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If you’re a JRPG veteran, you know that one thing is for certain when you are going through the end-game of any game within the genre. You know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is a superboss lurking around somewhere that is so powerful that it makes the actual final boss look pedestrian.
Clair Obscur Expedition 33: How to Beat Clair Obscur
This guide explains how to beat Clair Obscur in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
Clair Obscur is a game that follows tradition, having the player head to Renoir’s Drafts to take on Simon,the game’s hardest bossby a considerable margin. He hits like a truck, has two devastatingly hard phases with the latter being a huge step-up, and boasts combos that will test your reflexes to the limit.
But if you want to complete all the achievements for the game and getall the Expedition Journalsacross the continent, you will need to beat him.
It’s a tough task, but with this guide, we will make the process a lot easier, effectively rendering all his fancy combos useless as you one-shot him into oblivion.
Before we begin, this is not a guide where we will be engaging in the fight fair and square. We will be employing a build that means you don’t need to engage with the vast majority of the fight at all. So, if you want to beat him legitimately, you need to look elsewhere. But if you just want to beat him by any means necessary, stick around.
Where Is Simon In Clair Obscur?
Simon can be found in an area known as Renoir’s Drafts.This area is found below the water’s surface, not too far from Sirene’s Island.
To access this area, there are a few prerequisites that players will need to be aware of.
Firstly,this area will only become available after you have completed all the story beats tied to the Monolith.As soon as the game ushers you back to Lumiere, this area should present itself.
But,you will also need to unlock Esquie’s dive ability,which can only be unlocked by increasing their relationship status to level six.
If you need a hand doing that,here is a handy guide on all the relationships in Clair Obscur.
Once you meet these requirements, you may enter the area, and you will then need to work your way through Renoir’s Drafts, which is littered with aberrations and Creation enemy variants.
This will eventually lead you to a portal that takes you to a new area known as The Abyss. Simply follow the path, fall down into the Abyss below, and amongst the golden weapons, you’ll see Simon waiting for you with the Expedition Zero journal sitting nearby.
Preparation For Simon
So, here’s the deal on how we will set you up for this Simon encounter. We aren’t aiming to go toe-to-toe with this freak of nature, and we have no intention of learning his patterns and combos.
Instead, we are going to set up our team for a first-turn annihilation, and one that is pretty dependent on RNG.
The goal here is to set Maelle up as the powerhouse of your team, giving her every possible buff under the sun in her first turn, and then using a blend of Sciel and Monoco’s skills to set her up for success.
To beat Simon’s second phase on the easiest difficulty setting, you need to rack up a staggering 44 million points of damage, which sounds insane. However, we assure you that if luck is in your favor, this build will do the business for you.
Party Composition & Key Skills
As mentioned, you’ll want to run a team ofMonoco,Sciel, andMaelle, and you’ll want to add them to your party in that order so that they take their turns in that exact sequence.
Maelle is the MVP of the group, but everyone has a role to play, and you’ll need to employ these skills as non-negotiables if you want this build to do the business:
Gault Fury
Fortune’s Fury
Intervention
Last Chance
Key Pictos To Equip
Then, as for Pictos/ Luminas, you only really need to worry about Maelle, as the other characters will only be used as a means of facilitating her overpowered first move.
Here is a list of all the non-negotiable pictos you should employ to make Maelle’s damage output as high as possible.
At Death’s Door
Augmented First Strike
Confident Fighter
Energising Start I(I-IV)
First Offensive
First Strike
Glass Canon
Greater Defenceless
Immaculate
In Medias Res
Inverted Affinity
Painted Power
Powered Attack
Shield Affinity
While the Luminas of Sciel and Monoco are far less important, they will still need to have First Strike and Cheater equipped.
Attribute Composition
As for attribute composition, again, you only need to worry about how Maelle is set up, so you’re able to keep Sciel and Monoco as you had them set up prior to the Simon fight.
