Duelist Maelle
Overview
Duelist Maelle is infamous for a reason. This build is as close to a cheat code as Expedition 33 gets, tearing through encounters with damage so absurd it feels like you’re bending the game’s rules. While many characters require careful setup or team synergy, Maelle can steamroll everything almost single-handedly with the right stance management and weapon choices. She’s technically designed to rotate through three stances—Offensive, Defensive, and Virtuous—but the truth is that Virtuous dominates so completely that there’s rarely a reason to leave it. Once you enter that stance, you stay there, and every fight becomes trivial.
This build functions beautifully as a solo setup, making her the perfect emergency pick if you want to guarantee a win after your frontline falls. She works in a team too, but the real spectacle is when she’s left alone to dismantle entire bosses on her own. Think of Duelist Maelle as your difficulty toggle: slot her in, and the game instantly shifts from punishing to effortless.
Act 1 & 2
In the early game, Maelle is already strong, but she doesn’t fully break the system until Act 3. Until then, the focus is on entering Virtuous stance quickly and staying there. If you’ve managed to acquire the weapon Metalum from the Gestal Village arena, the process is simple. Metalum guarantees access to Virtuous early, which means Maelle can already start spamming her most abusive abilities without interruption.
The ability Flurit Fury is your bread-and-butter opener if you have Metalum. It deals incredible damage as long as you’re in Virtuous stance and pairs perfectly with Mezoforte, which helps maintain that stance while refunding AP. Together, these two abilities can carry almost every early encounter, letting you wipe multiple enemies before they even move. If you don’t have Metalum, Flurit Fury is harder to use consistently, so instead lean on Fencer’s Flurry and Breaking Rules. This pair synergizes well—Fencer’s Flurry applies Defenseless across a group, and Breaking Rules cashes in on that debuff by granting an extra turn. Early game, when extra actions are at a premium, that combination is invaluable.
Another useful option is Payback, especially in solo play. Enemies will always target you, and parrying with Payback provides both strong damage and some AP recovery. It isn’t a permanent piece of the build, but in the first few chapters it helps smooth out the flow.
Finally, Last Chance is the turning point. With the right pictos—particularly In Media Res and Solidifying—this ability lets you drop into Virtuous stance no matter what. Once you have it, the need for Metalum diminishes, and Maelle begins to ascend toward her endgame dominance.
Leveling
|
Level |
Spell/Passive |
|---|---|
|
1 |
Counterblow |
|
2 |
Downfall |
|
3 |
Focus Retaliation |
|
4 |
Shield Volley |
|
5 |
Focus Retaliation |
|
6 |
Titan Stomp |
|
7 |
Bulwark |
|
8 |
Return to Sender |
|
9 | |
|
10 | |
|
11 | |
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12 | |
|
13 | |
|
14 | |
|
15 | |
|
16 | |
|
17 |
Act 1 & 2 Pictos
|
Picto |
Details |
|---|---|
|
At Death’s Door |
Provides +15% bonus damage and additional status effects |
|
2 |
More then doubles your damage at the cost of additional mana |
|
3 |
Additional fire damage and mana resource |
|
4 |
Provides +30% damage from having all blast abilities and refunds 25% of mana cost on impact |
|
5 | |
|
6 | |
|
7 | |
|
8 | |
|
9 | |
|
10 | |
|
11 | |
|
12 | |
|
13 | |
|
14 | |
|
15 | |
|
16 | |
|
17 | |
|
18 | |
|
19 | |
|
20 | |
|
21 | |
|
22 | |
|
23 | |
|
24 | |
|
25 | |
|
26 |
Weapons Overview
Weapons define Maelle’s flow more than almost any other character. Metalum is the ideal choice early and late, simply because it guarantees Virtuous stance. With it, you don’t have to worry about clunky stance rotation at all—you just enter Virtuous and never leave. That one feature alone makes Metalum her best-in-slot weapon for most of the game.
If you don’t manage to win Metalum in the Gestal Village arena, you can make do with Stalum or Bruerum. They’re perfectly serviceable, but they scale differently. Stalum prefers Defense and Luck, while Metalum scales with Defense and Agility. Adjust your attributes accordingly if you’re using one of the alternatives. Still, the sooner you can get your hands on Metalum, the smoother the build becomes.
By the endgame, nothing really surpasses Metalum for consistency. It fits her kit too perfectly, and the stance access is simply too good to pass up.
