Technologies

9 Tips for Starting Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Here’s some good advice to help you get started with the exciting RPG.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a gorgeous RPG from Sandfall Interactive. After previewing it during the Game Developer Conference, we’ve been anxiously awaiting its release. After playing over 20 hours of the title, I’ve compiled a short list of tips to help you start your journey on the best footing.

Pause cutscenes

Lengthy RPGs are known for having extensive cutscenes, and Clair Obscur is no different. It’s important to know if and how you can pause these in order to step away from the game momentarily — and luckily, you can do so in the middle of the game’s story-rich cinematic moments. Pressing A (when using an Xbox controller) is how you’ll pause a scene; from there, you can decide to skip or continue watching.

Get all three tokens in the early game

During the prologue you’ll get the chance to meet many of your teammates before heading off island. The game will grant you a single token to spend at one of three merchants located around the titular Expedition 33’s prelaunch festival. You can pick between a «pictograph,» an outfit and an item you don’t have use for yet.

However, you can unlock two more tokens in order to purchase everything available before moving on. The first optional token is won by completing the quiz that one of your friends asks (answers include that the first venture to defeat the Paintress was Expedition Zero, and that it’s been 100 years since the shattering). The second token you can get by battling against Maelle. There’s no need to worry about which item you should buy; you don’t have to miss out on any of them.

Automatic quick time events

Found within the settings’ accessibility menu, you can turn on automatic quick time events in order to avoid some of the game’s real-time combat. However, this only applies to QTEs that happen from your party’s attacks — which are nice to turn off if you just can’t get the timing right or have trouble seeing the icons. Actions that take place on an enemy’s turn, such as parrying or dodging, will not be performed for you.

Listen to your team

Often, one of your party members will call out when the team is being attacked. What they say will determine which of your team is the target. For example, if Lune shouts, «I’m ready to counter,» it means she’s about to be attacked. But if she says, «Gustav, dodge this,» then Gustav is the one in danger. Keep this in mind if you’re worried about a specific character receiving more aggro and getting focused down by enemies.

Avoid danger

You’ll quickly find side dungeons to explore after progressing far enough to unlock the overworld. Some of these will display a Danger marking under their name when you approach. While it may be fun to test your might against the difficult opponents there, I’ve found that they’re far too tough to battle my way through. It’s recommended to level up significantly and come back later.

Practice parrying

When enemies attack, dodging is far easier to perform than parrying, but the latter is too useful to ignore. Not only do you avoid taking any damage, but the counterattack you strike is super powerful. Even if you typically shy away from learning a game’s parry mechanic, as I often do, I highly advise you to practice and learn this from the beginning. While the timing is different for each enemy (and even attacks), it’s a surefire way to whittle down tough enemies.

Counters use elements

It’s worth noting that the element of your weapon will come into play when performing a base attack with it. This can be very useful when exploiting enemy weaknesses, but can be a hindrance if the elements match. For example, using a fire sword against an ice enemy will do increased damage, while the same sword will heal a fire-based opponent.

This elemental system comes into play when you parry as well. Even though you’re avoiding damage and performing a counterattack, you can still end up healing an enemy if you aren’t paying attention. Keep this in mind when deciding whether to parry or dodge enemy blows.

Dodge/parry multiple times

There’s enough time to dodge and/or parry repeatedly during an enemy attack. This is one of the reasons it can be hard to nail down the right timing, especially as enemies incorporate weird delays in their swings and projectiles. However, it can also be a blessing. If you miss the correct moment, you can try again before the attack lands. It’s not a single attempt per action. It’ll be hard to pull off, but there’s still a chance to try again.

Weak points

Many enemies have weak points that you can use your ranged attack (LT on Xbox) to shoot. This will often deal a decent amount of damage and may cause further status effects to the enemy and/or its companions. Every time you encounter a new foe, take a moment to survey the character design for something glowing or shiny. These points are often found in the center or near the head. However, I’ve encountered some located on the enemy’s arms and even floating around them in the form of orbs or hats. If something seems like it’s sticking out, shoot it first and ask questions later.

