Expedition 33 Complete Walkthrough: Main Story, Side Quests & Best Ending Path

I finished my first Expedition 33 playthrough at around 28 hours. My second playthrough — knowing where everything was and how the systems worked — took 14. The difference isn't skill. It's routing.

This walkthrough isn't going to describe every room and every enemy group. There are video guides for that. What I'm going to give you is the routing — what to do in what order, when to push the main story, when to clear side content, and what decisions actually matter.

Chapter 1: Foundation Layer

The opening chapter is linear and serves as an extended tutorial. You meet Gustave and Lune, learn the combat basics, and fight the chapter one boss.

Don't rush through the hub area. There are NPCs with free items (the old woman by the eastern gate gives a starter Pictos most people miss) and a merchant with early healing supplies. Stock up. You'll burn through more healing items than you expect in the chapter two boss.

Side content in chapter one is minimal. There are a couple of optional enemy groups on the northern and southern paths from the hub. Clear them. The combat practice matters more than the rewards.

Before the chapter boss, rest at the camp and upgrade whatever weapon you can. Watch the companion scene — it's the first real story development about the Paintress and why Expedition 33 exists. Pay attention to the number on the monolith.

Chapter 2: The First Real Zone

Chapter two opens up significantly. You get access to a larger hub with multiple branching paths, side quests, and the first companion creature.

The companion creature (you can't miss it — it's part of a main story beat) unlocks your first traversal ability. This opens a shortcut back to the chapter one area and reveals a hidden Pictos that's easy to miss. Backtrack for it. It's a parry window extension Pictos that helps enormously with the chapter two boss.

Side quests in chapter two:

• The merchant's request: fetch quest, rewards upgrade materials. Do it.

• The missing patrol: leads to a mini-boss. The reward is a weapon that carries you through chapter three. Don't skip this.

• The old woman's errand: seems like a fetch quest, but the real reward is a Lumina fragment. Lumina fragments permanently increase your passive slot count. You want all of them.

Chapter two boss is the difficulty spike I've talked about elsewhere. Clear all side content before attempting it. You want every Pictos level, every Lumina, every weapon upgrade you can get.

There's a flag checkpoint right before the boss arena. Rest, refill, and understand that the respawned enemies between the flag and the boss are practice for the fight to come — their attack patterns are simplified versions of the boss's.

Chapter 3: Two Paths Diverge

Chapter three gives you your first real choice: the northern mountain pass or the southern catacombs. Both lead to the same destination eventually, but the order changes which party member you recruit first.

Northern pass first: you recruit Maelle (Pigments) earlier and face enemies that favor parry-heavy play. The mini-boss here teaches Pigment management.

Southern catacombs first: you recruit Sciel (Omen Cards) earlier and face enemies that require more flexible tactics. The mini-boss here is RNG-dependent because of Sciel's card draws.

I recommend northern pass first for new players. Maelle's Pigments system has a smoother learning curve than Sciel's card RNG, and the enemies on the northern route are better practice for the chapter three duo boss.

Whichever route you pick second, the enemies will be scaled up to account for your additional party member. So the second route is genuinely harder, not just a repeat.

Side quests in chapter three are missable. There's a NPC in the chapter hub who gives a quest that expires after you complete both routes. The reward is a Lumina fragment. You don't want to miss Lumina fragments.

Chapter 4: The Gauntlet

Chapter four is a series of combat encounters with minimal exploration between them. This is where your build gets stress-tested.

Before starting chapter four, make sure:

• At least two characters are fully geared and leveled

• You have 15+ healing items

• Your Lumina collection includes damage-focused passives

• You've unlocked all available camp upgrades

The chapter four boss has four phases. I've covered the strategy in the boss guide, but the routing note here is: there's a camp flag between phases two and three that's easy to miss because the narrative pushes you forward. Look for the side room before the phase three arena. Missing this flag means doing phases three and four with whatever resources you have left.

Chapter 5: The World Opens

Chapter five is the point where you can freely explore most of the game world. Companion creature traversal abilities should be fully unlocked by now, meaning you can access areas that were gated earlier.

This is the optimal time for backtracking and cleanup:

• Return to every previous zone and open companion-gated paths

• Collect all remaining Lumina fragments

• Finish any incomplete side quest chains

• Max out Pictos you've been neglecting to round out your Lumina collection

The chapter five boss is a gatekeeper — you really do need a proper build by this point. If you've been coasting on fundamentals, the damage check here will stop you.

Chapter 6 to Finale: The Endgame Sprint

From chapter six onward, the game narrows again. Side content dries up. The narrative momentum takes over.

The last few chapters are essentially a boss rush with story beats between encounters. Every remaining major boss has a gimmick, and by this point the game trusts you to figure them out without tutorialization.

Before the point of no return (the game warns you explicitly), do a final sweep:

• Camp: upgrade everything possible, respec if needed

• Inventory: use any permanent stat items you've been hoarding

• Pictos: maximize your active loadout, don't leave empty slots

• Healing items: buy as many as you can afford

The Paintress fight is the final exam. Everything you've learned, every system you've engaged with, every build decision you've made — it all gets tested. There are no shortcuts and no cheese strategies that I know of.

Side Quest Priority Order

If you're doing a completionist run, here's the order:

Always prioritize Lumina fragment quests. More passive slots = more powerful build. These are scattered across chapters and some are missable.

Weapon upgrade quests come second. Unique weapons from side quests often have properties you can't get from camp upgrades.

Lore and story quests come third. They don't affect gameplay but the world-building in Expedition 33 is genuinely good and worth experiencing.

Fetch quests and material rewards come last. Nice to have, not essential.

What Decisions Actually Matter

Expedition 33 has a few decision points that affect the ending. I won't spoil the endings, but I'll tell you where the decisions are:

Chapter four has a dialogue choice during a camp scene. The choice seems philosophical but it determines which characters are available for a key fight later.

Chapter five has a side quest with two resolution paths. Completing it one way unlocks an optional boss. Completing it the other way gives a permanent stat boost. You can't have both without a second playthrough.

The final decision comes right before the Paintress fight. This one's straightforward — the game makes it obvious what each choice means. There's no hidden "true ending" locked behind obscure requirements. Both ending paths are accessible.