Cult of the Lamb Doctrines Tier List

Cult of the Lamb Doctrines Tier List

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Latest posts by Callum Marshall (see all)

What would you do if you had the power, and the charisma to brainwash someone? I, for one, would probably walk right up to a mirror and wipe my memory clean of all the best games I have ever played, allowing me to play them again for the first time. However, some more nefarious and outgoing types in history have used this skill to form a cult.

Allowing them to rule over a select group of individuals as an earthbound deity. In reality, this is a pretty suspect and downright immoral thing to do, but through the levity of video games, it can actually make for a pretty fun theme for a game. We have seen games like Honey, I Joined a Cult, and Cultist Simulator plays with this idea. However, I would argue that none have nailed the format quite like Cult of the Lamb.

Cult of the Lamb toes the line between lighthearted and sinister with aplomb, and also offers players lots of ways to personalize and customize their cult setups, making each playthrough different from the next. One way the game manages this is with the use of Doctrines, which are essentially like you laying down your cult’s commandments as the game goes on.

These determine if you are a generous god who leads with charm and charisma, or a dictator who rules through fear and punishment. Whatever path you take, you’ll need to know which Doctrines offer the best perks, and which will only serve to hinder your bid for omnipotence. 

So with that in mind, I have created a handy Tier list that will allow you to prioritize the best Doctrines in the game, and equally will allow you to pass on some of the more unhelpful options on offer. The life of a cult leader can be a stressful one, so to help you out, here is Avid Achiever’s Cult of the Lamb Doctrines Tier List! 

Selection Criteria

Before we get into the action, we better lay down some ground rules to help you further understand how we have ranked each of these Doctrines. After all, they each provide some kind of benefit. However, as you will come to find out, not all of these commandments were made equal. So here are the criteria I used to rank these Doctrines:

  • I will be taking each Doctrines overall effect and evaluating its helpfulness
  • I will be considering the Doctrine’s situational value, with more consistently practical Doctrines ranking higher
  • I will be assessing the length of each Doctrine’s cooldown time
  • Time/difficulty to unlock will be a factor

Okay, let’s cast aside logic and pray to our new overlord! 

Our Cult of the Lamb Doctrines Tier List

Image by Callum Marshall

S-Tier

  • Grass Eater
  • Ritual Fast
  • Wedding
  • Ascend Follower
  • Loyalty Enforcer
  • Holy Day
  • Resurrection Ritual
  • Good Die Young

This is our list of the best Doctrines on offer in Cult of the Lamb. It’s an S-tier that caters to the lovers, and the dictators out there. If you are aiming to go down the charismatic leadership route, then choices like Wedding, and Ascend Follower are excellent. These all allow you to maintain a tight grasp of follower faith without resorting to horrible tactics. 

Then you have incredible stall tactics that keep people off your back while you go crusading for a few days, like Ritual Fast and Holy Day, as this will effectively mean you don’t have to feed followers for a while, and will offer sharp boosts to faith.  

Then you also have incredibly helpful Doctrines like Resurrection Ritual, which allows you to bring back fallen followers with all of their stats they had upon death, and Grass Eater, which will enable you to feed followers Grass when you are low on resources without any penalty. 

In short, if you have the option to pick these Doctrines above, jump at the chance. 

cult of the lamb resurrection ritual

A-Tier

  • Belief in Sacrifice
  • Substances Encouraged
  • Faithful Trait
  • Intimidate
  • Alms of the Poor

Next, we have a list of very helpful, but just slightly flawed Doctrines that will help you control your flock. We have the Belief in Sacrifice Doctrine that offers a 20-point boost to faith when you sacrifice followers, making it a great companion Doctrine for Ascend Follower.

Then we have substances encouraged, which is a very useful Doctrine if you take advantage of the Brainwashing Ritual frequently. These both allow you to keep follower faith in check. There is also the Doctrine Alms of the Poor that has the same effect, but you will have to part with some cash for the privilege. 

Then we have the Faithful Trait, and Intimidate, which boost follower Devotion production, and increase loyalty and work rate, respectively. 

cult of the lamb faithful trait

B-Tier

  • Feasting Ritual
  • Respect Your Elders
  • Belief in the Afterlife
  • Industrious Trait
  • Inspire
  • Ritual of Enlightenment 
  • Glory Through Toil
  • Ritualistic Fight Pit
  • Murder Follower 
  • Sacral Architecture
  • Devotee Trait
  • Bribe Follower

Moving onto the jam-packed B-Tier, which is comprised of good traits that will be more or less useful to the player based on their play style. These are a mix of Doctrines that are good but have better alternatives, or Doctrines that offer aid that is a bonus, but isn’t exactly game-changing. 

