Expedition 33: How to beat Bourgeon?

Bourgeon is an optional boss in Clair Obscur, who will probably be the first major encounter. On this guide page, we described where to find the boss, how to defeat him, and what are the rewards for defeating him.

• Where is Bourgeon?
• Bourgeon's attacks
• How to defeat Bourgeon?
• Rewards for defeating Bourgeon

Where is Bourgeon?

Bourgeon is located in the Flying Waters region. You will find him at the end of the side path, just before reaching the Lumieran Streets flag. The boss is optional and fighting him is not required to make progress in the game.

Bourgeon's attacks

1. Devour - the enemy devours a random team member, eliminating them from the encounter. The attack cannot be avoided or parried and a devoured team member cannot be resurrected. The eaten team member will be spit out and returned to the fight, safe and sound, when you stun the boss by filling a respective bar and using the breaking skill.
2. Miasma - the boss spits out four green orbs of miasma. Upon hitting, they apply the Exhaust status, which stops you from receiving AP. It's the easiest attack to parry: miasma flies towards you for around one second, so it's quite easy to parry all the orbs, gain 4 AP and perform a counterattack.
3. Triple combo - the boss leans over you and deals three blows. He raises his right hand and delivers three quick, rhythmic strikes. Thanks to the steady rhythm of the attack, it's quite easy to parry.
4. Quadruple combo - Bourgeon leans over you and deals four blows. First, he looks up and delivers a blow with his head. After a slight delay, he delivers three quick, rhythmic strikes with his right hand. Once again, listen to the rhythm of the punches to parry them efficiently.
5. Crushing combo - the enemy leans over you and deals six blows. First, he performs three quick strikes with his right hand, then after a slight delay, two quick strikes with his left hand, and after another delay, a final blow with his head. It's the most dangerous enemy attack. It's recommended to to avoid it.

How to defeat Bourgeon?

Bourgeon may be the first major encounter in the game. His weakness is electricity. This boss has a huge amount of health, deals considerable damage, and you will spend most of the fight without one team member. Devouring is always the boss's first move and it cannot be prevented. It is also impossible to predict who will be devoured. You can regain the devoured ally only by defeating the boss, so make sure that each team member has an equipped breakthrough skill; in the early stages of the game these are Overcharge (Gustave), Rockslide (Lune) and Fleuret Fury (Maelle).

Due to the unique mechanics of this encounter, the fight will revolve around charging the break bar as quickly as possible through strong, single attacks and counterattacks, and striving to perform a devastating breakthrough attack.

1. Let Gustave use the Marking Shot - this way he applies the Mark, increasing the damage from the next attack and hits the boss's weak point, which greatly increases his break bar. He can also use the Lumiere Attack to charge his arm and strengthen the Overcharge.
2. Lune should strive to acquire Fire, Ice, and Lightning Stains - they will drastically increase the damage dealt by her Rockslide. This can be easily accomplished by the following sequence of skills: Immolation (gives Fire Stain, sets the boss on fire) -> Thermal Transfer (gives Ice Stain, gives 4 AP hitting the burning boss) -> Thunderfall (hits the boss's weak point, uses Fire Stain to increase damage, gives Lightning and Light Stains) -> Rockslide (consumes Light, Ice and Lightning Stains, drastically increases damage, breaks through). Just a reminder, Light Stain is a Wildcard that replaces all types of Stains.
3. Maelle should strive to adopt a Virtuose Stance as soon as possible. The easiest way to do this is when the boss is on fire - either by Lune's Immolation or Spark by Maelle. When the boss is set on fire, use Swift Stride to enter the Virtuose Stance. You can now use Percee to heavily charge the break bar with a cheap attack or use Fleuret Fury to deal massive damage and break the enemy.

When the enemy is left with a fraction of health, he will devour two heroes, leaving you with only one ally. The remaining hero will have to finish off the boss, so make sure that at the end of the fight, everyone has enough health. Before dying, Bourgeon will automatically spit out the rest of the expedition.

Rewards for defeating Bourgeon

For defeating Bourgeon, you will receive:

1. 1,080 XP,
2. 532 Chroma,
3. Abysseram - weapon for Gustave
4. Picto - Augmented Counter I - increases damage from counterattacks by 25%,
5. Bourgeon Skin x1,
6. Chroma Catalyst x1.

See also:

1. Game guide
2. All bosses
3. All enemies
4. What is Gustave's Overcharge?

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

April 24, 2025

Rate It!

• Overview
• Guide
• Review