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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33is a masterclass on how to handle side content in RPGs. Right from the start, the game lets you explore an overworld, visit dungeons, and face optional enemies.
Among these enemies are Chromatic Nevrons, stronger versions of their regular counterparts. Some of them, like theChromatic Lancelier, can be defeated on your first encounter, while others are better left for later on.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: Complete Guide & Walkthrough
Come with us on the greatest expedition of all time!
There’s one opponent who isn’t a Chromatic but is just as tough. Called Grosse Tête, this gigantic rocky face hits like a truck, has absurd resistance, and delivers an increasing number of hits per turn.
While I waited until Act III to challenge it, a gimmick allows you to beat it the first time you meet. This guide will teach youhow to beat Grosse Tête inClair Obscur: Expedition 33without raising an arm—or raising all of them if you’re feeling destructive.
Tip: Make sureMonoco is in the partywhen you kill Grosse Tête because he can learn a skill from it, and this is the only fight against it in the entire game.
Where To Find Grosse Tête
The Grosse Tête can be found after crossing the Forgotten Battlefield. To the east of the map, you’ll find the Stone Quarry. Keep going until you hit a shore.
With Esquie, swim toward another shore further east.It’s an area with the Coastal Cave. The Grosse Tête will be standing before the cave, dying to headbutt your party into oblivion.
Easy Trick To Killing Grosse Tête
I killed Grosse Tête the hard way. Considering he’s super tanky and adds more attacks with every turn, I can confidently say it was an annoying fight.
But what if I told you this battle wasn’t actually designed to be won by dealing damage, butrather as a test of your evasion skills?
Every turn, Grosse Tête’s number of bounces increases by two. The timing gets a bit erratic, but it’s still manageable, even if the battle drags on forever.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: How To Beat Serpenphare
Look, a flying snake! What happens if I crash my flying friend into it? Oh… dammit.
Eventually, it will bounce 24 times in a row.At the end of this bouncing, assuming you survived,Grosse Tête will fall flat on its back and explode, probably from a massive headache or pure exhaustion.
And there you go, victory.That’s why the reward felt like a letdown when I killed it with my high-level characters. It’s becauseExpedition 33expected me to beat Grosse Tête right on my first encounter.
Anyway. It’s still a real challenge to dodge every attack for that long, so I wouldn’t blame you if you chose to come back after bulking up. If that’s your case, keep reading, and I’ll tell you which skills I used to carve this rock face into dust.
Preparing for Grosse Tête
My party was around level 60 when I decided to face Grosse Tête.It was way overkill if all I wanted was to parry, but just enough to bulldoze my way to victory.
I thought to myself, “If this Nevron wants to play fast, then he’ll burn to hell every turn,” which led me to build my characters around Burn. That’s a terrible idea, however, since he’s resistant to fire damage.
In actuality, it’s not just fire he’s resistant to. I didn’t run thorough tests, butGrosse Tête resisted several elements. In the end,I suggest focusing on physical, non-elemental damage only.
Spoiler alert: since I killed Grosse Tête in Act III, there will be minor story spoilers from now on.
Best Party Composition
My party was Verso, Maelle, and Monoco. I don’t recommend taking Lune since Grosse Tête resists various elemental damage, andI strongly suggest bringingMonoco to learn the enemy’s skill.
One thing you can do is choose characters with high Break Damage, like Verso, who has high AP cost skills that can Break enemies.
Since I was in Act III,Maelle had already learned Void damage skills. Use those to your heart’s content, since they’re some of the best offensive skills in the game, especiallyStendhal.
Best Skills
One skillthat carried me through the fight, although risky to use, wasVerso’s Steeled Strike. It takes a turn to charge, which can be dangerous considering how many bounces Grosse Tête is doing.
But if you manage to unleash it, Verso will deal massive damage. If you’re parrying every bounce, chances are your Perfection Rank is pretty high. If it’s at S, expect a serious punch.
With Monoco, I used skills to apply Mark on the enemy and buffs for the party while Maelle stuck to her Void damage skills.
Don’t forget some Break Damage skills. They might not help much since, as I said, Grosse Tête is insanely fast and will probably break free from stun immediately—but hey, better than nothing.
Party Member
Description
Assault Zero
Low Physical damage. 5 hits. Critical Hits generate 1 additional Perfection. B: Increased damage.
Perfect Break
Very high Light damage. 1 hit. Can Break. Rank S on Break. B: Costs 5 AP.