Examples of the good Doctrines that have better alternatives would be the likes of Ritualistic Fight Pit and Feasting Ritual. Both are good, but their counterparts, Ritual Fast and Wedding, are far superior. 

Then examples of the fun additions that are nice to have but not game-changing would be the likes of the Industrious Trait, or Glory Through Toil. It’s nice to have the option to have followers build faster, and for longer, but the truth is, when you are off on Crusades, you don’t really take much notice of the build timers. 

All in all, these are strong options, but do make sure that their alternatives aren’t something that benefits you more! 

cult of the lamb inspiration

C-Tier

  • Cannibal Trait 
  • Ritual of the Ocean’s Bounty
  • Belief in prohibition
  • Ritual of the Harvest
  • Funeral
  • Grieve the Fallen
  • Belief in False Idols Trait
  • Belief in Materialism Trait 
  • Ritual of Enrichment 
  • The Glory of Construction

Next, we have the options that have their merits, but definitely have a better perk that would help you out more. Either that or its unique bonus isn’t that great, just not the worst. Speaking about the unique, but generally lackluster Doctrines, we can use Ritual of the Ocean’s Bounty as an example. This can be helpful for completionists looking to catch all the rare fish. However, if you find yourself catching fish to feed your flock in lieu of crops, then using this Ritual is more of an act of desperation than a helpful alternative. 

As for the lesser but not terrible options, you have the likes of Grieve The Fallen, Ritual of Enrichment, and The Glory of Construction that offer small buffs to faith, cash flow, and work rate. However, the buffs are pretty minuscule, making these hardly worth pursuing. 

Then lastly, we have fine traits with far superior alternatives like Funeral, Cannibal Trait, and Belief in Prohibition. 

In short, while none of these traits are inherently awful, they are worse than most and should generally be avoided unless you have to choose between two C-Tier options. 

cult of the lamb funeral

D-Tier

  • Return to the Earth
  • Belief in Original Sin Trait
  • Belief in Absolution Trait 
  • Tax Enforcer
  • Extort Tithes

Then lastly, we have the Doctrines that are genuinely not worth the stone tablet that they have been etched on. These are Doctrines that offer pitiful boosts, or relate to aspects of the game that just don’t matter that much. Tax Enforcer and Extort Tithes are an example of both, as they offer pitiful amounts of coin, and when push comes to shove, money isn’t that hard to come by in Cult of the Lamb anyway. 

Then you have borderline pointless traits like Return to the Earth, which allows you to gain Fertilizer from disposing of bodies. However, considering how much poop you clean daily, this isn’t exactly in short supply. 

Then lastly, we have two traits you will need to pick at least one of in Belief in Original Sin and Belief in Absolution. Of the two, Belief in the Original Sin is slightly better as there is no potential penalty involved. However, if you have to rely on these traits and you have a lot of defectors, then you have bigger fish to fry. 

In short, do not select these Doctrines if you can avoid them! 

cult of the lamb tax enforcer

FAQ Section

Question: How Many Doctrines Are There?

Answer: There are a total of thirty-two Doctrines in Cult of the Lamb. However, the player can only choose eighteen of these, as they are bundled together in pairs, and players must choose one, or the other. 

Question: How Do You Unlock Doctrines?

Answer: Doctrines are unlocked in Cult of the Lamb by collecting three fragments of a Commandment Stone. These are earned through various means throughout the game, such as increasing follower loyalty or beating bosses. 

Question: Can You Change Your Doctrines?

Answer: Sadly, no. You will only have one opportunity to choose between each pair of Doctrines, and once you do, the choice is final. This is why you need to think about what sort of leader you want to be early. 

Thou Shall Obey!

As you can see, there are quite a few choices that will prove pivotal when it comes to maintaining discipline in your flock, and with so many moving pieces in play, you need to be on top of so many aspects of cult life. You need to keep your members fed, keep their spirits up, keep the place clean, and so much more.

This can be a lot to juggle, but as long as you select the best doctrines for the job, you will always have a trick up your sleeve when a defector steps out of line. Sacrificing a member to a ravenous demon sure does help keep the rest in line. I hope that this tier list helps you make an informed decision, and as always, thanks for reading Avid Achievers! 

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