Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Achievement Guide: Complete 100%

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 packs 55 achievements into a turn-based RPG built on parry timing, character-specific combat systems, and a genuinely huge amount of optional content. Steam’s unlock-rate data shows the real wall isn’t the main story, since even Paintress sits under half of all players, it’s everything after: relationship levels, superbosses like Simon and the Serpenphare, and the notoriously demanding Perfection achievement that asks you to master Verso’s parry-and-dodge system completely.

Quick Stats

• Total Achievements: 55
• Estimated Completion Time: 60-80 hours for full 100% completion, including superbosses and level 99 grinding
• Difficulty: Hard to Very Hard overall, driven almost entirely by end-game boss fights and parry-based combat mechanics
• Online Required: No
• Missable Achievements: Yes. Professional (no-damage boss kill), Aiding the Enemy (specific Nevron choices), and Maelle (a dialogue choice at relationship level 6) can all be permanently locked out if handled incorrectly

Achievement List by Category

Story Progression and World Locations

• Lumière
• Spring Meadows
• Flying Waters
• Ancient Sanctuary
• Gestral Village
• Esquie’s Nest
• Legend
• Stone Wave Cliffs
• Forgotten Battlefield
• Monoco’s Station
• Old Lumière
• First Axon
• Second Axon
• Monolith
• Paintress
• Back to Lumière
• The End
• Expedition 33
• A Peculiar Encounter

Combat Mechanics and Character Skills

• Time to Spill Some Ink
• Overcharge
• Perfect Flow
• Synergy
• Maximisation
• Perfection
• Wheel Control
• Chroma Proficiency
• Professional

Character Relationships

• Sciel
• Lune
• Maelle
• Monoco
• Esquie
• Plane, Train, and Submarine

Progression and Leveling

• Weapon Upgrade
• Weapon Mastery
• Lumina
• Expeditioner
• Trailbreaker
• Survivor

Optional Bosses and Superbosses

• Sprong
• À On
• Clea
• Peace At Last
• Carreau Parfait
• Noir et Blanc
• “Endless”

Collectibles and Side Content

• Paint Cage
• Curious
• Lost Gestrals
• Gestral Games
• Feet Collection
• Aiding the Enemy
• Follow The Trail
• Connoisseur

Achievements by Category

Achievement names, unlock rates, and rarity below come directly from Steam’s own achievement data. Unlock requirements below are based on our own testing and verified trophy data.

Story Progression and World Locations

Lumière

Unlock Rate: 88.1% (Common)

Requirement: Embark on the Expedition.

How to Unlock: Play through the prologue and begin the main story.

Tips: This unlocks automatically within the first few minutes of the game.

Spring Meadows

Unlock Rate: 81.3% (Common)

Requirement: Find your way through Spring Meadows.

How to Unlock: Complete the first main dungeon of the game, Spring Meadows, in Act I.

Tips: This area also contains the first Chromatic Lancelier mini-boss, a good early opportunity to practice for the Professional achievement.

Flying Waters

Unlock Rate: 74.2% (Common)

Requirement: Find your way through Flying Waters.

How to Unlock: Progress through the second dungeon, tracking down Maelle at the Manor before defeating the Goblu boss and passing through the level exit.

Tips: Enemies here are almost all weak to electricity, so build Lune’s kit around that element before heading in.

Ancient Sanctuary

Unlock Rate: 70.8% (Common)

Requirement: Find your way through Ancient Sanctuary.

How to Unlock: Make it through the maze-like third dungeon and defeat the Ultimate Sakapatate boss at the end.

Tips: The pathways here are winding but not blocked by major puzzles, so patient exploration is more useful than rushing.

Gestral Village

Unlock Rate: 68.5% (Common)

Requirement: Find your way through the Gestral Village.

How to Unlock: Speak to the Chef, Golgra, defeat four enemies in the village tournament, recruit Sciel, then leave the village to get the password for Esquie’s Nest.

