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The Axons are great and powerful creatures that will need to be defeated during Act II of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. One of these Axons is actually two creatures that make up a single boss fight. These creatures are known as Visages and the Mask Keeper. Players will need to take down both of these foes back-to-back without failing, so getting past this part of the story can be hard. Luckily, I can provide some much-needed tips to any struggling players. This guide will show players how to beat the Visages and Mask Keeper boss fight in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
How to Beat the Visages and Mask Keeper Boss Fight in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
The Visages and Mask Keeper make up the boss at the end of the Visages island section of the main story, with Visages acting as phase 1 and Mask Keeper as phase 2. These two phases contain completely different moves and mechanics, but the one thing they do share is their weaknesses and resistance. Both Visages and Mask Keeper are resistant to Ice attacks, meaning they will take less damage from Ice-infused attacks. Meanwhile, it is weak to both Fire and Dark attacks. This means that Sciel is a must for this battle as her Foretells will allow her to deal big damage with Dark attacks. I also highly suggest using the Sealed Fate skill because this multi-hit attack will deal massive Dark damage with a lot of Foretells built up and can get you past the 9,999 damage cap in a single turn.
I would also suggest using Maelle with either the Rain of Fire or Spark ability to deal Fire damage. Coupled with the Swift Stride, which will put Maelle into Virtuose Stance when used on Burning enemies, you can switch between these attacks to reenter the powerful stance to deal massive damage. I think any of the other characters can be viable as your third party member, but Verso is the most straightforward one for this fight. With the ability to dish out big damage if you can keep your style rank high.
Lune doesn’t do as much damage as the other characters at this point in the game but her Fire abilities can be really useful in this fight. Even something like her Ice Lance ability, even though the boss is resistant to these moves, they can apply Slow to increase the number of turns between their attacks.
Monoco has the most variability in whether he is useful. If you have fought and defeated Ramasseur, Sapling, Reaper Cultist, or Greatsword Cultist, you will have access to Dark attacks that can be useful against this boss. Monoco should only be in the party with Maelle and Lune if you have a skill that applies Mark. This can be done with Gault Fury, which can be unlocked by defeating Gault found south of Monoco’s Station.
Another important thing to know is that you should destroy the 3 Masks of Emotions found down the different paths on the island. You have the choice to go right for the boss when you arrive on the Visages island, but doing so will give the boss unique buffs and will apply debuffs to your party. These masks will make their presence known when you start the Mask Keeper phase of the fight. Any Mask you didn’t destroy will appear behind the boss.
The Mask of Joy will heal the Mask Keeper, the Mask of Anger will give the boss another turn to play, and the Mask of Sadness will apply Exhaust to your party, which means you won’t be able to gain AP until the effect goes away.
With all that said, let’s head into the boss fight.
Visages
The Visages boss has 5 different moves that it can attack your party with, each one corresponding with a mask that appears in the mirror before the move is performed. These moves range from long combo strings to single hit explosions that can heal the boss but all of them will target the entire party so getting hit by any of them can quickly take down the Expedition if you don’t perform good parries or dodges.
One mask is the Determination Mask. This leads into a 3-hit combo. The first attack sees the boss pull its staff back over its head before slamming down on the party. This is followed up by a horizontal swipe that you will need to jump over, and then another overhead slam. Each of these moves has long start-ups so listen for a sound cue that plays as the move is about to hit.
The Doubt Mask is similar to the Determination Mask as it is also a combo attack but this time it has 4 attacks that you will need to dodge or parry, and have much longer delays and start-ups compared to the previous attack. This combo contains 4 horizontal swipes starting to your left and alternating from right to left and right again. The last two attacks see debris surround the weapon so it might be hard to really tell when you should perform your counter. Once again, use the sound cue to find the time you should parry.
The Peace Mask has the fastest attacks and can be the one that quickly wipes out your team. This move sees a mask float down in front of the party. The mask will move its chin slightly back and then let out a 4-hit combo of explosions, all of which come out with very little time between them. Any of these attacks that hit will give the Visages a Shield.
