Best Weapons for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s Gestral Hard-Hitter Monoco

Affiliations: Defense & Agility
Element: Light

Level 4: Reverses the Bestial Wheel order.
Level 10: Using an Upgraded Skill (with the right Mask in play) gives 1 AP to all other allies.
Level 20: Almighty Mask gives 2 AP to all other allies.

At first, Ballaro doesn’t seem to be that strong. It doesn’t lock in a particular mask, so the randomization aspect of Monoco’s Bestial Wheel is preserved, so you just kind of have to go with the flow. Placing Monoco in the supportive role and generating AP for the rest of the party, however, makes a huge difference, particularly for the likes of Lune, who eats through AP like Bruce Bogtrotter with that dastardly chocolate cake in Matilda.

#2: Fragaro

Affiliations: Defense & Luck
Element: Lightning

Level 4: Free Aim Shots will shift the Bestial Wheel to a random value.
Level 10: Free Aim Shots will deal 100% more damage when wearing all Masks except for Almighty Mask.
Level 20: Grants 100% Critical Chance when in Almighty Mask.

This Mask makes it so that when you use a Free Aim Shot, the Bestial Wheel will spin to a random value. It’s a good way to shift the wheel to accommodate the skills you have plugged in for Monoco while increasing your chances of landing on Almighty Mask. At higher levels, this Mask will grant 100% more damage when using Free Aim Shot with all masks except for Almighty Mask. So it would be wise to pick up some Free Aim Shot-enhancing abilities if you’re going to rely on this weapon while playing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

#3: Nusaro

Affiliations: Vitality & Agility
Element: Dark

Level 4: Successful parries increase the Bestial Wheel by 1, taking damage resets the Wheel.
Level 10: Upgraded skills will do 30% more damage (which is insane).
Level 20 : +1 AP on Mask change.

This one is hard to get right, just going to put that out there straight away. While parrying to set up the Wheel where you want it seems like an OP move to start, when you’re facing off against an enemy that does a three combo attack and you only need to parry twice for Almighty Mask, it is really hard to then switch your tactics to dodge that last round instead. This could get very frustrating very quickly unless you’re the sort of super-smart, super-reactive gamer that can get this right from the get-go.

If you do manage to end up in a Mask that matches the Upgraded skill you want to use, however, that 30% extra damage is actually incredible.

#4: Sidaro

Affiliations: Might & Luck
Element: Dark

Level 4: Grants 30% increased damage per Upgraded skill used, resets when using a non-Upgraded skill.
Level 10: Base attack will spin the Bestial Wheel to a random value.
Level 20: Using an Upgraded Skill will grant 1 AP to all allies.

This thing stacks damage. I repeat, this thing stacks damage. With each turn, providing you’re using those vital Upgraded skills, you’ll see that increase, so you’ll need to equip Monoco with low AP abilities to use time and time again. It’s not as effective as you might imagine in short-term battles, but in those long-running encounters in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33? Yes, this is the way to go.

#5: Joyaro

Affiliations: Defense & Agility
Element: Lightning

Level 4: Starts the battle in Almighty Mask.
Level 10: 20% increased damage for each consecutive turn you take without taking damage. Can stack up to 5 times.
Level 20: Break damage is doubled while in Almighty Mask

This is it. This is the tank weapon for Monoco. Starting off in Almighty Mask already makes this ridiculously OP, but with that stacking damage thrown on top? This is why Monoco can be considered one of the hard-hitters of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and why you want to take him on as many runs as possible.

A Very Versatile Character

Monoco is an extremely fun character to build up within Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. With the lack of skill trees, players are already forced to think outside the box, and when equipping the right weapon, this character can be enhanced like no other. Manipulating his Bestial Wheel and switching over his skillsets based on the enhancements of the weapons makes for excellent mental stimulation and, not gonna lie, seeing Monoco absolutely decimate opponents when you get it right is a one-way ticket to that sweet gaming dopamine release.

Who knows what will be in store with the idea of DLC kicking around. Perhaps Monoco will have access to a brand new weapon that will bring a new dimension to his gameplay once again. Or maybe the developers have something else in mind for this fantastic addition to the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 party.