Depressing

Depressing applies a global Depression Aura that reduces all stats of your cats by 1 stack, regardless of where they are on the battlefield. There is no safe distance from this debuff; every cat on your team suffers the penalty as long as the Depressing elite is alive. The enemy gains a blue-purple tint to signal this powerful aura. The aura does not affect the elite's own allies.

Depressing is one of the most universally punishing elite buffs because it weakens your entire team at once. Reduced Strength and Intelligence means less damage from both physical and spell attacks, reduced Constitution means less effective healing, and reduced Speed means fewer movement options. This global stat drain is particularly devastating in long fights or encounters with multiple enemies, since your team's overall effectiveness drops significantly while the Depressing elite remains alive.

The most important counter-strategy is to prioritize killing the Depressing elite as fast as possible to lift the aura from your team. Front-load your burst damage on this target before addressing other threats. Stat-boosting abilities and items like All Stats Up can partially offset the penalty, but they cost valuable actions. Classes with high base stats or percentage-based scaling rather than flat stat dependencies will feel the impact less. If you encounter a Depressing elite alongside other dangerous enemies, still focus the Depressing one first because removing the global debuff improves your team's ability to handle everything else.