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Many ofClair Obscur: Expedition 33’s playable characters have complex playstyles that can take a bit of getting used to, but thankfully the starting hero, Gustave, isn’t one of them. He might have a more limited Skill tree to start with than the other members of the team, but he can handle most situations by relying on his core abilities.
Gustave’s style should be familiar to JRPG fans; hit enemies a bunch of times to build up charge, then unleash an ultimate attack to (hopefully) finish the fight. If you want to make the most out of Gustave’s powers, read on.
How To Use Gustave’s Overcharge
Whenever it’s Gustave’s turn in combat, you’ll see hisCharge Meteron the right side of the screen. It gains one point of Charge every time he hits an enemy, up to a maximum of ten. There’s no penalty for being at minimum or maximum Charge, though once the gauge is filled further attacks won’t push it any higher.
Charge is used to power Gustave’sOverchargeSkill, which drains the meter and deals more damage for each point that it had. Ideally, this means you want tocharge Gustave up to ten as quickly as possible, then unleash Overcharge.
Overcharge costs 4 AP to use, so be ready with Energy Tints, parries, or even a Base Attack to power up if needed.
Many of Gustave’s non-combat Skills, likeRecovery, also grant Charge, but are usually slower than his combo attacks likeLumiere Assault.
Tips For Gustave
Gustave has some Lightning-based Skills that can be useful in specific matchups, but in most cases it’s best tohave him stick to the basics and leave the elemental damage to Lune.Instead, have him use Lumiere Assault whenever possible, as it’s the most efficient way to build up Charge, then use Overcharge once the meter is at maximum.
If the Charge Meter is at nine, a Base Attack is all you need to fill it up, unless the situation is desperate and you need the enemy to fall.
Since Gustave makes heavy use of multi-hit Skills,it’s a good idea to make Luck his primary Attribute.Not only does that ensure that more of his hits will crit, dealing more damage, butLumiere Assault also adds an extra point of Charge each time it gets a Critical Hit.If you’re very lucky, it can even fill the meter in one go.
Pictos And Lumina
If he doesn’t have a chance to land a combo, Gustave can have trouble building up AP on his own. It’s a good idea to offset this with Luminas likeDead EnergyorEnergizing Start.SOS Poweris also a good pick for him, as it’s a reasonably easy way to get a damage buff without having to spend a turn casting Powerful.
Augmented Aimcombined with Dead Energy makes a great way to pick up extra AP early on; just hit a smaller enemy in its weak point with a Free Aim shot, buffed by the Lumina, and take the additional AP.
