Esquisses de Renoir: Prep, Loot, and Path to Simon

Esquisses de Renoir — Renoir’s Drafts in English — is the last real stop before Simon, and it is the single densest loot hub in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Inside it you pick up endgame weapons for all five fighters from the Chromatic Creation fight, a Perfect Chroma Catalyst, Picto upgrades that raise your build ceiling, a Gestral merchant with more of the same, and the Endless Light record. Two things gate entry: Esquie’s bond at level 6, which unlocks his underwater dive, and the Lost Gestral ability that breaks Paint Spikes. Come in around level 80 to clear the zone comfortably, and closer to 95 before you walk into Simon.

Getting in: the two hard requirements

• Esquie bond level 6 → underwater diving. Raise it by keeping up camp conversations and completing the François encounter. Check progress under Camp → Esquie → Bond. Once diving is available, a new underwater zone appears north of the Monoco station, behind a coral barrier. Dive with Esquie to reach it.
• Lost Gestral “break Paint Spikes” ability. Without it, the entrance portal will not activate, and later in the zone you will be blocked by a large destructible rock. This comes from Gestral side content earlier in the game.

If you are missing either, you do not get a warning — the zone simply will not open. Fix Esquie’s kit at camp before you make the trip.

Readiness check

• Level 80+ to handle the regular Nevrons here without wipe-looping. Guides that call this a “very high level” zone are not exaggerating; the enemies are violent.
• Level 95+ if you want breathing room against Simon, especially on higher difficulties. He is the hardest fight in the game.
• Around 130 Lumicolors per expedition member. The added resilience is what keeps you from getting deleted by a delayed finisher.
• Max Esquie bond if you can, for Verso’s Gradient level 3 — a noticeable damage and flow increase across long fights.
• Consumables: 10+ mixed pigments, 8–12 strong heals, at least 2 revives, and 75+ healing items if you intend to attempt Simon the same session.
• Pictos tuned for survival plus burst windows. Do not go full glass cannon here.

One specific warning: do not run the Inversion Picto in this zone. Damage output here is high enough that you need real healing throughput. Healing Parry — regaining HP on successful parries — is the far better slot, because parrying is what this zone tests anyway.

The route through the zone

The zone rewards a methodical loop over a rush. Here is the order that gets everything without repeat fights.

1. Entry and the first rest point

Dive in and progress to the first flag. Before you push on, take the detour on the left-hand path near the starting area — grapple up to the roof and you will find the record Endless Light. It is easy to miss and it is a Connoisseur trophy item, so pin the location if you want to guide someone else later.

2. The upward path: Pictos and the Second Chance upgrade

Follow the main path up, picking up the Fracture Accélérante Picto after clearing the Nevrons on that branch. At the base of the tower, take the left route, kill the Nevron group there, and you get an upgrade to Second Chance — the safety net that matters most against Simon’s lethal hits. Along the way you will find Colour of Lumina pickups and a scattering of Grandiose Chroma Catalysts.

3. Grour, the Gestral merchant

Clear the Nevrons and climb onto the rooftop to meet Grour. Once you beat the local boss guarding his stock, his shop opens up with multiple endgame Pictos and upgrades for sale, including high-impact options like Lone Wolf. Bring Écu. This is one of the few places in the game where money converts directly into build ceiling.

Behind the merchant, near the Golden Tree Expedition flag, there is a broken bridge — cross it for the Charging Burn Picto. Other upgrades found through the zone include Charging Critical, Rush on Powerful, Quick Break, Shortcut, Sniper, Contorso and Ballaro.

4. Chromatic Creation: the weapon drop

Behind the Golden Tree Rest Point sits the Chromatic Creation. This is the fight that pays for the whole trip: it drops one Perfect Chroma Catalyst — the material that takes a weapon from level 32 to the level 33 cap — along with the zone’s endgame weapon cluster:

Also in the zone as a separate pickup: Kralim, a second Lune option. Remember that weapon passives unlock at ranks 4, 10 and 20 — so a freshly acquired weapon here is worth less than your upgraded main until you feed it catalysts. Our Chroma Catalyst guide covers the per-tier costs and the best Grandiose farm before you commit.

