You’re standing at the fog gate of a late-game boss. Your heart is racing. You summon that silver, gooey blob, hoping it carries you to victory just like the YouTube videos promised. But something feels off. Your double isn't chugging its healing juice like it used to. If you’ve spent any time in the Lands Between, you’ve likely asked yourself: did Mimic Tear use to use flasks? The short answer is a resounding yes. It absolutely did.
Back when Elden Ring first launched in early 2022, the Mimic Tear wasn't just a powerful Spirit Ash; it was essentially a second player with an infinite health bar. It was a god. It would watch your health drop, watch its own health drop, and then casually tilt back a Crimson Flask to reset the fight. It was beautiful. It was broken. And then, FromSoftware decided we were having a bit too much fun.
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The Patch That Changed Everything
On March 17, 2022, FromSoftware dropped Patch 1.03. This was the "Great Reckoning" for many players. While the patch notes were relatively vague, the community quickly realized that the Mimic Tear had been fundamentally rewired.
Basically, they gutted its AI and its inventory management. Before this patch, the Mimic would use your equipped items with terrifying efficiency. If you had a Raw Meat Dumpling, it would eat it. If you had a Warming Stone, it would drop it. But most importantly, it had access to a healing flask. It didn't just use it once, either. In the early days, if the fight went on long enough, that silver bastard would heal multiple times, making it nearly impossible for bosses like Malenia to actually finish it off.
The nerf was heavy-handed. They reduced its damage output, changed its behavior to be less aggressive, and specifically stripped away its ability to use the Flask of Crimson Tears. Honestly, it was a necessary evil. The game's difficulty curve was being completely bypassed by a summon that could solo Starscourge Radahn while the player sat in a corner eating popcorn.
How the Mimic Works Now
So, if it doesn't use flasks anymore, what is it actually doing when it reaches for its belt? You might still see the animation. Sometimes, the Mimic Tear will attempt to use an item that it no longer has "charges" for, or it will use a different healing item you’ve equipped.
The current version of the Mimic Tear relies entirely on your active item slots. If you want it to heal, you have to get creative. It won't touch your Flask of Crimson Tears. Period. However, it still has infinite FP (Focus Points), which is a huge loophole that many players overlook.
If you equip a healing incantation—something like Lord's Aid or Great Heal—and you have a Sacred Seal equipped when you summon the Mimic, the AI will often cast those spells. It’s a bit janky. Sometimes it stands there getting hit while trying to find the right prayer, but it’s the closest you’ll get to the "old" Mimic Tear experience.
Why Everyone Remembers the Flask Specifically
There’s a bit of Mandella Effect happening with some newer players, but for the veterans, the memory of that golden flash of a flask heal is vivid. The reason it felt so impactful was because of the "tank" meta.
In the 1.0 version of the game, you could build a character with massive HP, heavy armor (like the Bull-Goat set), and the Mimic Tear would inherit all of that. When it healed, it wasn't just recovering a bit of health; it was resetting a 2,500 HP tank. It made the Mimic Tear more durable than almost any boss in the game.
Kinda wild when you think about it.
The developers at FromSoftware, led by Hidetaka Miyazaki, usually want the player to be the protagonist. When the Mimic Tear started outperforming the player—healing better, dodging better, and dealing more damage—the balance of the game shattered. They had to step in.
The Items It Still Uses (and the Ones It Doesn't)
If you're trying to recreate the glory days, you need to know exactly what the Mimic can and cannot interact with in the current build of the game.
- Raw Meat Dumplings: This is the pro tip. If you have these in your quick-item bar, the Mimic will eat them. It heals the Mimic for a massive amount. Since the Mimic is a spirit, it doesn't really care about the poison drawback that hits the player.
- Warming Stones: It will still drop these. It's a slow heal, but in a stationary fight, it's a lifesaver.
- Exalted Flesh: Want your mimic to hit like a truck? Keep this on your bar.
- Flask of Wondrous Physick: It won't use this. It never really did effectively, but now it’s definitely off the table.
