Mymic traits that punish you
From the Polandball Go Wiki
Bosses get most of the attention, but many of the attacks lost in a raid go to the Mymics on the floors before them. A Shield eats a strong ball's hit, Slippery turns a big attack into 1 damage, and Retaliate exhausts a ball you hadn't used yet. This page covers those traits with the game's exact wording. Boss tricks such as Judgment and Visceral Slash are covered on Vengeful bosses and Vertexia, Xterial and Kivalaian.
1 Taunt#
"All attacks are redirected to me." Cherisia (1★ floor 5, 2★ floor 3), Fire Fox (2★ floor 5, 3★ floor 2), Heavenly Sultan and the Afgar it summons all have it.
The game's data says a single-target attack goes to the first living Taunt Mymic. A Multi that missed every Taunt Mymic has one of its three targets swapped for one. Until the Taunt Mymic is down, a single-target attack can't pick off anything else on the floor. Commander's Cap reads "Attacks can't be blocked, redirected or miss," which ignores Taunt for the ball that holds it.
2 Shield#
"Blocks the next attacks." Each stack blocks one hit that would have done damage and is then used up. Almaz and Siraj start with 1 stack, Coastal Guards 1, Tutor Leviticus 2, Sea Ruler and Ultras 3, Crescent Warlord 4 and Twenty 5.
A blocked hit is wasted however strong the ball was, so cheap balls should take the shields. Dustpiercer and Cosmic Glacialis read "Attacks bypass Shield." Gilded Halo turns a blocked hit into a gain: "When blocked, dodged or resisted, unexhaust 3 random allies."
Humility adds shields mid-fight: "When I'm hit for more than 10,000 in a single strike, I gain 2 stacks of Shield." Angelic Entity and Oliffgarden have it. The game's data checks each hit separately, so an attack that lands several big hits can stack up several pairs of shields.
3 Slumber#
"On hit: Remove 1 stack. At last stack, heals for 50% max HP." Sleepy Rat starts with 3 stacks, Scandiland with 5 and Backfox with 2.
The data says the heal happens on the hit that removes the last stack, and only if the Mymic survives that hit. The safe way is to count the stacks and make the hit that takes the last one a hit that also finishes it. Scandiland has 70,000 HP, so half its max HP is 35,000 back if you get this wrong.
4 Scout#
"Resists all attacks. On hit: remove a stack of Scout." Zekri (1★ floor 6) has 2 stacks and Acee (Tutor floor 3) has 1. Until the stacks are gone, every hit counts as resisted however good the matchup. Spend weak balls to strip Scout, then bring the strong ones.
5 Slippery#
"Non-super-effective attacks deal exactly 1 damage. On the 3rd such attack: drop stacks to 0 and apply 1 stack of Inked." Noodle Imperialist (1★ floor 5, 2★ floor 3), Dark Goose (3★ floor 4) and Nukeoil (3★ floor 6) have it.
Only Super Effective hits do real damage here. Dark Goose is Shadow and Oil with 350,000 HP, and Faith, Fire and Light are the types that hit it Super Effectively on the chart. The consolation is Inked, "Take 50% increased damage on the next attacks," which arrives after every third wasted hit.
6 Focus Grasp#
"If I'm hit twice in a row by the same player, I take 50% reduced damage." Forbidden Minerbob (3★ floor 6) has it, and Satori carries it too.
The game's data tracks this per player. A player's second hit in a row on the Mymic is halved, and then the count starts over, so a lone raider's hits alternate between full and half damage. In a party, the trait's wording suggests that taking turns on it avoids the penalty.
7 High Ground#
"All allies have a 30% chance of dodging attacks. Not stackable; multiple bearers do not stack." Diablos (3★ floor 5) and Nox have it. While one is alive, every Mymic on the floor dodges three hits in ten.
Commander's Cap's "can't ... miss" gets around it, and Gilded Halo's unexhaust fires on a dodge. Otherwise the answer is to take out the High Ground Mymic early.
8 Retaliate#
"When the same ally gets targeted twice in a row, randomly Exhausts 1 ball." Desert Fox (2★ floor 5, 3★ floor 2) has it.
The data says the count runs across the whole party: two single-target attacks in a row that both land on the same Mymic trigger it, whoever made them. A Multi resets the count. On a Retaliate floor, switch targets between attacks, or use a Multi when you need to hit the same Mymic again.
9 Divine Retribution#
"When hit 4 times, randomly Exhausts a Ball." Novoxia, the 1★ boss, has it. The game's data counts each damaging hit, including an item's resonance hit, so one attack can count twice. The fourth hit can be the killing blow and still cost you a ball.
10 Light Screen#
"Every time a Ball attacks, all Mobs gain one stack of Universal Resist." Universal Resist reads "Reduces final damage by 1% per stack," and it never wears off. Orange (2★ boss), Anchovy (1★ floor 5, 2★ floors 3 and 6) and Dynamo (3★ floor 5) have it, and each living one adds its own stack.
The longer a Light Screen Mymic lives, the tougher the whole floor gets. Anchovy has only 10,000 HP, so it is usually worth killing first.
11 Thaw and Leader#
Thaw: "Take 5% reduced damage per stack. On hit: lose 1 stack." Blizztria (3★ floor 6) and Primal Almaz start with 10 stacks, half damage on the first hit. Small hits first wear it down.
Leader: "I take 90% reduced damage while I have undefeated allies." Grand Tect, the 3★ boss, has it, so the Mymics beside it have to go first.
12 Grace#
"Resonance heals me." Angelic Entity (2★ boss) and Nature Cavalier (3★ floor 6) have it. The game's data says the resonance hit heals the Mymic for the full damage it would have dealt, capped at max HP. Balls with no item, or items with 0 attack, are the safe choice here.
13 Coming back and capping damage#
- Rebirth (ESV, 3★ floor 4, 3 stacks): "On defeat: heal to full health and lose 1 stack of Rebirth." ESV has 150,000 HP, so with three rebirths it takes four times that. Preservation reads in part "Heal and Rebirth don't trigger," and Captain's Bottle, Antique Teacup and Antique Camera apply it.
- Naval Blockade (Captain Natanielia, 3★ floor 5): "Damage from a single hit is capped at 20,000 per stack. When a hit reaches the cap: Gains 1 stack." It starts at 1 stack, so the first hit is capped at 20,000, and each capped hit raises the cap by another 20,000.
- Supernova (Primal Siraj): "If I fall below 25% health without being defeated, you lose." Bring it down from above 25% to 0 in one hit, or don't start on it.
14 Items that help#
- Commander's Cap (✦✦✦, from Desert Fox, Shadow or Metal balls only): "Attacks can't be blocked, redirected or miss."
- Dustpiercer (✦✦, from Novoxia): "Attacks bypass Shield."
- Gilded Halo (✦✦✦, from Angelic Entity): "When blocked, dodged or resisted, unexhaust 3 random allies."
- Fractal Scarf (✦✦✦✦, from Mud): "On hit: Remove all of the Mymic's stackable Traits, then apply 5 stacks each of Unbalanced and Hushed."
See Exhaust and unexhaust for the traits that take balls away and Status effects for Inked, Preservation and the rest.
15 On polbielytics#
Each Mymic's page on Raids lists its traits in full, so a floor can be checked before you fight it.