You can up their Agility if you like, as this may give you enough turns to set up Maelle twice, but it’s not strictly necessary.
As for Maelle, you want to verify that she is set up to deal the maximum amount of damage possible, so use a Recoat andboost her Might and Luck stats to 99.
Then, with the leftover points, you’re able to redistribute as you like, but I would suggest Agility, just in case your luck isn’t in during the fight and you want to actually try and fight Simon.
Based on a level 90 character, which is what level I would suggest you take on Simon, this is what your attributes should look like:
How To Beat Simon
Okay, so here’s how the fight goes down with Simon. You’ll have two phases, but both are separated as if they are two separate fights,meaning your AP, HP, and all other stats are reset.
This means that you’ll simply take the strategy you employed in the first phase and repeat it for the second. So, basically, you set this turn up once, and then you do it all over and hope that the luck-based pictos give you the win.
Beginning with Monoco,you’ll want to use Gault’s Fury,which will deal moderate damage, but most importantly, it will mark Simon.
Next, you’ll want touse an energy tint on Monoco’s second turn on Sciel,meaning she starts her turn on full AP.
Then, when it’s Sciel’s turn at bat,you’ll want to first cast All Set,which will grant Rush, Shell, and Powerful to all allies, with Powerful being the most important of the three for this build.
Which leads into her second turn,where you will want to cast Fortune’s Fury on Maelle, which will ensure she deals double damage on her next turn.
Then comes the fun part. With all this set up,you’ll first want to cast Last Chance with Maelle, which will lower her HP to one, triggering the SOS Power picto and giving her full AP.
Then,you’ll want to use Stendhal and ensure you hit the QTEs perfectlyfor maximum damage output. Then, it’s out of your hands.
Damage output will vary wildly depending on the outcome of the dice roll of your Roulette Picto as well as your critical chance, but what you want is for this Picto to come alive and grant you a 4x damage buff.
If this occurs, you’ll deal enough damage to take out Simon’s second phase, and thankfully, even if it doesn’t trigger during the first phase, this setup should kill Simon’s first phase version regardless. So, basically, you only need your luck to be in once.
If your Roulette doesn’t hit, I would suggest just letting your party die as fast as possible,as it’s very difficult to get this setup primed again with his intense combos raging on from one turn to the next. But if you get it in one go, then congrats, you just steamrolled the hardest boss in the game.
Rewards For Defeating Simon
After defeating Simon, there is no harder test that stands in your way. You’ll have reached the pinnacle as far as Clair Obscur’s combat is concerned, and you’ll get some tasty rewards as a result. Here is what players get for defeating Simon:
After this fight, all that’s left to do is clean up any loose ends across the continent and go blow Renoir away in Lumiere to roll credits on what is a truly spectacular JRPG experience.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: How To Beat Serpenphare
Look, a flying snake! What happens if I crash my flying friend into it? Oh… dammit.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
WHERE TO PLAY
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a ground-breaking turn-based RPG with unique real-time mechanics, making battles more immersive and addictive than ever. Explore a fantasy world inspired by Belle Époque France in which you battle devastating enemies.In this evolution of JRPGs, real-time actions enhance the heart of turn-based combat. Craft unique builds for your Expeditioners that fit your playstyle via gear, stats, skills, and character synergies. Open an active dimension in combat - dodge, parry, and counter in real time, chain combos by mastering attack rhythms, and target enemy weak points using a free aim system.With only one year left to live, join Gustave, Maelle, and their fellow Expeditioners as they embark upon a desperate quest to break the Paintress’ cycle of death. Follow the trail of previous expeditions and discover their fate. Get to know the members of Expedition 33 as they learn to work together against impossible odds.Explore an enchanting realm populated by surreal adversaries. Wander through breathtaking landscapes, from the Island of Visages to the Forgotten Battlefield, discovering secrets and hidden quests along the way. Find allies of fortune in creatures of legend and recruit special companions, access new travel methods and discover secret areas in the World Map.
