You're stuck. I know the feeling. You’ve spent hours wandering the haunting, Belle Époque-inspired world of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, soaking in the turn-based combat and the gorgeous, painterly visuals, and then you hit the Simon encounter. It’s a wall. A literal, frustrating wall that feels like it’s cheating.
Honestly, Simon is the first real "skill check" the developers at Sandfall Interactive throw at you. If you’ve been coasting by just clicking buttons and hoping for the best, he’s going to dismantle your team in about four turns. This isn't just about levels. It’s about rhythm.
The Core Strategy for How to Beat Simon Expedition 33
First off, let's talk about the elephant in the room: the "Reactive" system. This isn't your grandfather’s Final Fantasy. If you aren't parrying, you aren't winning. Simon’s attack patterns are deliberately designed to catch you off guard with delayed swings and multi-hit flurries.
To beat Simon in Expedition 33, you have to stop playing offensively and start playing like a counter-striker. Every successful parry isn't just a defensive move; it builds your AP and, more importantly, keeps your momentum high. If you miss a parry against his overhead slam, the damage is astronomical. You’ll be burning through heals instead of dealing damage, and in this fight, that’s a death sentence.
Don't Panic When the Paint Flies
One of the coolest—and most distracting—parts of the fight is the visual flair. Simon uses the environment against you. When he starts his phase transition, the screen gets busy. Focus on his hands. Always his hands. The game gives you clear visual cues right before an impact, but Simon has a "fint" move where he raises his weapon, pauses for a fraction of a second longer than you’d expect, and then comes down hard.
Most people dodge too early. Don't do that. Wait for the glint.
Gear and Team Composition
Look, you can try to brute force this with Gustave, but you’re going to have a much better time if you leverage Maelle’s speed. You need to be stacking buffs that increase your parry window. If you've found the "Reflexive Edge" gear pieces by this point, equip them. Immediately.
The synergy between your party members is what actually wins the fight. Simon has a high resistance to physical "stagger" initially, so you need to chip away at his guard using elemental weaknesses. He is particularly vulnerable to the "Lume" affinity. If you’ve been neglecting your skill tree upgrades for light-based attacks, you might want to backtrack to a previous campfire and respec.
Managing the AP Economy
Action Points are your lifeblood. Simon has this annoying habit of draining your AP if he lands a clean hit. This creates a "death spiral" where you can't afford your big hits because you're taking too much damage, and you're taking too much damage because you can't end the fight.
Break the cycle. Use your smaller, low-cost "Opening" moves to fish for criticals.
Basically, the fight goes like this:
- Parry the opening flurry.
- Use Maelle to apply a speed debuff.
- Have Gustave focus on building the "Stagger" bar.
- Save your big cinematic attacks for the moment he hits the ground.
The Secret Phase Three
Most guides tell you the fight ends after the second health bar. They're wrong, or at least, they aren't telling you about the desperation phase. When Simon gets down to about 15% health, he goes berserk. The parry windows get even tighter.
This is where most players choke.
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You'll see a red aura. That’s your signal to stop attacking entirely. Just defend. Let him exhaust himself. He has a three-hit combo that ends in a massive area-of-effect blast. If you can time the jump-dodge on that final blast, he leaves himself wide open for a "Finisher" prompt. Hit that, and it's over.
Why Your Build Might Be Failing
If you’re still struggling with how to beat Simon in Expedition 33, check your stat distribution. If you’ve dumped everything into raw attack power and ignored "Agility" or "Presence," you’re going to have a bad time. Presence increases the effectiveness of your active defense. In a game built on real-time reactions within a turn-based shell, that stat is god-tier.
Also, check your consumables. Don't be stingy. Use the "Vitreous Elixir" if you have it. It boosts your critical hit rate for three turns, which is exactly the window you need when Simon is staggered.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Don't try to heal every time someone takes a tiny bit of damage. It wastes a turn. In Expedition 33, momentum is everything. Use "Leech" mechanics if you have them slotted in your gear. It’s much more efficient to regain health by attacking a staggered Simon than it is to waste a turn drinking a potion while he’s preparing his next big move.
Also, stop jumping during his horizontal swings. I see people doing this all the time because they think it's like Elden Ring. It's not. Duck or parry. Jumping will get you caught in mid-air every single time, and the "Airborne" damage modifier Simon gets is nasty.
Real Talk on Difficulty
If you’re playing on the higher difficulty settings, the timing for Simon is frame-perfect. If your TV has a "Game Mode," turn it on. Input lag is the silent killer in this boss fight. You might think you're hitting the parry button at the right time, but if your display has 50ms of lag, you're already dead.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Attempt
To finally put Simon in the ground, follow this specific loop. First, go into your menu and ensure Gustave has the "Aggro Draw" passive equipped; he needs to tank the hits because his parry window is slightly more forgiving. Second, ensure Maelle has her "Lume" blades active.
When the fight starts, do not attack on the first turn. Just guard. Watch the patterns. Once you recognize the rhythm of his "Double Slash, Heavy Overhead" combo, you can start weaving in attacks. Use your "Focus" meter only when Simon's stagger bar is above 70%. If you use it too early, you're wasting the damage multiplier.
Lastly, stay calm. The music is epic, the visuals are overwhelming, and Simon looks terrifying, but he’s just a collection of patterns. Once you memorize the "Glint" timing of his blade, he isn't a boss anymore—he’s just a target. Go back in there, focus on the parries, and stop overthinking the offense. You've got this.