First of all, part of the fun and frustration of Cultist Simulator is experimenting and failing a lot, and then learning from those failures. After about 4 or 5 defeats where my character either went insane, suicidal, or arrested (have never died from lack of Health yet), my character Guybrush Threepwood finally became Enlightened after 45 hours. Sorry, just wanted to brag a bit since I didn't play the early access.:p(Nyahaha, finally won with all the Desires. I am done with this game for now!)Anyway, the takeaway is: the game will be less fun if you read this guide and you'll be spoiled with most of the info here (I haven't marked most of the stuff with spoiler tags) so consider yourself warned. But if you're feeling frustrated on a certain part, feel free to go ahead, or even message me.General.

Pause a card's timer Simply place them on any slot that will accept them! This way, you'll be able to keep your Jobs, Hirelings, Summons, Prisoners, Corpses, Influences, Vitality/Erudition/Glimmering, and other cards practically forever! And remember, you can pause the game at anytime to carry out other actions.

You can only leave one window open though. This makes upgrading your Skills a breeze!. Can't find the right card to use on a slot? Click on a slot to make cards that can be slotted into it glow.Dealing with Hunters and EvidenceYou've got a variety of ways to deal with these problems. Hush hush - You can't really go wrong with being stealthy, you're a cult after all! Do this by not performing actions that create Mystique and Notoriety, letting them expire naturally, or getting your Heart cultists to erase them. Notoriety is really the only thing you should be concerned about since only Notoriety will give/upgrade Evidence against you while Mystique only lengthens the time that they investigate you.

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They only have a chance of creating Evidence from Notoriety however, unless you're dealing with Meticulous Hunters, which always make Evidence from Notoriety. Erratic Hunters can create Evidence even if there's no Notoriety, but in turn have a lower chance of making Evidence from Notoriety, so it might be good to actually have some Notoriety when they're present. Earning money from Painting is also a good idea if Erratic Hunters on the board!. Kill them all! - Keep murdering/capturing Hunters as they show up by using followers with Edge, or using poisons (items received from Expeditions).

Success will give you Notoriety, and either a Corpse or capturing them. Failed attempts will make Notoriety though, and might even kill whoever you sent to do the job! It's somewhat safe to keep attempting to murder them as long as they don't have any Evidence present, or if you can destroy the Evidence. Poisons don't get consumed if they fail to kill them, but will still create Notoriety! Tenacious Hunters have a 1/3 chance of not getting killed, even if it should result in 100% chance (by sending in 10 Edge Summons), and Tenacious also applies to poisoning attempts. Mystic Hunters are protected from Summons, but they're not immune.

If you send a Summon and they fail, Hunters have a chance of becoming a Mystic! Just keep sending minions (and poisons) at them until they die or use other tactics.

Opening the Debug Console. You can open the debug console while the game is in progress by pressing CTRL+` (CTRL plus Backquote). You may have to tap backquote several times, and it works more reliably if the CTRL key is held for a moment before you press `.

I've got a secret to tell you. Use Dread, Fascination, Lantern, or Winter Lore to drive Investigators insane. Grim Hunters are weak to Dread and Winter Lore while Idealists are weak to Fascination and Lantern.

I don't suggest using Dread and Fascination though since I've never succeeded with using them so far. Higher levels of Winter/Lantern have a higher success chance, although I'm not sure if that only applies if the text description changes. Using Dread/Winter or Fascination/Lantern might give them a chance to become Grim/Idealist/Tenacious though, and it always makes Dread/Fascination and Notoriety (if you fail) so be careful! If you succeed though, they'll become insane and then they'll be gone after a while without leaving a Corpse.

Or you can use them as a sacrifice in your Rites or the Spider Door!. Well, I didn't do anything - Keep destroying Evidence using Moth followers. No matter what traits Hunters have, they can't do anything at all if their Evidence keeps disappearing! Failure to destroy Evidence will create Notoriety, or kill your minion. Earning Funds by Painting is a breeze this way, but be warned, there are no Summons that have more than 8 Moth, and even Moth Exalted don't have 100% chance to succeed. In the public's eye - A tactic for Painters. By using Mystique when painting (no Lore or Summons as your Inspiration though), you get more Mystique as a result and stop the timers of any Mystique you used while you're painting.

If you have a lot of Mystique present, Hunters will have a hard time investigating you so one or two Notoriety isn't bad at all and allows you to earn a bit more money. Or, if they're close to investigating you, you can use Notoriety to paint, although this is somewhat dangerous since there's always a chance that they'll investigate you for two consecutive Seasons.

Winter is coming - A certain Winter spell will randomly kill Mortals (including you). Obviously, only do this if desperate or want to get The Sun Before Me achievement.Work. Earn Funds by dragging Ability aspects such as Health and Passion. Working Health and Passion, as well as their associated Skill cards will usually earn you Vitality and Glimmering.

