Verso's Drafts DLC is an endgame optional location in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and attempting it at a low level can be extremely challenging. For a smooth experience, you shouldn't attempt Verso's Drafts before level 90 with serious, coherent, and consistent strategies in place.

This guide is designed to help low-level players complete Verso's Drafts. In this guide, "low level" is considered to be around level 60. Learning how to beat Verso Drafts at this level requires understanding the Verso Drafts difficulty and implementing the right Verso Drafts strategies.

Enemies in Verso's Drafts DLC - Challenging combat encounters for low-level players

What Makes Verso's Drafts Difficult? Understanding Verso Drafts Difficulty

Babrapapa Status Effect

The new Babrapapa status effect is inflicted by almost every enemy in Verso's Drafts and is virtually unavoidable. Every stack means one hit is reduced to 1 damage, with enemies inflicting 2 to 4 stacks at a time, often two turns in a row. This completely invalidates your incoming damage output.

This creates a devastating cycle: your character can effectively get stuck for 4 turns because of 6 Babrapapa hits, and cannot produce more hits faster to clear the status.

Enemy Armor Generation

Many enemies utilize armor generation, creating shields that protect them from damage. Thankfully, this at least synergizes with Babrapapa, as you can still use 1 Attack hits to break enemy shields even when affected by the status effect.

High Enemy Level

The enemies in Verso's Drafts are much higher level than your party if you're attempting this at level 60. This is a key part of the Verso Drafts difficulty - it is seriously possible to face a base enemy group for 5+ minutes when low level, making every encounter a marathon rather than a sprint.

Combat counter showing low-level stats in Verso's Drafts DLC

What makes Verso's Drafts so difficult for underleveled players is the combination of all these factors. During most fights, you will encounter situations like these:

Your character effectively gets stuck for 4 turns because of 6 Babrapapa hits, and cannot produce more hits faster
After you finally clear Babrapapa, enemies will generate armor
After successfully clearing that in a round, you only have 1 turn of sustainable hits you can deal
If you deal low damage, you need to repeat this cycle 10 or more times, during which you need to heal or wait

Example low-level build stats after completing Verso's Drafts at level 60

How to Quickly Clear Babrapapa

You can either use efficient skills that deal multiple hits, or use character-specific skills to clear the status effect. Here are the best options:

Lune's Healing Light - Clears status effects from allies
Sciel's Dark Cleansing - Excellent option for removing status effects
Verso's Burden Skill - Helps him gain Rank while recovering others, but in return, he will still carry Babrapapa and even his companions' cured status effects

Babrapapa status effect in combat - Multiple stacks reducing damage to 1 per hit

Combat Guide for Verso's Drafts: Essential Verso Drafts Strategies

Because this is a guide on how to beat Verso Drafts at low level, we will not account for Monoco, as you are very unlikely to have the necessary Skills when prioritizing main story missions.

The best Verso Drafts strategies involve maxing out your Act 2 strategies and maximizing every damage possible:

General Combat Tips

Have at least 60-70% Critical Hit chance for every character - Invest heavily in Luck stat
Prioritize Pictos items that help sustainable combat - This will be a marathon, not a sprint. Healing Parry is the best option, SOS Shell and other SOS Pictos are among the best too
Absolute priority: Painted Power Pictos - This removes your 9999 damage cap, which is essential for dealing meaningful damage at low levels

Verso Build and Strategy

Verso build setup for low-level Verso's Drafts combat

Prioritize starting in as high Perfection tier as possible. This maximizes your damage output from the beginning of combat.

Cycle Free Aim shots and Follow Ups, using Parries and Energising Attack Pictos to recharge Adrenaline Points.

Verso build continuation - Perfection tier and skill cycling

The most used damage should be from full AP - shoot in S Tier until you have 2 Mana, then use Follow Up. But if you are missing one or two shots from full AP, it is not worth waiting a full turn and should still be used. However, don't use Follow Up when on 5 or less AP - it's disappointing damage output.

Follow Up skill usage in Verso's Drafts combat

On some attacks, you'll inevitably have to just Attack and recharge - free Lumina points should be spent on Base Attack enhancing Pictos.

Consider sometimes marking the target for Maelle's strong Virtuous Stance hits, ideally done using a Pictos - many can inflict Mark status effect.

Lune Build and Strategy

Lune build setup for low-level Verso's Drafts combat

Lune is recommended to cycle Elemental Genesis every 2 turns. This is your primary damage source with Lune.

On your first turn, with Benisim weapon equipped, cast Wildfire.

Lune build with Benisim weapon and Wildfire setup

After this, you'll have 1 Earth Stain from the Benisim and 1 Fire Stain, 1 Light Stain from Wildfire.

This also enables Swift Stride for Maelle, who is up next.

Next turn with Lune, you'll earn another Earth Stain from Benisim - now you have 2 Earth, 1 Fire, 1 Light.

Cast Thermal Transfer to generate another Ice Stain. Spend 2 Earth Stains to get an extra turn, upon which you get another Earth Stain.

Now you have 1 Fire, 1 Ice, 1 Earth and 1 Light, which you'll use instead of the required Lightning stain.

