Cult of the Lamb beginner’s guide: 14 tips and tricks to get started

Cult of the Lamb might be the strangest game of 2022. This wild mashup of life sim and roguelike tasks you with running a thriving cult — gathering materials, building structures, and slaying anyone that gets in your way. Since Cult of the Lamb borrows so many ideas from so many genres, it can be difficult to come to grips with everything it asks of you. However, with a few tips and tricks, you’ll be running the most successful cult the world has ever seen.

Here are some beginner tips and tricks for Cult of the Lamb.

Further reading

• Cult of the Lamb review: Midsommar by way of Animal Crossing
• Cult of the Lamb’s town (and cult) building has me hooked
• The best roguelikes

Master your combat skills

Combat in Cult of the Lamb is fast-paced and unforgiving. Several skills are at your disposal, and learning the intricacies of each is the key to staying alive. More importantly, you’ll want to master your dodge roll. This lets you quickly evade incoming attacks and put distance between you and your enemies. It can also be used to close gaps, as you move surprisingly fast while rolling. Also keep in mind that touching most enemies won’t damage you — only active attacks will deplete your HP. This means you shouldn’t be afraid to get close, deal some damage, then roll away to safety.

Use each weapon properly

A roguelike is only as good as the weapons at your disposal, and Cult of the Lamb will throw no shortage of sharp, pointy objects your way. Some are slow and deal heaps of damage, while others are fast and designed to slowly chip away at enemy health bars. You won’t always be able to bring your favorite weapon into combat (thanks to the random nature of the game), so make sure you change up your playstyle based on your gear. Heavy weapons, for example, might only let you land a single attack before needing to roll away to safety, while fast weapons will let you hack away endlessly.

Food is king (and so is your Farm)

If your cult starts getting hungry, bad things start happening. Picking berries and cooking food should be a daily task, and try to establish a Farm as soon as possible. This gives you easy access to cooking ingredients and makes it easy to keep your cultists fed. You’ll also want to forage for berries as you venture out into the wild.

Don’t worry, you can move your buildings

The game doesn’t tell you this right off the bat, but don’t fret about where you place your initial structures. Most of these are entirely customizable and can be moved without penalty later in the game. Simply head over to the Building Sign and select the Edit Buildings option. This will let you move around your structures as you see fit.

Progress is tied to the size of your cult

While you’ll have a bunch of goals to accomplish listed on the right side of your screen, much of your progress is truly tied to growing your cult. This means you’ll want to do everything in your power to free prisoners and indoctrinate them — allowing your weird little family to grow larger and letting you unlock new areas of the game.

Time of day is important

Cult of the Lamb uses a Day/Night cycle that is continuously running. Whether you’re chopping trees with your fellow cultists or out on an adventure, time will slowly tick by. Keeping track of time is important, as some activities can only be performed once before getting locked behind a timer.

Give daily Sermons

Speaking of time-gated activities, you’ll want to give Sermons as often as possible. This is essentially how you level up in Cult of the Lamb, growing more powerful based on your number of followers and how loyal they are to the cult. Your best bet is to give a Sermon early in the morning, then head out for an adventure. Only one Sermon can be performed a day, so make sure you don’t miss out on this easy way to level up.

Keep everyone healthy

Your followers can get sick and die if you’re not careful. To avoid this, be sure to not only keep them fed but also dispose of any bodies, poop, or other hazardous materials. The easiest way to do this is to take a quick lap around your camp every day, scouting for anything unsavory that might be scattered on the ground.

Keep everyone loyal

Giving cultists gifts and completing quests for them will increase their loyalty toward you. Increase their loyalty enough, and you’ll be rewarded with Devotion and a Commandment Stone Fragment. They’ll also produce more Devotion during Sermons. It can be easy to overlook your followers when you’re busy questing and unlocking structures, but gaining their loyalty is an easy way to quickly grow stronger.

Bones are invaluable

Bones are ridiculously useful in Cult of the Lamb. These resources are required to perform Rituals and increase the faith of your cultists. Early in the game, it’s a good idea to stockpile these, as you’ll unlock some really costly rituals later in the game.

Destroy everything in sight

When you’re out on a quest, it’s in your best interest to destroy absolutely everything you see. Various resources can often be gathered from random plants and other objects on the map, and cutting down everything you see before moving to the next room will ensure your inventory is fully loaded when you return to camp.

Play Knucklebones

Early in your adventures, you’ll unlock a dice game called Knucklebones. Not only is it incredibly fun (and easy to learn) but you can earn new Tarot cards (used to grant temporary perks) for your journey by playing. Most of them are nothing too game-changing, although Knucklebones is a fun diversion from the harsh realities of running a cult.

Level fast with Worshippers

Instead of having your followers cut down trees or mine stone, you can have them worship at your Shrine. This is where you’ll unlock new upgrades for your cult, such as a Lumberyard, Farm, Missionary, and more. Unless you’re running very low on resources, it’s a good idea to have as many cultists worshipping at the Shrine as possible. This lets you quickly unlock new parts of your camp and progress through the game with ease.

Develop a routine

Cult of the Lamb has so many moving pieces that it’s easy to get overwhelmed. To combat this, try to develop a schedule that you follow each day. Here’s a simple example that you can modify as needed:

• Once all your cultists are awake, head to your Temple for a Sermon or other Rituals.
• Make a sweep of your camp, checking for hazardous materials that could get your crew sick.
• Collect any resources around your camp.
• Head out on a quest, gathering materials as you go.
• Return to camp and indoctrinate any followers.
• Check your camp stats (such as Hunger) and improve these as needed.
• Chat with followers.
• Wrap up with any tasks you missed throughout the day.

This routine will constantly require minor adjustments as you unlock new features (or automate them, thanks to your loyal followers), but it’s a good starting point for beginners.