Final Pictos
|
Picto |
Details |
|---|---|
|
At Death’s Door |
Provides +15% bonus damage and additional status effects |
|
2 |
More then doubles your damage at the cost of additional mana |
|
3 |
Additional fire damage and mana resource |
|
4 |
Provides +30% damage from having all blast abilities and refunds 25% of mana cost on impact |
|
5 | |
|
6 | |
|
7 | |
|
8 | |
|
9 | |
|
10 | |
|
11 | |
|
12 | |
|
13 | |
|
14 | |
|
15 | |
|
16 | |
|
17 | |
|
18 | |
|
19 | |
|
20 | |
|
21 | |
|
22 | |
|
23 | |
|
24 | |
|
25 | |
|
26 |
Pictos Overview
Keep the loop compact and decisive. Walk forward guarding, bait a swing, and perfect parry. Immediately cash the counter to tag the combo finisher, then choose your conversion: takedown if the bar is full, or heavy ender into Clear Out if multiple targets are close. When you sense the tide turning, hit Barbaric Shout first; the shield and stagger convert panic moments into winning positions, and the window it creates makes Clear Out non-negotiable for the next two beats. If the mob is small or you’re tunneling a high-health threat, swap Clear Out for Flurry of Blows and ride the lifesteal to stay planted while the bleeds tick. Always re-cast Arcane Veil before committing to long strings or boss windows; it’s cheap insurance that also keeps your timing greedy without punishment.
Two anchors keep the build honest. First, never swing blindly into red telegraphs—step, parry, and cash the finisher instead. Second, don’t chase whiffs with stamina-draining heavies; reset with a quick step, re-guard, and bait again. The build’s damage comes from advantage, not spam. When it hums, fights read the same: shout to seize tempo, parry to mint a finisher, bleed the pack, and decide which target gets the takedown. That’s the Crimson Warlord—measured, brutal, and always in control.
How to Play
|
Vitality |
Might |
Luck |
Defense |
Agility |
|
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
The late game is where Duelist Maelle earns her reputation. Once she has Last Chance, Cheater, and her final skill unlocks, she becomes absurd. The two central abilities here are Stendhal and Phantom Strike.
Stendhal is the crown jewel, a single-target nuke that feels almost bugged in how much damage it produces. With Painted Power active, Stendhal will casually erase bosses that would normally require a dozen turns to wear down. It scales with her Virtuous stance, meaning you’re always getting the maximum benefit without having to juggle her kit.
Phantom Strike plays a supporting role, but it’s important for encounters with multiple targets. It doesn’t quite match Stendhal’s raw single-target destruction, but it still hits extremely hard while generating Radiant Charge for Maelle’s gradient damage attack. Against groups of elites or larger fights, Phantom Strike ensures she never feels slowed down.
The typical flow of late game fights is brutally simple. Open with Last Chance to trigger your Pictos and immediately enter Virtuous stance. From there, Stendhal handles bosses and high-priority targets, Phantom Strike clears groups, and the fight is essentially over before the enemies can meaningfully respond. With Cheater feeding her extra turns and Painted Power pushing her damage through the roof, she spends nearly every action deleting something from the field.
As for attributes, the priority is clear: Defense first, especially for solo runs. It boosts survivability and scales with Metalum. After that, stack Agility to outspeed enemies and take full advantage of your weapons. Finally, add Might to push her already overwhelming damage even higher. Luck can be useful if you’re running a weapon that scales with it, but with Metalum, Defense and Agility reign supreme. Duelist Maelle isn’t just strong—she’s outright broken. With Metalum in hand, Cheater and Painted Power equipped, and Stendhal unlocked, she becomes a one-woman army capable of trivializing even the hardest fights in Expedition 33. She doesn’t need a party, she doesn’t need heavy Lumina investment, and she certainly doesn’t need much setup. Drop her into any situation, and she’ll carve her way out effortlessly.
If you want a fun, balanced experience, save this build for later. But if you’re after efficiency, farming, or just want to see the game’s numbers spiral into absurdity, then Duelist Maelle is your ultimate weapon. Use her as your anchor in Act 3, or keep her in reserve as a failsafe to flip the difficulty switch mid-fight. Either way, this build proves why Maelle is considered one of the most broken characters in the game.
Build Snapshot
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