Mastering the Battle against Renoir in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Renoir, the first human figure seen upon arriving in the Paintress’ realm, sets the stage for a grueling battle. His lack of an obvious weakness means players must create their own advantages. Focusing on applying the Burn status is critical, and the team should be built around skills that exploit this condition effectively.
Maelle is a key player in this fight, capable of initiating with Spark or Rain of Fire to apply Burn. Alternatively, Lune can take on this role while also serving as a healer, especially if the Revive skill has been unlocked. However, Lune’s strongest attack, Mayhem, requires significant setup, which can be risky given the fragility of the party in this encounter. Sciel offers a balanced approach, using Dark Harvest to maintain team health while contributing to Burn-focused strategies. Verso is another solid choice, as his ability to apply Mark with greater force can set up devastating follow-ups. If Monoco has absorbed enough skills, he can deal substantial raw damage when Renoir is primed with Burn. To avoid disaster, ensure no party member lags in Agility—using a Recoat to boost this stat can prevent Renoir from landing double attacks, which can spell doom for the team.
Top Tactics to Defeat Renoir
Renoir’s combat style is straightforward but punishing, with attacks that hit hard and demand precise timing to counter. His most dangerous move is a Chromatic Attack that can make a character vanish entirely, with no way to revive them. This can disrupt the entire strategy, making it the primary threat to counter. The key is to parry just before Renoir lands his jump, using the audio cue of a zooming noise to time a Gradient Counter, which can punish this move severely.
Renoir frequently unleashes massive, team-wide Chroma waves. The standard version, which he spams often, requires dodging based on visual cues—wait until the gathered Chroma shrinks to its smallest point before dodging or parrying. His more powerful floating Chroma wave follows a similar pattern, with the first two blasts dodgeable in the same way, but the third blast is Chromatic. Players must avoid being thrown off by the initial Chromatic slowdown effect and wait for the third blast’s proper timing.
His melee combo is particularly tricky due to its odd timing, but keen observation reveals a slight slowdown before each hit. Dodging through this combo is safer than attempting the narrow parry window. At around 50% health, Renoir summons two “petals” that restore a significant portion of his health after a few turns. If the team includes Sciel or has strong damage output, destroying both petals is ideal. Otherwise, focus on eliminating one petal and then redirect efforts to Renoir to minimize the health he recovers.
If the battle extends, Renoir may summon three giant masks that fire energy beams. Each mask tilts twice before firing, and the sequence is lengthy, with each mask firing twice before a combined final attack. Timing dodges or parries here is manageable but requires focus. Ideally, players can defeat Renoir before this phase, especially by breaking him with consistent Burn and Mark applications.
Victory yields a wealth of Chroma, experience points, and the Melarum sword for Maelle. With Renoir defeated, players can sit back as Verso steps up to provide some much-needed answers.