Cultist

The Cultist is the basic foot soldier of Johnny's cult, encountered in The Lab alongside the rest of the cultist faction. On its own it has modest stats and a straightforward melee attack that throws struck units, but the real danger is what it can become — a Cultist Lackey that secures a kill will immediately transform into a more dangerous variant, making it critical to prevent any cultist from landing a finishing blow.

Cultists can promote into one of three forms depending on circumstances: killing an enemy turns a Lackey into a Zealot (a multi-stabbing attacker that grows stronger each turn and becomes suicidal at low HP), contact with Toxic Waste mutates one into a Cultist Mutant (broad melee knockup, spawns a Tumor on death), and picking up a Bishop Hat promotes one into a Cultist Bishop (lightning attacks with a stun chance that also heals allies). The Bishop variant is especially dangerous in groups — its healing support can keep badly-wounded allies alive indefinitely if it isn't prioritized.

The key to managing cultist encounters is denying upgrades. Prevent any cultist from landing a kill, remove Bishop Hats from the field before they can be picked up, and keep Toxic Waste tiles away from the pack. Area attacks that can clear multiple weak cultists before they promote are invaluable here. If a Bishop does appear, treat it as the top priority — shutting down healing support quickly makes the rest of the fight much more manageable.