Elden Ring: How to beat the Mimic Tear boss fight

As previously stated, you must fight a Mimic Tear boss on your way inside Nokron. This is one of the simpler boss fights in Elden Ring because you're battling an enemy who can't possibly be better than you, which is a nice departure from the elite demigods and ancient horrors you're used to fighting. It can still be difficult, but there is a fun exploit: right before entering the boss arena, de-equip all of your weapons and possibly even your armor, then walk in. Then, as soon as you enter, immediately redress (this will, admittedly, necessitate some quick menu navigation)!

Because the Mimic will imitate you as you were when you first entered the fight, it will lack armor and weapons, giving you a significant advantage when you draw a sword and shield from your backpack. Then you may effectively fight an unarmed foe to victory, receiving two Larval Tears (which we'll describe in our Elden Ring respec and Larval Tears page) and a Silver Tear Mask, which improves your Arcane stat at the loss of some physical attack power - a reasonable trade-off for some spell casters.

It's also worth noting that this isn't the game's only Mimic Tear boss battle. If you get to the Hidden Path to the Haligtree later in the game, there's an optional boss encounter with a Stray Mimic Tear along the road, however, it follows the same rules and exploits as the others. Keep this in mind, and if you come across a boss fight door in that region, remember to disarm first! You can even do as we did and activate your own Mimic Tear before entering to see who would win in a fight between you and yourself. Talk about a win-win situation.