Use Elemental Genesis to deal massive amounts of damage, but the previous character should remove all shields present on the battlefield, so they don't absorb the damage. They can leave it to Lune if she has enough Adrenaline Points - note that helpfully some are generated by Thermal Transfer.

Elemental Genesis skill dealing massive damage in Verso's Drafts combat

Maelle Build and Strategy

Maelle build setup for low-level Verso's Drafts combat

Maelle should be focusing only on Virtuous Stance. This is her primary damage mode.

If you are low on Adrenaline Points, use Lune's Wildfire to prepare Maelle's Swift Strike on her first turn.

Maelle build with Virtuous Stance and Swift Strike setup

The next turns should be about sustaining Fleuret Fury skills for as long as possible. Try to really hit every parry to milk every Adrenaline Point and use appropriate Pictos.

Instead of exiting Virtuous Stance when low on AP, use Mezzo Forte instead to sustain the stance and use the Fury next round.

If you can start Maelle with 9 AP, you can open with Gustave's Homage, instantly switching you to Virtuous Stance and dealing not-so-bad damage, but you'll still need to find a way to get enough AP next round. If you are unlucky and enemies don't target Maelle, the only good option is using Mezzo Forte.

You can use Maelle's Gradient Attack Phoenix Flame as an alternative to Revive Tints.

Final Tips for Low-Level Success

Fight Chromatic Bosses First

If you're struggling with the Verso Drafts difficulty, you should fight the Chromatic bosses of the region first. (See the complete guide for all boss locations). They have big health bars but their attacks are always variations of the base enemies' attacks - some attacks are even unchanged. They are easy to learn and easy to kill, making them perfect for practicing your Verso Drafts strategies.

Do this to get Grandiose Chroma Catalysts and quickly upgrade weapons at the Expedition Flag. This will greatly improve your damage output and survivability, which are essential for how to beat Verso Drafts at low level.

How to Beat Osquio: Osquio Strategies

When it comes to how to beat Osquio, the final boss of Verso's Drafts, these Osquio strategies are crucial. Osquio is the most challenging encounter in the DLC and requires all the Verso Drafts strategies you've learned throughout the area.

For Osquio strategies at low level, make sure you have your weapons upgraded to at least level 20 using the catalysts from Chromatic bosses. Use Maelle's Defenceless skill to help reduce his massive health bar. Elemental Overload or Follow Up cycles from Lune and Verso are highly recommended. Be prepared for a long fight - Osquio has an incredible amount of HP, so sustainable damage and proper status effect management are key.

For complete Osquio strategies and detailed boss information, check our Verso's Drafts DLC Complete Guide.

Low-Level Verso's Drafts Combat FAQ

What level should I be for Verso's Drafts DLC?

For a smooth experience, you shouldn't attempt Verso's Drafts before level 90 with serious, coherent, and consistent strategies. This guide focuses on low-level completion around level 60, which requires understanding Verso Drafts difficulty and implementing the right combat strategies. See our Verso's Drafts DLC Complete Guide for recommended level requirements.

What is the Babrapapa status effect in Verso's Drafts?

Babrapapa is a new status effect inflicted by almost every enemy in Verso's Drafts and is virtually unavoidable. Every stack means one hit is reduced to 1 damage, with enemies inflicting 2 to 4 stacks at a time, often two turns in a row. This completely invalidates your incoming damage output, creating a devastating cycle where characters can get stuck for multiple turns.

How do I clear the Babrapapa status effect?

You can use efficient skills that deal multiple hits, or use character-specific skills to clear the status effect. Best options include Lune's Healing Light (clears status effects from allies), Sciel's Dark Cleansing (excellent for removing status effects), or Verso's Burden Skill (helps him gain Rank while recovering others, but he will still carry Babrapapa and cured status effects).

What is the best Pictos for low-level Verso's Drafts combat?

Absolute priority is the Painted Power Pictos, which removes your 9999 damage cap and is essential for dealing meaningful damage at low levels. Prioritize Pictos items that help sustainable combat like Healing Parry (best option), SOS Shell, and other SOS Pictos. See our All Pictos Checklist for all essential combat Pictos.

How do I beat Osquio at low level?

For Osquio strategies at low level, make sure you have your weapons upgraded to at least level 20 using catalysts from Chromatic bosses. Use Maelle's Defenceless skill to help reduce his massive health bar. Elemental Overload or Follow Up cycles from Lune and Verso are highly recommended. Be prepared for a long fight - Osquio has an incredible amount of HP, so sustainable damage and proper status effect management are key.

Should I fight Chromatic bosses first in Verso's Drafts?

Yes, if you're struggling with Verso Drafts difficulty, you should fight the Chromatic bosses of the region first. They have big health bars but their attacks are variations of base enemies' attacks. This lets you get Grandiose Chroma Catalysts to upgrade weapons at Expedition Flags, greatly improving your damage output and survivability. See our complete guide for all boss locations.

What critical hit chance should I have for low-level Verso's Drafts?

Have at least 60-70% Critical Hit chance for every character. Invest heavily in the Luck stat and prioritize building your characters with Pictos that increase critical rate. This is essential for dealing sustainable damage in marathon combat encounters, as Verso's Drafts at low level requires multiple turns to clear enemies.

Best Low-Level Combat Strategies for Verso's Drafts DLC