Tips: Take time to browse the vendors and start side quests here, since you won’t want to backtrack immediately after leaving.

Esquie’s Nest

Unlock Rate: 67.2% (Common)

Requirement: Find your way through Esquie’s Nest.

How to Unlock: Travel from the Gestral Village to Esquie’s Nest and speak with Esquie.

Tips: This achievement and Legend unlock at the same moment, so you get two achievements for one short trip.

Legend

Unlock Rate: 67.2% (Common)

Requirement: Unlock Esquie.

How to Unlock: Speak with Esquie at Esquie’s Nest to recruit him to your party.

Tips: This pops simultaneously with Esquie’s Nest, so there’s no extra step required beyond the story visit.

Stone Wave Cliffs

Unlock Rate: 62.5% (Common)

Requirement: Find your way through Stone Wave Cliffs.

How to Unlock: Complete the fourth main dungeon of Act I.

Tips: This is also a good spot to farm the Hexga enemy here later for the Maximisation achievement, since it shields itself regularly and gives you time to set up Sciel’s combo.

Forgotten Battlefield

Unlock Rate: 58.8% (Common)

Requirement: Find your way through Forgotten Battlefield.

How to Unlock: Progress into Act II as Verso and complete this new area.

Tips: This marks the start of Act II and a shift in playable perspective, so expect new mechanics to unlock around this point.

Monoco’s Station

Unlock Rate: 57.7% (Common)

Requirement: Find your way through Monoco’s Station.

How to Unlock: Reach and complete the Grandis Station area, recruiting Monoco along the way.

Tips: Monoco joins your party automatically here as part of the story, so there’s no separate recruitment step to worry about.

Expedition 33

Unlock Rate: 57.7% (Common)

Requirement: Unlock all playable characters.

How to Unlock: Recruit every party member by progressing through the main story, including Sciel, Esquie, Monoco, and the rest of the roster.

Tips: This unlocks naturally alongside Monoco’s Station for most players, since Monoco is typically the last character recruited on the main path.

Old Lumière

Unlock Rate: 55.4% (Common)

Requirement: Find your way through Old Lumière.

How to Unlock: Complete the Old Lumière area during Act II.

Tips: There’s a revisitable version of this area later in the story, so don’t worry if you feel like you missed content on your first pass through.

First Axon

Unlock Rate: 52.8% (Common)

Requirement: Defeat the first Axon.

How to Unlock: Beat the first Axon boss fight, found at Visages.

Tips: Before fighting the Axon, clear the Joyful Vale, Anger Vale, and Sadness Vale side areas to fight bonus Mask bosses and earn exclusive weapons for Maelle, Lune, and Monoco. You cannot fight these Masks after defeating the Axon.

Second Axon

Unlock Rate: 51.3% (Common)

Requirement: Defeat the second Axon.

How to Unlock: Beat the second Axon boss fight, found at Sirène.

Tips: This follows the same story structure as the first Axon encounter, just later in Act II.

Monolith

Unlock Rate: 50.6% (Common)

Requirement: Reach the Monolith.

How to Unlock: Progress the story until you arrive at the Monolith.

Tips: A short cutscene plays here showing the Expeditioners testing whether they can cross the barrier. It’s easy to miss if you rush past, so take a moment to watch it.

Paintress

Unlock Rate: 48.1% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Defeat the Paintress.

How to Unlock: Beat the Paintress in the game’s climactic story boss fight.

Tips: Maelle is recommended for shield removal, with Lune supporting her Virtuose Stance. Watch for the boss summoning adds and gaining shields around the halfway point, and clear those quickly with Free Aim shots or Breaking Rules.

Back to Lumière

Unlock Rate: 47.7% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Return to Lumière.

How to Unlock: Progress the story following the Paintress encounter to return to Lumière.

Tips: This is a direct story continuation, so it will unlock naturally as you keep playing after the previous major boss fight.

