Sunless Cliffs is an optional location in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and a small, easily missed area that tests whether you can survive without your party. Hidden on the cliffs, this location strips the game down to a single portal, a single fighter, and a brutally tuned Mime boss that rewards mastery with rare Pictos and character-specific cosmetics. If you want to hunt high-risk challenges rather than story beats, Sunless Cliffs is where the game expects you to prove it.
Where to Find Sunless Cliffs in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Sunless Cliffs is located on the overworld along the coast southeast of Sirene and southwest of Gestral Beach, tucked into a raised cliff face. To access it, you must progress far enough in the story to unlock Esquie’s flying ability at the start of Act 3.
Using the ability, fly to the cliff ledge overlooking the water south of Sirene and look for the Chroma Portal glow around the rock. This area only makes sense as late-game or post-game content. Even well-built characters in the 60s will struggle here.
Once inside, follow the narrow path forward until it forks. The left route is a dead end. Take the right path, move through the cave to exit on the other side, where you’ll spot an Expedition Flag for fast travel, and a massive Chroma Portal. Interacting with the portal asks you to choose one party member who enters alone without backups, swaps, or revives unless your build allows it.
Sunless Cliffs Overview
Sunless Cliffs is intentionally minimal.
- Bosses: 1 (repeated solo encounters)
- Enemies: None
- Paint Cages / Spikes: None
- NPCs: None
- Expedition Flags: 1 (Chroma Portal)
The entire location exists for only a brutal 1v1 challenge against a powerful Mime.
Recommended Level and Preparation
Sunless Cliffs isn’t meant to be rushed. You can enter earlier, but you will face instant death if you’re underlevel or unprepared. Before you visit this location, make sure your character is at least level 80 or higher, with fully upgraded weapons and endgame Lumina unlocked. More importantly, your build should work for solo because there are no companions for the encounter to get help from party synergies, shared buffs, and safety nets.
Every character can win the combat with a good strategy and solid build, but some are best for it:
- Maelle – Exceptional Break generation, Gommage synergy, strong Gradient use
- Verso – Great Break setups and massive burst damage
- Lune – Terraquake and Crustal Crush shred the Break bar
- Sciel – Auto-death cheese builds with Second Chance
- Monoco – Viable with proper survivability and AP loops
All Mime Fights in Sunless Cliffs
This Mime is tuned far above the others you’ve fought. At the start, it immediately creates a defensive wall that heavily stops incoming damage. You can’t attack through it; the fight only opens up once you Break the Mime, which removes the wall, stuns the boss, and briefly turns the battle in your favor. That’s when your build either pays off or falls apart. If you don’t capitalize on this chance, you have to repeat it all under pressure.
The Mime deals heavy damage with its powerful attacks, but it’s not the mythical instant kill machine. With extreme defense—around the 1700 range—you’ll see hits near 7–8k damage. That’s still fatal for most offensive builds, which is why clean dodges and parries are not optional. You have to engage with the time system.
Mime Attack Patterns
The Mime’s moveset is small but deliberately paced to catch sloppy inputs. One combo chains three hits: a fast leap strike, a quick follow-up, then a delayed headbutt to bait early parries. In the second combo, he delivers four strikes with a hammer—the first two snap out fast, then the last two come with a short delay that punishes panic reactions. Mime performs these attacks throughout the fight, and you should show patience and consistency far more than aggression.
All Rewards from Sunless Cliffs
Sunless Cliffs has no exploration loot. Every reward you earn is once you defeat the Mime through the Chroma Portal.
First Time Clear Rewards
- The One (Picto)
- Max HP is set to 1
- +108% Critical Rate
- Awarded only once, no matter which character wins first
Character Specific Items
Each party member who defeats the Mime unlocks a unique cosmetic:
- Verso – Bald Haircut (Verso)
- Lune – Bald Haircut (Lune)
- Sciel – Bald Haircut (Sciel)
- Maelle – Bald Haircut (Maelle)
- Monoco – Bald Haircut (Monoco)
The Mime must be killed five times total, once per character, and one member can only fight the boss once. After all five victories, the portal will disappear permanently with zero additional dropped loot. If you want all rewards, every party member must take their turn in the arena.
Recommended Luminas for Mime Boss Fight
| Lumina | Importance | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Painted Power | Mandatory | Massive raw damage boost |
| Solo Fighter | Mandatory | Important for 1v1 scaling |
| Last Stand Critical | Mandatory | High crit output at low HP |
| Cheater | Mandatory | Action economy advantage |
| Energising Start I | Mandatory | Fast opening turns |
| Energising Turn | Mandatory | Maintains AP flow |
| Burn Affinity | Mandatory | Enables burn-based damage loops |
| Greater Defenceless | Mandatory if applicable | Increases damage during Break |
| Breaking Attack | Mandatory if no Break skill | Quick wall removal |
| Dodger | Mandatory to dodge | Survival for long |
| Energising Parry | Mandatory to parry | AP generation on success |
| First Strike | Mandatory if not opening | Prevents early pressure |
| Energy Master | Highly Recommended | AP efficiency |
| Clea’s Life | Highly Recommended | Enables Full Strength |
| Full Strength | Highly Recommended | Damage scaling at high HP |
| Energising Burn | Highly Recommended | Burn-based AP loops |
| Warming Up | Highly Recommended | Early momentum |
| Second Chance | Optional | Safety net for mistakes |
| Shortcut | Optional | Skill rotation flexibility |
| Charging Critical | Optional | Burst setups |
| Empowering Last Stand | Optional | Low-HP builds |
| Rush on Powerful | Optional | Tempo control |
| Powerful Shots | Optional | Ranged builds |
| Burning Shots | Optional | Burn synergy |
| Double Mark | Optional | Mark stacking |
| Greater Powerful | Optional | Damage ceiling |
| Greater Rush | Optional | Speed-focused builds |
| Marking Shots | Optional | Consistent debuffs |
| Stay Marked | Optional | Extended mark uptime |
| Quick Break | Optional | Fast wall removal |
- Break speed matters more than raw DPS.
- Don’t panic during the wall phase—play clean and safe.
- Gommage can trivialize the fight with a proper Gradient charge.
- Losing is fine; you can retry as many times as you want until a character beats the enemy.
Sunless Cliffs is a skill check and one of the interesting and tough battle challenges Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has to offer.
