How to Beat Simon, The Divergent Star | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s Thank You content update brought a slew of new features for players to try out. While the new area is cool, the standout feature has to be the new boss fight that players can have against Simon, The Divergent Star. While it’s considered the hardest fight in the game, some tricks and tips can make beating him much easier.

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Location and Prerequisites for Simon in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Expedition 33 thank you update

Simon, The Divergent Star, is an optional boss found in the Endless Tower, an area players can access in Act 3 after getting the ability to fly with Esquie. The tower is around the northwest of the Gestral Village. Players must enter the tower, go up the stairs behind the first painting, grapple across the gap, and interact with the giant painting at the end to start the fight. 

This boss is part of the Thank You Update’s new content and is a huge skill check, requiring all party members to be ready. Of course, if you don’t know what content is part of this content update, then you can buy the game from a platform such as LootBar and change that.

What’s the best setup to fight Simon in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33?

Expedition 33 key art

It’s recommended for all party members to reach Level 99 due to how difficult this boss fight is. Here are the most important skills that players should get:

Maelle

  • Last Chance

  • Stendhal

Lune

  • Elemental Genesis

  • Hell

  • Rebirth

  • Lightning Dance

Sciel

  • Fortune’s Fury

  • Bad Omen

  • Marking Card

Pictos

  • Cheater

  • Second Chance

  • Energy Master

How to fight Simon in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Simon's starting combo

There are a couple of key strategies and mechanics that you must keep in mind when facing Simon in Expedition 33.

How does the Pillars of Light work?

An important mechanic in this fight involves looking at the pillars of light that flash behind Simon before his attacks. The number and sequence of these pillars showcase the number of hits in a combo segment and the rhythm required for parrying. 

White represents Simon’s main sword, while Cyan, Red, and Yellow represent follow-up attacks from floating swords. The gap between pillars signals a delay in the parry timing. Players must process these visual cues constantly to navigate the boss’s complex attack patterns.

Core fight mechanics and phase transition

Simon always attacks first, regardless of the player’s Pictos or Lumina, initiating with his “Attacks at Light Speed” combo. The fight has two phases. When the boss has around 25% health, he performs the “Expedition is removed” attack, which wipes all active party members from the fight and heals himself.

This forces the player to continue fighting using their reserve team. Due to this, all party members need to be fully leveled and equipped with strong builds to stand a chance.

Defensive and offensive strategies

Players should play defensively against Simon. Equipping Pictos and Lumina that enhance survival, such as Healing Parry, Second Chance, SOS Healing Tint, and Defensive Mode, are essential. The CHeater and Clea’s Life combo is extremely effective, being able to heal a member to full health on their second turn.

For offense, players good at parrying can utilize Augmented Counter, Empowering Parry, and Painted Power to increase counter damage. Warming Up and Full Strength are also great options, because this fight is long, so these effects can stack up.

Simon’s key attacks and how to handle them in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Simon's Sword of Lumiere

  • Attacks at Light Speed: It’s a 19-hit combo Simon uses at the start. The final hit forcibly removes a party member from the fight if it hits, bypassing revives like Second Chance. Players must parry or dodge this final strike at all costs.

  • Gathers Chroma: Simon thrusts his sword into the ground, reducing a party member’s health to 1. This is an unblockable move and cannot be prevented.

  • Steals All Shields: If any active party member has shields, then Simon will plant his sword and absorb them. Players can avoid this by ensuring they don’t have shields.

  • Dead Are Removed: Any party member who dies in battle will be immediately and permanently removed. This makes avoiding damage and healing injured allies a top priority.

  • Sword of Lumiere: This attack is used in the second phase, consisting of spinning slashes, a flurry of paired sword slices, and a leap into the air, followed by a crashing beam of light. Players need to parry the slashes and then time a final parry for the beam just after it dissipates.

Rewards for beating Simon in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Beating simon in Clair Obscur Expedition 33

Defeating Simon provides players with the following rewards:

  • Simon Haircut (for all party members)

  • 1 Perfect Grandiose Catalyst

  • 5 Grandiose Chroma Catalyst

  • 20 Colour of Lumina

Conclusion

Simon proves to be one of the toughest challenges in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The boss character may seem impossible at first, but those who put their mind to it should eventually come out on top. Of course, this would first require you to have the game. Fortunately, you can get it by just buying a Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Steam key.