Graveyard Keeper 2 Sermon Guide: How to Get More Faith, Better Prayers, and Increase Town Rank

Having a clean and tidy Graveyard isn’t just for looks or for the Keeper’s mental health. It’s also vital you keep the Church standing so that it inspires more to follow. Faith is catching, and it’s up to you to spread the word so that you can gain the Perks you need to fight another day.

Here is how Sermons and Faith work in Graveyard Keeper 2.

How do Sermons work in Graveyard Keeper 2?

Sermons are only available when the time of day rotates to the red symbol with a circle and arrow shooting out of the top of it (following the sun symbol). You’re introduced to Sermons when you fix the Church, as upgrading the interior is crucial to knowing how many visitors will attend Mass. Sermons are brief and should be done as often as possible for Faith.

You start off with a Basic Prayer, which is decent for quite some time as you focus on gaining as many Church visitors as possible. Every time you hold a Sermon, there’s a success chance that comes with it. This percentage is worked out by a mix of the rarity and strength of the Prayer you’re using, attendee total, and the amount of Town Gratitude you currently have. Starting with a 10 Gratitude cap makes things a little tricky, but don’t worry, this won’t last forever.

Prayers have infinite uses, but Town Gratitude is a one-time sum. It’s unlikely you will have your Town Rank full at all times given the number of Sermons you will be hosting. By completing a Sermon, you’re rewarded with money and Faith if the Prayer went successfully. A preaching bonus, including more Faith, is typically offered following a successful Sermon.

How to get more Faith during a Sermon: Town Rank guide

There are multiple ways to increase the amount of Faith you get per Sermon. The most obvious is to craft a rarer, more powerful Prayer, though this isn’t something you can do early on. Therefore, you should focus your attention on upgrading the Church long after the Nun’s request to restore it. These are permanent upgrades for the Church interior that you unlock incredibly early on within the Theology Tech Tree.

Even with an upgraded Church, there’s the small matter of Town Gratitude you have to think about. Having only 10 to start as the overall Town Rank, completing quests early on is based on the Village and NPC needs. Completing story, side quests, and Commerce jobs gets Town Gratitude as a reward and increases NPC relationships, which is vital for unlocking more blueprints and recipes on the Tech Tree (specifically with Herbert, Jack, the Astrologer, and Nun). Occasionally you can get Town Gratitude through trading inside the Village and Main Pier, but it’s never a substantial amount.

Instead, you should use Town Gratitude certificates when you next want to host a Sermon, as you could receive Gratitude as a reward elsewhere. Be sure never to waste them, though, as each certificate is worth five Gratitude and doesn’t carry over if you hit the Town Rank total. Everything Gratitude-related is on a one-time use basis.

I bet you’re wondering how to increase the Town Rank and the max Gratitude you can have at a single Sermon. I thought the same for quite some time too. That was until I took back the Town by completing my first Battle. Through Herbert, one of the main questlines is to siege the Town from the undead using a Capture the Flag-style game mode. Doing so unlocks the Town and increases the rank by 10, thus giving you a Town Gratitude of 20 to spend on your next Sermon. This increases every time you expand your horizons and unlock new areas relating to the main questline.

Where to find stronger Prayers

You can invest in more Prayers inside the Writing Basement (the secret hatch inside Keeper’s house that unlocks as you complete main quests). Here are all Prayers you can get, but be mindful that it’ll take a while before you can start using them, as you need a high Theology Level. Stronger Prayers require a minimum of Theology Master Level 8 to craft. Similar to the Autopsy Table, these recipes can result in failure.

The Prayer strength can be increased by upping the Story quality. This grade, just like vital organs, increases the overall Mastery Level required to craft.

What is Faith used for?

Faith has two main purposes. You can accumulate Faith to purchase Waypoints, giving you a means to fast travel around the map without constantly backtracking. This is particularly useful when grabbing materials for trade or to craft a quest-related item because an NPC’s quest has extended by five more steps. The other is to use it as currency on the Inspirations menu.

Inspirations acts as the Perk system and is one way to gain a Mastery Level in one of the five categories: Building, Metallurgy, Farming, Theology, and Anatomy and Alchemy. Completing these achievement-like tasks rewards you with a full slot on the bar beneath the category name. But sometimes you’ll need to spend Faith to get this slot, or you can skip doing the task altogether by paying Faith up front. Either way, you need Faith here to complete Inspirations to then spend on Perks.