One of the most incredible things aboutClair Obscur: Expedition 33is that there are almost endless options for how to play each character. It’s been widely accepted among players that certain weapons are better than others, however, and often, some weapons get lost in the woodwork because of the hype around these popular choices. A perfect example of this is related to Maelle’s most-used weapon, the Medalum, which has become a topic of great debate among experienced players in terms of Maelle’s best weapon in the game.
Medalum can be considered one ofMaelle’s best weaponsinClair Obscur: Expedition 33,but only if you’re accustomed to a very particular style of play. Players who have started to master their parrying and dodging skills, on the other hand, might want to reconsider their strategy with what I’d consider a top contender for Maelle’s best weapon for any playstyle, Lithum. Lithum is an Act 3 weapon that is far superior to Medalum in many ways, but it requires slightly more skill to use successfully compared to Medalum.
Lithum Is An Overall Better Option Than Medalum
If You’ve Been Using Medalum To Reliably Enter Virtuose Stance, Lithum Is A Better Choice
WhileMedalumisa great choice for Maelle’s weapon in the early game,assuming you managed to pick it up in Act 1, it should be replaced by the endgame withLithumfor a host of reasons. Lithum is an Act 3 weapon acquired aftercompleting The Reacherand defeating Alicia, which I’d strongly recommend doing if you are interested in getting a complete picture of what’s happening in theClair Obscurstoryline.
At one point, Medalum could deal a ridiculous amount of damage for all attacks due to a glitch that waseventually patched out, which was a primary reason it was touted as the best option.
Medalum does have some great benefits, but ultimately falls short when compared to Lithum, especially for more experienced players withhours of playtimeunder their belt. While you’ll be able to start every encounter in Virtuouse stance with Medalum and gain the potential of one-shotting nearly every enemy you come across with a proper build,this strategy more or less negates the weapon’s other features.It’s also not a very satisfying playstyle in the long-term, and coming up with better party synergies becomes much more fun than soloing every enemy, especiallyonce you’re in NG+.
Lithum will get you into Virtuose stance more often and more reliably than any other weapon in the game, and the other two features are much more helpful than simply stacking Burn damage with Medalum, which becomes pointless if you’re able to one-shot enemies on your first turn anyway. Lithum sets you in Virtuose stance after a successful counterattack, but alsodoes not remove Mark if you hit an enemy while in Virtuose.Further, you’ll get a free Shell charge each time you switch out of Virtuose stance, meaning you’ll have built-in defenses on nearly every turn with the right strategy.
The Reacher is an"optional" area inClair Obscur, but it absolutely should be part of the main story and you do not want to miss out on the content here.
Because of this, you can effectively use theDouble MarkPictos/Lumina effect to ensure that enemies are constantly marked, even after Maelle hits them with the counterattack to switch into Virtuose stance.The one caveat to using Lithum effectively is that you need to be pretty good with Parrying attacksto consistently land a counterattack and gain Virtuose stance at every turn. There are not very many better options in terms of versatile weapons for Maelle than Lithum, and if you haven’t given it a shot, it’s well worth a try.
Lithum Is Easily The Best Maelle Weapon (If You Are Good At Parrying)
Even Without Good Parry Timing, Lithum Is Still A Solid Bet
Fora solo build, Lithum will more or less guarantee that you’re in Virtuose stance the entire encounter, and you’ll be able to equip theCheaterandMarking Shotseffects to use your turn to apply Mark with Free Aim shots reliably. Double Mark, as mentioned, will equate to Maelle having enemies constantly Marked and taking absurd amounts of damage. Lithum also has incredibly high base damage compared to every other Maelle weapon (orany weapon inClair Obscurfor that matter), and can be utilized to deal some of the highest damage numbers in the game.
Pound for pound, Medalum simply does not hold up when compared to Lithum, and it doesn’t even come close. Medalum has its benefits in your first playthrough during Act 1 and 2, and will reliably start you in Virtuose stance and give you some additional Burn bonuses, but ultimately loses its luster when you’re able to replace it with Lithum and switch into Virtuose stance with any successful counterattack.Lithum has excellent attribute scaling compared to other Maelle weapon options,and the only other comparable weapon would arguably be Jarum, but it relies on having constant shields.
For experienced Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 players who have mastered their parry timing, Lithum is an obvious choice.
At the end of the day, the Medalum and Lithum debate should be considered a settled affair. After Medalum’s nerf in the aforementioned patch, you aren’t going to be getting nearly the level of damage output as you would with Lithum, and you’ll be able to reliably place yourself in Virtuose stance if you can manage to parry and counter enemies consistently. For experiencedClair Obscur: Expedition 33players who have mastered their parry timing, Lithum is an obvious choice that will be a literal game-changer if you haven’t tried it out for yourself already.
