In the perilous world of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, mastering the art of breaking enemies is your key to survival. Every foe hides a fragile break bar beneath their health, and filling it with precise, powerful attacks can stun even the mightiest bosses-granting you a crucial edge by denying them their next move and amplifying your damage. Learn how to exploit this mechanic and turn the tide of battle in your favor with our definitive guide to breaking enemies in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
In this Expedition 33 guide, we’ll walk you through how to break enemies, including how to fill the break bar, and what actually happens when you successfully break an enemy.
How to fill the break bar in Expedition 33
In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the break bar is a golden meter located beneath an enemy’s health bar that fills up as the enemy takes damage. To fill this bar efficiently, focus on dealing significant damage, especially by targeting weak points with free aim attacks or using skills that specifically mention “Break Damage” in their descriptions. Combos with multiple hits tend to fill the break bar less effectively, so prioritize high-impact single hits and counterattacks for faster filling. Once the break bar is full, a small gold diamond appears, signaling that the enemy can be broken by using specific “Can Break” skills. Successfully breaking an enemy stuns them, causing them to lose their next turn and take increased damage, providing a strategic advantage in battle.
As you deal damage to enemies in Expedition 33, you’ll fill a gold bar underneath their health bar (as you can see in the image above).
The in-game expedition basics guide says this is proportional to the damage the enemy takes, but that doesn’t seem entirely true according to our testing, as plenty of enemies die well before their bar hits max. Big hits – specifically hitting weak points with your free aim attack – seems to fill quite a bit of the break bar, for example.
How to break enemies in Expedition 33
To break enemies in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, you first need to fill their break bar, a golden meter located beneath their health bar that fills as they take damage. Significant damage, especially targeting weak points or using skills with “Break Damage,” fills this bar faster. Once the break bar is full, a small gold star appears, indicating the enemy is vulnerable to being broken. To actually break them, you must use specific skills labeled “Can Break,” which often have a gold star icon next to their AP cost. Successfully breaking an enemy stuns them, causing them to lose their next turn and making them take 20% more damage for the remainder of that turn. This mechanic is particularly useful against bosses and tough foes, allowing you to interrupt their attacks and maximize your damage output.
If the enemy is still alive after you’ve managed to fully fill the bar, you’ll see a little star appear to the right of the bar. This means the enemy is susceptible to the break status effect. To inflict the effect, you’ll need to use certain kinds of skills that specifically call out their ability to break.
Gustave’s Overcharge attack, for example, says it “can break” and has a little gold diamond next to the name. This means that if you use this attack on an enemy with a full break bar, they will gain the break status effect. Other skills, however, might require you to do a little more work than just using it on an enemy. Lune’s Mayhem skill is a good example of this, as it can break, but only if you consume four stains while using it.
Break status effects in Expedition 33
In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, breaking enemies involves filling their break bar-a yellow gauge beneath their health bar-by dealing damage, especially targeting weak points with free aim attacks. Once the break bar is full, indicated by a small yellow diamond, you must use specific “break” skills to apply the break status effect. When broken, enemies are stunned, lose their next turn, and take 20% increased damage for the remainder of that turn. This mechanic is particularly valuable against bosses and tougher foes, allowing players to interrupt enemy actions and gain a significant combat advantage.
Going through all the trouble to break an enemy is well worth it, as they’ll take 20% additional damage for the duration of the turn. Most enemies – though not all – will also be stunned, causing them to lose the turn right after they’re broken. This means you and your allies can each go twice in a row, depending on your speed stat.
Breaking isn’t a very common status effect, as most enemies in the wild won’t survive your attacks long enough for you to fill their entire break bar, let alone survive the attack that finally breaks them. This is more of a boon against bosses, whose attack cycles you’ll benefit greatly from interrupting.
How can I effectively exploit enemy weaknesses to break them faster in Expedition 33
To effectively exploit enemy weaknesses and break them faster in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, focus on these key strategies:
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Target enemy weak points with your free aim attacks, as these hits fill the break bar significantly faster than regular damage.
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Use skills and passives that specifically increase break buildup, such as those from the “Breaking” series of Pictos and Lumina, which boost how much an attack fills the break bar.
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Prioritize multi-hit skills and heavy attacks, like Myel’s multi-hit abilities or Gustaf’s heavy strikes, since they contribute greatly to filling the break bar quickly.
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Equip and use skills that explicitly state they can break enemies once the break bar is full (e.g., Gustaf’s Overcharge or Lune’s Mayhem), as only these can trigger the break status and stun the enemy.
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For enemies with high evasion or tricky animations (like Mimes), enhance your party’s accuracy and timing to land hits reliably and consider passives that aid break buildup.
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Always break shields first using anti-shield or multi-hit skills before targeting weak points, as shields block damage and hinder break bar buildup.
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Switch elemental damage types if an enemy resists one element, to maximize damage and break bar filling efficiency.
By combining precise targeting of weak points, the right break-enhancing skills, and tactical use of break-triggering abilities, you can stun enemies faster and gain a crucial advantage in battle.
What skills or passives best increase break buildup against high-evasion enemies in Expedition 33
To increase break buildup effectively against high-evasion enemies like Mimes in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, focus on these skills and passives:
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Monoco’s Bonk skill: When empowered, it fills 20% of an enemy’s break bar per hit, making it highly effective against evasive foes.
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Counterattacks: These are powerful for both damage and break buildup, especially when combined with pictos that boost break damage.
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Sniper Picto: Enhances the damage of the first free aim shot and allows it to break, which helps bypass evasion limitations by focusing on precise shots.
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Luminina passives that boost break buildup: These passives specifically help with filling the break bar faster on enemies with high evasion and stagger resistance.
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Myel’s multi-hit skills: Multi-hit attacks contribute significantly to break buildup by applying multiple hits quickly, which is crucial against enemies that dodge frequently.
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Gustaf’s heavy attacks and Overcharge skill: These deal substantial break damage and can trigger the break status once the bar is full.
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Skills that apply Mark status: Marking enemies (e.g., with Marking Shot) can synergize with other party members’ skills that increase damage or break buildup on marked targets, improving overall break efficiency.
Combining these skills and passives with careful timing and targeting weak points will maximize break buildup against high-evasion enemies and make breaking them faster and more reliable.
