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

Why This Zone Matters (and Why I Struggled)

After spending a full evening and a half (about 6-7 hours) figuring out Esquisses de Renoir, I finally turned this chaotic endgame zone into a clean pre-Abyss checklist. It’s the last stretch before facing Simon, and it packs brutal enemies, a sneaky miniboss, and the final recording. The breakthrough came when I stopped trying to “wing it” and treated Esquisses like a pre-raid prep hub: enter with strict gear checks, run a tight exploration route, and leave with every upgrade that actually matters in the Abyss.

Readiness Check: Don’t Enter Underprepared

I wasted my first hour here underestimating the damage spikes. Even if you’re stomping regular mobs elsewhere, Esquisses punishes sloppy teams. Before you go, do this:

• Party level ~90+ (or close, with optimized builds). My team stabilized at 90-93.
• Each expedition member around 130 Lumicolors. The added resilience matters.
• Esquie must be able to fly and swim. Flight comes from the stone at the end of Act 2; underwater requires a camp unlock.
• Raise your bond with Esquie to level 6 by keeping up conversations at camp and completing the François encounter. Check progress in Camp → Esquie → Bond.
• I strongly recommend pushing the bond to max for Verso’s Gradient level 3. It’s a noticeable damage and flow increase during long fights.
• Stock pigments and heals: I bring 10+ mixed pigments, 8-12 strong heals, and at least 2 revive options.
• Equip pictos tuned for survival plus burst windows. Don’t go full glass cannon here.

Menu path refresher: adjust builds in Menu → Characters → Equipment, equip pictos in Menu → Characters → Pictos, and verify Esquie abilities under Camp → Esquie.

Getting There and Planning Your Loop

Esquisses de Renoir sits almost dead center on the world map. From any major fast travel, open Map, set a marker roughly at the center, and approach from high ground if possible. I prefer entering from the northwest to immediately access a safe perimeter and chart a clockwise loop. This loop keeps you moving through save-adjacent paths while letting you clear tough clusters once, not twice.

• Clockwise loop: NW entry → West terraces → South galleries → East pools (underwater) → North overlooks → center return.
• Use flight for broken bridges and hovering ledges. Don’t spam it over blind gaps; scout first, then commit.
• Save points: hit every rest or checkpoint you see. Esquisses loves ambush spawns on backtrack.

Don’t make my mistake of diving center first: you’ll aggro multiple elites and blow cooldowns before you’ve picked up the gear that makes this zone manageable.

The Efficient Exploration Path (What to Grab and When)

Here’s the route that consistently got me everything in 60–90 minutes without wipe-loops. If you’re speed-running, you can cut this down to ~30 minutes, but I recommend the full clear once.

1) West Terraces: Stabilize and Scout

Fight your way along the western edge to warm up. This area tests your ability to break shields and manage stagger without overwhelming DoTs.

• Open fights by stripping shields with Verso’s targeted shots; save AOE for post-break windows.
• Practice perfect parries on the slow telegraphed heavies. Early momentum cuts your item usage in half.

By the time you circle south, you should be in rhythm with the enemy patterns and ready for the first big prize fight.

2) South Galleries: The Lost Gestral Merchant (Miniboss)

This “merchant” is anything but friendly. Beating him unlocks stronger pictos and weapons that directly improve your Abyss readiness. I wiped twice here before I adjusted my roles.

• Recommended roles: Maëlle as frontliner (shield cycling), Verso as shield-break DPS, Lune or Sciel as flex damage/control, and Monoco/utility if you need sustain tricks.
• Pattern to watch: a feint into multi-hit string followed by a delayed smash. Parry the early hits, dodge the finisher.
• Bring taunt or guard stance on Maëlle to soak the opener; rotate buffs so you’re never naked during the delayed smash.
• Save your biggest burst for when his guard shatters; don’t waste pigments pre-break.

Win here and you’ll unlock new pictos and a suite of weapons. Equip immediately before pushing east.

3) East Pools: Underwater Route and the Final Recording

Head to the eastern pools and use Esquie’s swim ability to dive. There’s a submerged passage that wraps under a collapsed arch. Surface on the far platform and follow the narrow walkway. You’ll hear a subtle audio cue-this is where I found the final recording, Endless Light.

• If you don’t have the swim unlock, you’ll hard-stop here. Double back to camp and fix Esquie’s kit.
• Mark the recording location on your map with a custom pin so you can guide friends later.

Grab the 30 Lumicolors stashed nearby before you leave. It’s easy to miss if you rush the exit tunnel.

