Whether you’re diving into Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for the first time or knee-deep in New Game Plus, there’s one question on everyone’s mind: who are the best characters to bring on your expedition?
My guide breaks down every recruitable party member in the game and ranks them based on more than just raw numbers. We’re talking personality, combat utility, synergy, ease of use, story impact, you name it. If you’re trying to build the most fun or most powerful team, you’re in the right place.
BEST Expedition Members Tier List
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 features six unique party members, each with their own backstories, upgrade paths, weapons, and combat roles. With only three characters active at a time, and a max level cap of 99, your choices matter. Characters not in the active party still earn some XP, and can even jump in if the front line falls, but planning your team composition is key to surviving tougher bosses and endgame challenges.
My tier list is a blend of personal experience, community insight, and pure love for the game. It’s not just about who hits the hardest (though that helps); it’s about who fits naturally into your run and makes the journey more exciting.
Here’s how I’ll break it down:
- S-Tier – Characters that are strong from beginning to end, highly versatile, and almost always worth using.
- A-Tier – Excellent characters with a few caveats, or that shine under specific conditions.
- C-Tier – Niche or situational picks that require heavy setup or don’t quite earn a permanent spot.
S-Tier
- Lune – Lune is the gold standard in character design, both aesthetically and mechanically. She’s strong-willed without being overbearing, beautifully animated, and just an all-around joy to have in your party.
- From a gameplay perspective, Lune is the ultimate Swiss army knife. She can be a DPS, support, breaker, stunner, or healer, depending on how you build her. I’ve had her one-shot bosses like Simon with damage in the 200 million range.
- She also joins your party early, meaning you get to enjoy her utility for nearly the entire game. Her only real downside is slightly weaker AP generation compared to others, but who cares when she does everything else so well?
- Sciel – Sciel is the definition of a “team player.” She takes whatever your team does and makes it better. Her buffs, AP generation, and debuffs make her the glue that holds most comps together.
- What really sets her apart is her weapon variety. One loadout supports the team, another makes her a ranged burst-damage machine. That flexibility lets her pivot roles between battles, and once you start optimizing builds, she becomes indispensable. Honestly, I didn’t expect to love her as much as I do, but now I can’t imagine running a team without her.
A-Tier
- Maelle – Let’s get one thing out of the way: Maelle is broken. And that’s the problem.
- She’s a 16-year-old prodigy with unmatched early-game damage. She gets a god-tier weapon and trivializes large chunks of the campaign. But while that sounds great, it ends up flattening the difficulty curve a bit too much. Once she gets going, nothing else really matters.
- I still love her character. Jennifer English delivers an amazing voice performance, and her design is sleek, stylish, and intense. But because she’s overtuned to the point of breaking game balance, she lands in A-tier for me. Incredible potential, just a bit too easy-mode for my taste.
- Verso – Verso is the kind of character that grows on you, fast. Mysterious, brooding, and clearly hiding something, he actually lives up to the pre-release hype. His weapons are some of the coolest in the game (especially his light-element blade), and his kit is genuinely fun to build around.
- He can easily become a solo DPS carry with the right setup. And unlike Gustave, who shares some of his mechanics, Verso just feels tighter, more focused. He’s flexible, stylish, and voiced brilliantly by Ben Starr. He might not always be in my top three, but he’s never far from it.
C-Tier
- Monoco – Monoco is a late bloomer in every sense of the word. His damage ceiling is massive, I’ve seen him dish out over 200 million in the endgame. But getting him there? That’s the problem.
- He joins late in the story, and most players already have their team locked in by then. He also relies heavily on collecting his “feet,” which is more annoying than it is rewarding. And his gear selection? It’s flat-out bad. You don’t even get one of his best weapons until after beating the Paintress.
- Mechanically, he’s complex, with Will management and form-switching to juggle mid-battle. While that depth is interesting, it makes him harder to use efficiently compared to others. In another version of the game, he could be A-tier. But here, he just arrives too late and needs too much setup.
- Gustave – Ah, Gustave. He’s fine, I guess. From a narrative perspective, he felt like a character the writers wanted us to care about, but didn’t quite stick the landing. His obsession with Maelle, constant mood swings, and overly dramatic tone made him come off a little… whiny. Charlie Cox’s performance is great, but the writing just didn’t do him many favors.
- Combat-wise, he was mostly a mark bot for me. His kit never felt as satisfying or unique as others, and once Verso joined, Gustave fell off my radar. He has some noble moments late in the story, but not enough to elevate his place on the tier list.
Wrap-Up
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is filled with rich characters, deep mechanics, and satisfying combat, and the party members are a huge part of what makes it so memorable. While tier lists are always subjective, I hope this one gave you some new insight or helped you rethink a character you hadn’t used much. Whether you agree or completely disagree, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let’s talk team comps, builds, and best girl arguments in the comments. Ever experienced the “Find an Expeditioner” tag from the Merchant near Esquie’s Nest? Here’s why and how to fix it!
