Expedition 33: How to beat The Paintress?

The Paintress is the biggest scourge of the world of Expedition 33 and the main target of your expedition. You will finally face her at the end of the second act, as the eleventh main boss in the game. On this guide page, we described where to find the boss, what her weak points are, what she is vulnerable to, and what the rewards are for defeating her.

• Where is the Paintress?
• The Paintress' attacks (first phase)
• The Paintress' attacks (second phase)
• How to defeat the Paintress?
• Rewards for defeating the Paintress

Where is the Paintress?

The Paintress is the final boss of the second act of the game. She is waiting for you at the very top of the Monolith - you will reach her right after the final fight against Renoir. The boss is mandatory and fighting her is required to make progress in the game.

The Paintress' attacks (first phase)

1. Meteors of the abyss - the Paintress creates seven small meteors that levitate above her head. Each meteor flashes in turn, then flies incredibly fast towards the party. This attack can stun you. We recommend dodging - the parrying window is small and misleading. Dodge a fraction of a second after seeing the flash.
2. Gradient attack - The Paintress approaches a party member and performs a gradient attack. Perform a gradient counter with a very slight delay after the world changes color.
3. Chroma waves - the Paintress creates four area explosions. Perform two very quick parries when she starts waving the paddle, and the third and fourth with a very slight delay. You can also parry at the exact moment you hear a very distinctive sound.
4. Scattering Chroma - the Paintress creates a black sphere of energy above herself and triggers five rhythmic, area explosions. Before each explosion, the surrounding Chroma gathers into a sphere - parry at the moment when all the Chroma disappears inside the sphere.
5. Throwing stones from the Monolith - the Paintress levitates three large stones and throws them at the expedition . The stones slightly lean back just before the throw - parry at that moment.

The Paintress's attacks (second phase)

1. Luminous brush - the Paintress deals three area strikes with a luminous brush. The first two attacks are simple swings, which you can parry, while the third attack is slightly delayed. Getting hit takes away 1 PA from the party.
2. Long-range attacks - the Paintress shoots four projectiles. You have to jump over the first one when the jump symbol starts to fade. She shoots the next two projectiles by waving the brush. The last projectile is delayed and is preceded by a characteristic sound. If the Paintress hits you, she will heal.
3. Flight - the Paintress soars high into the air and performs five charges. The first two blows have a pause between them, the third and fourth follow almost immediately, and the fifth is preceded by a characteristic sound.
4. Ripping reality - a giant Paintress in the background creates a huge gap in space, from which five enormous, area projectiles shoot out. Bullets fly in an arc - dodge or avoid when they change their flight direction.
5. Hail of blows - the Paintress flies up to you and does eight attacks. The last blow is area-wide. Before the combo starts, there is a very long delay - the Paintress starts attacking when she electrifies the brush. The first three blows are very fast, then there is a moment of delay, followed by two blows, a delayed thrust, a delayed slash, and a heavily delayed area attack, before which she will make a characteristic sound.

How to defeat the Paintress?

The Paintress is neutral to all types of damage. In the first phase, you will not encounter any unique mechanics. Parrying the boss's attacks, on the other hand, may prove to be problematic. Almost all of the Paintress's attacks during the first phase are deceptive - their parry window occurs a fraction of a second later than you might expect. For this reason, dodging may prove to be safer than parrying, at least until you get used to the unusual parrying windows. When you kill the Paintress for the first time, you will start the second phase.

Ignore the huge Paintress in the background - your target is still the humanoid figure from the first phase. In the second phase, the Paintress's attacks are somewhat more intuitive, less confusing, and easier to parry. , if you die, you will have to start the fight from the very beginning. Most of the fight is still simple regarding the mechanics, but be ready for a very unpleasant surprise when the boss has about 1/3 of health left.

The Paintress will flood your party with corrupted Chroma. She will grant herself nine units of armor, and your party will be weakened and cursed. Each of the heroes will be given three turns until they die. After each attack by the Paintress, two levitating spheres will appear above her, functioning as weak points. Shooting down the weak point will give the hero an extra life turn. However, there are fewer orbs than heroes, so be careful who shoots them - let the hero closest to death do it. Try not to destroy more than one orb per turn. Some skills and all gradient attacks immediately give you an extra turn - be careful with their use, as they will deplete the turn limit faster. Reviving the hero will also reset the number of turns they have until they die.

The third phase is a mere formality, during which the Paintress is completely defenseless. Finish her off to end the fight and the second act.

Rewards for defeating the Paintress

For defeating the Paintress, you will receive:

1. 144,780 XP;
2. 8,520 Chroma;
3. Picto - Painted Power - you can now deal more over 9,999 damage per hit.
4. Resplendent Chroma Catalyst x3;
5. Recoat x1.
6. Esquie's skill - Esquie can now fly.

See also:

1. Game guide
2. All bosses
3. All enemies

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

April 24, 2025

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