Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: Esoteric Ruins Puzzle Guide

Mostly battle-centric games, focusing on how party members can be used in tandem. Occasionally, they like to split the monotony with some interesting puzzles that test your brain differently.

The esoteric ruins puzzle is one of the great switch-ups that gives you a nice break from slicing the nevron. There are several ways to tackle this puzzle, but in this guide I’ll cover what I’ve found.

Cover where to find the puzzle, how it works, and what you get for your time. If you want to get all the achievements of this game, you will need to complete this area.

How to find esoteric ruins puzzles

You can find esoteric ruins just west of the old Lumiere. You must be in Act II and pass through Monoco Station to access this location.

Once inside, you simply follow the path until you come across a small blue ball floating in the center of a large area. Talking to the ball gives you a fun little conversation and this Nebron quest begins.

Head towards the expedition flag behind this area and use your wall handheld to face upwards. From here, follow the path until you reach the painted cage. Stretch before you become a maze.

How to solve puzzles

Once you understand the rules of the maze, this is actually not incredibly complicated. They are very simple, but you may be a little confused without understanding how they work.

Puzzle rules

Each small orb at the center of a cell in the maze opens and closes various paths attached to that cell. Almost every cell in the maze opens and closes only one or two paths, not all paths.

If the doorway is closed, shooting an orb opens and vice versa. Pay close attention to what is open and what is not. One wrong step is because you can push you into a troublesome position for the rest of the puzzle.

With extreme care, you can see lines that fall off those orbs. It tells you the route for the ORB to open and close.

Puzzle Solving

There seem to be a few ways to complete this puzzle, so if you want to try it yourself, you can. After spending time understanding the mechanism, I ended up completing it.

This image can be a little difficult to understand without visual aids, so you can use it to provide references. Each cell in the maze starts at the bottom left and moves horizontally.

1. Shoot the first orb in Cell 2

2. Shoot orbs in Cell 3

3. Go to cell 1

4. Shoot orbs with cells1

5. Go to cell 4

6. Shoot Cell 4’s orb twice

7. Go to cell 6

8. Shoot orbs in cell 6

9. Shoot orbs in Cell 3

10. Go to cell 3

11. Shoot orbs in Cell 2

12. Return to cell 6

13. Shoot orbs in cell 6

14. Shoot orbs with cells 5

15. Heading towards Cell 9, you will see the exit open.

Follow this guide as closely as possible. Because a few mistakes can make you retreat. On the other side, there should be some things to collect, including the wood board, which is the necessary item.

Esoteric Ruins Puzzle Rewards

Once you get a wooden board, you can go back to the small blue orb and give it to it. This will change to Portia, the actual form.

Simply complete the quest and you will receive:

If you choose to fight Portia, you will receive additional rewards.

Now that you have finished the esoteric ruins, you can face off against all the nebrons your heart desires. If you did this before heading to Old Lumiere, you can prepare a little more or prepare yourself for a fight with Renoir.