After the game-changing revelations and events at the end of Act I in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the first main boss that players will encounter in Act II is known as the Dualliste. With new characters and mechanics that players will need to engage with, this multi-phase encounter can be quite the roadblock for players as they continue their journey toward the Monolith. Luckily, I can break down this fight and provide some assistance to anyone struggling against this battle! This guide will show players how to beat the Dualliste Boss Fight in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
How to Beat the Dualliste Boss Fight in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
The Dualliste is the boss found at the end of the Forgotten Battlefield area and contains two distinct phases. The phase transition occurs when you fully deplete the Dualliste’s health bar, meaning that you will need to go through two entire health bars to defeat this boss. Dualliste is resistant to both Fire and Dark damage so it will take less damage from attacks with these affinities while also having a weakness to Light-based damage. When you encounter the Dualliste Boss Fight, you will have Verso, Lune, Maelle, and Sciel at your disposal, which means you will be able to customize your party. Really, any character can be useful during this fight. Lune can use Light Stains with her spells to do extra damage while Verso is the only character that has access to Light-infused attacks at this point in the game. Maelle has the most damage potential so she is also a great choice here.
Sciel might seem like a bad pick for your third party member since most of her most damaging moves deal Dark damage, but she can be a great support character with her Fortune’s Fury and Intervention skills. The former will double the damage of the selected character’s next attack while the latter gives a character 4 AP and will give them a turn immediately. If done correctly, these characters can feed into one another to deal massive damage and can bring an end to a phase in just a few turns.
Knowing how to deal damage is just a small part of every battle in Expedition 33 because knowing how to avoid attacks is just as, if not more important than being able to deal it. So let’s break down the first phase of the Dualliste boss fight. This phase contains 4 moves that can be used. Two of these attacks are called combos with one just being referred to as “a combo” while the other is a “swiping combo.”
The normal combo is a 5-hit sequence that starts with a horizontal slash that hits shortly after a brief delay where the boss pulls the sword back and holds it behind their head. The next attack is another horizontal slash that occurs after a spin where the boss has a brief delay when the sword is behind their back. After a brief delay, the next two attacks are slashes from the right that are in quick succession with the last hit being an overhead slash that comes down after a delay.
The swiping combo consists of 4 hits and can look pretty similar at the start to the first combo so make sure you read the text to see if this is the normal or swiping combo. The first attack is a horizontal slash that comes out after the boss pulls back their sword. This is followed by a spin and a second horizontal slash, which you will need to jump over. This is followed by an overhead slam that will hit soon after you land your jump, so use that to help you with your counter timing, and then another overhead slam that lands after a short delay where the boss hangs in the air after leaping.
Another attack is the swift attack. This is a 3-hit combo that, despite what the name might suggest, has attacks with decent delays and is fairly slow. The first strike is a slash that is swung toward a party member after the boss pauses with the sword behind its back. Dualliste will then raise the sword above its head and slam the sword down after a brief delay. Finally, the boss will leap into the air, and after a pause in the air, it will swing the sword down toward the player. The final attack is when it “attacks the Expedition.” This will see the boss spin their sword around and face it toward the ground. After raising above its head, Dualliste will plunge the sword into the ground, instantly causing a fiery explosion that targets the entire party.
After avoiding or parrying these attacks, you can start to attack the boss. Verso should focus on building his Perfection ranking to deal massive damage during the second phase, while Sciel should be using Fortune’s Fury and/or Intervention to give Maelle as many turns as possible. When in Virtuose Stance and charged by Fortune’s Fury, have Maelle perform either Fluent Fury or Piercee, with the latter being a great option if the Dualliste is Marked by Verso’s Marking Shot or Defiant Strike. When you leave Virtuose Stance, you can use Fire skills like Spark or Rain of Fire to Burn Dualliste and then follow up with Fluent Fury to reenter the stance. Repeat this process and you will be able to quickly cut through the health of the boss.
When Dualliste’s first health bar is emptied, a cutscene will play where they summon a second sword. This second phase has most of the same move names as the first phase but they are all extended with new attacks being introduced in the middle of each combo as the second sword is used.
For the swift attack, the combo combines aspects of the original swift combo and the swiping combo. The attack starts with the same pose of the sword behind the back as seen in the original swift combo but will then be followed up with two swipes that you will need to dodge by jumping. Then, the delayed overhead slam will happen but this will be accompanied by a second overhead slam from the second sword. Finally, the boss leaps in the air and slashes just like the final attack seen in the swiping combo. Next is the full Expedition attack which functions exactly the same but with an added attack. After the first fire attack, when the sword is plunged into the ground, the sword will flash red after a delay and a sharp sound cue will play. Right after this, a second fire explosion will be set off.
The new combo attack is the Dualliste’s most expansive attack with a total of 9 hits. The boss will pull back both of its swords and will swipe with its purple sword after a delay. This attack is quickly followed up by an attack with its original sword. After a delay that includes a spin, the boss will let out a single swing with both swords. There will then be another delay as the boss brings both swords over its left shoulder before swinging. The boss will follow through the swing with a spin, and after a pause when their back is toward the character, another horizontal slice will come out. This attack will then have a pause followed by three very rhythmic slashes. After this, the boss will leap into the air for a final slash that can only be countered by a Gradient Counter. You can dodge the entire attack string to make it easier to avoid damage because as long as you perform the Gradient Counter on the last attack, you will still perform a Gradient Counterattack.
The only brand-new attack is known as Stormblood. Dualliste will take a step back and point its sword at a party member. Right after the point, a blood familiar will appear and perform a horizontal slash from the left. This is quickly followed up by an overhead slash from a familiar on the right. The final familiar comes from above the boss and performs another slash. You can parry these attacks by not performing a counter right as these familiars appear but the moment right after they appear. After this trio of attacks, Dualliste pulls his swords back and, after a pause, will thrust forward with both swords. Just watch for the boss to start its movement and then perform a parry to counter this.
The final thing you need to look out for is when the boss drops below 50% health. At this point, Dualliste will apply the Inverted status ailment to the whole party. This means you will need to go through the rest of the boss fight, where healing will actually do damage to the characters.
While dodging can be much harder during this fight, the main strategy remains the same. At this point, Verso should be near an S-Rank so use his most powerful moves and avoid the enemy’s attacks to keep your Perfection Rank and the bonus damage that comes with it. Have Sciel keep buffing Maelle and keep performing the Burn, Virtuose Stance, and big damage rotation with Maelle. If this is done right, the boss will quickly fall. When the boss reaches the end of its health bar, an in-game cutscene will play as the entire Expedition comes together to all attack the boss and finally put the Dualliste down. When the boss is defeated, you will get the Dualiso weapon for Verso.
You can now defeat the Dualliste boss fight in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Stay tuned to Gameranx for more news, updates, and guides for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as well as other great games in the future.
