Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 technically has six party members. Each one has its own specialty, skill tree, mechanic, and weapons—although two of them share the same ones.

There are so many progression systems and builds working together that it’s incredibly hard for any player to use the same party as someone else, or even use the same setup of passive skills, active skills, and weapons.

Then, enter Monoco, our copycat character who learns abilities from Nevrons. All in all, Monoco can have 46 distinct skills, ranging from offensive to support and defensive ones. The build options with the Gestral are huge.

Pair this amount of skills with his Bestial Wheel feature and his many weapons, and it becomes hard to know the best synergy for the character. That’s why I’ll show the best weapons for Monoco in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in this list and give you some direction in case you want to use the Gestral in your party.

10

Nusaro

Roulette Wheel

Monoco’s entire mechanics rely on his Bestial Wheel. You don’t need to use an upgraded skill to take advantage of it, but it’s always better when you’re on a Mask that enhances your best attacks.

That’s why weapons like Nusaro

are more of a nuisance than a benefit. While it gives bonus damage on upgraded skills and more AP whenever you change Masks, its core effect is so unreliable that it’s hard to build around.

If you land a parry, you advance the Bestial Wheel, but if you miss, it resets. You don’t know what attack the enemy will throw at you, how many parries you’ll need, or even if you’ll pull one off. It’s way too dependent on RNG and out of your hands, so it’s not worth the trouble.

9

Fragaro

Lucky Shots

Fragaro

follows the same line of thinking as Nusaro. Every Free Shot moves the Bestial Wheel to a random value, which doesn’t exactly scream “what a good strategy I consciously created for my Monoco.”

It’s a fun build for those who want to play gunslinger in Expedition 33 – for that, I recommend slotting in every Shot Picto you can find – but even then, it doesn’t do justice to all the unique abilities Monoco can learn to support the party.

Worst of all, Fragaro contradicts itself. One effect boosts your attacks when on the Almighty Mask, while another removes effects when on that very Mask. Yeah, don’t waste your time with this one.

8

Urnaro

Don’t Fix What Ain’t Broken

Urnaro

is the kind of weapon that favors builds that Break the enemy. It’s pretty situational, but it can be powerful depending on what skills you’ve learned with Monoco.

Ramasseur Bonk

, for example, is highly efficient at breaking enemies. Pair it with the 50% bonus Break Damage and Pictos like Break Specialist

and Breaker

, and your enemies will be nearly stunlocked.

The best part is that when you Break an enemy, Monoco automatically shifts to Almighty Mask, giving 2 AP to all party members. Just keep in mind that it has to be Monoco who Breaks the opponent, not your other party members, which makes this weapon’s execution a bit flimsy.

7

Boucharo

Trying To Be Agile

Boucharo

lets you start battle in Agile Mask, which is great when you’ve got plenty of skills in your set that are upgraded by that mask. For instance, Chapelier Slash

is insanely strong, just bring in some Energising Start I

to cover the AP cost.

The good thing about starting in Agile Mask is that Monoco gets Rush for three turns, and free buffs are always welcome. Considering the weapon scales with Agility and Luck, it’s assumed that a speed-based build is in order for the Gestral.

The problem is that there are so many better weapons that it’s hard to justify using Boucharo instead of the others. It’s Fire-element too, which might help if you’re up against an enemy weak to that element.

6

Monocaro

Power In The Simplicity

Monocaro

is the weapon Monoco starts with, and its effect, as simple as it sounds, is quite effective. With it equipped, Monoco starts in Balanced Mask, which also automatically grants him Powerful for 3 turns.

There’s no secret here. Just use Monocaro if you’ve got any skill with the character that benefits from Balanced Mask. Abilities like Chalier Combo

and Danseuse Waltz

are great against bosses.

You can even experiment with a more support-oriented Monoco if you’ve learned Clair Enfeeble

or Contorsionniste Blast

. Ultimately, it depends more on how committed you are to teaching Monoco all the skills and adapting his weapons to the ones you’ve unlocked.

5

Brumaro

Not Always Almighty

I’ll be honest: in no battle with Monoco did I ever use skills based on how many turns the Bestial Wheel would spin. I cast the most appropriate one and adapted as Monoco’s turn came around.

However, if you’re the type who calculates the Wheel’s rotation carefully, Brumaro

might be right up your alley. This weapon only benefits you when you land on the Almighty Mask, which, as you know, is a relatively rare occurrence.

But if you manage to land on Almighty, rejoice. With Brumaro, you’ll get bonus AP, Monoco will be able to act twice, and if he happens to die, he’ll be revived. I’m unsure if this weapon pairs with Second Chance

, but if it does, it’s even better than I expected.

4

Ballaro

AP To Everyone

Like I said, I never paid attention to the Bestial Wheel’s order, so an effect like “reverse the Bestial Wheel” doesn’t mean much to me. However, a passive that gives more AP to allies when using an upgraded skill is much more appealing.

With Ballaro

equipped, I slotted several low-AP-cost skills on Monoco, each tied to a different Mask. That way, I always guaranteed I was using an upgraded skill, dealing more effective damage thanks to the match and, as a bonus, giving AP to my team.

That’s when I realized Monoco was a great support character. Eventually, I swapped it out for better weapons, but Ballaro carried me through a good chunk of the JRPG.

3

Grandaro

Heavy Hitter, Heavy Hitted

When I listed the best weapons for Verso, I mentioned that one of his weapons was great for one-hit KO’ing fodder enemies. Monoco’s Grandaro

serves the same purpose. Starting in Heavy Mask and using a Chevaliere Thrusts

was more than enough to wipe out all enemies.

Since the weapon scales with Vitality and Defense, it also allows for a more tanky Monoco build. I don’t recommend it, though, because as I said, my goal was to deal as much damage as possible right on the first turn.

But the option is there. Monoco starts with Shell when using Grandaro and gains bonus AP for every hit taken. Pair this passive with the Picto skill Energising Pain

and any 3-hit combo will refill the Gestral’s reserves.

2

Chromaro

The Best Support Monoco

When I turned my Monoco into support, Chromaro

stayed with me through my entire endgame run. Starting in Caster Mask doesn’t say much on its own, but paired with First Strike

, it lets me use Potier Energy

right at the start of battle, filling up my party’s AP.

Since he always started in Caster Mask and Potier Energy moves the Wheel by 6, the next Mask would be Heavy Mask, meaning I could then use a skill like Boucheclier Fortify

to protect all my allies.

To get the most out of your turns, I recommend defeating Sprong in Expedition 33 and getting Cheater

, arguably the best Picto in the game. There’s no boss that can handle this combo of full AP and Shield protection.

1

Joyaro

The Almighty Weapon

You know what’s better than a weapon that starts in Caster Mask? One that begins in Almighty Mask. Think of all the Monoco skills I mentioned that depend on a specific Mask, and now remove that requirement, because with Joyaro

, you’ll always start in Almighty Mask.

Granted, this effect is much more useful at the start of battle than later on, but damn, it’s powerful. If you use a Ramasseur Bonk with Joyaro equipped, the Break Damage dealt to any monster is nearly 50% thanks to its level 20 passive effect.

Joyaro was the weapon I used with Monoco for the rest of the game, including the one to defeat the endgame boss Simon. Though to be fair, Monoco didn’t even attack in that fight, since Maelle took the boss out with just one hit using her then-overpowered Stendahl

before the nerfs.

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Released

April 24, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence

Developer(s)

Sandfall Interactive

Publisher(s)

Kepler Interactive

Engine

Unreal Engine 5