Crusades are the dungeon half of Cult of the Lamb. You fight through randomly generated rooms in four regions, each one opened by a follower count and ruled by a Bishop of the Old Faith. A region does not end with one great run: you beat its three mini-bosses on separate crusades first, then the Bishop, and the cult has to survive while you are away each time.
This guide starts with the overview most players are looking for, then goes through how a run is built, the mini-bosses and Bishops, what to farm in each region and the post-game. Names are the in-game English names, and numbers come from the community wiki for the current version, including the free updates and the paid Woolhaven DLC.
The four regions at a glance
| Order | Region and Bishop | Followers to open | What to watch | Recommended loadout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darkwood — Leshy | 1 | Worms that chase, burrow and leave spike trails; streams that push you along until the room is cleared | Whatever the first room gives you; default Fleece of the Lamb while you learn to roll on tells |
| 2 | Anura — Heket | 7 | Packs of Hoppers that jump at you, Mortar Hoppers lobbing explosives, Burp Hoppers | A wide-swinging Axe or Sword for crowds; a curse that clears groups |
| 3 | Anchordeep — Kallamar | 9 | Many enemies with telegraphed dashes and jumps: Charger and Kamikaze Jellyfish, Jumping Crabs, exploding jellyfish | Ranged help such as Hounds of Fate or a Blunderbuss; Divine Guardian for Kallamar |
| 4 | Silk Cradle — Shamura | 12 | Jump, Dash and Poison Spiders, Millipedes and Scorpions; enemies that keep their distance before attacking; giant Dash Spiders drop Egg Sacs that hatch | Hammer or Axe with Divine Guardian; break Egg Sacs before they hatch |
The gates are follower counts in a new game, and you can enter any region whose door is open. The order above is still the right one: Anchordeep is a clear step up in difficulty because so many of its enemies dash or jump at you, and Silk Cradle is harder again. Recruiting is progression, which is why the beginner guide treats followers as the first priority.
The loadout column is a direction, not a menu. Weapons and curses are random on every crusade, so take what the run offers and steer towards these when you get a choice. Which weapon and curse types are strongest, and why, is covered in the weapons and curses tier list and the combat build guide.
How a crusade run works
Each crusade has its own randomly generated map. The map is a chain of areas, and each area is a short run of rooms whose type is shown by an icon on the minimap. A normal gauntlet has about 11 rooms. At the end of each area a teleport room moves you on, and the crusade ends in a boss room.
Some combat areas carry a modifier icon on the map. They are worth reading before you pick a branch:
| Area modifier | Effect | Take it when |
|---|---|---|
| Food not gold | Chests drop food ingredients instead of coins | The cult is short of food |
| Double coins | Chests drop twice the coins | Almost always |
| Double coins and poison | Twice the coins, but enemies leave poison pools | You have a ranged weapon or curse |
| Half health, double damage | Enemies have half health and you take double damage | You are healthy and confident |
| Heart for Diseased Hearts | Lose 1 max heart, gain 1 to 3 Diseased Hearts | Rarely; the max heart is gone for the run |
| Heart for a tarot card | Lose 1 max heart, gain 1 tarot card | Early in a run with plenty of health |
Rooms that make the run stronger
| Room | What it gives | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First entrance room | One weapon and one curse | Later entrance rooms have a statue instead (see below) |
| Entrance statue | Some Devotion, full Fervour and 2 Stone when broken | After the region's Bishop is dead, breaking it opens a portal to fight the Bishop again |
| Clauneck's shop | Pick 1 of 2 tarot cards for free; buy another with coins | Marked by hanging stars and moons over the door |
| Kudaai's shop | Pick 1 of 3 weapons or curses for free | Marked by hanging swords over the door |
| Bonus choice | Pick 1 of 2: a red, blue or Diseased Heart, or a tarot card | Take the heart if you are low |
| Bonus hearts | Two red or two blue heart pickups | Free healing |
| Health altar | Sacrifice 1 red heart for x1.25 damage, 1 to 3 blue or Diseased Hearts, or a tarot card | Only with health to spare |
| Red Crown Shrine | Pray once and you lose no items if you die on this run | Always pray; it is surrounded by Camellia |
| Cursed Altar | A forced debuff for the rest of the run | Can appear behind a random-area icon; the debuffs include half dodge distance, double curse cost and losing all items |
Rooms for the cult
- Followers. A follower room has someone to rescue (fight waves of enemies) or to talk into joining. Helob's shop sells one follower cheaply, often an elderly or sick one.
- Resource rooms. Bones, Lumber, Stone, Fertilizer, Coins, Meat and a regional vegetable room each fill your stock fast. The graveyard area has graves you can dig up for Bones.
