Blood Cult: Difference between revisions
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* Once the blood cult reaches '''40%''' of the active player population, everyone in the cult will receive a warning and after a moderate delay will gain a <span style="color:red;">'''blood-red cult halo'''</span>, '''permanently revealing the identity of existing AND new blood cultists. There is no way to hide this one.''' If you've managed to get this far, you ''should'' have no problems defeating the crew in a head-on battle if you can deal with Security. | * Once the blood cult reaches '''40%''' of the active player population, everyone in the cult will receive a warning and after a moderate delay will gain a <span style="color:red;">'''blood-red cult halo'''</span>, '''permanently revealing the identity of existing AND new blood cultists. There is no way to hide this one.''' If you've managed to get this far, you ''should'' have no problems defeating the crew in a head-on battle if you can deal with Security. | ||
== | ==How to fight the Blood Cult== | ||
Even with access to a large number of different runes and spells, there are still several threats to the cult on the station. | Even with access to a large number of different runes and spells, there are still several threats to the cult on the station. Here are some suggested courses of action if you are a non-cultist. | ||
===[[Chaplain]][[File:Generic_chaplain.png]]=== | |||
The Chaplain is immune to conversion and is able to turn normal water into '''Holy Water''', which can deconvert cultist back into normal people. With a [[Chaplain#Null_Rod|Null rod]] in inventory, the Chaplain is also immune to cult magic. The bible is able to make hidden runes visible. You are not immune to being sacrificed. | |||
=== [[ | ====Chaplain priorities==== | ||
'''When cult is confirmed:''' Make sure you have your [[Chaplain#Null_Rod|Null rod weapon]] and [[Chaplain#Holy_Book|Holy Book]] with you. Grab a water tank, bless it with your book so it turns into holy water, and drag the tank to the brig. The brig is now your home. You are a primary target for the cult, and will sometimes also be their sacrificial objective. | |||
'''(Optional) when brig has holy water secured:''' Grab a [[Atmospherics_items#Fire_Extinguisher|Fire Extinguisher]] from a wall. Empty it and fill it with holy water. You can use it to start blessing tiles, which prevents [[Construct#Wraith|Wraiths]] from jaunting over them. | |||
'''(Optional) if the AI has not been moved:''' Have the [[AI]] let you into its chamber, so you can bless it. Many cults will kill the [[AI]] early, by constructing a [[Construct#Wraith|Wraith]]. The wraith can easily jaunt in, appear right in front of the [[AI]] and kill it. You can prevent this by blessing most tiles in the AI's chamber. | |||
'''When you are safe in the brig:''' You can cooperate with security and stick close to them. Hopefully they will treat you with respect in return and give you some gear. If the time comes, you may then choose to be the vanguard in the final battle against the cult. | |||
The followers of Ratvar want nothing more than do summon their machine god, so it can take revenge on our beloved Nar-Sie. Due to their connection to Ratvar, they or their constructs cannot be converted, but they also can´t convert followers of Nar-Sie. As such, Ratvarian magic will be more effective against Nar-Sian cultists. The opposite is also true; much of Nar-Sie's magic is more effective against Ratvar's servants. ''(Clockwork Cult is disabled from game by default | ===[[Security]][[File:Generic_hos.png]]=== | ||
Even the best-prepared cultists will have trouble to defend themselves against the united power of security. Especially if the Chaplain helps them. Your job is to deconvert (or kill if necessary) cultists, find and crack down on cult bases, and destroy [[Construct|constructs]]. | |||
====How to deconvert a cultist with Holy Water==== | |||
'''Step 1: Find a suspected cultist.''' If less than 20% of crew are converted they will look like normal crew, so you will have to look for people who are behaving suspicous or are caught standing near runes. Small brute injuries on one arm, or isolated blood spills in someone's workplace could also be signs. If you know that more than 20% of crew are (or at some point were) converted to the cult, you should ask random crewmembers to take off their eyewear. When examining them a red text will say their eyes glow ominously. If more than 40% of crew is (or was) cult, you will also see pentagram halos above their heads. | |||
'''Step 2: Arrest the suspected cultist.''' Tase/stun and cuff, like any other criminal. As long as cuffed cultists are either held or bucklecuffed to a chair, they can not be teleported away by their fellow cultists. Take them to the interrogation room. | |||
'''(Optional) Step 3: Check the suspect's bag for a ritual dagger.''' The cult might still be too small to have glowy eyes. Lock it away so it can't be used to stop deconversion, in case a prisoner resists out of the cuffs. | |||
