Summary
- Verso's strength lies in high damage output, unique style, and building up the Perfection meter.
- Some of Verso's skills lack power, take too long to ramp up, and struggle to keep up in damage.
- Skills like Ascending Assault, Berserk Slash, and Quick Strike fall short in delivering significant damage.
There's no question about Verso's strength as a character in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, as he brings some serious damage output right from the moment he joins the team, as well as some extra style to the RPG that other characters don't have. The ability to build up the Perfection meter is core to his playstyle, and players will want to pay close attention to which of his skills benefit each level and how best to make use of the S grade right at the top. The satisfaction that comes with reaching the final tier and unleashing a devastating attack is pretty hard to beat, and the damage Verso provides alone is among the best.
Verso Build Guide in Clair Obscur Expedition 33
Here's an example of how to build Verso in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
With that being said, there are a few skills of his that lack some of that power that is otherwise found in the rest of the set, some not providing enough damage in general, and others requiring too much setup that is often overshadowed by the ability to just burst damage straight away. Any skill can work in the game, and any build can find success, but there are certainly some that offer a lot more power than others.
4 Ascending Assault
Takes Too Long To Ramp Up
- AP Cost: 5, (2 at S)
- Effect: Perfection Rank S: Deals low single-target damage, 1 hit. Uses weapon's element. Increase damage at each cast. S: Costs 2 AP
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Ascending Assault
The traditional Verso playstyle is to build up the Perfection meter as quickly as possible, parrying as many attacks as possible, and trying to maintain that top grade. Without certain weapons, reaching it can take a few turns, and when the player finally gets there, the fight is normally over, or they will want to make use of the extra damage and effects from their skills without spending even more turns. Ascending Assault gives players an incentive to repeat the same attack over and over, but the damage starts out pretty low, and when they get to S, even though the skill becomes cheap, the actual damage output still struggles to match some of Verso's other skills.
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It's a hard skill to get working, as in order to fully make use of the scaling mechanic, players will need to cast it several times, often well before they manage to get S, which means multiple turns of dealing mediocre damage and a slow build to S. It doesn't help players build Perfection, doesn't deal insane damage and even when it has been cast plenty of times, the overall damage output of the player would have been higher with almost any other set of skills.
3 Berserk Slash
An Average Attack That Struggles To Keep Up
- AP Cost: 4
- Effect: Perfection Rank C: Deals medium single-target Physical damage. 3 hits. Damage is increased for each health Verso is missing. C: Increased damage
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Berserk Slash
Berserk Strike is an okay damage-dealing skill that helps the player in the early stages of a fight when S rank is still out of reach. The single-target damage is pretty good against smaller foes, but the issue is that if the enemy is easy enough, they will just die which makes the missing health buff redundant and if it is a harder enemy or boss, then the player will have a much better time focusing on heavy buffs and higher damage skills than a basic skill that falls off very quickly.
The skill is also quite expensive for what it accomplishes, not pushing the Perfection bar too much, and also struggling to make a big enough dent in a boss' health pool to warrant taking it. For early game skirmishes where enemies fall over to just a few attacks, it isn't the worst choice, but even then, there are certain skills that outshine this one in more ways than just raw damage.
2 Quick Strike
An Okay First Attack But Nothing More
- AP Cost: 2
- Effect: Perfection Rank D: Deals low single-target physical damage. 1 hit. D: Gives more Perfection
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Quick Strike
Quick Strike suffers from a similar problem to many of Verso's other skills. It is a basic utility ability that helps players get started in a fight when their rank isn't the highest. The issue lies in both the lack of overall damage output and the low level of actual help that it provides, as in most cases players will be able to either start the fight at a much higher rank thanks to their weapon's abilities, or move past D in no time, which makes the ability useless beyond the first turn or two.
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It doesn't cost a whole lot, which can be nice, and being able to jump ahead from rock bottom isn't the worst way of getting back into a fight, but when building up Perfection over time, it is nice to have some actual consistent damage output along the way, so simply having some extra Perfection on a low damage attack doesn't actually do a whole lot in the grand scheme of things and players will quickly find that this skill is superseded by far better choices.
1 Paradigm Shift
AP Recovery That Is Rarely Needed
- AP Cost: 1
- Effect: Perfection Rank C: Deals low Physical single target damage and gives 1-3 AP back. 3 hits. C +1 AP
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Paradigm Shift
Paradigm shift falls into the category of AP generating skills that many of the party members have, all of which function in a similar way, and none of them gives a great deal of power. AP is the governing currency when it comes to combat, and having the right amount to keep the skills coming is incredibly important. The trouble is that either the enemies die before the extra AP is needed, or they will attack enough times in a row for the player to parry through and regain all their lost AP without even needing to spend a skill.
On top of this, because the skill costs one AP in itself, the actual bonus is only a maximum of three, which is quickly outshone by the parry gains and only comes into play if the player is at C rank.
The biggest use case for the skill is when the player is fully zeroed out, but at that point, good dodges and Picto combinations will effectively nullify the need for this skill and despite being an okay utility choice for players struggling to reach the higher numbers, it can easily be replaced by another more useful skill.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Released
- April 24, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Sandfall Interactive
- Publisher(s)
- Kepler Interactive
- Genre(s)
- Turn-Based RPG, JRPG, Fantasy
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