Those should give you good starting tips for the lengthy Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The game comes out on April 24 for Xbox, PlayStation and PC.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for July 5, #1477

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for July 5, No. 1,477.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a pretty tough one. I grew up on a farm, so I know the word, but I didn’t put it together right away, even though the letters are common ones. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

There is are two vowels in today’s Wordle answer.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with the letter B.

Wordle hint No. 4: Down on the farm

Today’s Wordle answer describes a piece of farm equipment.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer refers to a machine for making paper, hay, or cotton into bales.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is BALER.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, July 4, No. 1476 was CURVE.

Recent Wordle answers

June 30, No. 1472: BLINK

July 1, No. 1473: MOLDY

July 2, No. 1474: INCUR

July 3, No. 1475: POPPY

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for July 5, #489

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for July 5, No. 489.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

The theme of today’s NYT Strands puzzle isn’t terribly tough, but at least one of the words is unusual and really, really long to unscramble. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Every second counts.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Does anybody really know what time it is?

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

DIAL, SOLE, MOLE, MOLES, SHAKE, CHEEP, ROLE, HOME, LOCK, MEAT, TAME, TAMES, ROLES, ROON, TRON

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

CLOCK, WATCH, SUNDIAL, HOURGLASS, CHRONOMETER

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is TIMEKEEPERS. To find it, look for the T that’s four letters down on the far left, and wind across.

Technologies

Microsoft Is Eliminating Passwords in August: Here’s What You Need to Do to Prepare

Microsoft Authenticator has already stopped autofilling passwords, but the biggest change comes next month.

In June, Microsoft Authenticator stopped letting users create new passwords. In July, it turned off the autofill password function. And in August, the login app will stop supporting passwords entirely, moving to more secure passkeys, such as a PIN, fingerprint or facial recognition.

Attila Tomaschek, CNET’s software senior writer and digital security expert, says that passkeys are a safer alternative to the risky password habits practiced by 49% of US adults, according to a recent survey by CNET.

«Passwords can be cracked, whereas passkeys need both the public and the locally stored private key to authenticate users, which can help mitigate risks like falling victim to phishing and brute-force or credential-stuffing attacks,» Tomaschek said.

Using the same password for several accounts or adding personal hints can be a convenient way to remember your login. But that puts you at a big risk for scammers, identity theft and fraud. Here’s more on Microsoft’s plan for eliminating passwords and how to make the switch to passkeys before August.

When will Microsoft Authenticator stop supporting passwords?

Microsoft Authenticator houses your passwords and lets you sign into all your Microsoft accounts using a PIN, facial recognition like Windows Hello, or other biometric data like a fingerprint. Authenticator can be used in other ways, such as verifying you’re logging in if you forgot your password, or using two-factor authentication as an extra layer of security for your accounts. In June, the company stopped letting users add passwords to Authenticator, but here’s a timeline of other changes you can expect from Microsoft.

July 2025: You won’t be able to use the autofill password function.
August 2025: You’ll no longer be able to use saved passwords.

If you still want to use passwords instead of passkeys, you can store them in Microsoft Edge. However, CNET experts recommend adopting passkeys during this transition. «Passkeys use public key cryptography to authenticate users, rather than relying on users themselves creating their own (often weak or reused) passwords to access their online accounts,» Tomaschek said.

Why are passkeys a better alternative to passwords?

So what exactly is a passkey? It’s a credential created by the Fast Identity Online Alliance that uses biometric data or a PIN to verify your identity and access your account. Think about using your fingerprint or Face ID to log into your account. That’s generally safer than using a password that is easy to guess or susceptible to a phishing attack.

Passkeys aren’t stored on servers like passwords. Instead, they’re stored only on your personal device. More conveniently, this takes the guesswork out of remembering your passwords and the need for a password manager.

How to set up a passkey in Microsoft Authenticator

Microsoft said in a May 1 blog post that it will automatically detect the best passkey to set up and make that your default sign-in option. «If you have a password and ‘one-time code’ set up on your account, we’ll prompt you to sign in with your one-time code instead of your password. After you’re signed in, you’ll be prompted to enroll a passkey. Then the next time you sign in, you’ll be prompted to sign in with your passkey,» according to the blog post.

To set up a new passkey, open your Authenticator app on your phone. Tap on your account and select «Set up a passkey.» You’ll be prompted to log in with your existing credentials. After you’re logged in, you can set up the passkey.