- Offering room. Pay the Statue of the Beast 20, 30 and then 45 coins for coins, Lumber and Stone, food, a follower form or blue hearts. The bags in the room drop coins, but break more than 60% of them before offering and the statue takes your coins and gives nothing.
- Ratoo's challenge. Clear three combat rooms without getting hit, without dodging or without curses for coins, resources, a follower form or a decoration. Nothing is lost if you fail.
- Other shops. Forneus offers a free decoration, follower form or gift; Rakshasa a free ingredient or seeds; the hearts shop has a pool that fully heals you.
When to go home
Dying sends you back to the cult with a 10 Faith loss, and you lose part of the items from that run: 15% on Easy, 25% on Medium, 30% on Hard and 50% on the hardest setting. A Red Crown Shrine prayer cancels that item loss. The Omnipresence Crown ability lets you leave mid-run, losing 10 to 25% of items depending on difficulty but no Faith.
A good rule early on is to end runs, or at least not risk them, when the cult needs you more than the dungeon does: a follower is sick, food is running out or several followers are close to dissent. A strong run that comes home to a collapsing cult is a net loss.
Mini-bosses and Witnesses
Each region has three mini-bosses before its Bishop. The boss room at the end of a crusade gives you the next unbeaten mini-boss until all three are down, then the Bishop. After that, the boss room holds the region's Witness, and once that is beaten too, you get one of the mini-bosses or the Witness again. Defeated mini-bosses can be indoctrinated, so a region's bosses help pay for the next follower gate.
| Region | Mini-boss | What it does | How to handle it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darkwood | Amdusias | Lunges when you are close (it closes its eyes and turns white), lobs a cone of acid balls, spawns Chaser Worms | One roll clears the lunge; dodge the whole acid cone rather than weaving through it |
| Darkwood | Valefar | Two leaps, then a ring of fireballs (spiral symbol over its head) or an aimed barrage (inverted cross symbol); four fast leaps at low health | Read the symbol and keep moving; expect the leaps right after the fireballs |
| Darkwood | Barbatos | Burrows towards you leaving spikes, then spits acid (its growths turn green) or sprouts spikes in eight directions | Step back when it glows white; stay off the green markers |
| Anura | Eligos | Spews red flies, dashes corner to corner firing projectiles, then dashes at you | Attack at the end of the cycle; a wide weapon clears the flies |
| Anchordeep | Saleos | Charges along a red arrow (longer charge, faster dash), summons Spike Jellyfish, fires spikes in a line or a slow ring | Every attack is telegraphed; sidestep the arrow |
| Anchordeep | Baalzebub | Clumps of bullets that split four ways, and waves of four bullets | The wiki recommends curses here, especially Hounds of Fate |
| Silk Cradle | Focalor | Lunges and fires five fireballs, launches off-screen on a web with a target circle that spawns small spiders, fires a fireball shockwave | Leave the target circle and clear the spiders; move through the gaps in the shockwave |
| Silk Cradle | Vephar | A giant millipede that extends spikes and fires poison projectiles | Hit it while the spikes are retracted; wait out the poison patches |
| Silk Cradle | Hauras | Spirals and circles of projectiles from its tail; three poison shots that leave ooze | Dodge through or between the patterns |
The other three mini-bosses are Gusion and Zepar in Anura and Haborym, a large jellyfish spawner, in Anchordeep. The wiki has no reliable move list for them yet, so we leave them out of the table rather than guess.
The four Witnesses are Agares (Darkwood), Bathin (Anura), Astaroth (Anchordeep) and Allocer (Silk Cradle). They only appear after the Bishop is beaten. Agares, for example, charges along a red arrow and teleports away when badly hurt, leaving Darkwood enemies you must kill before it returns, and it can be indoctrinated once beaten.
Bishop fights
Every Bishop has phases and gets faster as its health falls. Their health scales with difficulty:
| Boss | Easy | Medium | Hard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leshy (Darkwood) | 60 | 120 | 150 |
| Heket (Anura) | 75 | 150 | 187.5 |
| Kallamar (Anchordeep) | 100 | 200 | 250 |
| Shamura (Silk Cradle) | 112.5 | 225 | 281.25 |
| The One Who Waits | 85 | 170 | 212.5 |
The jump from Heket to Kallamar is the largest in the base game, which matches how most players experience Anchordeep. If a Bishop keeps beating you, more sermons for higher weapon levels and extra hearts usually help more than another attempt.
Leshy
Leshy fights in three phases, changing at about 60% and 30% health. Worms only spawn when he roars at the start of a phase, so clearing them buys you a calm phase, and he is open to attacks while he roars.
