Each character in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has a wide range of excellent weapons to choose from, but Maelle's arsenal is arguably the best of them all. While it's more or less undisputed that Medalum is Maelle's best weapon, there are quite a few other great options I'd recommend checking out. Switching up your builds and experimenting with various skills, Pictos, Luminas, etc., is easily one of the best parts of Clair Obscur.

The following solo builds in the game to to Mark-based and Burn-based builds, Maelle has a weapon for it all. to adjust your Luminas, Pictos, and attributes accordingly depending on your weapon selection, and do your best to synergize Maelle with the rest of your party.

10 Sekarum Is An Excellent Early-Game Weapon

A Shield-Piercing Weapon Available Early On

Sekarum is an early-available weapon that Maelle can use extremely effectively based on Shield breaking, though it doesn't really kick online until you reach the Level 10 upgrade and are able to break two shields with a single Free Aim shot. Before you acquire Barrier Breaker, this is easily one of Maelle's best shield-based weapons. Sekarum's Level 4 upgrade allows you to switch to Virtuose stance when you break any shield.

This is a top 10 weapon for Maelle largely because of how early you have access to it. Sekarum can be purchased from Eesda in the Gestral Village bazaar. It is excellent in the late game against shielded enemies once upgraded to Level 20, as you'll be able to pierce through shields and deal damage to enemies directly, regardless of how many shields they have stacked.

9 Tissenum Is A Powerful Weapon For Maelle

Break Enemies & Crush Them With Earth Damage

Tissenum is a powerful weapon that focuses in dealing Break damage, with a Level 4 upgrade dealing double Break damage in Defensive Stance. At Level 10, Tissenum awards a full stack of AP when you Break an enemy, while Level 20 deals high Earth damage to the target when you Break them. This weapon benefits from Pictos and/or Luminas such as Breaker and Break Specialist.

Tissenum is acquired by defeating the Tisseur in Sirene during Act 2, which is highly recommended before taking on Sirene herself. You'll want to take advantage of the Pictos the Tisseur drops, Anti-Charm, and killing him will prevent Sirene from calling on him during the fight.

8 Glaisum Is A Must-Have Weapon

One Of The Best Defensive Options For Maelle

Glaisum is among Maelle's best defensive weapons, providing allies with health each time she switches into Virtuose Stance. Fully upgraded it will also give her the Shell buff and cleanse all status effects each time she switches out of Virtuose Stance. To optimize this weapon, you need to be conscientious of which buffs or debuffs you have applied. Lumina ives such as Inverted Affinity are nullified by this weapon's Level 20 upgrade.

The Scavenger boss in Falling Leaves drops the Scaverim weapon for Lune, which I would argue is her best weapon in the game.

Glaisum is acquired in Falling Leaves, an area you can access after unlocking Esquie's ability to swim. There's a minor boss in the area called Glaise that drops Glaisum (imagine that). Afterward, you should fully explore Falling Leaves and resolve the issues between the Lady of Sap and the Faceless Boy, who will grant you age through the gate so you can fight the Scavenger area boss.

7 Yeverum Is A Great Late-Game Weapon For Maelle

A Shield-Buffing Late-Game Standout

The Yeverum weapon is one of my favorite Maelle options for a late-game build. The weapon functions such that you will constantly need to be applying Shell, either on Maelle herself or another member of the party, to take full advantage of its effects. Applying Shell on anybody will also trigger a Shield and at Level 20, switching to Virtuose Stance will automatically double all Shields for all your allies.

The potential for Shield-stacking with this weapon is what makes it so attractive, particularly with the Powerful Shield and Shield Affinity effects active. This weapon isn't available until you reach Renoir's Drafts, and you'll have to fight the toughest Merchant in the game, Grour. When you unlock his inventory after defeating him, you'll have to cough up over 100k Chroma for Yeverum.

6 Duenum Stands Out As One Of The Best

An Early Standout Focused On Defensive Stance

Duenum is another early available weapon that stands out among other options available at the time, and it's viable all the way through to the endgame if you happen to like it that much, though there are certainly better options for AP generation in the later stages of the game. Initially, this weapon is excellent for party AP generation, as the Level 4 upgrade provides 1 AP to the party each time Maelle earns AP.

At Level 10, you'll be able to switch to Defensive Stance using Base Attack, while at Level 20 you will be earning AP each time Maelle switches stances. This weapon is found in Stone Wave Cliffs in a locked Paint Cage, making it extremely easy to get and conveniently located.

