Verso joins your party at the beginning of Act 2 in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and adds some powerful new options in combat. A sword wielder like Gustave, he shares some Skills, but also has access to a wide array of other abilities that he’s learned over the years.
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Verso rewards good timing on defensive actions like dodges and parries, but he also has the option to play as a support character or even a low-HP berserker build. If you have some Recoats on hand, he could even switch between roles as needed.
How Do Verso’s Perfection Ranks Work In Clair Obscur?
In combat, Verso has a Perfection Rank, rated from D to S, shown on the right side of the screen during his turn. He starts each encounter at D, and the meter fills whenever he lands an attack or successfully defends via a dodge or parry. When the meter fills completely, he gains a Rank. Verso deals more damage with attacks the higher his Perfection Rank gets.
Any time Verso is hit by an enemy, he loses an entire Perfection Rank, so an unblocked combo can knock him all the way back down to D in addition to the damage it deals.
Additionally, most of Verso’s Skills trigger an additional effect if they are used at a specific Rank. It’s important to note that these effects only trigger at the exact Rank listed, not above or below. For example, Assault Zero gets a damage boost if Verso uses it while he’s at Perfection Rank B; if he uses it at A or S, he won’t get that bonus (though he’ll still get his normal buff for having a high Rank).
Pay close attention to the wording of Verso’s Skills; “gain 1 Perfection” means filling up the meter by one point, whereas “gain 1 Perfection Rank” means jumping straight to the next letter.
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Tips For Verso
Verso is one of the most open-ended characters in Clair Obscur; rather than a clearly-defined role, he has a lot of different ways you can build him. When you’re setting him up, you should start with his weapon.
Most of Verso’s weapons affect how he gains or interacts with Perfection in some way. Be sure to read the upgrade abilities for weapons carefully when equipping him, especially when you find a new blade or reach the next upgrade tier. His equipped sword can change his playstyle more than any other character.
Our personal favorite is the Gaulteram, an Earth-elemental blade that reduces the amount of Perfection loss that Verso suffers when he takes damage. Of course, if you’ve mastered parry timing, you won’t need an ability like that.
Attributes And Skills
Set up Verso’s Attributes and Skills based on his weapon, rather than the other way around:
|
If Verso’s Weapon Favors… |
Try Equipping… |
|---|---|
|
Vitality |
Berserk Slash, Defiant Strike, Overload. |
|
Agility |
Ascending Assault, Steeled Strike, Speed Burst. |
|
Defense |
Leadership, Perfect Recovery, Purification. |
|
Luck |
Assault Zero, Light Holder, Steeled Strike. |
Pictos And Lumina
By the time you recruit Verso, you’ll probably have a fair number of Pictos mastered and some Lumina Points to spend on him, and there will be even more to find as you continue your journey. All-around picks like Dead Energy and Energizing Start are always worth taking with any character, and Verso is no exception.
Since Verso relies on parrying, consider taking Augmented Counter and/or Breaking Counter to get more out of his ripostes, or go all-in and spend 20 points on Confident to get him a big damage boost at the cost of not being able to heal him.
If 20 Lumina Points is too much, you can always just equip the Confident Pictos in one of Verso’s three slots.
Some of Verso’s attacks rely on him having low HP, so SOS and Critical Luminas work well with him if you go that route, as do Revive Luminas that let him buff the party when he’s brought back after being downed.
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