Gustave Maelle
Overview
Learn how to use one of the strongest characters in Expedition 33 with the Gustave Maelle build. Our guide on Maelle will show you the best recommendations for weapons, luminas, skills and combos. We hope you enjoy this build on your journey to defeat the Paintress.
Gustave Maelle will use Maelle in a fresh creative way outside of just one shoting the world with Stendahl while still keeping her as the shining main character she is meant to be. Through the use of skills like Gustave’s Homage and Sword Ballet we will make her rain lightning down and dance through the battlefield destroying everything in her path.
Stances
Maelle’s stance mechanic is one of the simplest in the game; she just has three modes: Offensive, Defensive, and Virtuose. Offensive stance Increases her damage but also the damage she takes. Defensive stance boosts her tankiness and AP generation. Lastly, the Virtuose stance which gives her a massive damage boost with zero downside. Every skill ties into a stance, applying effects and shifting Maelle between them. The catch is that Virtuose is harder to enter… normally. That’s where the Medalum weapon breaks the game design. Once you have it, you can stay in Virtuose permanently. The game intends for Maelle to alternate between stances each turn for balance, but Virtuose damage scaling is so absurd that there’s never a reason to make a build around any other stance.
Act 1 & 2
Maelle starts out strong, she is one of the most powerful characters from start to finish. If you manage to grab Medalum early, it’ll supercharge her opening, though it won’t stick around long for this setup.
- Medalum pairs well with Fleuret Fury, a fast, hard-hitting ability that maintains Virtuose stance. Virtuose is the key to Maelle’s strength. It enhances Free Aim attacks against floating enemies, powers up counterattacks, and turns her into a relentless duelist. If you don’t plan on using Medalum, you can safely skip Fleuret Fury and move straight into the core rotation.
- Momentum Strike is the go-to skill when you’re already in Virtuose and want to conserve AP. It hits harder against marked enemies and inherits your weapon’s elemental damage.
- Breaking Rules is flexible and efficient. It can break shields in certain fights but is mainly useful because it grants an extra turn against Defenceless targets, this is very nice in the early-game before you acquire Cheater.
- Fencer’s Flurry will apply the Defenceless to all enemies and deals solid AoE damage. It pairs perfectly with Breaking Rules and deals your weapon’s elemental damage, so later in the build it contributes lightning output as well.
- Sword Ballet is the star ability. It deals huge elemental weapon damage and scales with crit. When paired with Gustave’s Homage later, it becomes the centerpiece of the build. Equip high-crit pictos early on to unlock its full potential.
- Last Chance is a must-have. With the right lumina package, it grants two shields, +50% damage, full AP, and an automatic Virtuose stance. It’s free tempo and safety rolled into one skill.
Your rotation depends on what stance you’re in and AP availability: If using Medalum: spam Fleuret Fury to stay in Virtuose and delete anything in your way. Drop Sword Ballet for a huge burst. Ideally, prep with Last Chance the turn before to refill AP and guarantee Virtuose. For cheap single-targets Momentum Strike can hit the cap easily on marked enemies. For tempo and utility: Fencer’s Flurry into Breaking Rules gives AoE pressure and extra turns. Make sure you always save big AP skills for Virtuose or Offensive stance. If stuck in Defensive, pivot with Last Chance or Fencer’s Flurry.
Leveling
|
Level |
Spell/Passive |
|
1 |
Swift Stride |
|
2 |
Guard Up |
|
3 |
Fleuret Fury |
|
4 |
Breaking Rules |
|
5 |
Fencers Flurry |
|
6 |
Sword Ballet |
|
7 |
Egide |
|
8 |
Momentum Strike |
|
9 |
Payback |
|
10 |
Last Chance |
|
11 |
Gustaves Homage |
Attributes
For attributes Agility is the top priority for speed and damage. Then comes Defense which synergizes with Clierum’s scaling and provides some helpful critical chance. Maelle’s late-game build centers on 100% Crit Chance, since Sword Ballet deals double damage on crit. Lastly is Might which gives us some powerful base damage.