'''Step 4: Force feed the cultist at least 25 units of Holy Water'''. Use '''30 units''' to be safe. It takes exactly 60 chemical ticks (about 2 minutes or less) to deconvert a cultist. After 25 ticks (about 50 seconds or less) the cultist will have a 20% chance per tick to spout random cult sentences which, when it happens, also has a 10% chance to cause 12 seconds of unconsciousness. Stunprod the prisoners every now and then to make sure they don't resist out of the cuffs. The holy water will instantly clear out blood rites and blood spells. | |||
'''Step 5: [[Security_items#Mindshield_Implant|Mindshield Implant]] the cultist.''' Mindshield implants will not deconvert cultists, but it will prevent them from being converted/reconverted. [[Security]] and the [[Captain]] are implanted by default. | |||
<br> | |||
====If shit hits the fan==== | |||
If you start seeing pentagram halos you might not have time to arrest and deconvert anymore. Team up, gear up with your weapons of choice, and start killing or critting people with halos. If the situation feels under control again then go back to deconverting. <br> | |||
Here are some tips and tricks for security: | |||
* Mirror shields will instantly shatter, stunning their users, if hit by a shot that does 30 damage or more. This includes stamina damage. Disabler beams do 36 stamina damage. | |||
* Zealot's Blindfolds protect against flashes, but not against bangs. Use [[Security_items#Flashbang|flashbangs]]. | |||
* Consider arming deconverted and implanted former cultists. They should be your confirmed allies. | |||
* If you die and are cloned, get a new [[Security_items#Mindshield_Implant|Mindshield Implant]] as soon as possible. | |||
* [[Construct|Constructs]] can not be stunned and are never on your side. Kill them with lethal weapons without hesitation. | |||
===[[Medbay]][[File:MedicalDoctor.png]]=== | |||
If you work in the medbay it's not your job to directly fight the cult, but you may still do so if you wish. Whatever you do, be careful about attacking people if you are not sure who is cultist or not. The same goes for every other department as well. <br> | |||
Here are some general tips and tricks for medbay workers: | |||
'''[[Medical Doctor|Medical Doctors]]:''' Examine people before healing them, to check for glowy eyes. If you don't see anything obvious, then try to do your job as normal. <br>If you have holy water you can be extra helpful by building a [[Guide_to_chemistry#Smoke_Machine|smoke machine]]. Print the board from the medical techfab or ask the AI to let you into the [[Tech_Storage|tech storage]] so you can grab it. Print stock parts and cable coil from an [[autolathe]]. Fill it with holy water and turn it on. Cultists who breathe the holy water will have their prepared spells deleted, so they can no longer stun you. The holy water smoke will also bless tiles. | |||
'''[[Chemist|Chemists]]:''' You can create non-lethal syringes with [[Guide_to_chemistry#Chloral_Hydrate|Chloral Hydrate]] or other chems, to use in a syringe gun. Then if you accidentally shoot a non-cultist it won't be a big deal. If you manage to put a confirmed cultist to sleep, then feel free to cuff them with [[Makeshift_weapons#Cablecuffs|cablecuffs]] and bring them to the brig for deconversion. You can also make [[Guide_to_chemistry#Ephedrine|combat drugs]] and hand them to security. | |||
'''[[Geneticist|Geneticists]]:''' You can try to find powers such as x-ray vision, and then make injectors to give to [[security]]. Check people's bags for cult items before cloning them, so you don't accidentally clone a cultist without security's supervision. | |||
<br> | |||
Also, try to keep your distance from people acting suspicious. Medbay usually has some secluded areas, and cultists can easily stun and kidnap you in melee range. Don't try to fight them unless you know what you're doing. | |||
===[[Cargo]][[File:Generic_cargo.png]]=== | |||
'''Order Religious Supplies crates.''' If the Chaplain is nowhere to be seen and security don't have any holy water, order this as fast as possible. The crate contains holy water. | |||
'''Order [[Security_items#Mindshield_Implant|Mindshield Implants]].''' If people really don't want to be converted to cult, they can request to be implanted after cult presence is confirmed. If security is properly deconverting crew, they might run out of implants unless cargo ordered more. | |||
'''Order guns.''' If you have a way to open the crates, then guns could help give you or [[security]] the upper hand. Remember, be careful about who you shoot if you don't know who is cultist. Prefer using non-lethals if holy water is available. | |||
===[[Science]][[File:scientist_generic.png]]=== | |||
'''[[Guide to toxins|Toxins]]''': While bombs should be the crew's last resort, they are the strongest weapon you can use to stop a Nar-Sie summon. If you hear the summoning announcement, it might be time to deliver a bomb to the announced location, as a final decisive move against the cult. | |||
'''[[Roboticist]]''': [[Guide_to_robotics#Exosuits|Exosuits]] are strong when cracking down on cult bases. Feel free to build one or more. Cult spells and items can not stun mechs, but they can still damage and destroy it. | |||
