Maelle’s notorious attack in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was initially underwhelming, but Sandfall unintentionally boosted its power without adequate testing.

If you jumped on board with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 early and paid close attention to Maelle, you probably noticed just how over-the-top her Stendhal move is. This late-game ability can obliterate a single target, and when you stack that damage, it’s a serious game-changer. Interestingly, this devastating power was the result of a last-minute tweak by Sandfall, as it was initially much weaker.

The developers acknowledged this during a discussion, revealing that Maelle’s Stendhal skill was underwhelming in playtests. “It was very bad during all the playtests,” said Guillaume Broche, the creative director. “We decided to change it at the last second [before launch], so we didn’t test it properly.”

This last-minute adjustment inadvertently gave players a devastating tool, provided they recognized its potential. Maelle acquires this ability during the transition from acts two to three, and at first glance, it appears to be just a powerful bomb to toss around. However, players soon discovered it’s easy to enhance during battles, and since the damage is physical, it poses a threat to nearly every enemy.

There are indeed ways to make Maelle unleash tens of millions of damage points in a single turn—a game-altering discovery that many players took advantage of before the inevitable nerf that toned it down to more manageable levels.

Stendhal proved invaluable in the post-game, where players face some incredibly tough challenges, typical of JRPGs. These superbosses, like Simon from Expedition Zero, who has been trapped in the Abyss for ages, demand that your team be nearly max level and equipped with top-tier gear. In such scenarios, having a nuke is a major advantage.

Unfortunately, it’s too late to fully enjoy the thrill of vaporizing Simon. Now, you’ll have to resort to the classic grind and strategy. The horror!

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s claim to being the highest player-rated game on Metacritic is now challenged by the iconic Nintendo DS title Cory in the House: “The gaming industry peaked with this game. Anyone else saying otherwise is delusional.”