Cult of the Lamb, the adorable yet horrifying game from Massive Monster and published by Devolver Digital, has proven to be incredibly popular. There are many reasons for this popularity such as its cult-management sim being inherently addictive or the fact that the game’s narrative has a ton of intrigue.
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But, one of the most obvious reasons has the be the stellar roguelite dungeon-crawling gameplay of its “Crusades,” in which the lambgains a variety of weapons, curses, and tarot cardsas they plow through the game’s many regions. The weapons, in particular, can have different perks like Bane or Merciless that really change how the player uses the weapon. These are the best perks inCult of the Lamb,ranked weakest to strongest.
6Merciless Weapons: Sadly Not That Critical
Right off the bat is a polarizing pick, as people tend to swear by anything having to do with critical hit chance or critical hit damage in games, but Merciless weapons just don’t crit too often inCotL, or, if they do, they only do for those with absurd luck. Additionally, when compared to other weapon perks that have guaranteed on-hit effects like Bane or obvious benefits like Zealous weapons, Merciless weapons just feel much less reliable.
That said, because this is a Weapon Perk that has a chance to trigger on-hit, the weapons that prioritize the number of hits over damage-per-hit are obviously better suited for the Merciless perk. Though, even the slower weapons like the Hammer can find usage with this modifier, since the critical damage (when it does trigger) will be astronomically high.
5Necromantic Weapons: Summons Ghosts, But They’re A Bit Lazy
Next up are the Necromantic weapons. Basically, these weapons have a chance to spawn a “Ghost” from an enemy after killing them that then hones in on the nearest living enemy and “explodes” on impact. Now, at first, this may sound strong, and there are similar Perks or Effects used in other games that are strong, game-breakingly so.
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However, the Ghosts summoned from the weapons are pretty weak, and usually, only equate to a single hit from the Lamb’s sword, so they don’t really add much to combat overall. Still, they are useful for finishing off enemies that are almost dead from a single hit or two with heavier weapons like the Hammer or Axe. And, when used on weapons that take a lot of hits to kill, like the Dagger, that extra bit of damage from a Ghost might mean one or two fewer swings.
Still, in boss rooms, where damageand Combat expertisematter the most, this Ghost Summon effect doesn’t help with the boss much since there aren’t any mobs in the room a good 60 percent of the time. And, the worst part is, these Ghosts seem to only travel a certain distance from where they’re spawned before just disappearing, so they fade away before hitting their target a large portion of the time.
4Zealous Weapons: Only Benefits The Town-Building Section Of The Game
Depending on where the player is in the Cult progression, the Zealous weapons may be their favourite perk or their most ignored. This is because weapons with this perk turn Fervour into Devotion towards the Divine Inspiration that allows the Lambto learn new building recipes.
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That said, Zealous weapons become less worthwhile the later they’re found in a Crusade. For example, if a player is going into an area they’ve already killed the Heretic in and plan on going through all three maps, a Zealous weapon is incredible since they’ll be encountering a lot of Fervour. But, if they stumble across one, two, or three rooms before the boss room, it’s absolutely not worth picking up.
And, to get to the crux of the matter, Zealous weapons add absolutely nothing to the combat side ofCotL. They literally only impact the Animal Crossing-esque side of the gamethat exists outside of Crusades, so they’re technically the worst weapon perk by far. That said, the amount these weaponscan get a player ahead in their Divine Inspirationin the early game is absurd, and they do passively incentivize players to use their Curses more (so they can absorb more Fervour), so it’s not all bad.
3Bane Weapons: Poisons Enemies On-Hit, Although They Barely Notice It
Honestly, all Status Effects (of which there are only a couple) inCult of the Lambare relatively weak, especially if the player is Crusading in an area after beating its Heretic (as the enemies become stronger andthe Witness is introduced). Poison is no exception, as it really doesn’t deal much damage to enemies overall when they’re afflicted by it, but it does do enough to still be noticeable.
Sadly, the Poison effect doesn’t seem to stack either, meaning that once an enemy is afflicted with it, there’s no additional benefit from Bane weapons until they refresh the Poison Effect. And, while this honestly comes off asmore of a bug to be fixedthan an intentional part of the design, it still takes away from the Perk overall. Still, fast weapons will always benefit from Poison modifiers the most, as it lets the player roll in, quickly apply Poison, and roll out. No matter what, the sheer fact that this weapon perk’s effect is guaranteed on-hit rather than just having a chance to trigger means that it’s one of the best ones overall.
2Vampiric Weapons: Keeps The Lamb Alive & Healthy
Onto the Vampiric weapons, one of the weapon perks that are obvious in their usefulness. Most roguelike and roguelite games introduce a “vampiric” skill or system in some capacity so that players have a method by which to recover their health over the course of a run. But, the method each game uses vastly differs. Some games recover a minuscule amount of health with each hit or kill, while other games recover a larger amount of health but it’s a random chance on every enemy kill.
Cult of the Lamb’sVampiric weapons are an example of the latter, and this chance is exactly the reason why they’re not ranked highest. Additionally, the fact that this effect only has a chance to be triggered on-kill rather than on-hit means that there isn’t a specific weapon that benefits the most from this Perk, but there isn’t one that becomes a hindrance with this Perk either. Overall, incredibly useful when it triggers, and almost entirely worthless if it doesn’t.
1Godly Weapons: They Live Up To Their Namesake
Finally, there are the Godly weapons, which are likely the weapon perks that anyone who has reached the final tier ofCotL’sCombat Upgrades would assume to be ranked first. These are one of the final Upgrades available in this Skill Tree, and for good reason. Godly weapons, by design, are literally just stronger than equivalent weapons of the same tier. These tiers are the roman numerals at the end of each weapon’s name, and they represent the level of the weapon.
This means a III weapon of the same type will do more damage than a II weapon, and so on. Godly weapons are the only exception to this, however, as a Godly version of a II weapon will most often beat a III weapon that isn’t Godly when it comes to raw damage. So, with Godly weapons, players don’t have to switch their weapons as often, they’ll do more damage, and they’ll have a fantastic-looking weapon to use for their Crusade as well.
Cult of the Lambwas released on June 01, 2025 and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S|X.
