Cult of the Lamb: Final boss and endings guide

After defeating the four main Bishops in Cult of the Lamb, you’ll break the last seal that leads to the central chamber. There, you have the opportunity to face off against the game’s ultimate challenge. Here’s our Cult of the Lamb final boss guide to help you defeat The One Who Waits and see the possible endings of the campaign.

Note: For more information, check out our Cult of the Lamb guides and features hub. Likewise, please be reminded that this guide contains spoilers.

Cult of the Lamb final boss and endings guide – How to beat The One Who Waits

Getting 20 followers

Although the central doorway will have its seal broken, you won’t be able to go to the final area until you have 20 followers. Our suggestion, therefore, is to have enough to open the Silk Cradle area so as not to become heavily hampered by micromanagement. Then, as you’re out and about exploring, try to get more followers without necessarily converting them.

Once you’ve taken out Shamura to destroy the last seal, you can then recruit the rest of the characters waiting in your summoning circle. With 20 members of your flock, you can head to the sanctum to get teleported to the arena.

Cult of the Lamb endings

There are a couple of key endings in Cult of the Lamb. You can watch the bad ending without any hassles once you’re in the arena. There, The One Who Waits will trap all your remaining followers, while telling you that you need to be sacrificed so he can rise once more.

You have two options:

Accept – Choosing this will cause the shackled god to lift your character and bleed him dry. This is a short ending scene that’s followed by the credits. You’ll then return to the main menu so you can load your save.
Refuse – This leads to the boss battle and the good ending (if you’re successful in your endeavor).

The One Who Waits – Phase 1

Cult of the Lamb‘s final boss fight against The One Who Waits has several phases. During the first phase, you’ll battle his two lieutenants, Baal and Aym. Here are their abilities:

Baal
- Wicked Attendants – The miniboss summons a few mobs that will attack you.
- Ripper Spikes – Several spikes will travel along the ground.
Aym
- Flame Circle – The miniboss will cast four circles that will fly straight to your last location.
- Ripper Spikes – Similar to Baal’s ability.

After defeating these two cronies, you’ll have a full heart to restore your HP. Next up, you’re fighting the big bad himself.

The One Who Waits – Phase 2

The One Who Waits final boss in Cult of the Lamb has the following abilities:

Ripper Spikes – This normal variation is similar to what you’ve seen before.
Ripper Spikes X – The spikes strike out diagonally from the boss like an “X” pattern.
Ripper Spikes Circle – If the boss stands still for a second, he’ll cause spikes to form around him. This can be deadly if you’re too aggressive in melee.
Flame Blast – Multiple sets of flame projectiles will be cast in your direction.
Flame Spin – Think of this as akin to those looping fire traps in the old Mario game, except there are several of them surrounding the boss.

The One Who Waits – Phase 3

You thought you were done? Well, this last phase is going to be a doozy if you’re already low on health. Your opponent will take you down to the depths where you’ll see your followers crucified. These are what you need to take note of:

Floating Eyes – Sets of eyes will float around and you have to destroy them (they don’t have a lot of HP). They’ll also continuously spit out projectiles, turning this into “bullet hell mode.”
Flame Turret – After clearing the first set, the boss’ hands will cause numerous fireballs to burst forth. Dodge them as much as possible. Once the transition is done, you’ll have to eliminate the sets of eyes again.

Choose the god’s fate

After defeating The One Who Waits in Cult of the Lamb, he’ll revert into his cutesy animal form. You’ll see two options: murder or spare. If you pick the latter, he’ll reappear back in your camp and he can be converted into a follower. He’s got the Immortal trait, which means he’ll never die of old age.

Note: Technically, you won’t need to restart a campaign for New Game+ Mode. You can continue onward as the dungeons can be replayed indefinitely.