The End

Unlock Rate: 39.6% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Reach the end.

How to Unlock: Complete the main story to its conclusion.

Tips: The gap between this and Back to Lumière reflects how many players stop before finishing, since the endgame area demands a well-built team.

A Peculiar Encounter

Unlock Rate: 45.1% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Defeat the Mime in Lumière.

How to Unlock: Find and defeat the Mime enemy near the harbor in Lumière.

Tips: This is one of several hidden Mime fights scattered through the game, and defeating each one also grants a music record toward the Connoisseur achievement.

Combat Mechanics and Character Skills

Time to Spill Some Ink

Unlock Rate: 84.5% (Common)

Requirement: Break an enemy.

How to Unlock: Land enough hits or a well-timed attack to Break any enemy’s stance during combat.

Tips: This is a core combat mechanic you’ll trigger naturally within your first few fights.

Overcharge

Unlock Rate: 81.4% (Common)

Requirement: With Gustave, use a fully charged Overcharge that Breaks an enemy.

How to Unlock: As Gustave, charge his Overcharge ability fully, then use it to Break an enemy’s stance.

Tips: Gustave is your starting party member, so this is easy to pick up during the opening hours while learning his kit.

Perfect Flow

Unlock Rate: 50.6% (Common)

Requirement: With Lune, consume Stains 4 turns in a row.

How to Unlock: Using Lune, consume a Stain on four consecutive turns during a single battle.

Tips: You’ll need a longer fight to pull this off. Feed Lune Energy Tints so she always has enough action points to keep using skills each turn.

Synergy

Unlock Rate: 44.1% (Uncommon)

Requirement: With Maelle, use Percée on a Marked enemy while in Virtuose Stance.

How to Unlock: Mark an enemy, switch Maelle into Virtuose Stance, then use her Percée skill on that marked target.

Tips: Percée is one of Maelle’s best early skills, so most players unlock this naturally without extra setup.

Maximisation

Unlock Rate: 35.2% (Uncommon)

Requirement: With Sciel, consume 20 Foretell on a single target during Twilight.

How to Unlock: Build up 20 stacks of Foretell on one enemy, then have Sciel consume them during her Twilight state.

Tips: This needs setup and a durable enemy, such as the Hexga near Stone Wave Cliffs, since it shields itself and buys you time. Equip the Chation weapon, which grants 10 Foretell per Focused Foretell cast, then repeat the cast to reach 20 before entering Twilight.

Perfection

Unlock Rate: 56.7% (Common)

Requirement: With Verso, reach Rank S.

How to Unlock: Increase Verso’s combat Rank to S by dodging attacks, dealing damage, and parrying consecutively, or by landing a Perfect Break to raise his Rank immediately.

Tips: Using a Perfect Break skill on an enemy jumps Verso straight to Rank S, which is far faster than trying to chain the rank-building actions manually.

Wheel Control

Unlock Rate: 28.2% (Rare)

Requirement: With Monoco, cast an Upgraded Skill 4 turns in a row.

How to Unlock: Using Monoco, cast a skill boosted by his Bestial Wheel mechanic on four consecutive turns.

Tips: Time your skill use to match whatever the Bestial Wheel pointer is currently boosting, since using a matching skill type gives Monoco increased effectiveness.

Chroma Proficiency

Unlock Rate: 28.4% (Rare)

Requirement: Use a level 3 Gradient Attack.

How to Unlock: Build up your Gradient Attack meter to level 3 and use it in combat.

Tips: This happens naturally in longer fights once you understand how the Gradient Attack meter builds through combat actions.

Professional

Unlock Rate: 51.4% (Common)

Requirement: Defeat a boss without taking any damage.

How to Unlock: Beat any boss fight in the game while avoiding all incoming damage through parries and dodges.

Tips: This is missable if you don’t plan ahead. The first Chromatic Lancelier mini-boss in Spring Meadows is the recommended target, and you can lower the difficulty to Story Mode for a wider perfect parry window if needed.

