Flaming

Flaming is one of the most visually dramatic elite buffs. The enemy becomes immune to Fire damage, leaves a trail of fire tiles wherever it walks, gains Fire as its innate element, and retaliates against melee attackers with 1 stack of Burn. The fire trail persists on the battlefield, creating expanding zones of hazardous terrain that damage any cat stepping on them. The enemy glows with a lava distortion effect and has an orange-brown tint.

Flaming is devastating in extended fights because the fire tile trail gradually consumes the battlefield, restricting safe movement zones for your team. Melee cats face a double punishment: they must walk through fire tiles to reach the enemy, then suffer a Burn stack when they attack. Flaming enemies in rooms with flammable terrain or Tarred status effects can trigger chain reactions that engulf the entire arena. The longer the fight goes, the fewer safe tiles remain, making this a race against time.

Fire-immune cats or cats with the Firewalker mutation can ignore both the fire trails and the Burn retaliation entirely. Ranged attackers bypass the melee Burn trigger and can shoot over fire tiles safely. Water and Ice element abilities can extinguish fire tiles to reclaim safe ground. Kill Flaming elites quickly before the fire trail covers too much of the battlefield. Avoid clustering your team, since a Flaming elite walking through your formation will create fire tiles under multiple cats at once. Items that grant Burn immunity also neutralize the melee retaliation.