The Anxiety Mask sees a mask hover above the party. You should ignore the mask and look at the Visages behind it. When it extends both of its arms out, there will be a sound cue and the mask will let out an explosion. After a delay, the Visages will cross their arms, causing another sound cue, and then the mask will crash into the ground and into the party.
Finally, there is the Confidence Mask. This mask will slam into the ground once after being raised up into the air. If the party is hit by this attack, the Visages will heal.
With the attacks broken down, its time to go on the offensive. Build Foretell with Sciel and have Verso Mark the boss for Maelle. After cashing out big damage with Piercee in Virtuose Stance, have Maelle use Spark or Rain of Fire to apply Burn. Use her next turn to reenter Virtuose Stance. During this turn, you can have Verso use Powerful to buff the team. When you max out your Foretells, cash out the damage with Sciel and you can quickly take down this first phase.
Mask Keeper
The Mask Keeper boss fight will start immediately after defeating the Visages with your party and their status carried over. Even though this boss serves as this encounters second phase, it has its own phase 2 with new moves that you will start to see when the boss drops below half health.
One of the Mask Keeper’s attacks is when he “sets fire to his sword.” This is a 4-hit combo of very fast attacks. The first 3 swings have very little delay between and the final hit requires a Gradient Counter after the boss leaps into the air before performing a downward slash. Unlike the other attacks we are going to cover, this move remains the same in both phases of the Mask Keeper fight.
There are 3 other attacks that you can see in the first phase, but each of these attacks is unique because a new, extended version of them will appear in the Mask Keeper’s second phase. The “attacks the Expedition” combo is a party-wide attack that sees the boss twirl his swords around and then shoot forth a wave of energy with a slash. You can tell when this attack is going to come out when you see a wave of energy collapse in on itself right in front of the boss. Right after the energy reaches the center of the collapse, the attack will occur. If you rea hit by any of these attacks, you’re party will be “Bound,” meaning they won’t be able to dodge for a few turns.
The “swing combo” is a 3-hit combo that starts with a spin and then an upward slash from your right. This attack is also instantly followed by a second slash before the boss leaps into the air. After a brief delay, the boss will perform a downward slash.
When the Mask Keeper uses his “attacks like a storm” combo, he will perform a 4-hit sequence. The first swing will come from your left side, and then a second slash will come from the same direction after a short delay. The boss will then take a step back before performing a cross slash. This attack has the longest delay in the combo, so don’t let it throw off your counter timing. As the slash, the boss will spin and perform a forward thrust after a short delay.
When the boss drops below 50%, it will summon a defensive aura. This means that every time the boss hits you now, it will gain a Shield. It can now also perform a buffing move where it gets the Powerful, Shell, and Rush status effects.
This is also the point where the moves we covered in phase 1 change. When the boss “vehemently attacks the Expedition,” it is performing the same energy wave attacks seen in phase 1. The only difference here is that this attack does 6 hits instead of 4. Just be aware of this and don’t let those last hits catch you off guard.
Long swing combo is a 6-hit sequence and starts the same way as the original swing combo. After the leaping slash, the boss has a pause to make it appear the combo is over, before suddenly performing two quick stab attacks. After the second stab, the boss spins and performs a horizontal slash after a brief delay.
Finally is the “Chaotic attack.” This 8-hit combo starts the same way as the storm attack but adds 4 additional strikes. After the thrust that ended the original combo, the boss will step back, twirl their sword and then thrust forward. After a short delay, the Mask Keeper will then perform two horizontal swipes before ending the combo with a downward thrust after leaping in the air.
While this is a lot of attacks to avoid, the strategy to take down the boss remains the same. Have Sciel build Foretells while Verso and Maelle deal max damage with Marked Piercee in Virtuose Stance. Have Sciel cash out her damage with high Foretells while avoiding the Mask Keeper’s attacks and you should be able to easily defeat this great Axon.
You can now defeat the Visages and Mask Keeper 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.
