Elephantiasis

Elephantiasis is a progressive disorder that permanently modifies your cat's stats after each battle. At the end of every battle, you lose 1 Speed permanently and gain 2 starting Shield permanently. After 8 battles, you also gain the Trample ability. This creates a slow transformation where your cat becomes increasingly slow but increasingly armored over time, eventually gaining the powerful Trample effect as a reward for enduring the Speed loss.

Elephantiasis 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 cumulative nature of this disorder means it gets worse (and better) over time. After 8 battles, you will have lost 8 Speed but gained 16 starting Shield and Trample. The Speed loss can eventually make your cat take its turn very late in the round, while the Shield bonus makes it increasingly tanky at the start of each battle.

Strategically, Elephantiasis works best on cats that do not rely on Speed for their turn order strategy. Tanks and frontline cats benefit from the Shield accumulation, and Trample at 8 battles is a significant power spike. If you want Trample immediately without the Speed trade-off, consider Gigantism instead. Elephantiasis pairs well with Brave (which lets you take your turn earlier regardless of Speed) to offset the growing Speed penalty. In long adventures with many battles, the cumulative Speed loss can become crippling, so plan accordingly.