5. The Gestral rock and the four cages

Deeper in, on the left of a large wooden structure, there is a big rock you can only break with the Lost Gestral power. Behind it are four green cages holding monsters. The objective is to find and kill four specific enemies in the surrounding passages, then return to release the cages. Most players do this before Simon, because it is tied to extra rewards and you do not want to be walking back here after the fight.

6. Into the Abyss

With side content cleared, drop into the abyss entrance. The route from there is linear and ends at the zone’s final flag. Rest, set your loadout, and walk forward into Simon’s arena.

Combat flow that works here

Esquisses punishes greed. What works is a disciplined loop rather than damage-first play:

• Strip shields before you commit. Verso’s free-aim shots with Nosaram are the cleanest breaker in the zone once the rank 10 passive is online.
• Cycle Maelle’s shield support with Yeverum to feed AP and keep barriers up on the team.
• Cash out in the break window with Lune or Sciel’s strongest pre-buffed skills. Detonating pigments into partial shields is the most common way to burn twice the items for half the value.
• Hold one emergency parry or counter tool for the zone’s delayed finishers. Those are the run-killers, and they telegraph the same way Simon’s do.

The last point is the reason this zone is genuinely good practice. The heavy telegraph-into-delayed-smash pattern you learn on the west-side elites is the same rhythm Simon uses, so time spent here is not filler.

Simon: rewards and expectations

Simon is the hidden superboss at the end of the zone and the hardest fight in the game. Beating him gives you:

• Simoso — a sword for Verso, widely described as the highest raw damage weapon in the game. We have a dedicated Simoso build guide for what to do with it.
• Two Perfect Chroma Catalysts — the single largest Perfect drop in the game, and enough to cap two more weapons.
• The Simon Expedition Journal, from the sword embedded in the ground in the arena.

Do not expect a first-try clear. Save at the nearby rest point, expect multiple attempts, and adjust between them: if you are dying to chip damage, lean defensive; if you are timing out, add attack and counter Pictos. Where Simon sits relative to everything else is covered in our Expedition 33 bosses ranked guide.

Troubleshooting

• The zone entrance will not open. You are missing Esquie’s dive (bond level 6) or the Lost Gestral Paint Spike ability. Both are fixed at camp / through Gestral side content, not here.
• A large rock is blocking a side area. That is the Lost Gestral break, not a puzzle. Same fix as above.
• Grour has nothing to sell. You have not beaten the boss guarding his inventory yet.
• Missing Endless Light. It is near the start on the left-hand path — grapple up to the roof rather than following the ground route.
• Melting to chip damage. Swap Inversion out. Run Healing Parry. This zone specifically rewards parry-based sustain over raw mitigation.
• Running out of pigments. You are casting into armour. Force the break first, then go all in.

Your pre-Abyss checklist

By the time you leave, you should have the Endless Light record, the five Chromatic Creation weapons plus Kralim, at least one Perfect Chroma Catalyst, upgraded Second Chance and Rush on Powerful, whatever you bought from Grour, and a stack of Grandiose Catalysts. More importantly, you should have a rehearsed combat loop: controlled breaks, disciplined bursts, and airtight defence during delays. That is exactly what Simon asks for.

If you are planning a second run afterwards, note that weapons and their upgrade levels carry into New Game Plus while side quests and collectibles reset — our NG+ carryover guide has the full list. Everything else we have written on the game sits on the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 hub.

FAQ

What level should I be for Esquisses de Renoir?

Around 80 to clear the zone’s Nevrons comfortably, and 95+ before attempting Simon. Some guides put the absolute floor near 60–70 with a heavily optimised party, but that is below what endgame coverage recommends and makes Simon brutal.

How do I unlock the zone?

Raise Esquie’s bond to level 6 for the underwater dive, then dive north of the Monoco station behind the coral barrier. You also need the Lost Gestral ability that breaks Paint Spikes for the portal to activate.

How many Perfect Chroma Catalysts are in this zone?

Three: one from the Chromatic Creation, two from Simon. That is the densest Perfect Catalyst source in the game.

Is the loot here worth it if I am about to finish the game?

Yes — but only if you upgrade it. These weapons carry into New Game Plus with their levels intact, and the Picto upgrades (Second Chance, Rush on Powerful) are permanent build improvements. The raw drop at rank 0 will not out-perform an upgraded main weapon on its own.