Character Relationships

Sciel

Unlock Rate: 33.0% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Reach relationship level 7 with Sciel.

How to Unlock: Speak to Sciel at camp and choose to spend time with her repeatedly across the story, including twice after starting Act 3.

Tips: Camp relationship scenes become available gradually as the story progresses, so check in with her at every rest point.

Lune

Unlock Rate: 31.3% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Reach relationship level 7 with Lune.

How to Unlock: Speak to Lune at camp and choose to spend time with her repeatedly, including twice after visiting Sirène’s Dress.

Tips: Sirène’s Dress is unlocked by reaching relationship level 5 with Lune first, so her own relationship scenes gate access to some of her later ones.

Maelle

Unlock Rate: 30.8% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Reach relationship level 7 with Maelle.

How to Unlock: Speak to Maelle at camp and choose to spend time with her repeatedly, including twice after visiting the Reacher. In the final relationship scene, you must tell Maelle the truth about Gustave.

Tips: This achievement is missable. After completing Maelle’s side quest and reaching relationship level 6, do not lie to her, or the achievement becomes permanently locked out for that playthrough.

Monoco

Unlock Rate: 29.0% (Rare)

Requirement: Reach relationship level 7 with Monoco.

How to Unlock: Speak to Monoco at camp and choose to spend time with him repeatedly, including twice more after visiting the Sacred River.

Tips: The Sacred River boss fight unlocks at relationship level 5 with Monoco, so building his relationship early opens up more content down the line.

Esquie

Unlock Rate: 31.7% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Reach relationship level 7 with Esquie.

How to Unlock: Speak to Esquie at camp and choose to spend time with him repeatedly, including twice more after recovering Urrie.

Tips: Esquie’s relationship scenes tie into recovering Urrie during Act 3, so this naturally progresses alongside the Plane, Train, and Submarine achievement.

Plane, Train, and Submarine

Unlock Rate: 34.5% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Discover all of Esquie’s abilities.

How to Unlock: Progress Esquie’s storyline until all of his traversal abilities are unlocked, which happens near the start of Act 3 after recovering Urrie.

Tips: This achievement is a prerequisite for accessing several optional areas and world bosses that require flight, so prioritize it if you’re chasing superboss achievements.

Progression and Leveling

Weapon Upgrade

Unlock Rate: 72.3% (Common)

Requirement: Upgrade a weapon once.

How to Unlock: Speak to the Curator at camp and use a Chroma Catalyst to upgrade any character’s weapon a single level.

Tips: Chroma Catalysts are common early on, so this will happen naturally within your first couple of hours.

Weapon Mastery

Unlock Rate: 25.6% (Rare)

Requirement: Fully upgrade a weapon.

How to Unlock: Take a single weapon all the way from level 1 to level 33 using the full sequence of Chroma Catalysts, Polished Chroma Catalysts, Resplendent Chroma Catalysts, Grandiose Chroma Catalysts, and finally a Perfect Chroma Catalyst.

Tips: Perfect Chroma Catalysts are rare, dropped by bosses like the one in the Dark Gestral Village or the Serpenphare. Commit yours to the weapon you’ll actually use through the rest of the game rather than spreading them thin.

Lumina

Unlock Rate: 71.7% (Common)

Requirement: Consume a Lumina point.

How to Unlock: Spend a Lumina point on any character’s Lumina board.

Tips: This is part of normal character progression and will unlock the first time you invest in a character’s Lumina skills.

Expeditioner

Unlock Rate: 54.7% (Common)

Requirement: Reach level 33.

How to Unlock: Level any character up to level 33 through normal combat experience.

Tips: This comes naturally through story progress alone, without needing to grind or explore optional content.

Trailbreaker

Unlock Rate: 33.5% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Reach level 66.

How to Unlock: Continue leveling through combat, clearing the open world and bonus locations to reach level 66.

