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Once players begin building their community in Cult of the Lamb, they'll discover that there are quite a few moving parts. As the Lamb upgrades the Red Crown, they'll begin to unlock access to numerous traits, abilities, recipes, and most importantly, Rituals. Two of these Rituals, in particular, are pretty important to the growth of the Lamb itself and can keep the Cult thriving and Loyal. Those that develop relationships with their Followers can amass tons of EXP towards the progression of their community by Sacrificing and Ascending cultists whenever possible.
That said, the process for Sacrificing and Ascending Followers isn't entirely straightforward, and players will need to do a bit of work before they can even gain the ability to perform these two rituals. There are benefits to both, and learning how to balance them will allow players to inject a super-boosting infusion of Devotion and Loyalty into their cult. Here's a look at how Sacrificing and Ascending Followers works in Cult of the Lamb.
How To Unlock The Sacrificing Ritual And What It Does
Players that want to grow strong enough to conquer each Crusade will want to unlock the ability to sacrifice Followers as soon as possible. To gain the ability to perform a Sacrificing Ritual, players need to make their way through Crusades in the Darkwoods until they find and defeat the second mini-boss. After doing so, they'll be forced into an encounter with The One Who Waits, who will reward the Lamb with a new unlock called the Sacrifice of the Flesh. This will give players the ability to activate the Ritual whenever they would like at their Church Altar and choose a Follower to sacrifice to the Old God themselves.
Sacrificing a Follower will reward the Lamb with a large amount of EXP towards increasing the power of their Red Crown, which will unlock additional features during Crusades, like extra health, fervor, and even new weapons and Curses. The amount of EXP that players will gain towards upgrades will depend entirely on the Loyalty Level of the follower that they choose for sacrifice. The Ritual itself will cost 75 Bones to perform (37 Bones if the player has the Cheaper Rituals unlocked in the Divine Inspiration tree) and will deduct -10 Faith.
Players can combat the loss of Faith by snagging the Belief in Sacrifice Trait from the first tree of the Afterlife section when commanding a new Doctrine. Unlocking this Trait will add +20 Faith each time a Follower is sacrificed. Players can also wait to do their Daily Sermon after sacrificing a Follower as it will help offset the loss of Faith. Players should be aware that once the Sacrifice Ritual has been done, it will have to cool down for multiple days before it can be used again.
How To Unlock The Ascension Ritual And What It Does
Followers will reach a point of no return at some point during a player's journey. At this junction, they will likely either perish from Old Age, or end up as sacrificial material for The One Who Waits. Thankfully, there is a third option for players that want to give their Followers the best ending possible. Ascension awaits for those that the Lamb deems worthy, ushering a chosen follower up to a higher plane of existence. To unlock this Ritual, players will need to collect a Stone Tablet and command the Doctrine, Ascend Follower Ritual, from the first tier of the Law and Order section.
Like sacrificing, this Ritual also costs 75 Bones (cut in half to 37 for players with the Cheaper Rituals Divine Inspiration unlocked) and will add +15 Faith to the Cult each time it is performed. Players will also see a huge spike in Loyalty for each Follower. Like sacrificing, using the Ritual will place it on a pretty hefty cooldown and force players to wait several days of in-game time before they are able to enact the Ritual again.
Similar to Sacrifice of the Flesh, when players choose to ascend a follower, they will be shown a list of followers, as well as their age and Loyalty Levels. Those with more Loyalty are worth more and will provide a larger Loyalty bonus to the flock when ascended.