Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Every new area to explore in Act 3

While Act 3 of Expedition 33 allows you to go straight into the finale, there is an awful lot of other stuff to do across the continent before you bring your journey to an end. Esquie’s new ability to fly will open up a huge number of new areas – so many that it’s very difficult to keep track of them all with the game’s limited map.

To make sure you don’t miss out on anything, we’ve put together this full list of all the different areas that unlock in Act 3, where to find them, and what you’ll encounter there. If you’re just looking for the challenging battles though, check out our guide of all the options bosses in Expedition 33 Act 3.

The Fountain

The closest new area when you arrive in Act 3 is The Fountain, which is found in a small clearing in the mountains west of Spring Meadows, where you first landed on the Continent, though whether or not there’s something there depends on what you’ve done up until now. 

This island contains the last and toughest of the friendly Nevrons, and how it responds depends on what you’ve done to the other friendly Nevrons you’ve encountered during your journey. If you’ve been killing them, then this one will immediately attack, while anyone who spared them can choose whether they want to fight it or not.

Flying Casino

Flying around the middle of the map is the Flying Casino, although the name makes it sound far more exciting than it is. Like the casino in the Gestral Village, if you head there, you’ll find it boarded up with someone inside who isn’t keen on talking. Talk to this stranger as Monoco and they’ll give you a swanky tuxedo outfit for the Gestral and you can be on your way.

Siréne's Dress

This is a small area east of Siréne that is only accessible once you have begun Lune’s relationship quest – spend time with her at camp to raise your relationship with her. There, you’ll find a much tougher, Chromatic version of the cloth-snake boss you fought in Siréne, and you’ll get some closure for Lune on what happened to her parents on their Expedition.

Sacred River

Found in a valley north of Monoco’s station, the Sacred River is the location central to Monoco’s relationship quest, where he seeks to revive Noco. When you go there, Golgra will try to stop you, and you’ll have to defeat them in a battle with just Monoco and Verso in your party. There is also a Gestral Merchant here with a bunch of valuable stuff worth buying.

The Reacher

The Reacher is the third Axion that Verso insists you don’t bother fighting during the story, and even once you can fly with Esquie, Verso will refuse to let you enter the location until you begin Maelle’s relationship quest. You’ll have to climb a large tower full of strange enemies before reaching the top and discovering the truth behind why Verso didn’t want you to go there.

Gestral Beach (Northeast)

In the northeast of the map, just before you reach the open sea in front of the Paintress, you’ll find the last Gestral Beach in a watery valley. This challenge will require you to climb a tall tower, dodging jets of water that fall from the top as you go. Like all of the other Beach challenges, completing it will earn you Swimsuit outfits, in this case for Maelle.

Floating Cemetary

This is an area where you’ll find another friendly Nevron. This one will be unsure what weapon it wants to use. You get to decide for it and then face it in a duel. After you defeat it, you can choose whether or not to fight it again – this time with the intent to kill it. The choice is yours, though remember what we said before about the Nevron in The Fountain.

Dark Gestral Arena

This secret Gestral Arena is one several Gestrals tried to keep a secret from Golgra, although how they intended to do that when it’s floating high in the sky we’re not sure. Either way, you can go here to face a new gauntlet of battles where you’re only allowed to enter one party member at a time, leading to some pretty difficult fights.

Endless Night Sanctuary

This is another Gestral-themed area where you’ll be fighting a lot of their stitched-together creations including a more powerful version of the ultimate monster they created earlier in the game. There isn’t anything special in this area, but it’s a good place to level up in Act 3 as there are a lot of high-level enemies and plenty of resources scattered around.

Crimson Forest

Just east of the Endless Tower (which we’ll get to) you’ll find a red forest on a floating island. This area will have no enemies at first, but as you explore you’ll find three statues that you must activate, with each one making the area darker and the enemies in it tougher. Activate all three and head to the strange pool of energy for a unique boss encounter.

Sky Island

The Sky Island, floating to the east of the big snowy island in the center of the Continent, is a small area with one of the Chromatic boss enemies on it. That’s it.

Sunless Cliffs

This area is home to one of the most terrifying enemies in the game. It’s the most powerful of all Mimes, one that is…bald.

The Chosen Path

You’ll find The Chosen Path floating above the small river north of the big snowy island. This is a unique challenge area featuring five paintings. Go up to each one and you will be prompted to send one of your party members in to duel with a Nevron. Complete all five duels with a unique party member and you’ll unlock the door at the top.

Painting Workshop

There are several of these scattered about the world, but only the one floating over the sea in the northeast corner of the map requires you to fly there. These areas require you to traverse a bit of awkward terrain, talk to a painted boy and gather a bunch of items that will activate a secret boss fight.

The Canvas

In this chaotic area just south of the Monolith you’ll find a large canvas with a painting of the game’s central family on it. You can take it from here and return it to a blank frame in the Mansion, which will open the door to the Mansion’s final room.

Endless Tower

As the name suggests, this is a big tower where you’ll face a bunch of challenging battles in a row. Against what the name suggests, these challenges are not infinite though. There are 12 floors of the tower, each containing three battles.

Flying Manor

One of the toughest areas in the game, the Flying Manor is found in the center of a circle of floating rocks, hovering above the southwest edge of the big snowy island. In this area you’ll need to defeat four more powerful versions of previous bosses to unlock the door to the manor. Inside is the painted version of Clea who will challenge you to one of the game’s most difficult fights.

Renoir's Drafts

The highest level area in the game, Renoir’s Drafts can only be accessed after you have completed Esquie’s relationship quest and unlocked the ability to dive underwater. This area is full of strange and difficult painted enemies, but it’s actually just a passage to the game’s true final secret area.

The Abyss

At the end of Renoir’s Drafts you will find the portal to The Abyss which contains by far the toughest boss fight in the entire game: Simon.