Golgra, the chief of Gestral in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, stands apart from the other living mannequins who fight just for the thrill. She’s a formidable fighter, one of the fiercest on the entire Continent. Don’t expect to simply walk into Gestral Village and challenge her to a duel. With an enormous health bar and devastating kick attacks that can easily take down even seasoned characters, facing her without proper preparation is a sure way to fail. Be ready for a tough battle if you plan to take her on.
All Golgra Fights in the Game
You’ll actually get four chances to take on Golgra in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. While her moves and combos stay the same in each encounter, her stats are toned down when she shows up as a side quest boss—making those fights a bit more manageable. It’s the duel in her hut at the Gestral Village you really need to watch out for. Here are the three less-intense battles with Golgra:
- When you first meet Golgra as Monoco at the Gestral Village. (Note: This is a separate fight from the regular duel and is much easier.)
- During Monoco’s Relationship Quest, when Monoco and Verso visit the Sacred River. (Your party is limited to just the two of them.)
- In the final round of the Dark Gestral Arena, which you can access from the sky during Act 3.
Each of these fights is a one-on-one duel, except for the Sacred River battle, where it’s a two-person team.
Facing Golgra at Her Full Strength
The toughest version of Golgra is waiting in her hut at Gestral Village, and you can challenge her anytime after meeting her in Act 1. You get to choose which party member will fight, but be warned—your chosen character should be at least Level 80, or even 90, if you want to survive. This fight is brutal, so it’s best saved for the endgame when you’re fully geared and ready for a real challenge.
Best Strategies to Use Against Golgra
First Phase
Golgra’s combos have a noticeable delay between each kick, so with a bit of practice, you can usually learn to parry and counter them after a few tries. The real danger lies in the punishment for missing—each unblocked hit dishes out a massive 5,000 to 7,000 damage. For most characters, a single mistake can be fatal.
To boost your survivability, equip weapons that scale with Vitality or Defense and max out those attributes. Use Recoats if you need to adjust your build. Recovery Pictos like Second Chance are a must-have, since you’re fighting solo and one misstep can end the match if you don’t have a safety net.
Characters focused on Break and Stun are especially useful—if you can fill up Golgra’s Stun meter a few times during the fight, you’ll get some much-needed breathing room. Each turn she’s stunned is a turn you don’t have to worry about nailing every parry. Burn can also help chip away at her health, but you’ll need to stack it heavily to see meaningful damage.
Second Phase
Once Golgra drops below half health, she enters her second phase and steps up her game with longer, more complex combo strings. Most of these are upgraded versions of her earlier attacks, but one new move in particular stands out—when she slams the ground, you’ll need to perform a jump counter followed immediately by a gradient counter. It’s a rare combo mechanic in the game and can definitely catch you off guard the first time.
Despite her fiery appearance in this phase, Golgra isn’t immune or even resistant to fire damage, so don’t hesitate to keep applying Burn if that’s part of your strategy.
Rewards for Defeating Golgra
Each character who defeats Golgra in a duel is rewarded with their own unique Gestral-themed weapon:
- Gustave or Verso earn the weapon Sakaram.
- Lune receives Trebuchim.
- Maelle is awarded Medalum.
- Sciel obtains Hevason.
- Monoco gets Sidaro.
These weapons can also be acquired through alternate means. For instance, the winner of the Gestral Tournament during Sciel’s recruitment is granted their Gestral weapon as a prize. Additionally, Sakapatates may drop them as loot during battles.
Challenging and defeating Golgra in her hut also rewards you with a Grandiose Chroma Catalyst and, on occasion, a Recoat. On top of that, it’s one of the most efficient ways to level up any Gestral weapons already in your inventory without spending extra resources.