'''[[Guide to xenobiology|Xenobiologist]]''': Some slime cores, such as those from [[Guide_to_xenobiology#Sepia_Slime|Sepia Slimes]] can be very powerful in combat, if you manage to get them. Be careful though, as in the xenobiology lab you are often isolated which could make you an easy target. | |||
===[[Engineering]][[File:Generic_engineer.png]]=== | |||
'''[[Engineer]]''': Normally, cultists are not allowed to sabotage the engine since it may hurt their teammates. Just make sure there is power. Feel free to build backup [[Guide_to_Telecommunications|telecomms]] in case a [[Construct#Wraith|wraith]] wrecks it (cultists don't need [[Guide_to_Telecommunications|telecomms]]). You can also try asking the [[AI]] let you move its core to a hidden location, if you can make it trust you. | |||
'''[[Atmospheric Technician]]''': You don't need to go out of your way to fight the cult, unless you have some sort of plan. Do not flood the station with gas, since it might hurt non-cultists. Repair any hull breaches resulting from combat. | |||
===[[Botany]][[File:Generic_botanist.png]]=== | |||
'''Grow [[Guide_to_hydroponics#Holymelon|Holymelons]].''' Not only can they be grinded for holy water, but they also have anti-magic properties. Keep a [[Guide_to_hydroponics#Holymelon|Holymelon]] in your hand or pocket and you should be immune to cult conversion and some other cult spells. | |||
===[[Clockwork Cult|Clockwork Cultists]] ''(disabled since 2018)'' [[File:servant_of_ratvar.png]]=== | |||
The followers of Ratvar want nothing more than do summon their machine god, so it can take revenge on our beloved Nar-Sie. Due to their connection to Ratvar, they or their constructs cannot be converted, but they also can´t convert followers of Nar-Sie. As such, Ratvarian magic will be more effective against Nar-Sian cultists. The opposite is also true; much of Nar-Sie's magic is more effective against Ratvar's servants. ''(Clockwork Cult is disabled from the game by default since 2018). '' | |||
== Tips == | == Tips == |
Revision as of 20:37, 4 October 2018
ENEMY STAFF | |
Follower of Nar-Sie |
Access: Whatever you have Additional Access: Wherever a teleportation rune is Difficulty: Medium Supervisors: Nar-Sie Duties: Sacrificing the needed target and Summoning Nar'Sie Guides: This is the guide Quote: NAR-SIE HAS RISEN |
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."
Even in the far future, some things are never quite understood. There are things that lurk in the darkness of space, unspeakable horrors of ancient power that wish to bring ruin to the universe and to shape it into their image. They reach out from the void, and turn the minds of mortal men and women in their favor in hopes that one day they shall be brought once more into this plane of existence.
Unfortunately for the station, looks like NanoTrasen accidentally positioned the station near an undetectable weak point in time and space. Whoops. Who would've known?
The Beginning of a New Era
The Geometer of Blood, Nar-Sie, has sent a number of her followers to Space Station 13. As a cultist, you have an abundance of cult magics at your disposal, something for all situations. You must work with your brethren to summon an avatar of your eldritch goddess!
Several cultists will arrive on the station. When you spawn, you'll find a ritual dagger and 10 runed metal in your bag. The dagger is essential for drawing runes while the runed metal is used to make valuable structures.
Objectives
Your objective requires you to sacrifice a certain crewmember and summon Nar-Sie.
The general path of action of the cult and those in it:
- From a discrete location, contact your allies through your Commune button.
Warning: When communing with the cult, any nearby crew can see and hear you whispering, potentially revealing your cult. Be careful!.
Important: Communication and teamwork is essential! If you fail to read the guide, you will probably fuck up the round for everybody, prove unworthy for the cult of Nar-Sie, and may even be banned from becoming an antagonist! - Choose a Cult Master, usually being the most experienced player or the one with the most advantageous access level. More on this later.
- Find an area to convert into a base, usually accessible by one or more members of the cult, but well-hidden enough that security or crew won't find it easily.
- Setup a teleport rune, so all cultists can access it. Inform the cultists that a teleport rune is ready. If you teleport to the base, try to have a hidden teleport rune to get you back, otherwise, you could be stuck!
- Setup an empowering rune and then prepare up to 4 blood spells. Stun spells are your bread and butter - but diversifying with spells like EMP, Teleport, Blood Rites, etc. will ensure you're ready for anything.
- Convert new members, or sacrifice implanted crew, on the offer rune. Combine the filled Soulstone Shards from sacrificed humans to create powerful cult constructs!
- Use teamwork, or the spirit rune, to find your sacrifice target. Remember, stun magic won't work if the chaplain has his null rod. Kill the sacrifice target and place them on an offer rune with 3 cultists nearby.
- Prepare to summon Nar-Sie. She can only be summoned in a few locations and the crew will fight desperately to stop you! Make sure you have enough cultists and equipment to withstand their assault.
