In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, there are a lot of terms and mechanics that may be confusing at first. Even after reading some tutorials, you can easily miss certain features or misunderstand how they work. Take Pictos and Luminas, for example.
Pictos and Luminas help upgrade your party members’ stats and passive abilities. But what’s the difference between them, and how do they work? If you’re unsure what to make of Pictos and Luminas in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, here’s everything you need to know.
What are Pictos in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Each character in your party can equip up to three Pictos at a time. You’ll start to quickly grow your large collection of Pictos throughout the game, and the farther you get the higher their levels will be. With higher leveled Pictos comes better stats, since each Pictos gives you one or two stat boosts alongside one passive trait.
Take the level seven Pictos Energising Pain that my Lune has equipped in the image above. It gives her a decent 308 Health and 34 Defense, and its ability allows her to gain one AP (action point) each time she’s hit instead of any time she parries. This type of Pictos is great for someone who needs a boost of HP and also gets targeted by enemies a lot. It’s best to have a range of different stat boosts throughout your Pictos. It wouldn’t be great if every single one of Lune’s Pictos gave a Speed boost while neglecting others.
You’ll also notice that some Pictos will be greyed out, while others may have a colorful icon. Once you complete a successful battle with a Pictos equipped, it levels up and becomes available for all other characters to use as Luminas.
What are Luminas in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
At the start of your playthrough of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, you’ll have a finite amount of Luminas. They allow you to take the passive effects of a Pictos without having to equip it. This doesn’t carry over the stat boosts, just the passive ability. Each Lumina requires a range of Lumina points to activate on each character, which can range from one point to even 20 points.
To make a Pictos available as a Lumina for your party, just complete a battle successfully with one equipped. You can then go to your Lumina menu by pressing L3 (C key on PC) while editing your Pictos. If your party member already has that Pictos equipped, its Lumina is activated. But once you start to unlock more Lumina points, you’ll have much more room to activate other party members’ Luminas and even ones from old Pictos you don’t use anymore.
Let’s say Gustave here had 30 total Lumina points. I could take a few Luminas that cost a lot of points, or I could go for a lot of low-cost Luminas. I recommend having a balance of both and only activating Luminas that make sense with that character’s combat build.
Activating Critical Burn for Gustave wouldn’t make much sense since he doesn’t really have skills that deal Fire damage with the chance to Burn. But Lune or Maelle, on the other hand, have those types of skills, so increasing their chance of hitting a critical when burning an enemy makes sense. You’ll be constantly changing each character’s activated Luminas as you change around their Pictos and unlock new ones.
If you’re running low on Lumina points, you can eventually give new ones to your party by talking to the Curator. Sometime during Act 1, you’ll get someone in your camp who can allow you to use Colors of Lumina on your party. This is an item you’ll find around the world as you explore and sometimes as a battle reward. Your characters also gain one Lumina point each time they level up, so eventually, they’ll be able to activate a lot at one time.