- Phase 1 is a fixed loop: burrow, green orbs, burrow, green orbs, burrow, five trails of spikes in a star. The orbs and the star have long wind-ups, so that is when you hit him.
- While he is burrowed he is invincible. Stay away from the spike trail instead of waiting next to it.
- Phase 2 adds a jump: an indicator follows you for a few seconds, then he dives. Keep walking until it stops.
- Phase 3 adds a head smash, three slams in front of him. Do not attack during it, especially right after a spike ring.
Heket
Heket fights in four phases. Up to six Hoppers keep entering the room throughout, and each one killed is replaced. They are also your Fervour supply, so kill them to charge curses.
- Hops do damage. Landing on you costs half a heart, and the short hops are faster than they look.
- Red flies chase you but vanish when she starts another attack. Just keep moving.
- At about 60% she attacks faster and spits a wider fly-bomb barrage. The bombs land a fair distance from her, which gives you an opening.
- At about 30% she summons two very tanky Mortar Hoppers. Save a relic or a curse burst for them.
- Final phase: after the Mortar Hoppers die, she stops jumping onto you and fights from a distance near the door. Her multi-tongue attack has a long, obvious wind-up.
Kallamar
The wiki calls Kallamar the most challenging Bishop, and the health table agrees. He has no fixed pattern, his first move is always to summon crabs, and he burrows away whenever you get close.
- Do not chase him. He is vulnerable for about a second after every attack. Hit him then.
- Sword slash: he charges you and keeps chasing until he connects. Dodge through him to trigger the slash early.
- Fireballs: circle him during the three streams, stay well away during the spiral, and do not get caught inside the single circle when it forms.
- Below 50% health he attacks faster, uses melee much more and summons exploding jellyfish that split in two. His new circle attack fires rows of fireballs with gaps; stand in a gap, then dodge through the expanding rings.
- Ranged damage helps a lot here, which is why the table above suggests a homing curse or a Blunderbuss.
Shamura
Shamura is the most aggressive Bishop. They rush you and stay glued to you, helped by spiders that drop from nests on the ceiling. Unlike the others, Shamura never learns new attacks.
- Close slash: step into range to start it, then roll up or behind them. Rolling too early or straight back gets you hit.
- Projectiles: bombs in a random direction or hails of green orbs, both with ground markers. The bomb version leaves Shamura wide open.
- Zip away: they disappear up a web thread for 2.5 seconds, land on you with a slash and hatch a spider nest.
- Jumps: either three or four stabbing leaps, or leaps that fire a ring of fireballs. In the fireball version the gaps face you, so standing still is safe.
- Final phase: only the timing changes. The pause between attacks drops from 0.5 to 1 second to 0.3 to 0.5 seconds, and the projectile attacks fire more.
Each Bishop drops a Heart of a Heretic, which buys one permanent Crown ability at the Temple. Resurrection and Omnipresence make later crusades far more forgiving; the beginner guide compares all four. To fight a Bishop again later, break the statue in a later entrance room of its region.
The Bishops also attack your cult
Bishops make scripted appearances during crusades, and some of them hit your followers back home:
- Heket appears twice to make your followers starve, and a third time to force a crusade made only of combat routes, with no shops, resource rooms or NPCs.
- Kallamar appears twice to make your followers sick, so they need bed rest or healing.
- Shamura summons one of your own followers to fight you.
Before your Anura runs, have meals cooked and a farm running. Before Anchordeep, keep the camp clean and build the Healing Bay if you can. The cult management guide covers food and illness in depth.
What to farm in each region
Every region has two unique resources and its own vegetable room. Bones, Lumber, Stone and coins come from rooms in every region.
| Region | Unique resources | What they are for |
|---|---|---|
| Darkwood | Berries, Camellia (and their seeds) | Camellia builds the Healing Bay and pays for instant healing there (15 per follower, 10 with Healing Bay II); followers also ask for it |
| Anura | Pumpkins, Menticide Mushrooms (and spores) | Mushrooms go to Sozo for a Holy Talisman fragment and the Brainwashing Ritual, cure cursed followers and are one of the Woolhaven offerings |
| Anchordeep | Cauliflower, Crystal Shards | Lumberyard II (4) and Missionary III (16), curing the Catatonic and Cursed traits (10), crystal decorations and a Woolhaven offering |
| Silk Cradle | Beetroot, Spider Silk | Silk Thread at the Refinery (10 silk), Stone Mine II and Leader Tent (8), Compost Bin (10), Tailor (16) and a Woolhaven offering |
The practical takeaway: collect Camellia from your first Darkwood runs before illness becomes a problem, and do not sell Crystal Shards or Spider Silk early, because mid-game buildings ask for them in batches.