- Gather 9 cultists on the final rune to summon Nar-Sie!
Sacrifice
REMINDER: One cultist is required to sacrifice a dead body, three for a live one, standing adjacent to the rune. Each sacrafice will add to the Cult's total number of sacrifices, which are used to revive deceased bretheren instantly over a Revival Rune.
To please Nar-Sie, you must find and sacrifice your target using an offer rune. Only then you can scribe the Summon Nar'Sie rune.
NAR-SIE HAS RISEN
After you have sacrificed your target, you can summon Nar-Sie. Nar-Sie can only be summoned in one of three rooms randomly chosen at round start. Drawing the summon rune takes 45 seconds and creates a weak shield around the caster but alarms the entire station of your location, so prepare to fight. After it's drawn, 9 cultists, constructs, or summoned ghosts must stand on the rune, which can then be invoked to manifest Nar'Sie itself.
The Cult Master and You
The Cult Master is the leader of your cult, the main driving force behind your goal to summon Nar-Sie. The Cult Master has access to a wide variety of abilities to assist the cult in achieving its goals. Make sure to protect and serve him/her at all costs, as they are the key to the cult success!
So, how does one become the Master?
When the round first starts, an additional button along with your Commune verb will be available. The "Assert Leadership" button will allow you to apply for the Cult Master status. Once a member of the cult asserts their leadership, an announcement will be made to all cultists. After a few seconds, a vote will be called where the cult can vote whether or not they want that person as the Cult Master. If the vote passes, the player will gain the Cult Master's abilities. If you are not the Master, make sure to follow his/her orders, as they are now your superior!
Being The Master of Wrist Cutting
So, you asserted your leadership and won the vote of the cult. Congratulations on your promotion to Cult Master! I hope you know what you are doing. If you have experience playing as a department head this shouldn't be too different, minus the killing and summoning elder gods part.
To summon Nar-Sie, you are going to need to keep organized and grow your numbers as much as possible while remaining hidden. As the Cult Master, your Commune power is enhanced, making all of your messages large and bolded just like when you use a megaphone. This will assist greatly in organizing the cult, as the other cultists will be able to easily see your messages among the common radio rabble.
Here is a quick reference guide on what you should be doing as the Cult Master:
- Determine a hidden, easily defendable location for your cultists to congregate. They will need a place to create runes and structures to assist the cult.
- Beat back and silence any potential intruders to your hideout.
- Stay back and relay information and orders with use of the Spirit Realm rune, and let your goons handle the dirty work. Make sure to have a Medbot, Pylon or some other source of healing nearby so you don't drain your life completely.
- Staying at the base helps you reach the two-cultist requirement you need to convert someone. When a fellow cultist manages to snag and send back an unconverted crewmember, you will be there to bring them into the cult.
- While around your base, it is recommended to create items from the Altars and Forges to have a fresh supply of equipment ready when everyone needs it at once. Nobody likes waiting around the Forge because someone made a single set of armor and ran off.
- Lead your brethren into battle when the time comes to face the crew head on!
- Use your unique powers to move things around, target foes for your fellow cultists and use the Final Reckoning when you are ready to summon Nar-sie herself!
In the end, you call the shots. Your cult doesn't have to be run like this; experiment and find what works and doesn't! Even if you lose (odds are you will lose... a lot), you'll be better prepared for the next time the Cult of Nar-sie needs a leader.
Cult Master Powers
As the Cult Master, you have access to a handful of powerful and versatile occult powers to assist you and the rest of the cult. These powers can be accessed from the HUD on the top left. The powers are as follows:
The Ritual Dagger
Your dagger is your most important tool and has several functions:
- You can draw runes with it.
- Hitting a cultist with it removes Holy Water from them.
- Hitting a non-cultist with it will result in you stabbing them (huh), dealing 15 armor-piercing brute damage.
- Hitting runes with it removes them.
- Hitting cult structure with it will unanchor and anchor them, allowing you to move them around.
- Hitting a cult wall with it will open/close the wall (like fake walls).
If you're in a position that would usually wander the halls, try to seek out your fellow cultists in person. If not, check in with your brothers using your Commune verb, but do this in private, to prevent people from hearing your whispers. A lot of jobs have access to isolated areas of the station that are great for this, and there's also space. Remember, if you get caught, you endanger the entire cult.
Blood Spells
Blood Spells are limited-use blood magic spells that dissipate after they're spent, and they're your bread and butter when fighting the crew. Blood Spells can be created at any time via an action button that appears below your character. However, blood spells created without an Empowering Rune will take longer, cause significant blood loss, and will cap your spell count at a measly one. Using an Empowering Rune circumvents this issue and allow you to acquire up to 4 spells. You can use an Empowering Rune to remove these spells as well to free up room for others if need be.
