Resource Overview
There are 6 resources in Idle Cult Empire, each with different acquisition methods and uses:
| Resource |
Primary Source |
Main Use |
| 🙏 Faith |
Clicking, Buildings |
Everything (foundation) |
| 👻 Souls |
Sacrifices, Buildings |
Advanced buildings, Upgrades |
| 🩸 Blood |
Sacrifices, Beast Den |
Creatures, Rituals |
| ⚡ Dark Energy |
Dark Obelisk, Sacrifices |
Late-game buildings, Skills |
| 💰 Gold |
Laboratory |
Managers |
| 💎 Gems |
Achievements only |
Skip construction time |
🙏 Faith
The foundation of your cult. Faith is required for almost everything.
How to Gain Faith
- Click the pentagram (1 faith per click, upgradeable)
- Chapel produces 0.5 faith/sec
- Shrine produces 1 faith/sec
- Temple produces 8 faith/sec
- Each follower generates 0.1 faith/sec passively
- Creatures: Imp (+0.5), Demon (+2), Arch Demon (+10)
Use the Prayer Circle ritual to double faith production for 30 seconds. Great for early game!
👻 Souls
Ethereal essence harvested from your followers. Required for advanced buildings.
How to Gain Souls
- Sacrifice followers: 10 souls each
- Sacrificial Altar produces 0.3 souls/sec
- Soul Crypt produces 3 souls/sec
- Temple produces 1 soul/sec
- Creatures: Shade (+0.2), Wraith (+1), Arch Demon (+3)
Balance sacrifices with recruitment. You need followers to sacrifice, but sacrificing too many slows faith production.
🩸 Blood
Life essence collected from sacrifices. Used for creatures and dark rituals.
How to Gain Blood
- Sacrifice followers: 5 blood each
- Sacrificial Altar produces 0.1 blood/sec
- Beast Den produces 2 blood/sec
- Creatures: Hellhound (+0.3), Nightmare (+0.5)
The Blood Moon ritual triples both soul AND blood production for 30 seconds.
⚡ Dark Energy
Mystical force from the void. Essential for late-game progression.
How to Gain Dark Energy
| Source |
Amount |
Requirements |
| Sacrifice followers |
2 each |
None |
| Dark Obelisk |
1/sec |
10K faith, 500 souls, 50 dark energy |
| Laboratory |
0.5/sec |
25K faith, 200 dark energy |
| Void Portal |
4/sec |
100K faith, 5K souls, 1K dark energy |
| Cult Citadel |
30/sec |
1M faith, 50K souls, 10K dark energy |
Creatures that produce Dark Energy
- Wraith: +0.1/sec
- Nightmare: +0.5/sec
- Arch Demon: +0.5/sec
- Void Lord: +3/sec
- Eldritch Horror: +5/sec
You need 50 dark energy to build your first Dark Obelisk. Get this from sacrifices (25 sacrifices) or use promo code DARKPOWER for 100 free dark energy!
The Void Communion ritual gives 5x dark energy production for 20 seconds. Use it when you have multiple sources producing!
💰 Gold
Created through dark alchemy. Primarily used to hire managers.
How to Gain Gold
| Source |
Gold/sec |
Requirements |
| Laboratory |
2 |
25K faith, 200 dark energy |
| Void Portal |
8 |
100K faith, 5K souls, 1K dark energy |
| Cult Citadel |
80 |
1M faith, 50K souls, 10K dark energy |
| Void Lord creature |
1 |
Breed: Arch Demon + Wraith |
| Eldritch Horror |
3 |
Breed: Void Lord + Nightmare |
Other Gold Sources
- Mission "Scout the Village": 10 gold
- Mission "Corrupted Ritual": 500 gold
- Quest rewards: 100-2,000 gold
- Daily reward Day 5: 200 gold
The Golden Transmutation ritual gives 10x gold for 15 seconds. Use when your Laboratory is high level!
Hire the Mad Alchemist manager for 3x Laboratory production!
💎 Gems
Premium currency. Cannot be produced - must be earned!
How to Gain Gems
- Complete achievements (1-500 gems each)
- Finish quests (5-200 gems)
- Daily reward Day 3: 10 gems
- Daily reward Day 7: 50 gems
- Complete special events
- Redeem promo codes
What Gems Are Used For
- Skip construction time (0.1 gems per second remaining)
Check the Achievements tab regularly - you might have unclaimed gems!
Progression Guide
Follow this path for optimal progression:
Early Game (Chapter 1-2)
- Click to gather faith
- Build Chapel, then Shrine
- Recruit 5+ followers to unlock Altar
- Start sacrificing for souls and blood
- Build Sacrificial Altar for passive income
Mid Game (Chapter 3-4)
- Build Temple (requires Shrine level 5)
- Build Soul Crypt (requires Altar level 3)
- Save up 50 dark energy from sacrifices
- Build Dark Obelisk for dark energy production
- Build Laboratory for gold production
- Hire your first managers
Late Game (Chapter 5+)
- Build Void Portal (produces all resources)
- Breed high-tier creatures
- Work toward 1M total faith for Ascension
- Ascend to earn Dark Essence
- Spend Dark Essence on permanent skill upgrades
Don't ascend too early! Make sure you've unlocked most upgrades and buildings first.
Creature Breeding
Creatures provide passive resource production. Breed them to unlock higher tiers!
How Breeding Works
- Select two creatures from the dropdowns
- The preview shows what offspring you'll get
- Click "Breed" to start (uses a breeding slot)
- Wait for the timer to complete
- Parents are NOT consumed - you keep them!
Breeding Combinations
| Offspring |
Parents |
Time |
Production |
| Imp T1 |
Unlocked at start |
30s |
+0.5 faith |
| Shade T1 |
Unlocked at start |
45s |
+0.2 souls |
| Hellhound T2 |
Imp + Shade |
1m |
+0.3 blood |
| Lesser Demon T2 |
Imp + Imp |
1m 30s |
+2 faith, +0.5 souls |
| Wraith T2 |
Shade + Shade |
1m 30s |
+1 souls, +0.1 dark energy |
| Nightmare T3 |
Hellhound + Shade |
3m |
+0.5 dark energy, +0.5 blood |
| Arch Demon T3 |
Demon + Demon |
5m |
+10 faith, +3 souls, +0.5 dark energy |
| Void Lord T4 |
Arch Demon + Wraith |
10m |
+3 dark energy, +1 gold |
| Eldritch Horror T5 |
Void Lord + Nightmare |
30m |
+50 faith, +20 souls, +5 dark energy, +3 gold, +2 blood |
Breeding Tree
Imp (start) ──┬── Hellhound ──┬── Nightmare ──┐
│ │ │
Shade (start)─┘ │ ├── Eldritch Horror
│ │
Imp + Imp ────── Demon ───────┼── Arch Demon ─┤
│ │
Shade + Shade ── Wraith ──────┘ │
│
Void Lord ──────┘
(Arch Demon + Wraith)
Focus on breeding Wraiths early - they produce dark energy which is hard to get otherwise!
Prestige System (Ascension)
Reset your progress to gain permanent multipliers!
Requirements
- Minimum 1,000,000 total faith earned
What You Gain
- Dark Essence = √(totalFaith / 1,000,000)
- Each Dark Essence = +10% to ALL production
- Dark Essence can be spent on permanent Skills
What Resets
- All resources (faith, souls, blood, dark energy, gold)
- All buildings
- All creatures
- All followers
- All managers
What's Kept
- Dark Essence (and skills purchased with it)
- Gems
- Achievements
- Settings
First ascension is recommended around 2-5M total faith to get a meaningful Dark Essence boost.