Mimics are possibly one of the most annoying enemy types if you don't know how to fight them; they have surprisingly high health, very high damage, and that's just the regular, weaker ones. However, there are a few ways to counter them with a bit of knowledge, just like every other enemy.

The most dangerous way to find out if a chest is a mimic is to run up and open the chest. If it is a mimic, it will reveal itself, and attack you. This is not recommended, as you are likely to take high damage and be left to fight the mimic at melee range, leaving you vulnerable to more hits.

A better method is to stand and watch the chest for a minute. If it is a mimic, you might see a mouth appear on the chest for a split second. This way takes a bit of time but is fairly safe, since you don't have to take any turns.

A quicker strategy is to use a ranged weapon (wand, throwing weapon, spirit bow, etc.) on the chest. If it is a mimic, it will reveal itself and take damage from said weapon. If it is a normal chest, nothing will happen. Useful, and allows you to get a surprise attack in, however this could waste some turns if there is no mimic

Another safe strategy is to move so the chest is out of your sight. A regular chest will still be in the dark area where you can't see, but a mimic will vanish completely. Also useful, but again could waste some turns.

What is arguably the best way to identify a mimic is to look at the outline of a chest; mimics have a slightly lighter outline. This option is very quick and does not waste any turns but may take some time to master (I wrote most of this guide months ago, as far as I can tell this strategy is easier now)

There are 3 different types of mimics. The most common is the plain-old Mimic, which looks like a regular chest, brown wood with a sliver-grey lining.

This one is the easiest to fight; once you have identified it, assuming you didn't just run up and try to open it before doing so, is to use ranged weapons to try and kill it from afar. Turning traps against a mimic can be a useful strategy too. If you are confident in either your armor or evasion, you can try to fight it with melee weapons, though you should still exercise caution and take full advantage of sneak attacks if you do so.

If the mimic is uncomfortably close, using a wand of blast wave, a stone of fear, or various other items can move it or you away. Debuffs (such as frost) can slow it down so you can run away if need be. Allies can be particularly useful against mimics, as they can soak up damage for you, though this may be undesirable if you care about said ally at all.

The next variant is the golden mimic. This one has a slightly darker wood, with a gold lining; just like a regular golden chest. This one has higher stats, but better loot than the regular one.

As this mimic has higher stats, it is more important to attempt to kill it before it can hit you. Otherwise, the strategies for fighting this one remain about the same as the regular one.

The last variant is the Crystal Mimic. It mimics the rarer crystal chests; semi-translucent blue, with a lighter blue lining. It only appears in a special room with 2 crystal chests, though it doesn't always appear. It's stats aren't often as high as the Golden Mimic, but it's abilities make it just as much of a threat.

First of all, it can steal items from you. It will also attempt to run away after doing so, just like a thief. If this happens, use items and wands to slow it down or even stop/freeze it entirely. Trapping it can also help, however it can sometimes switch places with you to get out of being cornered.

If you manage to defeat the tricky crystal mimic, it will drop whatever rare item it was holding, *and* you can still open the 2nd crystal chest in the crystal chest room.