How to defeat Lampmaster in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s Act 1 ends with the Lampmaster boss fight. An intimidating foe, League of Legends’ Jax wishes he could use that many lamp posts at once. This boss can be frustrating, but with the right amount of damage and attention to detail when it comes to parrying, you can make him look like a chump. Your teams might vary, but we fought him with Gustave, Sciel, and Maelle.

If you’re struggling under the weight of his damage, replace one of the two girls with Lune, because her Ignite, and AoE heals can really carry a lot of weight in fights like this. If you’re struggling with the Lampmaster though, here's how you can get through this powerful Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 boss.

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Tips to defeat the Lampmaster in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Phase 1 attacks

• Lampmaster performs a jump attack: This is not a jump counter. Parry right before he hits the ground to counter.
• Lampmaster switches off all the lights in the cave and attacks: Shoots a series of four spell blasts at the party that deal minor damage. Parry just before they hit a character.
• Lampmaster uses the power of its lamps to attack: Four lamps will glow purple. After about four seconds, all three party members will be hit. Counter after that roughly four seconds — just before the explosion hits to counter.

Lampmaster's attacks aren't especially fast in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, so they're not too hard to parry (Image via Sandfall Interactive)

At first, the actual lamps of the Lampmaster aren’t important in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. You might be tempted to shoot them to find a weakness, but after a few tries, we didn’t get anywhere. All we did was waste AP, deal minor damage. I brought Sciel and Maelle because their damage is outrageous if you put the effort in. If you get Sciel with Twilight, and 20 stacks on a boss, she will shred them with Twlight Slash.

I also recommend everyone have Roulette Pictos equipped. Even if it’s not always going to pay off, seeing Maelle or Sciel hit for 9,999 damage is remarkably satisfying. In the early turns of the fight, I focused on making Lampmaster Defenseless with Maelle, and getting to 10 stacks with Sciel in this Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 boss fight.

Sciel is an absolute monster when it comes to dishing out damage (Image via Sandfall Interactive)

When you get 10 stacks on Lampmaster, use Twilight Slash with Sciel, and if Roulette pays off, you can almost delete his entire health bar. For me, it hit for 9K+. If you manage to get some Overcharge stacks on Gustave, use Overcharge, and that should shred the rest of his HP, and end phase 1.

This leads to a cutscene, and the start of Phase 2, where Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s Lampmaster gets serious.

Phase 2 attacks

• Lampmaster attacks with each arm: A series of four, slow arcing swings that can inflict the Exhaust status ailment.
• Lampmaster performs a strange ritual with its lamps: Pay attention to the order the lamps lit up, and shoot them in that order. Failure means you fail the lamp trial.
• Lampmaster is about to launch a dangerous attack: The next turn, he’s going to strike with a massive sword of light.
• Lampmaster attacks with a massive sword of light: After a roughly four-second-long delay, swings down from the left. As the sword is coming down, parry to do a team counter.
• Lampmaster throws a vast ball of light at the Expedition: Jump when the symbol appears and counters.

In my fight with Lampmaster in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, he started Phase 2 stunned, since we inflicted Break as the round ended. He’s got new tricks though, like a series of four slow attacks that can Exhaust you. Exhaust prevents that character from getting AP from any source, so it’s very dangerous. I didn’t get the Lamp Trial correct in this fight, so it could be that if you shoot them in the right order, he won’t launch a dangerous attack.

You definitely want to avoid being hit by the Massive Sword of Light (Image via Sandfall Interactive)

The Massive Sword of Light can thankfully be countered. Right before it connects, parry and your squad will use a team-up counter. At this point, Sciel had Twilight because of the Phase 1 content, so Searing Bond inflicted 20 Foretell.

You may get a second chance at the Lamp Ritual — if you do, pay attention to which ones were lit. Instead of doing that, since I had Twilight for +75% damage and 20 stacks, I used Searing Bond to nearly defeat the Lampmaster once again in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. If you’ve taken the time to inflict Defenseless on the boss, have Maelle use Breaking Rules to do two attacks back to back.

Get ready for the next Act (Image via Sandfall Interactive)

Gustave played a more support role for me, and Maelle/Sciel did all the damage. Once the boss has been slain, collect 15,750 XP, 3,160 Chroma, At Death’s Door PIctos, Shape of Life x1, Polished Chroma Catalyst x3, and Recoat x1. From here, just watch the next cutscenes play out, and move forward.

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