Flame Rat

Flame Rat is a hostile Purgati combatant deployed to frontline duties. Classified under the Order: Purgati in the GATE compendium, Flame Rats are Inquisitor recruits equipped with a fuel tank and flame-throwing apparatus; their role is to cleanse threats through direct incendiary assault. The compendium flavor establishes that Purgati personnel are chosen from Inquisitors and sent to the front strapped to tanks of an unusual diesel mixture, giving the Flame Rat its characteristic mix of flesh, technology and fire.

Flame Rats patrol indoor zones and appear as mobile incendiary threats in areas such as the Praetorium and Residence Sector. When they detect the player they will spew a continuous stream of fire toward the target, making frontal approaches hazardous. Their backpack contains the fuel supply and is a critical mechanical weakness: it can be damaged by concentrated attacks and will burn, at which point the Flame Rat attempts a kamikaze rush. The fuel mechanic also means Flame Rats can temporarily run out of fuel during combat, creating a window for the player to close in and deal heavy damage.

• Preferred tactics: approach from behind to avoid prolonged exposure to the flamethrower cone; use a high-damage weapon to destroy the enemy quickly before its backpack ignites or before it drains remaining fuel. If the backpack is damaged enough to ignite, the Flame Rat will switch to an aggressive self-destruct behavior; the player can exploit the ignition phase by dodging the rush and finishing the unit while it is vulnerable.
• Combat interactions: the flamethrower is the primary threat; ranged suppression or crowd-control that interrupts the Flame Rat’s targeting reduces incoming burn damage. If the fuel is depleted the Flame Rat’s offensive capability is significantly reduced until it can refuel or be finished off.
• Death and harvesting: when a Flame Rat’s backpack ignites and it dies from burning/kamikaze, it can still leave behind harvestable loot with the same drop tables as a normal kill.

Drops and harvestable loot follow fixed rates. Standard drops include Lodestone Fragment at 100%, Tactical Scrap (either 1 guaranteed or 50% chance of 1–2), and a 50% chance to drop Black Oil. Harvestable remains from a Flame Rat yield human-derived components: Human Skull at 100%, Human Arm (Military) at 50%, and a rare High Inquisitor Suit at 7.5%.

Flame Rats serve both as environmental hazard and narrative reinforcement for the Purgati theme: they embody the faction’s willingness to fuse technology with sacrificial zeal, literally turning flame and flesh into battlefield tools. Confronting them favors stealth, targeted attacks on the fuel pack, and weapons or tactics that minimize time spent inside their flamethrower arc.