You’re just a little sheep with a pointy sword and a neat little coat, dashing to and fro and raising the most prominent, most dangerous cult that the world could possibly imagine.
But one day, you want to change up that neat little coat you wear from the red that was gifted to you by The One Who Waits. You have a plethora of other options and each one does something even better than the last.
The only thing that may stop you from readily accepting the boons that await you, however, is the downside each one presents. Regardless of which one you choose to adorn, however, each one will make your next excursion just a bit more fun.
Cult of the Lamb Fleeces Guide: Bottom Line Upfront
There are a total of six fleeces in the Cult of the Lamb. Aside from your starting fleece, the Fleece of the Lamb, each one offers you a boon and a downside as a package deal. Each fleece can be unlocked with a completed Holy Talisman through the Crown menu in the church.
The worst fleece is the Fleece of the Diseased Heart with the best being the Fleece of the Fates. However, some offer unique twists and challenges to each dungeon dive, like the Fleece of the Glass Cannon.
What are Fleeces
As well as cosmetic accessories, fleeces are the robes you adorn as the leader of your cult. The base fleece you get from the very beginning of the game, the Fleece of the Lamb, provides no bonuses or curses to you.
They mainly have an effect on the battles when you’re running through each dungeon level, so if you’ve beaten all of the Bishops, you can adorn them sheerly for cosmetic desires. Just remember to take them off again before you go to fight the Witnesses.
Fleeces are obtained by spending your completed Holy Talisman. In total, you’re going to need five Holy Talismans to unlock all of the fleeces available to you, whether out of the sheer desire to be a completionist or cosmetic desires.
The only way to gain Holy Talisman shards is to complete tasks for the characters in the areas around your compound. Only one character, the Fox, appears in all of the areas once, and only at night.
In order to get his Holy Talisman shards, make sure you find the little green crescent moon shape in each area. Once the night is upon you, interact with the dark and fulfill his request.
In order to spend your Holy Talismans, go into your temple and to the altar, just as you would for a sermon. Select the crown, and then you are free to purchase your desired fleece.
Ranking and Criteria
Not all fleeces are made the same, and some are objectively better, in my not-so-humble opinion. From the worst to the best, I’ve ranked all six fleeces based on if the reward is better than the sacrifice your little Lamb needs to make.
Before anyone gets up in arms about my ranking, however, remember that each Fleece offers a different challenge and aspect to Cult of the Lamb, offering each dive into a dungeon a new and refreshing feel.
Six – Fleece of the Diseased Heart
Although I love the aesthetic of this fleece, it offers little benefit. At most, you will likely draw four or five tarot cards during each dungeon dive, and if, like me, you are prone to get hit by nearly every attack, those diseased hearts will be gone faster than you can count.
If they’re not utilized before you reach the next tarot card pull, you don’t even get a second diseased heart. Regardless, it’s not a total loss if you die during a dungeon, but losing Follower quest items, most commonly the Camellia flowers, can be a pain in the neck and cause some serious pressure as you race against the clock for more.
I give this Fleece of the Diseased Heart bonus points for its aesthetic of it, but that doesn’t make up for the fact that it is not a great option.
Five – Fleece of the Lamb
Fifth place goes to your starting fleece, the Fleece of the Lamb. This little red fleece is iconic in its look and matches the garb of your followers. It offers no curses or benefits, besides looking nice.
If you don’t want to put too much effort into getting the Holy Talisman shards, you’re lucky stuck with this fleece for the time being.
However, I’m not sure why you wouldn’t want to get the Holy Tailsamn’s shards – you don’t have to go very far out of your way to get each one. It won’t be long before you have a complete shard and can purchase one of these highly sought-after items.
Four – Fleece of Fragile Fortitude
The Fleece of the Fragile Fortitude is only marginally better than both the Fleece of the Lamb and Fleece of the Diseased Heart.
Paired with the upgrade that allows for you to eat a meal once a day for an extra blue heart, Fleece of the Fragile Fortitude can give you more health than you’d get normally.
However, if you chose to sacrifice one half of a red heart to the Fox in order to get the Holy Talisman Shard, this fleece should probably rank lower on your list.
You can only have four permanent hearts, but if you gain the tarot card “The Hearts III,” which gives you two temporary hearts for your current Dungeon run, you can have up to six.
Assuming you’re at this point and utilizing the Fleece of Fragile Fortitude, this can give you nine blue hearts, which is probably more than you’ll need on any given run.
Three – Fleece of the Glass Cannon
The Fleece of the Glass Cannon has some serious pros and cons. The biggest pro is that you can essentially be a wizard, the biggest con is that Cult of the Lamb really isn’t built for you to play a wizard. In order to achieve the best experience possible, utilizing both your weapon and your curses is key, with your weapon usually dealing a majority of the damage consistently.
