Sandfall Interactive, the developer behind the acclaimed role-playing game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, has released Patch 1.2.3 across all platforms. This update brings a host of fixes and critical balance changes, including a nerf to the game's most potent build, as detailed in the patch notes below.
Although Sandfall had initially planned to focus solely on bug fixes and not on balance adjustments at this early stage, the overwhelming power of one particular build prompted them to reconsider. "Well, Stendhal did," the developer remarked, acknowledging the build's dominance.
The build in question involved the young fencer Maelle and the sword Medalum, which unlocked the Virtuose Stance, granting a 200% bonus damage. Players exploited this by combining it with ability-stacking and the Stendhal skill, which inflicted extreme single-target Void damage, enabling them to deal billions of damage and defeat the final boss in a single hit.
"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. It ended up overshadowing most other options," Sandfall explained. While the developer still wants players to have the thrill of breaking the game, they noted that Stendhal made it "a bit too easy."
With the nerf included in the first full hotfix set, Stendhal remains a strong single-hit skill with great synergy potential, but its damage has been brought more in line with other game elements. Additionally, the patch corrects an issue where Medalum's third Lumina was doubling all damage in Virtuose Stance, rather than just Burn damage.
Here are the key points from today's patch notes:
- Fixed Medalum third Lumina doubling all damage in Virtuose Stance instead of doubling only Burn damage.
- Stendhal: Reduced damage by 40%.
Maelle Outfits and Haircuts - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has become a breakout hit for Sandfall, with sales surpassing 2 million copies. It's noteworthy that the game was a day-one title on Game Pass, alongside Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. This achievement is even more remarkable given the simultaneous launch of both games, which initially led many to believe there could be only one winner. However, both games have thrived, proving there's ample space for quality RPGs in the market.
The success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has even caught the attention of French President Macron, who praised the development team. For those new to the game, be sure to check out our tips for the important things to know before diving in.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 update 1.2.3 patch notes:
Steam Deck
- Fixed backgrounds of various menus not displaying properly on the Steam Deck.
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 counter attack 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 ship wreck 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 (poor guy):
- 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 the same place during the 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.