4) North Overlooks: Weapon Sweep and Final Checkpoint

Use flight to hop between broken platforms on the northern heights. This is where you’ll round out the weapon set. Here’s how they played for me once equipped at level 31:

• Souffrerim (Lune – Earth focus). Great for Earth builds: cheaper Earth skill costs at rank 4, +20% Earth skill damage at rank 10, and you start with 1 Lightning pigment at rank 20. I parked this on a Lune leaning into hybrid control/damage.
• Nosaram (Verso – Precision). Doubled Perfection gains on free-aim shots at rank 4, breaks 2 shields per free-aim at rank 10, and +50% free-aim damage at rank 20. This turns Verso into a dedicated shield shredder and boss breaker.
• Yeverum (Maëlle – Defensive engine). Applying Carapace also grants a Shield at rank 4, +1 AP when applying shields at rank 10, and doubling all ally shields when entering virtuoso stance at rank 20. This is the safe pick for the Abyss.
• Chomaro (Monoco – Mask tech). Start with the occult mask at rank 4; mask grants 3-turn regeneration at rank 10; all skills cost 1 less while masked at rank 20. Reliable sustain for long strings.
• Charnon (Sciel – Crit tempo). 100% crit during Twilight at rank 4, adds 1 Omen on crit at rank 10, and +20% damage per turn avoided (up to 5 stacks) at rank 20. Rewarding if you can avoid damage consistently.

Equip according to your core plan: Nosaram + Verso for shields, Yeverum + Maëlle for safety, and rotate Souffrerim/Charnon based on the fight’s elemental and crit windows.

Pictos to Prioritize (Post-Merchant)

You’ll unlock improved pictos around level 31. The ones that actually moved the needle for me before Simon:

• Energy – Attack I: Clean DPS bump for your carry.
• Energy – Parry: Forgives a mistake and rewards perfect timings.
• Energy – Tower (or Turn, depending on your version): Use it to control pace and set up safe buff cycles.
• Improved Initiative: Acts first more often; huge for opening with shield breaks.
• Protected Rebirth: Safety net against sudden crit spikes.
• Enhanced Counter: Turns defense into tempo and damage.
• Lone Wolf: Only if you’re confident and running a risky carry build; otherwise skip.
• Invigorating Elimination: Great on add waves; plan finishing blows around it.

Slot these in Menu → Characters → Pictos and sanity-check AP costs after each swap so you don’t break your rotation.

Combat Flow That Works in Esquisses

Esquisses punishes greed. What finally worked was a discipline loop:

• Open with Verso free-aims (Nosaram) to strip shields; don’t overcommit until the break pops.
• Cycle Maëlle’s shield support (Yeverum) to feed AP and keep your team topped on barriers.
• Use Lune/Sciel to exploit the break window with their strongest, pre-buffed skills.
• Hold one emergency parry/counter pictogram for the zone’s delayed finishers-those are the run killers.

Common mistake I made early: detonating pigments into partial shields. Save pigments for full-break windows or you’ll spend twice as many items for half the value.

Preparing for the Abyss and Simon

The Abyss (L’Abîme) is right past Esquisses, and Simon is the real test. The Esquisses loadout carries hard if you respect roles and patterns:

• Team roles: Maëlle anchor (Yeverum), Verso breaker (Nosaram), Lune/Sciel finisher, Monoco flex sustain.
• Study patterns: Simon rewards memorization. Expect multi-phase strings with guard checks and delayed hits; the same discipline from the gestral fight applies.
• Use Protected Rebirth and Energy – Parry to cushion phase transitions where mistakes are likely.
• Gradient 3 (Verso) is worth the prep grind: it smooths your AP and damage curve across long phases.
• Swap pictos between attempts: if you’re dying to chip, lean defensive; if you’re timing out, add Attack/Counter.

Important: success in Esquisses doesn’t guarantee a clean Simon kill. I needed three attempts to adjust my pictos and AP flow before it clicked.

Troubleshooting and Time-Savers

These fixes saved me the most time after avoidable wipes:

• Can’t find the underwater route: it’s on the eastern pools-look for a collapsed arch and a darker water patch. If the prompt won’t appear, you don’t have Esquie’s swim ability active.
• Merchant killing you on repeat: equip Enhanced Counter and Energy – Parry, assign Maëlle to hard soak, and delay burst until a clean shield break.
• Running out of pigments: stop casting into armor. Force a break first, then go all-in.
• Missing the recording: follow the submerged path, then hug the right-hand walkway after surfacing. Listen for the audio cue and check ledge alcoves.
• Overhealing: let Yeverum’s shield doubling do the heavy lifting; save items for post-mistake stabilization.

Advanced Tips (If You Want to Master the Zone)

If you’re aiming to farm or practice for Simon:

• Practice perfect parries on west terrace elites; their telegraphs mirror Simon’s delayed finishers.
• Rotate carries: run a Charnon crit build on Sciel and swap to Souffrerim for Lune to train two distinct finisher patterns.
• Speed loop: NW entry → straight south to merchant → east pools for recording → north heights for weapon sweep → exit to camp. ~30–40 minutes if executed cleanly.
• AP audit: after equipping new weapons, run one low-stakes fight to verify AP economy before bossing. I’ve lost attempts to unexpected +1 costs after swaps.

Wrap-Up: Your Pre-Abyss Checklist

By the time you finish this route, you should have: the Endless Light recording for the Connoisseur trophy, a full set of endgame pictos and weapons (Nosaram, Yeverum, Souffrerim, Chomaro, Charnon), and enough Lumicolors to comfortably tune your squad. More importantly, you’ll walk into the Abyss with a well-rehearsed combat loop that mirrors what Simon asks of you: controlled breaks, disciplined bursts, and airtight defense during delays. If I could turn a zone that farmed me into a pre-boss victory lap, so can you—stick to the loop, respect the breaks, and make your pigments count.