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Once players begin building their community inCult 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. Those who develop relationships with their Followers can amass tons of Loyalty, which contributes to 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 inCult of the Lamb.
Updated on Jun 10, 2025, by Ashely Claudino:Over the years, Cult of the Lamb has received several major updates, and they’ve changed some aspects of them. Sins of the Flesh added the concept of sinning to the game, and Sins became an important resource. This guide has been updated and now includes information on how to sacrifice followers for Sins rather than upgrades and Loyalty. We have also added two videos so gamers can see how each ritual looks in-game.
How to Unlock the Sacrificing Ritual (& What It Does)
Players who want to grow strong enough to conquer each Crusade will want to unlock the ability to sacrifice Followers as soon as possible.To unlock the first sacrificial ritual inCult of the Lamb, 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 the Sacrifice of the Flesh Ritual.
Performing a Sacrifice of the Flesh will reward the Lamb with a large amount of experience towards increasing the power of their Red Crown, thus granting players the chance to unlock additional features during Crusades, like extra health, fervor, and evenaccess to more weaponsand Curses.
The amount of experience that players will gain towards upgrades willdepend entirely on theLoyalty Level of the followerthat 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 thatonce the Sacrifice Ritual has been done, it will have to cool down for multiple days before it can be used again.
Thanks to the Sins of the Flesh update, there is another sacrificial ritual inCult of the Lamb: theGluttony of Cannibals Ritual, which can be unlocked as a tier two Sins Doctrine. Players who perform this ritual will lose 40 Faith and a follower in exchange for a Sin.
How to Unlock the Ascension Ritual (& 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 who want to give their Followers the best ending possible.
Ascension awaits those that the Lamb deems worthy, ushering a chosen follower up to a higher plane of existence.To unlock the Ascension Ritual inCult of the Lamb, players will need to collect a Stone Tablet anddeclare the Ascend Follower Ritual doctrinefrom the first tier of the Law and Order section.
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 once they ascend.
This Ritual alsocosts 75 Bones(cut in half to 37 for players with the Cheaper Rituals Divine Inspiration unlocked)and adds +15 Faith to the Culteach time it is performed. Players will also see a huge spike in Loyalty for each Follower. 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.