Tips: Clearing most of the open-world content and side areas should naturally bring your party to this level without dedicated grinding.

Survivor

Unlock Rate: 12.9% (Very Rare)

Requirement: Reach level 99.

How to Unlock: Continue leveling well past the main story’s natural curve, requiring dedicated grinding to hit the level cap.

Tips: Reaching level 66 happens naturally through exploration, but level 99 requires deliberate farming in late-game areas or repeatable encounters.

Optional Bosses and Superbosses

Sprong

Unlock Rate: 32.8% (Uncommon)

Requirement: Beat Sprong.

How to Unlock: Defeat the optional world boss Sprong, found south of Blades’ Graveyard.

Tips: This is one of the more approachable world bosses and a good stepping stone before attempting the harder superbosses later in Act 3.

À On

Unlock Rate: 25.6% (Rare)

Requirement: Beat the Serpenphare.

How to Unlock: Defeat the Serpenphare, a giant flying serpent found above the large lake east of the Forgotten Battlefield. You’ll need Esquie’s flying ability to reach it.

Tips: Don’t attempt this fight before level 70. The Serpenphare shields itself frequently, so bring a way to break through or remove shields quickly.

Clea

Unlock Rate: 20.8% (Rare)

Requirement: Beat Clea.

How to Unlock: Complete the Flying Manor optional area and defeat its final boss, Clea.

Tips: After defeating Clea, speak to the Young Boy in the plaza to choose a garment reward for Lune, Sciel, or Maelle. You can only pick one, so decide carefully.

Peace At Last

Unlock Rate: 16.0% (Rare)

Requirement: Beat Simon.

How to Unlock: Defeat Simon, one of the hardest optional superbosses in the game, accessed after clearing other late-game content.

Tips: Aim to be at least level 80 before attempting this fight. Simon can one-shot characters if you miss a perfect parry, even on Story difficulty where he deals reduced damage, so mastering parry timing beforehand is essential.

Carreau Parfait

Unlock Rate: 21.3% (Rare)

Requirement: Beat the Chromatic Pétank.

How to Unlock: Defeat the Chromatic Pétank, a unique enemy variant found in the world.

Tips: Pétank enemies flee after a few rounds and can only be fought once cornered on a glowing pedestal, so chase them down rather than trying to engage immediately.

Noir et Blanc

Unlock Rate: 19.5% (Rare)

Requirement: Solve the Painting Workshop’s mystery.

How to Unlock: Complete the Painting Workshop optional area, including defeating the Lampmaster boss found within it.

Tips: This area also includes the harder repeat version of the Ancient Sanctuary boss, so go in prepared for a tougher fight than you faced the first time.

“Endless”

Unlock Rate: 19.0% (Rare)

Requirement: Reach the top of the Endless Tower.

How to Unlock: Clear all stages of the Endless Tower, an optional gauntlet-style challenge area.

Tips: Tackle this in stages. Stages 1 through 9 are reasonable earlier on, while the final stages are best saved until after you’ve taken on other superbosses like À On.

Collectibles and Side Content

Paint Cage

Unlock Rate: 76.4% (Common)

Requirement: Break a Paint Cage.

How to Unlock: Find and break any single Paint Cage collectible found throughout the world.

Tips: Paint Cages often have multiple locks that need destroying separately, hidden around crates, wall cracks, or nearby paths, so look carefully around the immediate area.

Curious

Unlock Rate: 71.1% (Common)

Requirement: Witness an optional scene at camp.

How to Unlock: Trigger any optional character scene while resting at camp.

Tips: These scenes appear as you progress the story, so simply visiting camp regularly and choosing to speak with your party will unlock this.

Lost Gestrals

Unlock Rate: 15.4% (Rare)

Requirement: Find all of the Lost Gestrals.

How to Unlock: Track down every Lost Gestral hidden throughout the open world and optional areas.