A good tip is to make sure to try and have a stun spell and a teleport spell with you to escape risky situations. This will leave only two other options for spells though, so carefully choose what you think might help best for a particular situation.
List of Available Spells
Name | Description | Health Cost/No. of Charges |
---|---|---|
Stun | A potent spell that will stun and mute victims upon contact. Simple, clean, and quite effective for a plethora of situations.
|
10 HP |
Teleport | A useful spell that teleports cultists to a chosen destination with a teleport rune on contact. You can teleport other cultists or yourself if need be. | 7 HP |
Electromagnetic Pulse | A large spell that allows a user to channel dark energy into an EMP, causing all electronics in the area to malfunction or be disabled. | 10 HP |
Shadow Shackles | A stealthy spell that will summon shadowy handcuffs on a person and temporarily silence your victim. Useful for subduing crew. | 4 Charges |
Twisted Construction | A sinister spell used to convert:
|
50 Charges |
Summon Equipment | A crucial spell that enables you to summon either a ritual dagger or a full set of combat gear including armored robes, a Nar'Sien bola, and an eldritch longsword. | 1 Charge |
Hallucinations | A ranged yet stealthy spell that will break the mind of the victim with nightmarish hallucinations. | 4 Charges |
Conceal Runes | A multi-function spell that alternates between hiding and revealing nearby runes and cult structures. | 10 Charges |
Blood Rites | A unique multi-function spell that allows you to gather blood from the floor, or from live victims. Then, you can expend the blood to heal yourself or others.
Or, you can use the spell in hand to perform a handful of powerful offensive magic attacks:
|
5 Charges |
Runes
The Ritual Dagger allows you to scribe any of these runes, using Scribe Rune. Simply pick the rune you want, and wait until completion. Scribing a rune deals minor damage, since you need to cut your wrists to get the necessary blood.
Name | Description | Invokers Required | Phrase | Rune |
---|---|---|---|---|
Offering Rune | Instantly converts a normal crewmember on top of it to the cult, healing them for 75% of their brute and burn damage, and spawning a ritual dagger. Mindshield-implanted crew cannot be converted, only sacrificed - therefore it is recommended that you quickly finish off security victims before their radio or suit sensors can give you away!"
If the target is dead, ineligible for conversion or is the required sacrifice target, they'll be sacrificed instead, gibbing them and creating a Soulstone Shard that can be used to power a construct. |
1 to sacrifice dead targets, 2 to convert, 3 to sacrifice the objective or living targets | Mah'weyh pleggh at e'ntrath! | |
Empowering Rune | Allows cultists to prepare greater amounts of blood magic at far less of a cost. While standing on an empowering rune, the spell count is capped at 4 instead of 1. Additionally, preparing blood magic takes far less time, and you don't lose as much blood while doing it. | 1 | H'drak v'loso, mir'kanas verbot! | |
Teleport Rune | This rune warps everything above it to another teleport rune when used. Creating a teleport rune will allow you to set a tag for it. Warning: Teleporting from Lavaland or Space will make the destination rune glow brightly and open a rift in reality that may not only reveal the rune, but the location of your main base as well, choose your rune locations wisely! |
1 | Sas'so c'arta forbici! | |
Revive Rune | Whenever someone is sacrificed on a Convert rune, they add one (global) charge to this rune. Placing a cultist corpse on the rune and activating it will bring them back to life, expending a hefty three charges in the process. It starts with one freebie revival, so use it sparingly.
SSD Cultists can be reawakened with a new soul by put them onto the Revive run and activating it. This method of revival does not consume any charges. |
1 | Pasnar val'keriam usinar. Savrae ines amutan. Yam'toth remium il'tarat! | |
Barrier Rune | When invoked, makes a 5-minute invisible wall to block passage. Can be invoked again to reverse this. Examine the rune to see how much time the barrier has left. | 1 | Khari'd! Eske'te tannin! | |
Summoning Rune | This rune allows you to instantly summon any living cultist to the rune, consuming it afterward. This rune will only work on the main space station, but can grab cultists from almost any location! Does not work on restrained cultists who are buckled or being pulled. | 2 | N'ath reth sh'yro eth d'rekkathnor! | |
Blood Boil Rune | When invoked, it saps some health from the invokers to send three damaging pulses to anyone who can see the rune, causing 25/50/75 damage split evenly between brute and burn. When the effect is over the rune will briefly set fire to anything over it.
