Your fleece is more than a fashion choice.
Cult of the Lamb‘s adorable cult leader has become iconic in their red fleece, but their wardrobe grows over time. By finishing quests for peripheral characters, like Sozo in Spore Grotto, you will receive a piece of the Holy Talisman. Four pieces will unlock a new fleece for the Lamb to wear on crusades.
The Holy Talismans take time and effort to collect, so it’s likely that you will be unlocking them one at a time. Also, some of these side quests can be unthinkable, such as sacrificing sweet Ratau! Deciding which, if any, of the five bonus fleeces to trade your Holy Talisman for is a personal choice, but I ranked them based on their pros and cons to help.
6. Fleece of the Diseased Heart
Sadly, the purple fleece doesn’t have a strong upside. Dawning the Fleece of the Diseased Heart allows you to gain one Diseased Heart every time you gain a Tarot card. You can only have one on you at a time, so if you don’t lose it by the time you stumble across another room with the Tarot dealer, Clauneck, then you don’t gain another one. These creepy black hearts are nice bonuses but shouldn’t be relied upon. They can still be used up and lost, and they only help you if you are hit. The Diseased Heart deals damage to all the enemies in the room every time that you take damage. It’s kind of like revenge.
While it’s nice to know that every time you’re hit, your enemies are a little closer to death themselves, it’s a tricky balance. Also, the downside of this fleece is a doozy. If you die before completing the run, then you lose 100% of the items you picked up along the way. It already sucks losing 25%, so coming out empty-handed is just not a risk I’m willing to take.
5. Fleece of Fragile Fortitude
The Fleece of Fragile Fortitude seemed like a wonderful idea to me when I first unlocked it, but in practice, it killed me faster. The blue fleece replaces your hearts with matching blue hearts. It’s easy to assume that there must be some sort of benefit to this, but it’s more of an obstacle. Red hearts have a full health limit, but blue and black hearts can be tacked onto the end for extra health.
With the blue fleece on, your whole health bar is blue, and nothing can be added on except more blue hearts and Diseased Hearts. The only way to replace them is if your enemies drop a half or whole blue heart. That makes replacing them way more difficult. If you’re up for a challenge, have at it. Otherwise, it may be best to save this one for last.
4. Fleece of the Glass Cannon
The Fleece of the Glass Cannon is perfect for blowing a room up! The green garment will make your curses hit twice as hard while costing half as much. Personally, I like using the various curses. While some are more powerful than others, having the ability to hit multiple enemies at once comes in handy, especially in rooms where enemies converge on you at once. With the right timing and solid aim, you can take out most of them without getting too close.
Not getting too close would be ideal since the downsides aren’t ideal. Wearing the Fleece of the Glass Cannon will strengthen your curses but weaken your melee weapon by half. Even more concerning, your health will be halved as well. Since your curse is mostly random and limited, and your weapon is half as powerful, defeating a boss would be incredibly difficult. Combine that with half the health and it may be best to leave this fleece for the post-boss dungeon crawls.
3. Golden Fleece
The Golden Fleece doesn’t have a fancy name, sadly. It’s perfect for rogue-lite pros and players who have perfected Cult of the Lamb‘s combat system. While you’re wearing the gold fleece, your damage dealt increases by 5% with every kill. If you are good enough with the melee weapon to go on a spree, your weapon will be supercharged. However, like most of the holy garments, there’s a downside. It only takes one hit from an enemy to end your spree, resetting the damage dealt. Also, your enemies will pack twice the punch!
This downside isn’t too terrible though. Because the game’s combat isn’t designed to be extremely difficult, many players can have fun while trying to keep their streak going as long as possible. The more you play, the easier it will be to dodge hits and land more of your own.
2. Fleece of the Lamb
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That’s how I feel about the Fleece of the Lamb. As the original garment of the adorable cult leader, the iconic red fleece doesn’t cost anything but also doesn’t give you anything. When you begin your dungeon crawl, you won’t have extra hearts. You’ll draw your Tarot cards one by one. Your weapons and curses are all typical, and you lose 25% of your items if you die. You get the picture.
The reason I rank it so highly then is because the Fleece of the Lamb doesn’t have any downsides either. You can win the game without ever unlocking or dawning the other fleeces. It’s all about balance with your weapons and Tarot card choices, and I’m a fan of balance. If not for the next fleece, I would probably just wear this one all the time.
1. Fleece of the Fates
Snow-white with a red pentagram clasp, the Fleece of Fates looks good and is actually helpful. During a normal run through the realms, there are a few opportunities to join Clauneck for a Tarot reading. They will let you choose one of two cards. The maximum number of Tarot cards you can have on a run is four. With the white fleece, you get all four before you even grab your weapon.
While getting a bit of choice in your equipped cards allows you to strategize during each dungeon crawl, the Tarot rooms are spread out. You may only have your best card towards the end. Getting all four upfront gives you a chance for a superpowered run through all of the rooms, and you don’t have to worry about accidentally skipping the room where Clauneck waits. You can have a fantastic run when the Fates smile on the little lamb. If they don’t however, there’s really no such thing as a harmful hand. Also, the only downside to the fleece is the lack of choice, but it isn’t like there were a ton of customization options to begin with.
Cult of the Lamb has been an incredibly fun game for such a wide net of players. Being part rogue-lite and part farming sim, neither is too difficult to learn. There’s even a fishing sidequest that will give you a Holy Talisman once you complete it. You can get some tips on how to catch an octopus here! In the meantime, hopefully, this list helps with your decision-making.
Related: Base building and design tips guide – Cult of the Lamb
