Maisie

Maisie is a Tank-class cat miniboss with 98 HP, 5 damage, 5 movement, and 5 Luck, found in The Alley. She represents the Tank archetype among the four Alley minibosses. With the highest HP pool of any Alley miniboss and a permanent Body Guard effect, Maisie is an extremely durable encounter centered around protecting and buffing her five kittens. She starts every battle accompanied by 5 kitten allies, creating a multi-target encounter unlike any other Alley miniboss.

Maisie prioritizes buffing her kittens over attacking directly. Her Lick ability heals an adjacent kitten and grants it +1 Strength, steadily powering up her swarm. She often positions herself behind a kitten to buff it, only resorting to melee attacks when unable to reach her kittens. Her Body Guard ability is her signature defense: whenever Maisie is targeted, she swaps positions with the kitten that would be hit, redirecting the attack. Maisie will cry out whenever one of her kittens is downed. If Maisie is killed before all kittens are eliminated, the surviving kittens flee. Similarly, killing all kittens causes Maisie to flee. Both scenarios reduce battle rewards.

Stunning, immobilizing, sleeping, or charming Maisie prevents her Body Guard teleportation from triggering, allowing direct damage. Area-of-effect attacks can damage multiple kittens simultaneously, thinning the herd efficiently. A Necromancer with Reap can exploit the swap mechanic by targeting kittens near Maisie, causing her to swap into range for the instant kill. Placing hazardous tiles and forcing swaps through them deals indirect damage. Cats with Trample bypass her protective ability entirely. The most efficient approach is to disable Maisie's swap, then burst her down while her kittens are scattered. Maisie has a Champion variant.