Some species, such as golems, do not have blood, and thus are immune to this rune. |
3 | Dedo ol'btoh! | |
Rune of the Spirit Realm | This rune gives you two powerful options: (1) To manifest ghosts as semitransparent homunculi, which are effectively weak, humanoid cultists with no self preservation instinct. To sustain these homunculi, you must remain on the rune, and each homunculi you have summoned will deal damage over time. This option is only available on the space station itself - the veil is not weak enough in space or Lavaland to give spirits a physical form! |
1 | Gal'h'rfikk harfrandid mud'gib! | |
Apocalypse | A harbinger of the end times. It scales depending on the crew's strength relative to the cult. Effect includes a massive EMP, unique hallucination for non-cultists, and if the cult is doing poorly, certain events. The rune can only occur in the Nar-Sie ritual sites and will prevent Nar-Sie from being summoned there in the future. Similarly to the Ritual of Dimensional Rending, the Apocalypse rune can only be scribed in one of the 3 ritual areas. After the Apocalypse rune has been scribed, that particular ritual area can no longer be used to summon Nar-Sie.
|
3 | Ta'gh fara'qha fel d'amar det! | |
Ritual of Dimensional Rending | This rune tears apart dimensional barriers, calling forth the Geometer. It needs a free 3x3 space, and can only be summoned in 3 areas around the station. To start drawing it the requested target must have already been sacrificed. Starting to draw this rune creates a weak forcefield around the caster and alarms the entire station of its location. The caster must be defended for 45 seconds before it's complete.
After it's drawn, 9 cultists, constructs, or summoned ghosts must stand on the rune, which can then be invoked to manifest Nar'Sie itself. |
9 | TOK-LYR RQA-NAP G'OLT-ULOFT!! |
Structures
By using a construction talisman on platsteel, you are able to get runed metal. With it, you can build several structures, with unique powers. You can unanchor cult buildings by hitting them with your tome. Using "Conceal Runes" near these structures will make them turn invisible, and make runed doors look like regular airlocks.
Constructs
Robust cultists will likely want to enlist the services of a few constructs. To create a construct, a cultist requires:
- A filled soul stone, either by sacrificing a human, or capturing a soul manually with a stone from an artificer.
- An empty shell, either by casting Twisted Construction on 50 metal sheets, from an artificer, or from an archive.
When the filled soul stone shard is used on an empty shell, the cultist will be allowed to choose the desired construct to create. Keep in mind these guys are pretty much a dead giveaway that there is cult activity on the station, so try to be covert about it in the beginning.
A complete guide to constructs can be found here. Artificers will poop out new Soulstone Shards and Shells, wraiths can kill the AI, and Juggernauts are great tanks.
Ghosts
Even when dead, ghosts can assist their cult by marking the target they are orbiting for the entire cult to track. This temporary blood mark allows for the cult to easily hunt down and possibly even manage to kill the chaplain/sacrifice target.
The Inevitable Discovery
As the cult rises in power, you and your brethren will begin to undergo some revealing effects caused by the power gained due to the number of members you have in the cult. This will make you easier to spot by unfriendly crewmembers, and after a certain point, there will be no way to hide from the crew. You'll have to make a stand and fight off the rest.
The veil weakens as your cult grows, your eyes begin to glow...
- Once the blood cult reaches 20% of the active player population, everyone in the cult will receive a notice that the cult is "rising" - and after a moderate delay, the eyes of all existing and new cultists will be permanently red. Examining any cultist with uncovered eyes will confirm their supernatural appearance. Thankfully, this is easily avoidable by wearing any form of eyewear, but still could get you caught out if people are examing you closely without eyewear.
Your cult is ascendant and the red harvest approaches - you cannot hide your true nature for much longer!!
- Once the blood cult reaches 40% of the active player population, everyone in the cult will receive a warning and after a moderate delay will gain a blood-red cult halo, permanently revealing the identity of existing AND new blood cultists. There is no way to hide this one. If you've managed to get this far, you should have no problems defeating the crew in a head-on battle if you can deal with Security.
How to fight the Blood Cult
Even with access to a large number of different runes and spells, there are still several threats to the cult on the station. Here are some suggested courses of action if you are a non-cultist.
Chaplain
The Chaplain is immune to conversion and is able to turn normal water into Holy Water, which can deconvert cultist back into normal people. With a Null rod in inventory, the Chaplain is also immune to cult magic. The bible is able to make hidden runes visible. You are not immune to being sacrificed.
Chaplain priorities
When cult is confirmed: Make sure you have your Null rod weapon and Holy Book with you. Grab a water tank, bless it with your book so it turns into holy water, and drag the tank to the brig. The brig is now your home. You are a primary target for the cult, and will sometimes also be their sacrificial objective.
(Optional) when brig has holy water secured: Grab a Fire Extinguisher from a wall. Empty it and fill it with holy water. You can use it to start blessing tiles, which prevents Wraiths from jaunting over them.
(Optional) if the AI has not been moved: Have the AI let you into its chamber, so you can bless it. Many cults will kill the AI early, by constructing a Wraith. The wraith can easily jaunt in, appear right in front of the AI and kill it. You can prevent this by blessing most tiles in the AI's chamber.
