Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - What Is A Pictos?

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• What Do Pictos Do?
  • How Many Pictos Can A Person Use?

• What Is The Lumina Converter?

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 shows of the magical technology of Lumiere's people right from the start. Gustave and Maelle zip around rooftops on summoned grappling hooks and conjure swords for a pickup duel out of thin air. As the game goes on, we're treated to even more wondrous powers, and it even becomes part of the game's equipment system. All this is thanks to Pictos.

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Pictos (a word which is the same singular as it is plural) are what give the characters in Clair Obscur the superhuman abilities that let them fight Nevrons, and give them a fighting chance against the Paintress. Here's everything we know about them.

What Do Pictos Do?

Pictos are glowing glyphs that each have a single, narrow function. Once created, they can be used indefinitely and can even be transferred from one individual to another. Broadly, they fall into two broad categories:

• Some Pictos allow their users to summon a specific object, usually a tool or weapon. They can even be used to create sets, like Verso's paired swords. There's no defined limit on the size of an object that can be created with a Pictos, but the largest Pictos item that we see in the game is a piano.
• Other Pictos grant their users specific abilities, typically designed to enhance their prowess in combat. They can create shields, enhance existing powers, and even alter the body's reaction to injuries. They're extremely diverse and esoteric, and they form the basis of the game's equipment system.

How Many Pictos Can A Person Use?

Each character can equip up to three Ability Pictos at a time. Adding a fourth requires removing one that they already have equipped. This seems to be a hard limit, and while it's not explicitly stated, there appears to be a similar limit to Object Pictos as well.

Everyone who uses Object Pictos in Clair Obscur has no more than three; typically their weapon, their grappling hook, and a personal item. For example, Lune has her Stain Glyph for casting spells, her grappling hook, and her guitar.

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What Is The Lumina Converter?

Expedition 33's chief innovation is the Lumina Converter, Gustave's invention after a lifetime of research. By absorbing and refining the chroma from defeated Nevrons, it creates copies of Ability Pictos called Luminas that can be shared and equipped without the normal limit of three per person.

The goal of the Lumina Converter is to allow the members of Expedition 33 to use many times more Pictos powers than previous Expeditions ever could, enhancing their combat capabilities to the point where they can take on the Nevrons of the Continent and the godlike Paintress. Of course, since there are no Nevrons in Lumiere to test the device on, its utility is purely theoretical until Expedition 33 begins.

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