Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch – Familiar Spotlight – Meet Mite

Meet Mite

It only seems right to kick off our new familiar spotlight feature with a spotlight on Mite, the first familiar players of Ni No Kuni get to know. Mite is the Pikachu to Olliver’s Ash and since you will be spending so much time together, you might as well make sure you take care of your little orange buddy.

The Basics

Mite is a familiar of the Milite family and as such he’s perfectly suited to work with Oliver, receiving a 10% boost to his combat abilities. Fortunately Mite is also built as a balanced, front-line fighter. His stats aren’t going to blow other familiars out of the water, but an early stat growth rate makes him very useful even after you gain the ability to tame other familiars.

While other Milite familiars have the potential to exceed Mite in any given area, Mite is one of only two familiars in that genus with the Defend command at his disposal. Couple that with moderate defense and decent attack abilites early in game, and Mite is your “go-to” familiar for many boss fights and bounty hunts.

Care and Feeding of Mite

As a Milite familiar, Mite’s favorite treat is the attack-boosting chocolate. However, it’s important to feed him a balanced diet of treats to make sure he stays as well-rounded as at the start (for more on feeding, click here). While you are free to build his stats however you please, we suggest boosting his stats in the following order to beef him up for later in the game.

Attack     +25
Defense  +15
Evasion   +5
Accuracy  +5

This breakdown focuses on Mite’s natural damaging capabilities while providing a solid defensive boost for early game bounty hunts and boss fights (when you may not have access to a dedicated “tanking” familiar).

All Grown Up

By the time you are taught about familiars and metamorphosing (to learn more click here), Oliver’s Mite will typically be between level 12 and 15. Later, if you recruit a fresh Mite in the wild, the ideal level for metamorphosing is at least 20; this is when Mite learns Ray of Light, a solid physical attack that hits in a straight line. Once your Mighty Mite reaches level 33 or higher you will be able to metamorphose him into one of two final forms: Dynamite or Mermite.

Dynamite is a fire element familiar with a focus on attack power and dealing more damage, while Mermite is a water familiar with a higher defense and access to a wider range of support tricks and gems.

Below are some pros and cons for the Dynamite and Mermite final forms:

Dynamite

Pro: By the time you are able to metamorphose the Mighty Might, you are likely to have access to strong familiars that can tank and Dynamite’s naturally higher attack will be very welcome.
Pro: Dynamite naturally learns some great tricks such as the powerful Super Slash when he reaches higher levels.
Con: While Dynamite has a decent attack attribute and blossoms early, by mid-to-late game he will quickly be outclassed by other familiars.

Mermite

Pro: Higher defense than Dynamite means the ability to take more damage and having Defend means that, with the right bonus points, he can find a place in the party a little more easily.
Pro: Access to a variety of trick gems as well as the awesome Soulshield trick gives a huge boost to magical defense.
Con: Lower attack scores means that Mermite can struggle to inflict physical damage like other familiars of his level, so you’ll have to compensate his attack bonus with feeding.

Teamwork

Building a team around Mite is fairly simple. Being a dedicated physical attacking familiar means he tends to be lacking in elemental attacks and support tricks. Until you have a full party of three characters in battle, Mite will be serving as a default tank and benefits greatly from the support of a well-rounded caster like Esther’s default familiar, Drongo. Having backup in the form of elemental tricks as well as healing abilities can make a big difference, as it allows Mite to keep attacking for longer without having to switch out or pull back to recover HP.

Once your team is full, the party dynamic can be greatly influenced by what final form you choose. If you want to focus on Mite’s attack and metamorphose him into Dynamite, he benefits greatly from having a solid tank backup like Monolith or Lumberwood and a healing support like Naiad. If you metamorphose him into Mermite, you may find that he works great with other evenly-balanced familiars like Inphant and Drongo.

Whichever path you choose to walk with Mite, remember that you will be spending a lot of time together. Make sure to keep him well-fed and well-equipped to maximize his potential to have a place in your party for a good, long time.

Learn more: See all of our Ni No Kuni articles.