You're wandering through a world where time is literally being erased by a giant lady painting numbers on a monolith. It's high stakes. It's weird. It’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and if you’ve reached the point where you’re asking where to fight Clea, you’re likely feeling that specific brand of frustration that comes from Sandfall Interactive’s labyrinthine level design.
Clea isn't just some random mob. She is a pivotal encounter, a boss that tests whether you’ve actually been paying attention to the game's unique "reactive turn-based" mechanics. If you've been coasting by just clicking "Attack," she’s going to turn your party into literal dust.
Honestly, finding her is half the battle. The map in Expedition 33 is beautiful, sure, but it’s also intentionally dense. You can't just follow a glowing breadcrumb trail to her doorstep. You have to navigate the distorted French-inspired landscapes of Lumière and beyond, specifically pushing into the depths of the Forgotten Chasm and the outskirts of the Flying City.
Tracking the Paint: The Actual Path to Clea
Finding where to fight Clea starts with understanding the flow of the mid-game. You aren't going to stumble upon her in the early brush-clearing missions. She’s tucked away behind a series of environmental puzzles that require the use of your grapple and the "Paint" mechanics.
To get to her, you need to head toward the Cathedral of Ash. This isn't a straight shot. You’ll find yourself looping through side corridors where the Paint has corrupted the very floor you’re walking on. Most players get stuck at the "Mirror Gate" section. Don't overthink it. You need to look up. Most of the pathfinding in this game is vertical, and Clea’s arena is perched high above the central plaza of the ruins.
Once you reach the Shattered Gallery, you’re close. You’ll know you’re in the right spot because the music shifts from that melancholic orchestral swell to something much more jagged and rhythmic. There’s a specific Save Point (a Bench) right before a large, ornate set of double doors stained with indigo ink. That’s your final stop.
Why the Fight With Clea is a Skill Check
Clea is the game's way of asking: "Do you know how to parry?"
If you’ve been relying on Gustave’s heavy armor to soak up damage, Clea will punish you. Her attacks are multi-hit. They have weird timings. She’ll wind up for what looks like a slow overhead swing, only to lunge at the very last millisecond. It’s rhythmic. It’s almost like a dance, which fits the whole "Belle Époque" vibe the developers at Sandfall were going for.
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Basically, Clea uses a "Stance" system. If you don't break her posture using the right elemental weaknesses—mostly Fire and Blunt damage—she will just parry you. It’s demoralizing. You’ll spend ten minutes chipping away at her health only for her to enter a "Flow State" where she regenerates her armor.
Preparing Your Party for the Encounter
You can't go in with a generic build. You’ve got to spec specifically for high-frequency dodging and parry windows.
- Gustave: Make him your anchor. Give him the "Iron Wall" passive, but don't expect him to do the heavy lifting in terms of damage. He’s there to take the hits you fail to parry.
- Lune: She is your MVP here. Her ability to stack "Erosion" is the only thing that consistently eats through Clea’s secondary health bar.
- Maelle: Keep her on healing duty, but make sure she has the "Quick Reflexes" perk equipped.
The gear matters too. By the time you reach the where to fight Clea location, you should have access to the Vanguard’s Cloak. It increases the window for "Perfect Parries" by about 15%. In a fight this fast, those extra frames are the difference between a win and a "Game Over" screen that mocks your slow thumbs.
The Secret to Clea’s Second Phase
Most people get her to 50% health and think they’ve won. Then she starts painting.
In her second phase, Clea moves the fight to a literal canvas. The floor disappears. You’re standing on floating debris. At this point, the game changes. It becomes a bullet-hell hybrid. She’ll launch ink projectiles that you have to dodge in real-time while waiting for your turn to execute a command.
Don't panic. The trick is to watch her brush. If she holds it with two hands, she’s about to do a room-wide AoE (Area of Effect). You need to jump—not dodge, jump—to avoid the ink waves on the ground.
Common Mistakes People Make in the Forgotten Chasm
A lot of the confusion regarding where to fight Clea comes from the fact that the game lets you explore the Forgotten Chasm way before you’re actually supposed to be there. If you wander in too early, the doors to her arena are locked. You’ll see a prompt that says "The Paint is still wet," which is the game’s cryptic way of saying "Go finish the main quest in the Opera House first."
If the doors are locked, you haven't talked to the Archivist back at the camp. He gives you the "Solvent," an item that allows you to bypass the ink barriers blocking the way to Clea. Without that Solvent, you can spend hours circling the Cathedral ruins and never get inside.
Actionable Steps to Beat Clea and Progress
You’re ready. You know where she is, and you know why she’s a pain. Here is how you actually close the deal.
- Check your inventory for the Solvent. If you don't have it, fast travel back to the Hideout and talk to the Archivist immediately. No Solvent, no fight.
- Equip "Parry Mastery" Synergies. Go into your skill tree and refund any points spent on "Passive HP" and dump them into "Counter-Attack Damage." Clea is a glass cannon; if you parry her, she melts.
- Upgrade Lune's Daggers. Specifically, look for the Azure Edge upgrade. It adds a water-elemental debuff that slows Clea’s attack animations, making those tricky parry windows much easier to hit.
- Farm the local mobs for "Ink Droplets." These are consumable items found in the Shattered Gallery. They provide a 20% resistance to Clea’s "Stained" debuff, which usually prevents you from using skills for three turns.
- Watch the Brush. During the fight, ignore her health bar. Look at her hands. Her animations are the only telegraphs you get. When her brush glows gold, she's vulnerable. When it’s purple, stay back.
Clea is the first real gatekeeper of Expedition 33. Beating her unlocks the Grapple Hook V2, which opens up the rest of the world map and finally lets you reach the higher tiers of the Flying City. It’s a tough fight, but once you find the rhythm, it’s easily the most satisfying encounter in the game so far. Focus on the timing, keep your Solvent ready, and don't let the music distract you from the incoming overhead swings.
Get to the Cathedral, find the bench, and prepare for a long night. You've got this.