Steeled Strike
After 1 turn, deals extreme single target Physical damage. 13 hits. Interrupted if any damage taken. S Rank: Increased damage.
Deals extreme single target Void damage. 1 hit. Removes self-Shields and self applies Defenceless.
Phantom Strike
Deals very high Void damage to all enemies. 4 hits. Also gives +35% of a Gradient Charge.
Gustave’s Homage
Deals high single target Lightning damage. 8 hits. Increased damage to Marked targets. Doesn’t remove Mark.
Chevaliere Thrusts
Deal high physical damage to all enemies. 3-Hits. Critical Hits deal double damage. Heavy Mask increases damage.
Orphelin Cheers
Applies Powerful to 1-3 allies. Caster Mask: Also gives 3 AP to targets.
Chapelier Slash
Deal high physical damage to all enemies. 3-Hits. Applies Mark. Agile Mask increases damage.
Monoco is in charge of buffs and applying Mark to the enemy.Maelle can focus on using Phantom Strike to build up Gradient Chargesor use Stendhal if she’s in Virtuose Stance. To enter the stance, use Gustave’s Homage since it has the added benefit of not removing the Mark debuff.
Verso should use Steeled Strike if you’re confident in your dodge skills or Phantom Stars to deal damage both to Grosse Tête’s HP and Break Bar.
If you’ve already beaten Sprong and got theCheaterPicto, I don’t even need to tell you to equip it. That’ll make this fight way easier, and honestly, there’s no reason for you to be reading this guide anymore.
Grosse Tête Attack Breakdown
There’s not much to say here. Grosse Tête only has one attack: endless bounces. It starts with two bounces, goes up to four in the second turn, and increases by two each turn until it hits 24.
Even with a speed build, Grosse Tête is insanely fast. It always attacked in between my party members' turns, allowing his bounce count to grow.
Considering the huge number of parries required for a counter, I strongly suggest not taking that route. Always prefer to dodge.
However, if you’re going brute force, the best strategy is to parry until all your party members stack up enough AP, then switch to dodging. In the worst-case scenario, at least you’re sharpening your reflexes, and maybe Grosse Tête drops dead from exhaustion.
How To Beat Grosse Tête
If you’ve chosen the path of destruction, that means you’re not planning to dodge him 150+ times. Fair enough, respect. I get that it can be a bit of a slog.
My job is to help you dish out as much damage as possible in the shortest time, so Grosse Tête doesn’t get too many turns and the fight doesn’t drag longer than it should.
Chances are Grosse Tête will strike first, bouncing twice, which can earn you2 AP per parry, or at least 1 AP if you’ve got theDodgerLumina equipped.
Next turn, it’ll bounce four times and keep going up from there. You’ll have plenty of chances to parry and stack AP, but only go for it if you’re confident or are packing high defense and HP.
With Monoco, start by using Orphelin Cheers. Then, apply Markwhenever you can and reapply the buff when it expires. If you’d rather attack, go for Chevalière Thrusts as long as you’re in Heavy Mask.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: Best Verso Build
More than just a Gustave clone.
My Verso just spammed Steeled Strike. If you’re able to’t maintain Perfection, use Assault Zero instead.If Grosse Tête is close to being Broken, go for Perfect Break to shoot straight to Rank S.
Maelle alternated between Stendhal and Phantom Strike.I started relying on Phantom Strike because of the bonus it gives to Gradient Charge. In 3 turns, she could charge one bar all by herself, which let me land some solid damage on the Nevron.
Honestly, there’s no real trick. Grosse Tête is a one-trick Nevron and will keep bouncing forever. If you want,bring some Rush buffs or Slow debuffs so it acts less, or focus on Speed Pictos.
Eventually, you’ll beat it, either by smashing his rocky face or outlasting his antics until he drops dead from exhaustion.
As a reward, you’ll get the Warming Up Picto, one crafting material, and the usual experience and money. Quite underwhelming if you only beat him in Act III, as I did.
If I were you, I’d take down Grosse Tête using the gimmick where it dies of exhaustion. The rewards make way more sense at that point in the game.
Still, it’s kind of a cheap move from the game to put him there before Monoco joins the party, because killing him without the Gestral might ruin a 100% run and force you into a NG+ playthrough later on.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: 11 Best Pictos, Ranked
Thanks to Gustave’s Lumina Converter, we can become so powerful with these Pictos.