5 Barrier Breaker Is The Best Shield-Based Weapon

A Guaranteed Pickup With Powerful Shield Effects

secret boss Simon found in the Abyss at the bottom of Renoir's Drafts. Used properly, you'll be able to steal your shields back after Simon takes them from you, assuming you have Burn or Mark applied.

Barrier Breaker is most effective against Shielded enemies, allowing you to switch to Virtuose Stance anytime you break a shield. At level 20, you'll be able to break all shields on any enemies that have been Marked, adding another layer of strategy to Barrier Breaker. Overall, this is a great weapon for any boss or enemy you're struggling with that utilizes Shields as a core part of their move set.

4 Facesum Is Worth The Trouble

Solve The Puzzle At Isle Of The Eyes For This Burn Weapon

Facesum is a Burn-based weapon that can be found after solving the puzzle on the Isle of the Eyes in Act 3. This is an easy one to get past, and all you'll have to do is find each eyeball and hit it with a Free Aim shot. Doing so will open up the bridge to the Chromatic Boucheclier boss on the other side. This boss will drop the Facesum weapon, which has three unique Burn upgrade bonuses.

While Medalum is praised as the best Burn weapon for Maelle, Facesum is equally as powerful and can stack ridiculous amounts of Burn with the right Luminas equipped.

At Level 4, you can double your Burn application if attacking from Offensive Stance, which is incredible if you have other Burn-stacking effects active, such as Double Burn. The Level 10 upgrade increases Burn damage by 50%, which also stacks with Lumina effects like Burn Affinity. Finally, you can spread Burn to other enemies with this weapon after the Level 20 upgrade, which is one of its best features and places it among the best weapon options for an overall Burn party build in Clair Obscur.

3 Melarum Is Perfect For The Mid-Game

Reliably Switch To Virtuose Stance With Melarum

Melarum is another excellent weapon that's available in the mid-game, after you reach Old Lumiere and take down Renoir (yet again), Melarum is your main reward. This is unmissable in the main story, and it's also one of the best weapons in Maelle's arsenal. Melarum works effectively with skills and/or ives that drop Maelle's health, as each time she goes below 50% health, she will switch to Virtuose Stance.

Make sure you revisit Old Lumiere after defeating Renoir and seek out the Chromatic Danseuse to take advantage of a Colour of Lumina exploit.

Melarum will heal both heal your allies and give Maelle Shell once she's over 80% health, making it an effective defensive weapon that will reliably place her in Virtuose Stance on every turn, assuming you set her up correctly with the proper buffs/debuffs.

2 Lithum Is A Great Solo Weapon

This Weapon Deals Void Damage & Doesn't Remove Mark

Lithum is a contender for best Maelle solo weapon in my opinion, largely because you can reliably enter Virtuose Stance assuming you are able to counterattack enemies as often as possible. In of solo build, it might be better than any other option, but it won't be available until you reach Act 3 and advance Maelle's relationship quest. Eventually, you will be able to travel to the Reacher, which is located on the western side of the Continent.

Ascending to the top of The Reacher will put you face to face with Alicia. Defeating Alicia is a 1-v-1 faceoff between her and Maelle, which is completely fitting for this specific weapon in that it shines when Maelle is fighting solo. She will constantly have Shell, and with various Mark-based buffs, this weapon becomes a viable and enticing alternative to Medalum.

1 Medalum Is The Best Weapon For Maelle

The Undisputed Champion (Even After The Nerf)

When Clair Obscur first launched Medalum was glitched, and ended up dealing double damage from all sources with its third upgrade bonus instead of simply applying double damage from Burn. However, this was nerfed not long after launch, alongside one of her overpowered skills, Stendahl. Originally, this combination was beyond anything else in the game in of damage and deadliness to enemies, making it possible to hit for over a billion damage. While that's no longer the case, Medalum still stands out among Maelle's weapons as one of the best overall choices.

Not only can you get this weapon as early as the Gestral Village, but it's one of the few weapons that start you automatically in Virtuose Stance. You are also given the opportunity to stack a ridiculous amount of Burn on your first turn, with the Level 10 upgrade doubling Burn application. This is probably still the best weapon overall simply because of when you get it and how OP it is at every stage of the game.

If there's one weapon in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 that pretty much everyone agrees is Maelle's best, it's Medalum. However, don't let that deter you from experimenting with these other top choices, as one of the best parts of this game is trying out new builds.