The lands of Mournstead are filled with magic, death, demons, pagans, and heretics. And while the remnants of the living world fight together to prevent the cataclysmic return of Adyr, others look to see his return. Behold, the Pyric Cultist, a worshiper of Adyr, and a class that you can play in the game. If you’re looking to use fire magic, then here’s everything you need to know about the Pyric Cultist in Lords of the Fallen. Expect to find notes on their starting stats, items, and other tips and build ideas to journey ahead.

Pyric Cultist Starting Stats and Items in Lords of the Fallen¶

The Pyric Cultist is a class that is largely focused on fire magic builds and playstyles. It is also considered an Advanced Class by developers, due to the glass cannon-like nature of the class. Yet, it’s arguably one of the best starting classes in Lords of the Fallen if you want to play a magic build. Expect to be managing mana, using ranged spells, and other spell casts to enable yourself. Below you can find the starting stats for the class that reflect this playstyle.

As you can see, the starting stats reflect that this is a magic caster, with a heavy emphasis on Inferno. Inferno is a stat that bolsters your spell power and fire-related damage effects. It also increases your mana to cast more spells before depleting the bar.

However, casting spells taps into your Endurance, so, starting at 11 ensures you can cast somewhat often. Moreso, you have low Strength, Agility, and Vitality, meaning your Endurance will be useful to weave out of combat.

Expect the start of the game to be somewhat rough, as you have limited mana pool, mana restoration, health, and endurance. However, with levels, you will begin to leave behind some of these woes to a degree.

As for the starting items, expect the following:

• Pyric Cultist Staff
• Pyric Cultist Catalyst /w Infernal Orb spell
• Medium armor set
• Small Manastone consumable

The Pyric Cultist staff uses your base strength and inferno to prove a mixture of physical and fire damage to the target. Meanwhile, your Catalyst allows you access to cast Infernal Spells, while you socket in other spell casts onto it as you get them later in the game.

The other important notes are you get Medium armor and start with Medium Encumbrance, which allows you to dodge and roll easily. You also get a few starting Small Manastones to regenerate your mana bar, largely to get through the few attempts at early boss fights before you start collecting them from regular loot drops.

Read More:

• Hallowed Knight Class Guide
• Udirangr Warwolf Class Guide

Pyric Cultist Builds in Lords of the Fallen¶

In this section, we are going to cover tips and build ideas for the Pyric Cultist in Lords of the Fallen. This can help you get a better feel for the class, and ideas on what type of builds you can play.

Status Mage Build¶

By leveling up both the Radiance and Inferno stats, you can eventually start unlocking pure mage-type armor and spells. These allow you access to Wither spells, which you can buy from Molhu in the Umbral part of the Sanctuary. You need 12 of each type of magic to start this playstyle and use an Umbral Catalyst. You can then buy Umbral Orb, a basic spell cast using Umbral magic requiring 8/8 (referencing both Radiance and Inferno magical stats) stats, which the Pyric Cultist starts with by default. You can also buy Lingering Despair at 15/15, leaving behind orbs that detonate on impact. There’s also a shield you can get from an Umbral loot drop in the Pilgrim’s Perch area to start giving you some defensive options too, requiring both Radiance and Inferno stats to equip called the Pale Eye Shield. You can find it near the wooden stairs before the Sanctuary Vestige building. This should be enough to start that build playstyle off. See the second image above if you’re looking for a shield to go with your fragile mage.

When you reach the Fen, make sure to check a house at the far back end of the second village. Knock on its door, and you can get a spell called Putrification. This leaves behind a poison pool, which builds up poison. Once the poison bar is stacked on an enemy, it will then poison them, dealing damage based on their resistance and your spellpower, If you combine this with the Bloodbane Ring, this allows you to build bleed on the target while building poison damage. You can get this from a hut just past the Vestige of the Pale Butcher (after forsaken Fen boss). Combine it with the Pendant of Burden, a necklace you can get in a similar area as the ring near a bonfire, and a ladder from the gangplank area, you can increase your damage based on status effects applied to a target. This makes huge mob pack farming simple, and you can even cheese some of the slower-moving human or slightly bigger human-sized bosses and enemies with this build. It won’t work all the time, but, it’s good if you do so.

