One type of commonly recurring enemy in the new dark fantasy Souls-like Lords of the Fallen is a foe fans of the genre will know all too well. Among the draconic forces of the fire-wielding Rhogar and the divinely empowered Hallowed Sentinels are the Umbral Mimics. Sometimes referred to as Item Mimics or just Mimics, these enemies lay in hiding all across Mournstead and will leave you second-guessing every item pickup as you journey to destroy Adyr’s five beacons. Instead of attacking conventionally, Mimics pray on your greed and avarice, punishing players who pick up every shiny item orb they see with an instant trip into Umbral.
However, while they can be frustrating to encounter, there are a few key tells which reveal their duplicitous nature to eagle-eyed Lampbearers. If you know what to look for, you can easily assess and avoid these tricky troublesome creatures, leaving Mournstead’s biggest cleptomaniac undeterred.
Here’s how to spot and recognise Umbral Mimics from real item orbs in Lords of the Fallen.
Want more Lords of the Fallen content and articles? You can find more here on KeenGamer:
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What Are Umbral Mimics?
As the name suggests, Umbral Mimics (or, more simply, just Mimics) are a type of enemy in Lords of the Fallen who pretend to be something they’re not in order to trick and attack the player. Souls-like aficionados will be aware of similar enemies in games such as Dark Souls, with the Mimics of Lordran disguising themselves as chests that will devour adventurers who possess wandering fingers. The Mimics of Lords of the Fallen serve a similar purpose, hiding away in different parts of the game.
Instead of a chest, though, Lords of the Fallen’s Mimics pretend to be item orbs. Almost every single item in LotF is represented in the overworld by a ball of glowing yellow light. These item orbs can contain everything from weapons to armour to even consumables and important quest items, making them an attractive pick for any inquisitive explorers. However, some of these item orbs are fake, hiding a sinister presence beneath their lustre.
Hiding in Plain Sight
If you interact with a Mimic’s lure (which looks exactly like an ordinary item orb), you will be instantly snatched up by the fiend who will proceed to give you a little nibble. In most cases, this will result in your immediate death, sending you hurtling into Umbral and robbing you of your free revive. What’s worse is that the Mimic’s lure doesn’t disappear while you’re in Umbral, either, and so can result in a true death if you are unlucky enough to stumble across one.
At first glance, it can be different to discern a real item from a fake one, with the Mimics likely robbing at least some Lampbearers of their time and patience. However, if you take the time to study and observe the Mimic’s lure in comparison to an actual item in Lords of the Fallen, you’ll soon learn several key features which you will use to sus out the fakes in no time flat.
The Umbral Mimic
How to Spot Mimics in Lords of the Fallen
Mimics Have Different Light Trails
The easiest way to tell a regular item orb apart from a Mimic is to watch the trail of light sprouting from the top of the orb. Aside from the distinct yellow glow, item orbs will broadcast their position to players via a long trail of light which erupts from their top, allowing Lampbearers to easily spot items even if they’re slightly hidden. This trail has another purpose, though, as the behaviour of these trails differs completely when it comes to a Mimic.
On a normal item, the light trail will always go straight upwards. It will bend ungulate and bend very slightly from left to right but, overall, the trail will shoot straight up at all times. Meanwhile, the light trail on a Mimic will be wild and crazy, bending and curling in ways that the regular orbs would never do. In short, a normal item’s light trail will always shoot towards the sky whereas a Mimic’s light trail will often curl and bend.
This method of appraisal does take a bit of time, requiring you to slow down and watch each suspected orb for a few seconds to observe the light trail. Often, Mimics are scattered throughout some of the more difficult areas in Lords of the Fallen, locations where you’ll be too focused on the other enemies to pay attention to the fake item orbs. However, this is definitely the best and the most accurate way of telling a Mimic apart from a real item in Lords of the Fallen and you should get into the habit of checking each orb for their trail.
Real vs Mimic Items
Odd Item Orb Locations
The other method of figuring out what is and isn’t a Mimic is, unfortunately, not as scientific or accurate as the light trail method but it can still be very useful. Mimics have a limited number of potential spawn points in a given area, with their location changing each time you die a true death or rest at a Vestige. As such, there is only a small number of possible locations where a Mimic can hope to dupe you.
What’s even better is that Mimics are unable to take over or pretend to be in a location where an actual item orb appears. Sometimes, consumables such as Briostones or Wild Berries will appear randomly on the overworld and, to my knowledge, a Mimic will never appear in one of these spots. By moving through an area a few times and learning where consumables tend to pop up, you can quickly learn which areas are generally safe and which are not.
This method of finding Mimics requires at least some map knowledge and the ability to memorise where items have previously spawned. As such, you’ll likely only pick up on this skill after visiting an area where Mimics like to roam a few times: good thing, then, that this is a Souls-like where you’ll be spending a lot of time backtracking. It also isn’t completely foolproof and we recommend relying on the previous method if you want a 100% success rate for tracking them down. However, once you know it, finding Mimics will be made so much easier.
Two Mimic Locations Close Together
Can You Kill Mimics in Lords of the Fallen?
There is only one way of killing Umbral Mimics in Lords of the Fallen. If you find an item orb that you’re sure is a Mimic’s lure, approach it, face in the orb’s general direction and then soulflay it using your Umbral Lamp. This will extract the Mimic from the orb, instantly killing it. That’s not all, though, as you’ll get the Vigor from killing the creature and the item that the Mimic was using as a lure. Do note that you may already need to be in Umbral for this to work.
Aside from this, the only other way of dealing with a Mimic is to simply ignore it. So long as you don’t pick up the item orb, a Mimic will completely leave you alone, even if you’re stomping all over where it’s hiding. If you’re making your way through a crowded area, it’s probably best to try and just move past it, rather than stopping and potentially getting caught by a different enemy.
No matter what, though, just remember that a new Mimic will take root whenever you die a true death or rest at a Vestige, likely changing locations from where the last Mimic popped up. This will happen whether you killed it or ignored it so stay on your toes and keep your eyes peeled.
Belly of the Beast
That was how to spot and deal with Umbral Mimics in Lords of the Fallen.
