{"id":49208,"date":"2022-08-18T15:50:56","date_gmt":"2022-08-18T15:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/18-things-i-wish-i-knew-before-starting\/"},"modified":"2022-08-18T15:50:56","modified_gmt":"2022-08-18T15:50:56","slug":"18-things-i-wish-i-knew-before-starting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/18-things-i-wish-i-knew-before-starting\/","title":{"rendered":"18 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Despite what Hollywood may have you think running a cult is tough work\u2014or at least it is in Cult of the Lamb<\/em><\/span>. Out now for consoles and PC, Cult of the Lamb<\/em><\/span> is, depending on who you ask, an action roguelike with city-builder elements or a city-builder with action roguelike elements. Either way, it’s astonishingly top-heavy in terms of how many systems it throws your way from the jump. Despite its cute trappings, the game can get real confusing, real fast. Here are 18 things I wish I knew before starting.<\/p>\n

Give both parts of the game equal attention<\/h2>\n

Cult of the Lamb<\/em> is largely bifurcated into two sections. There’s the city-building part, where you create structures and tend to various needs of your citizens, all of whom are anthropomorphic animals (and members of your cult). Then there’s the dungeon-crawling part, where you beat up occult-themed enemies on a quest to murder old gods and also find a bunch of resources for your budding town. Don’t think of Cult of the Lamb<\/em> as one or the other; success is contingent on splitting your time, care, and attention evenly between both sections.<\/p>\n

Explore every chamber <\/h2>\n

It’s the first syllabus item in Roguelikes 101: Explore every single screen before moving on. Of Cult of the Lumb<\/em>you could find tarot cards<\/strong>, which give you temporary stat-boosting buffs for the duration of your run. You could run into a pedestal<\/strong> that boosts your attack in exchange for health. You might even find a new weapon<\/strong>. All of the stuff is helpful, but really, you’re exploring for one thing: When you’re on a crusade<\/strong>\u2014Cult of the Lamb<\/em>‘s cutesy term for \u201ca run\u201d\u2014your goal is simply to find as many specialists resources<\/strong>like grass and bones, as possible.<\/p>\n

Almost everything turns into resources<\/h2>\n

The only way you’ll earn as many resources as possible, and of as wide a variety as possible, is by smashing literally everything you see. Patches of tall grass obviously turn into grass<\/strong>, a key resource for most food generation, fertilizer, and even buildings. Crates and barrels could hold gold<\/strong> (used for most crafting recipes). But the inconspicuous stuff is worth breaking too. Skeletons turn into bones<\/strong>which you can sell or burn for certain rituals<\/strong> (cooldown abilities that offer a huge benefit to your citizens). See a fire pit? You can smash that up to sometimes get some meat<\/strong>, valuable for cooking. Just, uh, don’t think too hard about the morals there.<\/p>\n

Dying doesn’t wipe out your haul<\/h2>\n

Usually, when you die in a roguelike, you lose everything you’ve earned and start from scratch. butt in Cult of the Lamb<\/em>, you’ll retain 75 percent of the resources you find over the course of a crusade. That said, if you’re lucky, you can stumble upon an upgrade that’ll let you keep everything you’ve found upon death. (This benefit only lasts for one run.) All the more reason to explore every room!<\/p>\n

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screenshot: devolver<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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You can’t finish a region in one go<\/h2>\n

Cult of the Lamb<\/em> has four regions: the Burton-esque darkwood<\/strong>the autumnal anura<\/strong>the watery Anchordeep<\/strong>and the scary AF Silk Cradle<\/strong>. You’ll need to complete multiple crusades throughout each one before you can unlock a run that’ll culminate in the region’s boss. (Also, you need a set number of followers before you can initially access each region. But if you’ve opened up a particular one, and then your flock dips below that requisite, it won’t lock you out. Once you’ve opened up a region, you’re good to go.)<\/p>\n

You can turn down the shaking<\/h2>\n

When you get hit in Cult of the Lamb<\/em>, the camera shakes. You can tone this down a bit though by opening the settings<\/strong>going to the accessibility<\/strong> menu, and tweaking the screenshake sensitivity<\/strong> setting. (I’ve found 75 percent to be the sweet spot where you still see some shake but not so much that it throws you off.) The second option, reduce camera motion<\/strong>, is a toggle, but it smooths things out even more. If you’re getting queasy or finding the visuals at all tough to parse, tweak both of these.<\/p>\n

Nab your devotion before starting crusades<\/h2>\n

at the shrine<\/strong>\u2014that giant pillar in the center of your town\u2014followers will worship you, filling up your devotion<\/strong> meter. Every time the devotion meter fills up, you can get a divine intervention<\/strong> (aka, unlock a new type of building to construct). Once the shrine is full, though, it can’t store any more. Best to empty it before heading out on a crusade. And in the early levels, at least, it’s typically full again by the time you return from a crusade. Later on, you can put up mini-shrines that can be used as overflow.<\/p>\n

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screenshot: devolver<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Build a farm ASAP<\/h2>\n

There are a number of meters to keep track of, including faith<\/strong>, which is essentially just the overall happiness of your little community. But the most important thing to keep tabs on is hunger<\/strong>. By creating a farm\u2014an early-level divine intervention\u2014you can automatically ensure you have enough cooking ingredients. start with the farmer station<\/strong>. That’ll create a small rectangular area, in which you should place a series of farm plots<\/strong> (meant to plant seeds), a scarecrow<\/strong> (prevents birds from stealing your seeds), a seed silo<\/strong> (allows you to store seeds earned on crusades), and a fertilizer silo<\/strong> (where you put your cult’s collective shit). From there, direct one of your followers to \u201ctend farms\u201d and they’ll take care of the planting process automatically.<\/p>\n

Note: You still have to manually cook meals, however.<\/p>\n

Then build these<\/h2>\n

After you’ve made a little farm, you’ll want to focus on a number of other helpful divine interventions:<\/p>\n