Weapon, Attributes & Upgrades Guide

In Expedition 33, you unlock a plethora of weapons for each character. Understanding the essential components of each weapon is crucial for the success of each combat encounter. Once mastered, you can utilize them to adapt and overcome difficult opponents easily. In this guide, we take a closer look at each component, which makes or breaks a weapon.

Shortly after unlocking Lune, you are introduced to the Elemental Affinities System. It describes the interaction between the element of your skill or weapon and the affinity of the enemy. But learning the basics about Weakness, Resistance, Nullify and Absorb is only the first step.

The following elements exist in the game:

• Fire
• Earth
• Lightning
• Ice
• Light
• Dark
• Physical
• Void

The skill's element usually overwrites the element of your weapon. But Free Aim Shot and Base Attack always use the weapon's element.

Upon leveling up your character, you obtain three attribute points to allocate freely between Vitality, Might, Agility, Defense, and Luck. Each of these attributes increases one or more sub-stats, such as Health, Attack Power, Speed, Defense, and Critical Rate. Additionally, they provide further benefits based on the weapon you use and its scaling. You can allocate a maximum of 99 attribute points to a single attribute.

Let us use the image above as an example to take a close look at the scaling factors. The sum of your sub-stats is influenced by your attribute points (basic scaling), weapon scaling, and your equipped Pictos. To learn more about those, check out the Pictos & Lumina Guide.

Basic Scaling

Points invested into an attribute increase up to two sub-stats, excluding the Attack Power increase based on weapon scaling. Below is a list of attributes and the sub-stats associated with each.

• Vitality: Health
• Might: Attack Power
• Agility: Speed and Defense
• Defense: Defense and Critical Rate
• Agility: Speed and Critical Rate

Weapon Scaling

Each weapon scales with up to two attributes. While equipped, each attribute point allocated to one of the scaling attributes grants an additional increase to Attack Power. Ideally, ensure that the weapon of your choice also scales with at least one of the attributes you have invested points in.

In general, you should prioritize investing most of your early attribute points into Might. However, once your weapon reaches around level 20, the attributes that scale with your weapon begin to outperform Might. This occurs much earlier for weapons that scale with a single attribute.

The letters assigned to each attribute on a weapon represent the scaling factors, with S being the highest (D⇾C⇾B⇾A⇾S). The higher the factor, the better, as each point invested contributes more to Attack Power with higher scaling.

Upgrading your weapon to a higher level is essential in Expedition 33. You unlock this feature after exiting the manor. To access it, camp on the overworld map and interact with the Curator in the cave. Alternatively, you can buy higher-level weapons from merchants or obtain duplicates as drops. In these cases, the higher-level weapon overwrites the lower-level duplicate in your inventory. The benefits of upgrading your weapons include an increase in Attack Power, unlocking powerful passives at levels 4, 10, and 20, and an increase in the attribute scaling factor.

To upgrade your weapon at the Curator, you need Chroma Catalysts. Higher-level upgrades require Chroma Catalysts of greater rarity and in larger quantities. Below is a list of the Catalysts needed to upgrade your weapon to specific levels.

• Level 1-3: Chroma Catalyst
• level 4-9: Polished Chroma Catalyst
• Level 10-19: Resplendent Chroma Catalyst
• Level 20-32: Grandiose Chroma Catalyst
• Level 33: Perfect Chroma Catalyst

Here are some general weapon recommendations for each playable character, which are solid choices for completing the Main Quest line. For more diverse and detailed recommendations, refer to the respective character guides or our Expedition 33 Build Planner.

• Sciel - Ramasson | Dropped by Ramasseur
• Lune - Deminerim | Side Quest - Return the mine to the Demineur in Flying Waves
• Gustave - Use the highest damage dealing weapon based on enemy type.
• Verso - Gaulteram | Dropped by Gault
• Maelle - Brulerum | Obtained in Flying Waves
• Monoco - Weapon choice depends on the selected skills.

Summary

• Leverage the Elemental Affinities of your weapon and skills to deal higher damage to enemies.
• Equip a weapon that synergizes with your character's skills and the attributes you have invested points in.
• Find, buy, or upgrade your weapons to higher levels to increase Attack Power and unlock powerful passives.

Credits

Written by: Perciculum