Acid Reflux

Acid Reflux transforms your cat's basic attack into a lobbed shot with splash damage, but at the cost of dealing 2 damage to yourself each time you use it. The lobbed projectile arc means it can hit enemies behind cover or obstacles, and the splash damage hits tiles adjacent to the target, making it effective against clustered enemies. However, the 2 self-damage per use adds up quickly, requiring you to balance offense with self-preservation.

Acid Reflux is heritable and can pass from parent to kitten through breeding. It can also be acquired through events or applied with a Disorder Syringe from the Organ Grinder. The disorder fundamentally changes how your basic attack functions, converting what is normally a single-target attack into an area-of-effect lobbed shot. This makes the cat more effective against groups but less efficient in single-target situations where you are paying 2 HP per attack for splash damage that hits nothing extra.

Strategically, Acid Reflux pairs well with The Hunger (lifesteal on basics) to offset the self-damage, or with high-Constitution cats that can absorb the HP cost. It is particularly effective in battles with many tightly packed enemies where the splash damage hits multiple targets per attack. Avoid it on cats with low HP or those that already take significant self-damage from other disorders like Flaming Fists. The lobbed trajectory also makes it useful against enemies hiding behind terrain features that would normally block standard projectiles.