You’re standing at the entrance of Darkwood. Your hearts are low, your weapon is a pathetic level-one dagger, and Leshy is waiting to turn you into mulch. We’ve all been there. But then you remember that weird stone circle back at the cult. You realize you don't have to do this alone. Summoning cult of the lamb demons isn't just a cool aesthetic choice for your spooky forest cult; it is the single most broken mechanic for surviving the late-game grinds in Silk Cradle or the brutal Purgatory runs.
Honestly, most players treat the Demonic Summoning Circle as an afterthought. They build it, maybe summon a little ghost once or twice, and then forget it exists because they’re too busy cleaning up follower poop. That is a massive mistake. If you pick the right followers and turn them into the right spirits, you basically become a god before you even step foot in a dungeon.
The Basics of Turning Friends Into Monsters
To get started, you need the Demonic Summoning Circle. You’ll find this in your blueprint menu under the "cult" tab. It’s got three tiers. Tier one lets you bring one demon. Tier two brings two. Tier three? You’ve got a full squad of three demonic entities hovering behind you like a paranormal secret service detail.
How does it work? You walk up to the circle and pick a follower. They jump in, do a little dance, and transform into a floating spirit. Here is the catch: they get tired. When you get back from your crusade, that follower is going to be "Exhausted." They’ll wander around looking like they haven’t slept in a week, and they won't work or pray until they’ve spent some time in a bed. You can’t just use the same follower over and over unless you want them to hate you or, well, die.
The Power Scale Matters
The strength of your cult of the lamb demons is tied directly to the follower’s level. This is why leveling up your cultists is about more than just getting more Devotion. A level 1 follower turned into a demon is almost useless. They’ll hit like a wet noodle. But a level 20 follower? Now we’re talking. A high-level Vane (the projectile demon) can practically clear a room before you even swing your sword.
Which Demons Actually Matter?
Not all demons are created equal. Some are basically essential, while others are just... okay. If you’re trying to optimize your run, you need to know who to bring.
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Vane (The Ranged Attacker)
This is the one shaped like a little mask that shoots projectiles. It’s the bread and butter of most builds. It targets enemies automatically. It’s great for taking out those annoying flying flies or the spiders that hide in the corners. If you have a high-level Vane, you can focus entirely on dodging while the demon chips away at the boss’s health.
Paean (The Heart Giver)
This is a life-saver. Literally. Paean looks like a little blue ghost and gives you extra Red Hearts at the start of a crusade. If you’re playing on a higher difficulty like Extra Hard, or if you’re doing a Permadeath run, you basically need Paean. At high levels, this demon can give you three or four extra hearts. That’s the difference between a successful run and losing all your precious resources because you got clipped by a stray projectile.
Foras (The Spirit Heart Collector)
Foras is the one that looks like a little claw. It doesn't give you hearts upfront; instead, it has a chance to drop Blue Hearts (Spirit Hearts) when you kill enemies. It’s a bit of a gamble. Sometimes you get lucky and end up with a massive row of blue hearts. Sometimes it drops nothing. Most pro players prefer Paean for the guaranteed health, but Foras is fun if you're feeling lucky.
Veles (The Melee Tank)
Veles flies in and hits things. It’s aggressive. It’s loud. It’s decent for keeping enemies off your back, but it can sometimes get in the way of your own vision. It’s a solid B-tier demon.
Hathors (The Item Fetcher)
Look, I’m gonna be real with you—Hathors is kinda mid. It flies out and grabs Hearts or Fervor that are dropped on the ground and brings them to you. In the heat of battle, this sounds useful, but usually, you can just walk over and pick that stuff up yourself. Don't waste a demon slot on this unless you're doing a very specific challenge run where you can't move much.
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The Secret Strategy: The Demon "Battery" Follower
Here is something many people overlook. Since demon power scales with level, you should have a "designated demon" in your cult. This is the follower you give all the gifts to. You give them the Moon Necklace so they never sleep, or the Nature's Necklace so they gather resources faster, but the main goal is just to pump their level as high as possible.
Once you have a level 30 or 40 follower, their demonic form is terrifying.
I’ve seen high-level Vanes take out mid-bosses in seconds. If you combine this with the Golden Fleece—which increases your damage for every kill but makes you take double damage—you become a glass cannon that doesn't even have to get close to the enemy. Your demons do the heavy lifting while you stay safe.
Managing Exhaustion
After a crusade, your demons turn back into followers. They will be "Exhausted" for about a day and a half. During this time, they won't generate Devotion or work in the mines. If you’re running a small cult, this can actually hurt your economy.
One way around this is the Fast Ritual or using the Bed upgrades. Make sure you have enough high-quality shelters. If an exhausted follower has to sleep on the ground, they might get sick, and then you’ve got a plague on your hands just because you wanted a little extra firepower in the woods.
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Combining Demons for Maximum Synergy
When you get to the level three summoning circle, you have three slots. You shouldn't just pick three of the same thing. You want a balanced team.
- The Survivalist Build: Bring two Paeans and one Vane. This gives you a massive health pool and a bit of automated damage. This is the "I just want to finish the story" build.
- The Sniper Build: Three Vanes. This is hilarious. You enter a room, and a barrage of spirits just wipes everything out. It’s great for the Silk Cradle where enemies move fast and are hard to hit.
- The Boss Melter: One Vane, one Veles, and one Foras. This is an aggressive setup meant to overwhelm boss AI by having multiple targets and sources of damage on the screen at once.
Common Misconceptions About Demons
A lot of people think that if a demon dies in a crusade, the follower dies. That is not true. Your followers are perfectly safe. If you lose all your health and "die" in the run, the followers just go back home and get exhausted like they normally would. The only way you lose a follower is if they grow old, get sick, or you sacrifice them to a creepy door in the woods.
Another weird myth is that demons steal your XP or Fervor. They don't. They are purely additive. They are essentially a free buff that costs nothing but a little bit of follower downtime.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Run
If you want to master the use of cult of the lamb demons, stop playing "fair." The game gives you these tools to break the difficulty curve. Here is how you should set up your cult for maximum demonic efficiency:
- Build the Tier III Circle immediately. It should be a priority once you have the basic farm and lumber mill set up.
- Identify your "Champions." Pick three followers you actually like (or hate, it doesn't matter) and focus all your Confessions, Inspirations, and Gifts on them. Get them to at least level 10.
- Check the icons. When you select a follower in the circle, look at the icon above their head. That tells you what kind of demon they will become. This is determined by the follower's "type" (which is hidden but stays consistent for that specific follower).
- Plan for the Exhaustion. Before you head out, make sure your kitchens are full. Exhausted followers can't cook, and you don't want to come back from a hard-fought victory only to find half your cult has starved to death because your chefs were busy being ghosts.
- Use the Missionary as a backup. If your best followers are exhausted, send your lower-level ones on Missionaries to get bones or silk while the "A-Team" rests up for the next big boss fight.
Demons are the secret sauce that makes the endgame of Cult of the Lamb manageable. Without them, you're just a sheep with a sword. With them, you're the leader of a paranormal strike team. Get those circles built, level up your favorites, and stop making the crusades harder than they need to be.