Act 1 & 2 Luminas
|
Lumina |
Location |
|---|---|
|
At Death’s Door |
Defeat Lampmaster |
|
Augmented Aim |
Flying Waters – Ontop of Anchor |
|
Confident Fighter |
Visages – Joy Path |
|
Dead Energy II |
Spring Meadows – Through a cave |
|
Dodger |
Spring Meadows – Defeat Portier |
|
Energising Start I |
The Continent – Beach North of Gestral Village |
|
Energising Start II |
Ancient Sanctuary |
|
Energising Turn |
Defeat Sirene |
|
First Strike |
Stone Wave Cliffs – Near Paintress Shrine Flag |
|
Glass Cannon |
Visages – Sadness Path |
|
Greater Defenceless |
The Monolith – Purchased from Melosh |
|
Immaculate |
Visages – Boss |
|
In Media Res |
Dark Shores – Sneak Past Mobs |
|
Inverted Affinity |
Forgotten Battlefield – Trader Kasumi |
|
Marking Shots |
Flying Waters – Head Left at the fork |
|
Rewarding Mark |
Flying Waters – After Coral Cave Flag |
|
SOS Power |
Stone Wave Cliffs – Ledge by the Water |
|
SOS Rush |
Fallen Leaves – Wooden Barrels |
|
Solidifying |
Crushing Cavern – Giant Sapling |
|
Teamwork |
Yellow Harvest – Merchant Pinabby |
Weapons
|
Item |
Location |
|---|---|
|
Weapon 1  Clierum |
Visages – Seething Bouchelier |
Weapons Overview
The early game weapon of choice is Medalum, which is a great starter if you get it. Keeps you locked in Virtuose and makes the first few chapters a breeze. However if you do not want to use Medalum again then you can use the weapon that this build was intended for which is Clierum. Clierum is the heart of this build. It’s found early in Act 2 (but missable, make sure you defeat all enemies in the Visage area before the final boss). Clierum deals Electric damage. Scales with Defense and Agility which are both fantastic attributes. Boosts AP generation and increases lightning skill damage by 20%. It has perfect synergy with Momentum Strike, Fencer’s Flurry, Sword Ballet, and Gustave’s Homage.
As mentioned earlier Clierum is the perfect weapon for this build and one we will be using for the entirety of the end game.
Act 3 Luminas
|
Lumina |
Location |
|---|---|
|
Cheater |
The Continent – Defeat Sprong |
|
Full Strength |
Lumiere – Purchased from Cribappa |
|
Painted Power |
End of Act 2 |
|
Powerful Shield |
Endless Night Sanctuary – Merchant Anthonypo |
|
Roulette |
Flying Manor – Petank |
|
Shortcut |
Lumiere – Defeat the Aberration |
|
Energizing Shots |
Flying Manor – Goblus Arena |
Pictos Overview
For Pictos use At Death’s Door, Greater Defenceless and Shortcut. These will give you full critical chance and save you a bunch on Lumina cost.
How to Play
Once Act 3 hits, it’s time to retire Fleuret Fury and bring in Gustave’s Homage, obtainable just before the end of act 2 if you’ve been writing in Gustave’s journal at camp (this is very important to the build that you are constantly writing in Gustave’s Journal to acquire this skill).
The power of Gustave’s Homage isn’t just in its damage, it also transitions Maelle into Virtuose stance while delivering heavy lightning damage. When used on marked targets, it hits even harder without consuming the mark, setting up perfect high damage turns. The ideal late-game rotation is Fencer’s Flurry to apply Defenceless and move into Offensive stance. Then use Gustave’s Homage to hit them hard, and enter Virtuose. Use Sword Ballet as the high damaging finisher for single-target destruction. Then use Last Chance to reset AP, refresh Virtuose, and go again. If you prefer early power, open with Last Chance first to activate low-HP pictos and shield buffs, but the core idea remains the same: Homage into Ballet into a reset then repeat.
This is a main-character build – Maelle is your carry, but she needs her team to patch a few weak spots. Her first weakness is limited AoE. Sword Ballet and Gustave’s Homage destroy single targets, but she needs someone like Twilight Sciel to clear groups. Sciel also applies marks consistently, enabling Maelle’s full damage. Her second weakness is her reliance on Marks. Sciel handles that seamlessly, while Monoco or Verso completes the trio by applying even more marks and utility.
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