Health and Passion Skills can also be dragged here for an improved effect. Realistically though, you'll never earn that enough money through the Health even with max Health Skill. Painting using Passion or Skill can sometimes net you some much needed Contentment. Using only Passion, you can consume Restlessness (which results in Dread after a minute). You can also Paint using the Skill card, and Restlessness as your Inspiration to consume it. Painting does not consume other Influences aside from Restlessness. Earn more money through the painting by using Mystique or Notoriety instead of just Passion.

Like the game warns though, it will also generate more Mystique or Notoriety after you're done painting. Using Notoriety nets you about 2 Funds, so for example, if you used 3, you'll get around 6 Funds.

You can make special Paintings that can be used as Tools (gives 8 Aspect) or auction away. To get a Forge painting for example, you'll need at least 6 Forge Aspect total, the pigment associated with Forge, and some Passion (I always use 4 Passion when making these paintings. Haven't tested it yet with only 1-3 Passion. Not using any Passion will not make special Paintings.).

All pigments give 4 Aspect, so you'll only need 2 Aspect from Lore, Influences, or Summons. However, you won't get Funds after finishing the Painting and get some Notoriety as a result. Dragging Reason will earn you a clerical Job card. Afterwards, you won't be able to directly use Reason on Work, but the Job itself will require Reason.

Some characters have Jobs at the start. You can get promoted on some of the Jobs. For the clerical Job, there's (I'm not 100% sure) a small chance of becoming promoted whenever you Work. For a more surefire way to promotion, you're can let your minions remove certain. Annoyances.

On some Jobs, you'll be demoted, or even lose them entirely if you don't Work on them after a while. You can usually beg using Passion to keep your Job. Fulfill Commissions and write Manuscripts dragging them here. You'll need the appropriate Lore, 1-2 Reason, and sometimes Passion depending on the commission. These commissions can be a reliable way of earning Funds after auctioning the Spintrias. Get to the next level of ascension by dragging your Dedication card. You'll need some other stuff though.

Cast spells or summon creatures through Rite cards. After amassing enough Lore, Tools, Followers, and Ingredients, Summons are better for doing anything that your cultists can, and you can just keep summoning them if they die somehow.Sleep/Dream.You can take a nap by dragging fatigued Health to Sleep, which has a shorter 30 second timer compared to naturally letting it recover for 60 seconds.Counter Dread by dragging Dread to Sleep and then using Contentment. Fascination can be countered by Dread using Sleep, but it doesn't consume Dread.Funds can be used to buy tinctures of opium, generating Contentment. There's a chance of becoming Ill though. The game says there's a small chance of provoking despair but I haven't seen it.Illness and Injuries can be cured using Funds or Vitality.Using Health, Passion, or Reason will allow you to dream. Dreams randomly give you: Dread, Vitality, Contentment, Fascination, and Glimmering (not sure if it also gives Erudition). In other words, very unreliable.Using Passion, and then either Lantern or Knock lore, you can enter the Mansus.To progress through the Mansus (and thus the game), you'll need to improve your knowledge of Knock or Lantern.When entering the Mansus, the Way cards are usually a better option than just dreaming randomly since one of the results are always shown.

From what I've seen, each location for each Way has 2-5 cards to draw from.I've found The White Door as one of the most useful Ways. By exhausting just one of your Health, you can get: get Restlessness (useful for countering Fascination), Fascination, Glimmering, Erudition, and if you're really close to getting arrested, A Favour from Authority.Be careful when dreaming, the Mansus is usually where Fascination comes from.

Also, some of the more powerful Influences will turn into Dread, Fascination, and others.You can enter the Peacock Door byStudy. Use Advancement cards like Vitality, Erudition, and Glimmering to improve your Attributes and Skills. Higher levels of Skill will need more cards up to a maximum of 8. It seems there's no limit to how much you can improve your Attributes, but you'll always need 8 Advancement cards.

Read books to learn Lore. Rarer books may also give you Dread, Fascination, or Influences. Books in another language need to be translated to be read.

Some books and Patrons/creatures can teach you how to translate them. Combine same levels of Lore to improve it. You'll usually need some Glimmering, Erudition, and Reason to do it though.

Split Lore into two lower levelled Lore using one Reason. This is easier and faster than combining or subverting. You can subvert Lores using two different Lores. For example, you can Study Grail with Moth, which will subvert (i.e. Consume) that Grail lore and improve Moth to the next level.

This makes it possible to convert excess Lores into other types. Like with combining, you'll need Glimmering, Erudition, and Reason. Studying Knock with another type of Lore will always turn it into Knock, so be careful. My advice, always leave at least one level 2 Lore (the minimum level) since all Lore books are Unique (only one exists per game). Some of the rare books give 14 (max) level Lore though, so you probably don't need to subvert that much.Talk. Use with any type or level of Lore to find Acquaintances, and sometimes Hanger-Ons, but you'll need Reason or Passion. This always generates Mystique afterwards.

Important: ALL cultists are Unique. Each Aspect has 2-3 cultists, and you only have up to 8 Hanger-ons per game. Do try to keep them alive and sane. Talk to Summons and Hirelings to keep them around longer.