When you are safe in the brig: You can cooperate with security and stick close to them. Hopefully they will treat you with respect in return and give you some gear. If the time comes, you may then choose to be the vanguard in the final battle against the cult.
Security
Even the best-prepared cultists will have trouble to defend themselves against the united power of security. Especially if the Chaplain helps them. Your job is to deconvert (or kill if necessary) cultists, find and crack down on cult bases, and destroy constructs.
How to deconvert a cultist with Holy Water
Step 1: Find a suspected cultist. If less than 20% of crew are converted they will look like normal crew, so you will have to look for people who are behaving suspicous or are caught standing near runes. Small brute injuries on one arm, or isolated blood spills in someone's workplace could also be signs. If you know that more than 20% of crew are (or at some point were) converted to the cult, you should ask random crewmembers to take off their eyewear. When examining them a red text will say their eyes glow ominously. If more than 40% of crew is (or was) cult, you will also see pentagram halos above their heads.
Step 2: Arrest the suspected cultist. Tase/stun and cuff, like any other criminal. As long as cuffed cultists are either held or bucklecuffed to a chair, they can not be teleported away by their fellow cultists. Take them to the interrogation room.
(Optional) Step 3: Check the suspect's bag for a ritual dagger. The cult might still be too small to have glowy eyes. Lock it away so it can't be used to stop deconversion, in case a prisoner resists out of the cuffs.
Step 4: Force feed the cultist at least 25 units of Holy Water. Use 30 units to be safe. It takes exactly 60 chemical ticks (about 2 minutes or less) to deconvert a cultist. After 25 ticks (about 50 seconds or less) the cultist will have a 20% chance per tick to spout random cult sentences which, when it happens, also has a 10% chance to cause 12 seconds of unconsciousness. Stunprod the prisoners every now and then to make sure they don't resist out of the cuffs. The holy water will instantly clear out blood rites and blood spells.
Step 5: Mindshield Implant the cultist. Mindshield implants will not deconvert cultists, but it will prevent them from being converted/reconverted. Security and the Captain are implanted by default.
If shit hits the fan
If you start seeing pentagram halos you might not have time to arrest and deconvert anymore. Team up, gear up with your weapons of choice, and start killing or critting people with halos. If the situation feels under control again then go back to deconverting.
Here are some tips and tricks for security:
- Mirror shields will instantly shatter, stunning their users, if hit by a shot that does 30 damage or more. This includes stamina damage. Disabler beams do 36 stamina damage.
- Zealot's Blindfolds protect against flashes, but not against bangs. Use flashbangs.
- Consider arming deconverted and implanted former cultists. They should be your confirmed allies.
- If you die and are cloned, get a new Mindshield Implant as soon as possible.
- Constructs can not be stunned and are never on your side. Kill them with lethal weapons without hesitation.
Medbay
If you work in the medbay it's not your job to directly fight the cult, but you may still do so if you wish. Whatever you do, be careful about attacking people if you are not sure who is cultist or not. The same goes for every other department as well.
Here are some general tips and tricks for medbay workers:
Medical Doctors: Examine people before healing them, to check for glowy eyes. If you don't see anything obvious, then try to do your job as normal.
If you have holy water you can be extra helpful by building a smoke machine. Print the board from the medical techfab or ask the AI to let you into the tech storage so you can grab it. Print stock parts and cable coil from an autolathe. Fill it with holy water and turn it on. Cultists who breathe the holy water will have their prepared spells deleted, so they can no longer stun you. The holy water smoke will also bless tiles.
Chemists: You can create non-lethal syringes with Chloral Hydrate or other chems, to use in a syringe gun. Then if you accidentally shoot a non-cultist it won't be a big deal. If you manage to put a confirmed cultist to sleep, then feel free to cuff them with cablecuffs and bring them to the brig for deconversion. You can also make combat drugs and hand them to security.
Geneticists: You can try to find powers such as x-ray vision, and then make injectors to give to security. Check people's bags for cult items before cloning them, so you don't accidentally clone a cultist without security's supervision.
Also, try to keep your distance from people acting suspicious. Medbay usually has some secluded areas, and cultists can easily stun and kidnap you in melee range. Don't try to fight them unless you know what you're doing.
Cargo
Order Religious Supplies crates. If the Chaplain is nowhere to be seen and security don't have any holy water, order this as fast as possible. The crate contains holy water.
Order Mindshield Implants. If people really don't want to be converted to cult, they can request to be implanted after cult presence is confirmed. If security is properly deconverting crew, they might run out of implants unless cargo ordered more.
Order guns. If you have a way to open the crates, then guns could help give you or security the upper hand. Remember, be careful about who you shoot if you don't know who is cultist. Prefer using non-lethals if holy water is available.