Battlemage Build in Lords of the Fallen¶

If you want a Battle Mage or Spell Blade type build, then you can do so. Players can find a spell called Adyr’s Rage from a vendor just before the Mistress of Hounds vendor in the Bellcave, near the base of the elevator. You can buy Adyr’s Rage from her, granting you bonus physical damage on attacks. It requires 22 Inferno to cast, offering Pyric Cultist players a great chance to empower their melee attacks when spell casting is limited. You can then look for a Strength or Strength / Inferno weapon to use, apply Fire Salts, and use your Inferno stat to scale the additional power they all do to make you stronger, despite lower base starting agility or strength. You’ll find plenty of Infernal Agility and Infernal Strength-themed weapons on your travels, particularly around the Gorge and Calrath City areas of the game.

If you want this playstyle, we recommend using the Ravager Axes from the Fitzroy Gorge Bridge boss. Alternatively, we the Taxidermist Hammer in Calrath City, or the Crushing Gaze in the Calrath City Blacksmithing street roof area are good shouts. These offer great Inferno scaling weapons, which you can make stronger through Adyr’s Rage. Combine it with a weapon enchantment spell like Poison Weapon, or Umbral weapon both of which you can buy from the Safe Hub, then you make them even stronger. Note Umbral Weapon unlocks in the mid-game.

When it comes to builds, we recommend using Umbral Catalysts, then taking the ring you get from the memory for defeating the Calrath City Slums Boss. This allows you to use Inferno spells on other Catalysts, meaning you get the Umbral weapon enchants along with Adyr’s Rage. There’s also a mix of rings and amulets you can get that increase Wither damage, physical damage, fire, and Umbral damage, etc, depending on what type of weapon you like using for some personalization as you play through the game.

As for Attributes, we recommend leveling Inferno to around 25 and getting your strength to a similar spot by the end of Calrath City. 20 is a good point for when you get into Calrath City for the first time. Endurance and Vitality are also key for survivability, as you often are a squishier class type with this playstyle.

Pyric Cultist Tips¶

• Endurance: Endurance is a key stat to take as you level up. This increases chances to dodge, attack with a weapon, or cast repeated spells. It’s very important for your ability to do damage and survive harder fights.
• The Level 24 Inferno Breakpoint: The basic Inferno Orb starts fairly weak, but around the level 24 Inferno, it begins to do as much damage as your starting Pyric Staff’s light attack jab. Consider this an early break point for a fire mage build. Further levels allow it to outscale early-game weapons, and eventually reach the equivalent of your heavy attack in a few more levels. If you want to rely on your Inferno Orb, then this is a stat you make use of. You’ll find more breakpoints for casting around level 36 for the next tier of enemies too.
• Infernal Orb Strategy: When you can kite tough enemies, it’s very easy to trade long-range damage for free using Infernal Orb. This can make some range vs range or range vs really close range and slow enemy fights easier for Pyric Cultists. A good example of this is the Mistress of Hounds fight in the Bell cave.
• Consumables: Ensure you’re often stocked up on Vesitge Seeds, Manastones, and Fire Salts. Fire Salts add additional fire damage to your melee attacks, which scale from Inferno. Meanwhile, Manastones help restore mana on the go, which is useful for getting through tougher enemies or bosses. Vestige Seeds are also very important for resting and restoring your mana during very long areas with limited access to a Vestige site.
• Fire Resistance Enemies: Once you get your way through to the Slums, you can encounter a boss that’s made of fire and does fire damage. Your fire build will be weak here, but, feel free to switch to Umbral Spells. Alternatively, creatures that use fire are often weak to Radiant so you can keep some Radiant options on you.

Do you have any other tips for the Pyric Cultists in Lords of the Fallen? Feel free to recommend them in the comments below.