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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33shows of the magical technology of Lumiere’s people right from the start. Gustave and Maelle zip around rooftops on summoned grappling hooks and conjure swords for a pickup duel out of thin air. As the game goes on, we’re treated to even more wondrous powers, and it even becomes part of the game’s equipment system. All this is thanks to Pictos.
Pictos (a word which is the same singular as it is plural) are what give the characters in Clair Obscur the superhuman abilities that let them fight Nevrons, and give them a fighting chance against the Paintress. Here’s everything we know about them.
What Do Pictos Do?
Pictos areglowing glyphs that each have a single, narrow function.Once created, they can be used indefinitely and can even be transferred from one individual to another. Broadly, they fall into two broad categories:
How Many Pictos Can A Person Use?
Each character can equipup to three Ability Pictos at a time. Adding a fourth requires removing one that they already have equipped. This seems to be a hard limit, and while it’s not explicitly stated, there appears to be a similar limit to Object Pictos as well.
Everyone who uses Object Pictos in Clair Obscur hasno more than three;typically theirweapon, their grappling hook, and a personal item.For example, Lune has her Stain Glyph for casting spells, her grappling hook, and her guitar.
What Is The Lumina Converter?
Expedition 33’s chief innovation is the Lumina Converter, Gustave’s invention after a lifetime of research. By absorbing and refining the chroma from defeated Nevrons, itcreates copies of Ability Pictos called Luminasthat can be shared and equipped without the normal limit of three per person.
The goal of the Lumina Converter is toallow the members of Expedition 33 to use many times more Pictos powers than previous Expeditions ever could, enhancing their combat capabilities to the point where they can take on the Nevrons of the Continent and the godlike Paintress. Of course, since there areno Nevrons in Lumiere to test the device on, its utility is purely theoretical until Expedition 33 begins.
