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  1. Games
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  3. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 update nerfs the "hardest boss" of Verso's Drafts - a little red lifebuoy that made a diving minigame impossibly difficult

News
By Anthony McGlynn published 18 December 2025

Sandfall Entertainment is clearly having some fun

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 screenshot of Verso, a man with black hair with white streaks running through his fringe
(Image credit: Kepler Interactive)
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Sandfall Entertainment celebrated winning Game of the Year at The Game Awards by making extra hard versions of several Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 bosses and a new area. Less than a week later, something's already been nerfed, indirectly creating an achievement for anyone who managed to complete the challenge before now.

In the latest Clair Obscur patch, there's a change to part of Verso's Drafts. "Nerfed the hardest boss in Verso's Drafts (red lifebuoy) by moving it slightly to make a quest easier," state the patch notes. This is a colorful area full of puzzles and battles that give you some neat rewards if you feel up to the task.

Among the activities is a diving board; if you jump off it, there's a minigame that involves landing in some colored buoys. The final one - you guessed it, red - is tricky. And by tricky, I mean infuriatingly so. Players were spending ages trying to get it right.

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  • An RPG party strolls through a whimsically colorful fantasy landscape. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's new DLC bosses and nerfs are forcing players to retool their months-old endgame builds
  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 lead Gustave faces a gommage Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's director was "surprised" that someone managed to beat the RPG's most infamous boss without cheesing
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Thank You Update Trailer | PS5 Games - YouTube Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Thank You Update Trailer | PS5 Games - YouTube
Watch On

"Took me two damn hours," says one commenter on Reddit. "My issue was not landing in the red circle, it was that the splash never happened so it would not complete. Ready to be done with it!" says another.

Now that it's been made easier, those who've done it would like some recognition. "Finally, I can brag about beating it pre-nerf," one Redditor states. "Glad I did it before but honestly it was fine and perfectly infuriating the way it was!” another adds. “Can we get a Red Lifebuoy medal to immortalize our achievement?" someone valiantly comments.

Honestly, people should be able to brag about these things. The update fixes various other small bugs and issues, but none resonate quite as much as making some diving a little more pleasurable.

Phantom Blade Zero lead says the advice he's taking from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads is to "cut things" from the kung fu action RPG and "polish the rest."

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Anthony McGlynn
Anthony McGlynn
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Contributing Writer

Anthony is an Irish entertainment and games journalist, now based in Glasgow. He previously served as Senior Anime Writer at Dexerto and News Editor at The Digital Fix, on top of providing work for Variety, IGN, Den of Geek, PC Gamer, and many more. Besides Studio Ghibli, horror movies, and The Muppets, he enjoys action-RPGs, heavy metal, and pro-wrestling. He interviewed Animal once, not that he won’t stop going on about it or anything.

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