After the four Bishops: the post-game
The One Who Waits
Beating all four Bishops opens a fifth door to the temple of The One Who Waits. A ritual there needs 20 followers to send you to The Gateway, where you pick a weapon and a curse before the final fight. Refuse to kneel and you fight his servants Baal and Aym first.
This fight has its own rules: no tarot cards, only the default fleece and fewer invincibility frames when rolling. In the second stage, his three eyes descend into the arena; damage you deal to them is passed on to his body. Your weapon level, curse and permanent hearts are all you bring, so finish the Might of the Devout and Hearts of the Faithful sermon upgrades first. The combat build guide explains them.
Regions II and the Bishops as followers
After The One Who Waits, talking to the mysterious seller (???) turns the four regions into harder II versions with stronger mini-bosses that gain new attacks and Punished forms of the Bishops. The doors work differently:
| Region | Followers needed | Sacrifice at the door |
|---|---|---|
| Darkwood II | Open from the start | None |
| Anura II | 16 | A level 4 follower |
| Anchordeep II | 18 | A level 7 follower |
| Silk Cradle II | 21 | A level 10 follower |
Beat a Bishop again after The One Who Waits and it joins your cult as a follower with its own quests. Expect trouble on arrival: Heket starts out starving, Kallamar sick and Shamura dissenting.
Purgatory
Purgatory opens after you clear the post-game Darkwood section and speak to the mysterious seller; the fountain outside your cult becomes its portal. It is a challenge mode for God Tears, playable once per in-game day, with time frozen at the cult while you are inside. There are two modes, Dungeon Gauntlet and Boss Rush. No resources drop, demons and DLC content are excluded, and you must clear it once with the Fleece of the Lamb before other fleeces are allowed. It is also the only place to fight The One Who Waits again.
Woolhaven
Woolhaven is a paid DLC released on January 22, 2026. Once you own it and have beaten at least one Bishop, a Yngya statue appears at your cult and asks for 5 Menticide Mushrooms, 5 Crystal Shards, 5 Spider Silk and finally 1 Sin. That is why the resource table above matters even after the main story.
When you make the last offering, the game warns that the save file will only be playable with Woolhaven installed and backs up your base-game save. Accept only if you plan to keep the DLC.
The DLC adds two new crusade regions, Ewefall and The Rot, reached by heading north from Woolhaven. Ewefall's wolves can be knocked onto their backs and stunned if you hit them hard enough. The fights against Marchosias and Yngya follow the same rules as The One Who Waits (no tarot, default fleece), and Marchosias drops a fifth Heart of a Heretic.
Common mistakes
- Treating the gates as the only order. You can enter any open region, but going to Silk Cradle before Anchordeep just because you have 12 followers usually means facing the harder region with fewer upgrades.
- Breaking the bags before the offering. Destroy more than 60% of them and the Statue of the Beast takes your coins for nothing.
- Walking past a Red Crown Shrine. One prayer protects every item on the run.
- Attacking Leshy while he is underground. He is invincible then. Wait for the roar, the orbs or the star.
- Chasing Kallamar around the room. He relocates whenever you get close. Punish him after an attack instead.
- Panic rolling against Shamura. Bait the close slash, then roll up or behind.
- Leaving for Anura or Anchordeep with no food or healing. The Bishops' scripted visits starve and sicken your followers while you are away.
- Expecting tarot cards in the final fight. The One Who Waits allows none, so permanent upgrades decide it.
Related guides
New to the game? Start with the beginner guide. For what to take on a run, see the combat build guide and the weapons and curses tier list. Keeping the cult alive while you are away is covered in the cult management guide, and whether the game is worth it is in our review.
★Honest Take: the crusades are short, and the regions are not equal
The crusade half of Cult of the Lamb is at its best in the first two regions. Runs are short, Leshy and Heket teach readable patterns, and every boss room moves you forward because the mini-bosses join your cult. The structure also forgives a lot: three mini-boss runs per region give you time to build sermon upgrades before each Bishop.
The weak side shows from Anchordeep on. Kallamar's random, screen-filling patterns and the jump in boss health make the third region feel much harder than the first two, and a run's power still depends on which weapon the dice hand you. Our advice is to treat a stalled Bishop as a cult problem rather than a skill problem: a few more days of sermons and recruiting usually do more than another attempt. Players who want deep, deterministic dungeon design will find the crusades thin; players who like a light roguelite feeding a management game will find them well paced.