Curses, on the other hand, are used more sporadically, generally meant to do punchier damage for a brief moment. However, if you’re wearing the Fleece of the Glass Cannon, you can utilize your Curses far more often and use your weapon just to try and regain some Fervour. There are some tarot cards you can draw and hope for during each run that may make this fleece all the more powerful.
The Divine Curse tarot card makes it so curses consume 25% less Fervour. It’s tempting to say that’s a 75% reduction in Fervour consumption, but the reality is that you’re just using 37.5% of your Fervour for each curse, or a 61.5% reduction.
The Fervours Harvest + tarot card makes it so your enemies drop three times more Fervour, allowing you to refill your Curses even faster.
Strength from Without, obtained from beating Shrumy in a game of Knucklebones, will allow your Fervour to replenish over time, giving it a 2.5-second cooldown slowly.
Ferour’s Host, obtained after purchasing a random amount of Followers from Helob, allows for your Fervour to refill completely upon entering a new room in a dungeon.
This tarot card, paired with Strength from Without, undoubtedly makes the Fleece of the Glass Cannon a strong and dangerous option. The biggest hangup is just being able to draw these cards when you reach each tarot card room.
Two – Golden Fleece
This is the most tempting fleece that still makes me nervous to use. The Golden Fleece offers you the ability to be a very heavy hitter, but you risk taking a lot of damage.
If you believe the best offense is a good defense, you will thrive with this fleece. Every time you hit an enemy, your damage increases, which, if you keep the train going, could theoretically result in eventual one-shots. In the Steam 1.0.13 Patch Notes for Cult of the Lamb, the Golden Fleece damage cap was removed.
Instead, each increase is at a rate of half of what it was prior to the patch. This allows for a slower but more satisfying build-in damage without a worry that you’re just going to stop dealing oodles of damage.
However, if you’re prone to get hit often and in your last battle, like me, you died and had to sacrifice someone to keep the game going, it might be best to avoid this one if you don’t prep with a blue heart beforehand and some heart tarot cards in your repertoire.
One – Fleece of the Fates
This is the best fleece. If you disagree that’s fine, but you cannot deny that this fleece is great. While Fleece of the Fates gives you four tarot cards at the beginning, you don’t get to pick what those tarot cards are, nor can you draw any throughout the dungeon.
However, the tarot cards in Cult of the Lamb are rarely terrible, and you will likely be content with whatever is drawn for you. This fleece is the best if you are attempting to speed run your way through a dungeon to collect the Eyes of the Witnesses or the Hearts of the Heretics.
Because you cannot draw any tarot cards, you don’t have to be concerned with running across one of the tarot rooms or backtracking to ensure that you get one of the tarot cards if you accidentally miss the room. Not only is this fleece very convenient, but it streamlines the dungeon diving process.
FAQs
Question: Which Fleece is best in Cult of the Lamb?
Answer: It depends on your play style. I think that Fleece of the Fates is best, but if you want to challenge yourself during a run or you prefer to utilize certain aspects of combat over others, you may prefer something like the Fleece of the Glass Cannon or the Golden Fleece.
Question: What platforms is Cult of the Lamb on?
Answer: Cult of the Lamb is currently available on Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 and 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, on Windows, and on Apple. So, if you can get your hands on a console or computer, you can likely play Cult of the Lamb for hours on end.
Question: Is There a Difference Between red Hearts and Blue Hearts in Cult of the Lamb?
Answer: Yes. When taking damage, red hearts can be healed through a random enemy drop or frequent chest drops. As such, you can regain your health multiple times throughout your run. Blue hearts, on the other hand, cannot be healed.
Blue hearts cannot be regenerated throughout your run, but, on occasion, you may be able to gain one or a fragment of one through a tarot card or the odd chest drop. When using vampiric weapons, there is a small chance you’ll gain a blue heart fragment, but it’s far from guaranteed.
Conclusion
Although I don’t want to say that some fleeces in Cult of the Lamb aren’t great, I’m forced to admit when faced with the facts. The worst fleece is the Fleece of the Diseased Heart by far, and the best is the Fleece of the Fates.
Each fleece is okay, if not great, in its own right and offers a unique aspect to the game that would be sorely missed and longed for if it wasn’t there. Although I greatly prefer the aesthetic of the Fleece of the Diseased Heart, I don’t wear it very often.
I would love to run around my commune and each area with it on, but the truth is that I’m not a great planner. I’m going to dive right into a dungeon before mentally slapping myself because I dove right in with the wrong fleece. Regardless, it’s all a matter of playstyle and the challenges you seek.
- The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood Review: A Magical Experience - September 3, 2023
- Killer Frequency Calls Guide – Save Everyone - August 30, 2023
- Venba Review: Savor Every Bite - August 5, 2023