Cerberubs

Cerberubs is the sole mini-boss of The Core, a fire-aligned three-headed beast inspired by the mythological Cerberus. With 200 HP and a fire immunity, this encounter rewards careful positioning and status effect management. Its three necks allow it to fire lava projectiles that cover up to 5 tiles forward from its two front heads, applying Burn to any units hit and creating persistent lava tiles across the arena.

A critical aggression mechanic: striking Cerberubs from behind enrages it, triggering a devastating Maul attack that may also grant lifesteal. This makes backstabbing an extremely high-risk play unless the hit is guaranteed to finish the fight. It also has a jumping attack with 1 knockback, and its lava attacks can be cancelled entirely by applying status effects — making status-heavy builds particularly effective here.

Fire damage is useless against Cerberubs. Focus on non-fire attacks and prioritize applying status effects to interrupt its lava spray before it can fire. Avoid attacking from behind unless it will deal lethal damage. The lava tiles it creates accumulate throughout the fight, steadily reducing safe footing — keeping units mobile and spread out prevents lava from cornering your party or stacking Burn damage.