Science
Toxins: While bombs should be the crew's last resort, they are the strongest weapon you can use to stop a Nar-Sie summon. If you hear the summoning announcement, it might be time to deliver a bomb to the announced location, as a final decisive move against the cult.
Roboticist: Exosuits are strong when cracking down on cult bases. Feel free to build one or more. Cult spells and items can not stun mechs, but they can still damage and destroy it.
Xenobiologist: Some slime cores, such as those from Sepia Slimes can be very powerful in combat, if you manage to get them. Be careful though, as in the xenobiology lab you are often isolated which could make you an easy target.
Engineering
Engineer: Normally, cultists are not allowed to sabotage the engine since it may hurt their teammates. Just make sure there is power. Feel free to build backup telecomms in case a wraith wrecks it (cultists don't need telecomms). You can also try asking the AI let you move its core to a hidden location, if you can make it trust you.
Atmospheric Technician: You don't need to go out of your way to fight the cult, unless you have some sort of plan. Do not flood the station with gas, since it might hurt non-cultists. Repair any hull breaches resulting from combat.
Botany
Grow Holymelons. Not only can they be grinded for holy water, but they also have anti-magic properties. Keep a Holymelon in your hand or pocket and you should be immune to cult conversion and some other cult spells.
Clockwork Cultists (disabled since 2018)
The followers of Ratvar want nothing more than do summon their machine god, so it can take revenge on our beloved Nar-Sie. Due to their connection to Ratvar, they or their constructs cannot be converted, but they also can´t convert followers of Nar-Sie. As such, Ratvarian magic will be more effective against Nar-Sian cultists. The opposite is also true; much of Nar-Sie's magic is more effective against Ratvar's servants. (Clockwork Cult is disabled from the game by default since 2018).
Tips
- Cultists can know a rune's name and effects by examining it.
- Your dagger is a robust melee weapon with 15 damage and good armor-piercing, it can also be sharpened to further increase its lethality.
- Always be ready to summon a cultist in trouble. Stunned or restrained cultists cannot call for help on the cult communion, so keep an eye on the Common channel. If you see a cultist being arrested be sure to report it in communion so they can be rescued before its too late! You can also use the spirit rune to check for cultists in trouble or ask ghosts for the location of dead cultists to revive.
- Spirit Sight is an incredibly powerful exploration tool, and ghosts can give you precious hints.
- The chaplain's weapon makes them immune to most of your magic. Don't attempt to use stun spells on them while they have their weapon, or you will get discovered and likely killed.
- Keeping a shade in a Soulstone Shard with you will allow you to use two-person runes by yourself, by releasing and then recapturing the shade.
- Cultists often find a use for medibots. Having a single bot with a low threshold, backed up by brutepacks or pylons, can keep your cult in fighting shape.
- Get some plasteel either from mining, stealing it from robotics, engineering or EVA storage, or deconstructing reinforced walls/tables if you are desperate.
- The EMP spell and Apocalypse Rune are both incredibly useful. They can give you access almost anywhere, just don't forget your crowbar!
- Manifest Spirit is also useful for getting those missing cultists you need for the Nar'Sie rune.
- A construct can quickly take down an AI. The best one to do the job is the Wraith. It can jaunt into the core and take the AI down before the crew can respond.
- Drawing a rune on a cult floor is 50% faster than on a normal floor (except the Nar-Sie rune). Cult floors also resist changes in atmosphere like hull breaches or plasma floods.
- If the Harvesters bring enough people to Nar-Sie you may or may not get a special ending.
- You may be tempted to try converting the Free Golems down in mining but be warned, Adamantine Golems are anti-magic and your spells will not work on them, similarly, Silver and Cloth Golems are Holy and will also be immune to your conversion.
Nar-Sie
Once you've completed the ritual, Nar-Sie will come forth.
Her destructive power is unmatched, transforming the bodies of the unenlightened and twisting the very walls to suit her image.
Few things are capable of challenging Nar-Sie's sheer power.
One of them is Ratvar.
If Nar-Sie and Ratvar encounter one another,
Th̗̮̪̹́ͅe̘n̺ ̤̣͟ơ͙͈̻n̵̘̦l̫̬̀ͅyͅ ̲ò̮̤n̼̻̼̖̭̪͠ͅe̬͚͕̲̻̰ ҉͚̞͙̞̭̼s̡͖h̜̻̞̣̩̟ͅa̴͉͍̯̟͎̠l̳̝̖̫͞ḷ͔̘̞͞ ̯̞̥̱̲͙̕ͅe̛̙m̦̻̗̹̝̹͘e͈r̫g͕͉̠e͢ ̮͎̗̮̭̭̝a̱͍͍ͅl͙̗͔̹̻̗͈i͕͕̣̫̳̞v̗͈͍͝e.̛̟
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