Doctrines are pronouncements that you make in Cult of the Lamb. They’re actually integral to your playthrough, shaping the way your flock behaves and reacts. You might even receive new actions to aid with progression. Here’s our Cult of the Lamb Doctrines guide to help you with the best ones to pick in the game, as well as how to acquire Commandment Stones.
Note: For more information, check out our Cult of the Lamb guides and features hub.
Cult of the Lamb Doctrines guide – The best Doctrines and how to get Commandment Stones
Commandment Stones
Doctrines in Cult of the Lamb are unlocked by spending a Commandment Stone (each one requires 3x fragments). There are a few ways to get these fragments:
- Follower faith level-ups – The most common method is by leveling up your followers. Each level-up grants you a fragment and, once you have over a dozen fans, you’ll have all the tablets you’ll ever need.
- Miniboss kills – Minibosses reward Commandment Stones once they’re defeated.
- Merchant shops – If you see a merchant hut icon on the dungeon map, there’s a chance that a Commandment Stone is for sale.
Unlocking and choosing Doctrines
Once you have a full Commandment Stone tablet, go inside your shrine and check the Crown tab. Click on the tablet icon and you’ll see various options:
- Work & Worship – These ones are all about devotion generation and working in your base.
- Sustenance – Several here are dedicated to food and alleviating hunger.
- Possessions – Most of the options here are related to gold and built structures.
- Law & Order – These picks are related to loyalty and dealing with unruly followers.
- Afterlife – Deals with the death of followers, and perhaps a means of bringing them back.
Note 1: Upon selecting a particular type of Doctrine, you won’t be able to select the others. Instead, you’re given two mutually exclusive options for that particular tier.
Note 2: While there are 40 Doctrines in Cult of the Lamb, you can only obtain a maximum of 12. Once you’ve done that, the mechanic will appear “maxed” and you’ll no longer be able to use your remaining Commandment Stones.
Work & Worship
| Tier | Option 1 | Option 2 |
| I | Faithful trait – +15% devotion generation | Industrious trait – +15% work speed |
| II | Inspire (command) – Replaces Bless action; higher loyalty gain | Intimidate (command) – Replaces Bless action; slight loyalty gain and faster work speed for two days |
| III | The Glory of Construction (ritual) – Immediately finishes all active construction | Ritual of Enlightenment – +20% devotion generation for three days |
| IV | Glory Through Toil (ritual) – Work through three days and nights without exhaustion | Holy Day (ritual) – +80 faith; followers will not work for three days |
You’ll want to get Faithful, Inspire, Glory of Construction, and Holy Day. You should have great options for devotion generation and quick building construction.
Sustenance
| Tier | Option 1 | Option 2 |
| I | Ritual Fast – Negates hunger and no eating for three days | Feasting Ritual – +25 faith by conducting a feast |
| II | Cannibal Trait – +5 faith when eating a meal made of Follower Meat | Grass Eater Trait – No faith penalty when eating a meal made of grass |
| III | Ritual of the Harvest – Instantly allows you to harvest all planted crops | Ritual of the Ocean’s Bounty – Catch double the fish and make special fish appear more often for two days |
| IV | Substances Encouraged (trait) – +20 faith when you do the Brainwashing Ritual | Belief in Prohibition (trait) – +10% increased work speed and devotion; 50% chance to get sick after the Brainwashing ritual |
Feasting Ritual is a good option for the first tier. For the second tier, Cannibal synergizes well when you sacrifice or murder followers, though Grass Eater is more beneficial if you don’t want to use up a lot of ingredients when cooking. You won’t really need the rest.
Possessions
| Tier | Option 1 | Option 2 |
| I | Extort Tithes (command) – Get 1x coin from each follower each day | Bribe (command) – Pay a follower 3x coins to increase loyalty |
| II | Belief in Materialism (trait) – +5 faith when building better sleeping areas | Belief in False Idols (trait) – Increased faith when creating decorations |
| III | Alms for the Poor (ritual) – Distribute gold to your followers; increases loyalty and faith | Ritual of Enrichment – All followers give you coins |
| IV | Sacral Architecture (trait) – Followers gain faith whenever new buildings are constructed | Devotee (trait) – Increases faith gained when you preach a sermon |
Personally, I didn’t really grab a lot of perks here. Still, Bribe and Belief in False Idols might be useful.
Law & Order
| Tier | Option 1 | Option 2 |
| I | Murder Follower (command) – Allows you to murder a follower; better to use this on dissenters as long as everyone else is asleep | Ascend Follower (ritual) – Increases loyalty of followers by ascending one of their own |
| II | Ritualistic Pit Fight (ritual) – Have two followers duke it out | Wedding (ritual) – Marry a follower; +30 faith |
| III | Belief in Original Sin (trait) – Reduces faith loss among followers when you put non-dissenters in jail | Belief in Absolution (trait) – +10 faith each day as long as no one is imprisoned |
| IV | Loyalty Enforcer (ritual) – Promote someone to become an enforcer; improves loyalty without you needing to check it often | Tax Enforcer (ritual) – Assign someone as an enforcer who collects gold from others |
Similar to the Possessions picks, these weren’t really things that I focused on. However, the Murder action seems okay if you want to get rid of a dissenter quickly.
Afterlife
| Tier | Option 1 | Option 2 |
| I | Belief in Sacrifice (trait) – +20 faith for all followers when someone is sacrificed | Belief in Afterlife (trait) – Lose -5 faith only instead of -20 when a follower dies |
| II | Ritual of Resurrection – Revive a dead follower | Funeral (ritual) – Followers gain +20 faith when you conduct a funeral for someone who has fallen |
| III | Respect Your Elders (trait) – +5 faith for every elder | The Good Die Young (trait) – +10 faith if you sacrifice an elder; -20 faith if an elder dies of natural causes |
| IV | Return to the Earth (building) – Lets you construct the National Burial Building where corpses eventually become fertilizer | Grieve the Fallen (building) – Lets you construct the Grave building, which gives +2 faith to followers who are grieving |
Get Belief in Sacrifice for the faith boost, then go ahead and sacrifice an elder with good traits. Next, use the Ritual of Resurrection to revive that elder, ensuring that they’re back to their youthful self while still retaining the traits they once had.
Cult of the Lamb is available via Steam.