- Boiled Prawn/Crab: It loves these. It makes the Mimic significantly tankier.
The AI is "smarter" about using offensive items now, too. If you give it Kukri or Fire Pots, it will spam them. Sometimes this is annoying. You want it to swing its giant sword, but instead, it’s playing catch with a Godskin Apostle using cracked pots.
Understanding the "Ghost" Animation
You've probably seen it. Your Mimic is at 10% health. It backs away, reaches into its pocket, and... nothing happens. Or it does a "shrug" animation.
This happens because the AI script for the Mimic Tear still has "Check for Healing" as a high-priority action when health is low. But because the developers flagged the Flask of Crimson Tears as "Player Only," the Mimic executes the command but finds an empty inventory. It’s a literal ghost of a mechanic that used to exist.
It's honestly a bit sad to watch. Like a dog looking for a treat in a cupboard you emptied weeks ago.
Is the Mimic Tear Still Worth It?
People love to complain that the Mimic is "dead" after the nerfs. That’s total nonsense. Even without the flask, the Mimic Tear remains the strongest Spirit Ash in Elden Ring for 90% of builds.
Why? Because it scales with you. Every other summon has static stats. The Jellyfish is always the Jellyfish. Tiche is always Tiche. But the Mimic is you. If you are Level 150 with a maxed-out Rivers of Blood or a Blasphemous Blade, the Mimic is also a Level 150 powerhouse with those same weapons.
The Blasphemous Blade is actually the secret to making the Mimic feel like it still has a flask. Since the weapon’s skill, Taker's Flames, heals the user on hit, the Mimic will constantly top off its own health while attacking. It creates a self-sustaining loop that mimics (pun intended) the old flask behavior.
Nuance in the AI
It's worth noting that the Mimic’s behavior changed in more ways than just healing. It used to be much more aggressive with weapon arts. Now, it seems to have a cooldown or a "hesitation" programmed in. This was likely done to prevent it from just spamming things like the Moonveil’s Transient Moonlight or the Comet Azur spell.
If you find your Mimic being passive, try removing any shields from your off-hand before summoning it. The AI often gets stuck in a "block" loop if it has a shield, which keeps it from being the aggressive beast you need it to be.
Practical Steps for a Post-Nerf World
If you want your Mimic to survive without its precious flask, you have to be its equipment manager. You can't just set it and forget it anymore.
- Load your hotbar with Raw Meat Dumplings. The Mimic will use them. It's the only way to give it a "flask-like" burst of health.
- Equip a healing spell. Even if you aren't a Faith build, putting a low-level healing incantation and a seal in your inventory before you summon the Mimic can give it the ability to patch itself up. You can swap back to your main gear after the summon is active.
- Use "On-Hit" healing weapons. Equip the Blasphemous Blade, the Great Stars, or the Butchering Knife. The Mimic will heal as it fights, effectively ignoring the lack of a flask.
- The Blessing's Boon trick. Cast a damage-over-time heal on yourself right before summoning the Mimic. It often carries over or encourages the Mimic to use similar buffs if it has them.
The era of the infinite-chugging Mimic Tear is long gone. It ended in a patch notes update years ago, leaving many players confused about why their silver twin is suddenly so much more fragile. But by understanding that it did use to use flasks, you can stop wondering if you’re crazy and start building a character that compensates for the loss.
The Mimic isn't a god anymore. It’s a tool. And like any tool in a FromSoftware game, it only works as well as the person wielding it.
Optimize your quick-items. Slot in some Meat Dumplings. Give your twin a fighting chance. It misses that flask just as much as you do.
Actionable Next Steps
- Check your current version: Ensure your game is updated to at least 1.03 to see these AI changes in effect (most players will be on much later versions like 1.10+).
- Test the Meat Dumpling strategy: Enter a low-stakes boss fight, equip Raw Meat Dumplings in your belt, and watch the Mimic. You'll see it heal for the first time in years.
- Re-spec for Faith synergy: If you really want a self-healing Mimic, invest 12-15 points in Faith so it can access basic "Heal" or "Bestial Vitality" incantations.