Tips: These are scattered widely, so use a dedicated collectible guide to avoid missing any during your main playthrough.

Gestral Games

Unlock Rate: 15.2% (Rare)

Requirement: Win all of the Gestral games.

How to Unlock: Complete the minigames found at all five Gestral Beaches scattered throughout the world.

Tips: These beaches are optional and easy to miss if you stick to the main path, so check a world map for their locations.

Feet Collection

Unlock Rate: 15.0% (Rare)

Requirement: Acquire all of Monoco’s skills.

How to Unlock: Have Monoco in your party when defeating specific enemies to take their “foot,” which unlocks his skills. Collect all of them.

Tips: Unlike other characters, Monoco doesn’t use skill points to unlock abilities. He must simply be present in the party when the right enemy type is defeated.

Aiding the Enemy

Unlock Rate: 13.5% (Very Rare)

Requirement: Finish all of the Nevron quests.

How to Unlock: Help all 11 friendly Nevrons scattered around the world, each appearing in an unusual, non-hostile state that needs assistance rather than combat.

Tips: This achievement is missable. At the Floating Cemetery, you must honor the Chalier’s request rather than killing him, or you will not receive credit and the achievement will be permanently affected for that save.

Follow The Trail

Unlock Rate: 10.2% (Very Rare)

Requirement: Find all of the journals from prior expeditions.

How to Unlock: Collect all 49 journal entries scattered throughout the game’s areas.

Tips: Journals are tied to specific locations and story areas, so a completionist pass after finishing the main story is the most efficient way to mop these up.

Connoisseur

Unlock Rate: 10.1% (Very Rare)

Requirement: Find all 33 music records.

How to Unlock: Collect all 33 music records hidden throughout the world, several of which are rewarded for defeating hidden Mime enemies like the one tied to A Peculiar Encounter.

Tips: Defeating every Mime you encounter is one of the more reliable ways to pick up records, since several are directly tied to those fights.

5-Phase 100% Completion Roadmap

Phase 1: Main Story Playthrough Play through Acts I through III naturally, picking up all location-based story achievements from Lumière through The End, along with early combat achievements like Time to Spill Some Ink, Overcharge, and Weapon Upgrade that unlock through normal play.

Phase 2: Relationship and Camp Content Visit camp regularly throughout your playthrough to build relationship levels with Sciel, Lune, Maelle, Monoco, and Esquie toward level 7 each. Pay special attention to Maelle’s final scene, where you must tell her the truth about Gustave to avoid permanently losing that achievement.

Phase 3: Combat Mechanic Achievements Dedicate time in mid-game fights to intentionally trigger Perfect Flow, Synergy, Maximisation, Perfection, Wheel Control, and Chroma Proficiency. Use a durable enemy like the Hexga near Stone Wave Cliffs for Maximisation, and use a Perfect Break to fast-track Verso’s Rank S for Perfection.

Phase 4: Collectibles and Side Quests Sweep the world for Paint Cages, Lost Gestrals, journals, and music records, and complete every Gestral Beach minigame. Handle the Nevron quests carefully, since Aiding the Enemy is missable if you fight rather than help certain Nevrons like the Chalier.

Phase 5: Superbosses and Grinding Save Sprong, À On, Clea, Noir et Blanc, the Endless Tower, and Simon for last, tackling them roughly in that order of difficulty. Grind from level 66 to level 99 for Survivor once your build is strong enough to farm efficiently, and use any leftover Perfect Chroma Catalysts to finish Weapon Mastery.

Conclusion

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s 55 achievements reward exactly the kind of patient, systems-driven play the game is built around. The story achievements come naturally, but the real work sits in mastering each character’s unique combat mechanic and surviving late-game superbosses like Simon, which can one-shot you if you miss a single parry. Budget 60-80 hours for full completion, and treat the missable achievements, Professional, Maelle, and Aiding the Enemy, with real caution since two of them can lock permanently on a single wrong choice.