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As you swim through the oceans of the Continent inClair Obscur: Expedition 33, you may see a towering Nevron wading waist-deep in the sea. This is Sprong, one of the first Nevrons ever created, and as you can probably guess from its size, it’s extremely dangerous. Attempting to fight Sprong when you first encounter it is almost guaranteed to end in defeat.
As tempting as it might be to try and show off by fighting Sprong early, you’re much better off returning much later in the game - ideally, in Act 3, when everyone has access to their full suite of powers and fully-upgraded weapons.
Sprong’s Attack Pattern
Unlike most enemies in Clair Obscur, Sprong has apredictable attack pattern, using the same sequence of five moves in order, over and over, throughout the fight. The game is even kind enough to number them in stages, so you’ll always know where you currently are in Sprong’s pattern.
Two
Sprong sabotages the Expedtion.
Sprong firesthree shots in a rhythmic sequence, then waits before firing a fourth. It choosesrandom, single targetsto deal Dark damage and apply Exhausted. Parry as each shot finishes charging to counter it.
Three
Sprong performs a 5-hit combo.
Sprong hits the entire party withthree quick attacks, thentwo slower ones.
Four
Sprong charges its Extermination Boom.
No immediate effect, but Sprong starts charging for its next attack.
Five
Sprong uses its Extermination Boom.
Sprong fires two beams at the entire party, dealing Dark damage.Parry as each shot finishes chargingto counter it.
Sprong’s opening physical attack is the strongest individual hit, but the combos can add up to take down one or more party members if you miss too many parries. The Exhaust applied in Stage 2 can alsoprevent you from building up enough AP to use Skills effectively, so be ready to remove it with Skills likeHealing Lightas needed.
Use the pause on Stage Four toheal up and get ready for the next cycle.If you start reviving the fallen and re-applying buffsimmediately after the Stage Three melee combo, you should have time to get attacks in before the Etermination Boom hits.
Best Party Setup For Fighting Sprong
The fight against Sprong isa matter of endurance. As long as you’re able to weather its attacks, you’ll be able to wear it down. The trick is tomake sure that your party can handle taking a few hitswhen you inevitably miss a parry or three.
You shouldn’t attempt to face Sprong until your team isaround Level 65and has weapons upgraded to a minimum of Level 25. That means you likely won’t be ready until Act 3.
Buff Skills likeMaelle’s Guard UporMonoco’s Troubadour Trumpetcan apply Shell to the entire team, which provides extra Defense (though the former is much more reliable than the latter). Give the character with the buffPowerful On Shellto enhance the team’s attack at the same time. You can also increase your overall survivability dramatically byequipping Pictosthat increase Defense and Health, especially if they’re on characterswhose weapons favor Agility, Defense, and/or Vitality.
One sneaky way to weather the storm against Sprong is toequip a low-Health character with the Pictos or Lumina for Protecting Death. When you miss a parry, that character will likely die, but in doing so they’llgrant Shields to the rest of the team, which should keep them safe from the rest of the combo if you keep missing.
If your team doesn’t include any characters whose Skills can remove Status Effects,be sure that everyone has Cleansing Tintto make up for it. That way, you canremove Exhaustby using aHealing Tint Shard. There are some builds, like Verso’s Corpeso Burn Combo, that can handle Sprong with just Base Attacks, but unless you’re specifically set up for that you’ll want to rely on your Skills like you would in any other fight.
Finally,Augmented Counteris a great selection for this fight, since Sprong’s combos are all fairly short. It might take a few tries to get the timing right, but once you’ve learned it you may domuch more damage on counterattacks than on regular turns.
