis (Lune)

Cost: 4 AP
Effect: Deals extreme damage to all enemies across 8 hits. Each hit uses a random element. Requires Lightning, Earth, Fire, and Ice stains to cast. Does not grant stains on use.

Elemental Genesis doesn’t look that impressive at first glance, but once you build around it, it becomes one of the most efficient and repeatable area-of-effect skills in the game. For only 4 AP, you’re getting a powerful, multi-element attack that hits every enemy and can be cast nearly every turn with the right setup.

This skill really comes alive when paired with Elemental Trick and a 100 percent crit setup. With the Cheater Picto, along with basic Fire and Ice spells and support from Kralim, you can reliably loop this skill every second turn, or even every time Lune takes a turn. And if you’ve removed the damage cap, it becomes a dominant AoE tool well into the endgame.

While it doesn't provide stains, its low cost and synergy with stain-generating abilities make it easy to sustain. If you need consistent, hard-hitting coverage that doesn't drain your AP bar, Elemental Genesis delivers every time.

6. Duallist Storm (Monoco)

Cost: 8 AP
Effect: Deals extreme single-target Physical damage across 4 hits. Can inflict Break. Using this skill while the Bestial Wheel is at the Almighty Mask increases its damage. Advances the wheel by 1 tick.

Duallist Storm is Monoco’s best skill for initiating Break setups, especially when paired with the right loadout. If you equip the Joyaro weapon to start the battle on the Almighty Mask and combine it with the Cheater Picto, you can fire this off right away for a strong opener. It reliably breaks most regular enemies and chunks a large portion of the Break gauge against bosses.

At 8 AP, the cost is manageable considering the damage and momentum it provides. It also helps push the Bestial Wheel forward, which is important for managing Monoco’s long-term output and triggering future mask bonuses.

This skill doesn’t require a complicated setup or high-maintenance rotation. It’s fast, effective, and essential if you're building Monoco for Break pressure or want to open fights with strong single-target impact.

7. Fortune’s Fury (Sciel)

Cost: 5 AP
Effect: Grants one ally double damage for 1 turn. Also gives Sciel 1 Sun Charge.

Fortune’s Fury is the foundation of nearly every high-damage setup in Expedition 33. For just 5 AP, Sciel can double the damage output of any party member, making this skill one of the most efficient and essential buffs in the game. Whether you’re setting up a boss-killing combo or just speeding up routine fights, this ability scales with everything and fits into any comp.

It also builds toward Sciel’s unique resource system by generating a Sun Charge, feeding into her long-term support loop. Combined with Intervention and Delaying Slash, Sciel becomes the single best support character in the game. Every one-shot build, from Stendhal to Creation Void, starts with her.

This skill isn’t flashy, but it’s what makes the flashy plays possible. If you're trying to push your damage to absurd levels, it always begins with Fortune’s Fury.

8. Intervention (Sciel)

Cost: 5 AP
Effect: Targeted ally acts immediately and gains 4 AP. Also grants Sciel 1 Moon Charge.

Intervention is one of the most broken skills in Expedition 33, and it’s not just a late-game gimmick. From the start of Act 1, this ability lets you break the normal flow of combat by giving your strongest party members immediate turns and a full 4 AP to work with. It’s hard to overstate how much control this gives you over the battlefield.

Pair it with the Cheater Picto, and things get even more tilted. You’re essentially trading one of Sciel’s turns for two of someone else’s, often setting up massive burst windows or saving a near-death run with a perfectly timed intervention. Whether it’s enabling a Stendhal kill, recharging Elemental Genesis, or doubling down on Creation Void, this skill is always doing work.

It’s simple, powerful, and always useful. In a game full of strong tools, Intervention stands out as the most abusable one.

9. Gommage (Maelle)

Cost: 3 Gradient Charges
Effect: Instantly kills weak targets. If the target survives, deals extreme single-hit Void damage. Also changes Maelle’s stance to Virtuose. Using Gradient Skills does not consume a turn.

Gommage is one of the most efficient Gradient Skills in the game. It either deletes a weak enemy instantly or delivers a massive Void hit that rivals some of the highest single-target nukes in the roster. On top of that, it shifts Maelle into Virtuose Stance, setting her up for follow-up skills like Stendhal without burning a turn.

Because Gradient Skills don’t consume your action, Gommage functions as both a finisher and a setup tool. You can wipe out an enemy, enter Virtuose, and immediately chain into something stronger with full momentum. It’s especially useful in mid- to late-game fights where turn economy matters, and Maelle’s flexibility makes her a key part of any burst strategy.

10. Stendhal (Maelle)

Cost: 8 AP
Effect: Deals extreme single-target Void damage. 1 hit. Removes Maelle’s shields and applies Defenceless to herself. Also changes her stance to Stanceless.

Even after its 40 percent damage nerf and the Medalum bug fix, Stendhal is still one of the most dangerous single-target skills in the game. It may have lost around 70 percent of its original raw damage, but in practical terms, it continues to delete most enemies with a single strike. For the few that survive, a second cast finishes the job.

The drawback is real. Maelle loses her shields and becomes Defenceless, leaving her wide open if the enemy survives. But in most optimized builds, that risk never becomes a factor. With support from Fortune’s Fury, Intervention, and the Cheater Picto, Stendhal often ends the fight before the enemy gets to respond.

This skill isn't something you throw out casually. It's a centerpiece move that entire turns are built around. Post-nerf or not, it still delivers exactly what it was designed to do; bring everything to a close.