Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Patch Nerfs Overpowered Ability, Fixes UI and Map Bugs

Sandfall Interactive has released Patch 1.2.3 for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, delivering the game’s first major balance update and a long list of quality-of-life improvements. The patch notably nerfs the late-game ability Stendhal, which allowed the character Maelle to deal extreme damage and oneshot the toughest bosses when paired with specific buffs. The nerf was announced a day ahead of the patch, with developers offering a detailed explanation for rebalancing the ability despite the game being PvE-only.

The ability’s damage has been reduced by 40% after players discovered that, with the right setup of Pictos and Luminas (which act as damage multipliers), Maelle could deal upwards of 150 million damage in a single hit—trivializing even the game’s toughest boss fights. In response, the developers acknowledged the move had become too dominant in the end-game and said they had unintentionally overtuned it during pre-launch balance passes. As a partial offset, Maelle’s Medalum weapon now doubles all damage dealt in Virtuose stance (which, in theory, would once again allow players to reach absurd damage numbers with a single attack).

UPDATE 05/09/2025 5:01PM EST: we were able to reach 240 million damage per Stendhal cast after the patch, so the nerf hasn’t changed much.

Alongside the combat changes, patch 1.2.3 introduces ultrawide resolution fixes, Steam Deck improvements, UI adjustments for mouse and keyboard, and numerous bug fixes addressing spots on the world map where players could get stuck—especially the character Esquie, who had a knack for glitching into terrain.

The update also adds PS5 controller support on Xbox Game Pass for PC and fixes several weapon scaling bugs. Sandfall confirmed this patch is the first in a series of updates planned for the coming months, with additional feature requests and fixes already in the pipeline.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launched to critical acclaim and recently surpassed 2 million copies sold. Read the full patch notes below:

Steam Deck

• Fixed backgrounds of various menus not displaying properly on the Steam Deck
  
  Xbox Game Pass
• PC Game Pass: PS5 controllers are now compatible
  
  
  Various ultrawide fixes
  
• Gameplay no longer becomes zoomed after a cutscene occurs in ultrawide resolutions
• The Options menu image will no longer be stretched in ultrawide resolutions
• Combat UI now adapts correctly to ultrawide resolutions
• Game will no longer minimize upon changing settings in ultrawide resolution
• Cutscenes won’t letterbox in 32:9 aspect ratio
• Title screen now displays fullscreen when the game is launched in ultrawide resolution
  
  
  Mouse and keyboard
  
• UI button prompts in Expedition Menu are now visible and fully able to be triggered with keyboard
• Mouse buttons do not become unresponsive after first use
• With mouse cursor on screen, using “WSAD” or directional arrows to navigate in UI or trigger any other functionality will no longer hide the cursor instead of doing the intended action
• Left mouse-button click will no longer block the player from using keyboard to navigate menus
• Mouse input is not lost after the first jump counterattack if it is pressed only once
  
  
  Fixed areas of the world map where you can get stuck:
  
• Between lanterns scattered on the ground near Stone Wave Cliff portal
• While walking on the shipwreck near the Forgotten Battlefield level entrance
• Between lanterns on the ground near Bourgeon encounter next to Stone Wave Cliffs level
• Between two small rocks located between Spring Meadows and Abbest Cave
• Between vases and corals when jumping from rooftops
• Between various rocks
• In ruins behind Flying Manor level entrance
• Near the bridge between Flying Waters and Spring Meadows
• In the rocks on the World Map, near Flying Waters
• Next to hardened land, close to the Flying Waters location exit
  
  
  Fixed situations where Esquie specifically would get stuck:
  
• When taking off from paint bridges, making him fall through the bridge and restrict movement
• When flying into bottom parts of levitating structures near Visages
• Near the Flying Waters entrance level
• Near a giant hammer when traversing close to Blades’ Graveyard level
  
  Weapon and skill fixes and tuning:
• Fixed Lithelim attribute scaling not working at high level. Reduced initial Vitality scaling from A to C (will still end at S at max level). Added Luck scaling starting at D.
• Fixed Blizzon attribute scaling not working at high level. Reduced initial Luck scaling from B to C (will still end at S at max level). Added defense scaling starting at D.
• Fixed Medalum third Lumina doubling all damage in Virtuose Stance instead of doubling only Burn damage.
• Stendhal: Reduced damage by 40%.
  
  Other fixes:
• Boss encounter in Stone Wave Cliffs can now be finished on NG+
• You will no longer be blocked by the Journal UI window after opening the first Journal in the Spring Meadows
• Fixed being unable to shoot in Free aim while exploring levels due to worn triggers
• Lune and Monoco no longer spawn in same place during end of their Level 6 relationship quests if they are completed without going to camp
• If at camp you pick “Remember the objective,” then quickly choose to “Go to sleep,” and immediately after press “Leave,” the screen no longer goes black
• You can no longer trigger the “Discovering the truth” cutscene in Old Lumière a second time in a row, splitting the party forever with only Verso and Maelle in it.
• Update to rolling credits