Talk to your Summon and let them talk to another Summon/other card (with a timer) to keep them both of them longer. Talk directly with your Followers/creatures/hirelings, and then drag your Cult card to carry out actions in your cult's name. Depending on a Follower's Aspect, they can do different things. There's always a chance of failure (usually killing them and generating Notoriety), but having 10 in an Aspect is guaranteed.most of the time!. Heart removes Mystique and Notoriety.

Failure has no downsides, aside from not removing Mystique/Notoriety and 'extending' their timers (since timers don't run out when in a slot). Grail finds Prisoners for your Rites or Desire. Can also be used for Annoyances. Edge and Winter are the only ones that have a decent chance of killing Hunters and Annoyances. Edge is better than Winter though. Moth can steal Funds and (Common?)Tools/Ingredients, and destroy Evidence.

Failure can result in death or increase in Notoriety. Even Moth Exalted doesn't have a 100% chance of destroying evidence! Can also be used for Annoyances. Forge repair broken Tools for you, but you'll need Funds or Spintrias. Lantern can randomly generate Erudition (not sure about Glimmering) and Influences.

Failure can generate Fascination, or kill/turn them insane. Knock, Forge, and Moth steals Funds for you. Probably not worth it unless they're Exalted. Edge and Winter can bring you Corpses for Rites. You can't sacrifice Hirelings for Poppy's first request, so it's best to sacrifice a Pawn instead.

By using your Cult card (e.g. Order of the Bloody Cup for Grail), you can recruit and promote Acquaintances to Believers (or Hanger-Ons to Pawns). You'll need also need enough on a specific Aspect depending on your Cult (e.g. Grail for Order of the Bloody Cup). To promote your Believers to Disciples, you'll need at least 7 of your cult's chosen Aspect. Beginners might think they need level 8 Lore, but you can use Ingredients, Tools, Influences, and Creatures to do bring the amount up.

For example, Children of Silence (Winter cult) can use level 2+ Winter Lore together with An Icy Atmosphere (6 Winter Influence) to promote them to Disciples. To Exalt a Disciple, you'll need 21 of your cult's Aspect. Exalted have unique names depending on your cult.

You can't promote your Disciples to Exalted if it's not your cult's Aspect (e.g. Can't promote Edge Disciples to Assassins if your cult's Aspect isn't Edge). Believers have 2 on one Aspect, Disciples have 5, while Exalted have 10.

(just a guess) Each point is a 10% chance of succeeding, whether its to carry out cult business or while exploring. You can talk directly with Hunters. If you plan to kill Hunters, this is better than talking to a Follower first then dragging the Hunter's because if they're investigating you next Season, the Hunter's card will be taken from the Talk slot. Kill or capture Hunters by sending Edge or Winter cultists/creatures.

Some Hunters are more resistant to being killed though, or even resistant to creature attacks, generating Notoriety or even killing the assailant if the attempt fails. If the the assailant has 10 Edge but failed because of a Hunter's specific trait, they won't die from what I've seen, but it will still generate Notoriety. Lead them to madness by using Dread or Fascination, or by using Winter or Lantern Lores. Higher level Lores will have a higher chance of success. I haven't succeeded ever by using Dread or Fascination on them though.

Using Lore or Dread/Fascination will also generate Dread/Fascination, so be careful. Grim Hunters are more vulnerable to Dread/Winter while Idealists are more vulnerable to Lantern/Fascination. Failure will usually make them immune for future attempts, and even make them resistant to being murdered. Like your cultists, Hunters with names are Unique per game, so its possible to kill, imprison, or drive them all mad. Eventually, you'll only face.

Talk with Patrons to receive and fulfill commissions. Finishing commissions will earn you Iron, Bronze, or Silver Spintrias, and either Erudition or Glimmering. A useful way to earn Funds and getting Erudition/Glimmering for upgrading/subverting Lore!. Drag your Temporary Headquarters to imprison Followers or Hirelings. If you need Prisoners, I suggest using Hirelings since they don't run out.Explore. Use Health or Followers to Explore places, or find Hirelings.

Use Secret Histories Lore to launch Expeditions and find Vaults to raid. There are only 3 notable Locations: Morland's Shop, Oriflamme's Auction House, and the Ecdysis Club. Morland and Oriflamme's are a source of Books in the early game, but they'll eventually run out!. Make sure you don't miss any books you need when buying stuff from Oriflamme, cause they'll be gone forever. Remember, Lore books are Unique! Of note is a movie reel that will teach you a useful Rite. Also, this means that you should never sell Lore books, or those books that increase Passion or Reason.

Feel free to sell Spintrias and translation books if you've already learned the language though!. Ecdysis Club is useful for getting Contentment. Sometimes generates other stuff too that help or hinder you, like Erudition or Notoriety.

Has a cooldown after being visited though, and needs one Fund. After finding the three places above, you'll either get Streets Strange by Moonlight or an opportunity to hire a Hireling. Streets Strange by Moonlight generates Contentment, Fascination, Erudition, Glimmering and some Influences. It never generates Dread, so it's a free and useful source of those things. The card is timed and will run out eventually though, and be careful of Fascination.

Hirelings have different Aspects just like your Followers, but they're generated randomly.