Conan Exiles Religion Guide: All Gods, Altars & Avatars

Religion in Conan Exiles is a real system, not flavour: you pick a god at character creation, build their altar, sacrifice and craft your way up three altar tiers, and at the top you can summon that god's avatar — a giant, map-wrecking war deity that is the single most destructive thing in the game. Each god grants a different set of armour, weapons, foods and tools, so the choice is mechanical from minute one. This guide covers all eight gods, what each religion actually gives you, how altars and priest thralls work, the avatar summoning ritual, and which god is worth picking for your playstyle.

Here's what you'll learn:

• All 8 gods and what each religion's unique gear does
• How altars work: three tiers, and the Manifestations of Zeal grind
• Priest thralls and why an Archpriest is the endgame bottleneck
• The avatar summoning ritual — and what it costs you
• Which god to pick for PvE, PvP, and solo play
• How to learn additional religions (trainers vs Siptah relics)

The Eight Gods and What They Give

You choose one god at character creation (the official wiki's Religion page confirms you can select one at creation and learn more later). Each religion has its own altar, priest type, and unique craftables:

Per the official Religion wiki page, "Players can choose to worship one or more religions. A single god is selected at character creation", and "the gods are jealous beings and do not allow their respective altars to be placed too close to each other" — a practical constraint when you worship multiple gods in one base.

The early-game winners are well documented: Yog (Purified Flesh gives a level-1-equivalent 20% health buff) and Set (poison arrows + cure potions). Crom is the lore-accurate masochist pick — the community consensus is blunt: choosing Crom means playing without a major mechanic for zero benefit. Our gameplay guide covers the character-creation step where you make this choice.

Altars: Three Tiers of Grind

Each religion's altar (Shrine of Mitra, Sepulcher of Set, Pit of Yog, Altar of Ymir, Pleasure Place of Derketo, Bower of Jhebbal Sag...) is built early and upgraded through three tiers. The grind:

• Tier 1 — basic altar, unlocks the religion's recipes and lets you craft its religious tool (like the Hoar-Frost Hatchet for Ymir).
• Tier 2 — more recipes, better craftables.
• Tier 3 — the summoning altar. Full upgrades require large amounts of Manifestations of Zeal, the religion's universal currency, earned by sacrificing humanoid NPCs and crafting religious items at the altar.

Upgrading to tier 3 is a serious resource sink — the guides commonly cite ~500 Manifestations of Zeal as the ballpark to reach avatar summoning, plus the specific upgrade materials per religion. If you're running multiple religions, remember the jealousy rule: altars need ~8 foundations of clearance between them.

Priest Thralls and the Archpriest Bottleneck

Altars don't work alone — they need a Priest thrall placed in the altar slot, matched to the god:

• Priests are god-locked by race: the wiki's Thrall page notes a Nordheimer or Cimmerian priest can only be placed on a Ymir altar, a Stygian priest on a Set altar, and so on. You must capture the right priest type for the god you worship.
• Tier 4 priests (Archpriests) unlock the highest altar recipes and are the only priests who enable avatar summoning. They spawn in the same camps as regular priests but rarely — the standard grind is farming a religion's priest camp until an Archpriest appears.
• Priests are captured like any thrall — truncheon, bindings, Wheel of Pain. The capture loop is in our thralls guide.

Summoning an Avatar

The endgame religion mechanic: a giant manifestation of your god that walks across the map and obliterates player structures — the classic PvP raid finisher. The ritual, per the community guides and the wiki:

1. Fully upgrade your altar to tier 3.
2. Place a named Archpriest in the altar.
3. Craft the summoning item — the "True Name of [God]" — at the altar (this is the ~500-Manifestations sink).
4. Use it at your chosen location.

The cost is permanent and brutal: crafting the True Name destroys the altar and consumes the Archpriest (other items in the altar drop to the ground). The avatar itself is massive, slow and temporary — a decisive siege weapon, not a daily driver. On servers where avatars are disabled (many PvE servers and some PvP rulesets), the whole tier-3 religion tree is for the gear rather than the summon.

Learning Additional Religions

On the Exiled Lands, new religions come from trainers — NPCs like Mek-kamoses (Set) and Nunu the Cannibal (Yog) who teach you their faith for a fee. On the Isle of Siptah there are no religion trainers — you learn religions by finding relics instead, which makes religion choice on Siptah more rigid. Either way, every god you add is another altar to place, another priest to hunt, and another Manifestations grind — most players master one religion, dabble in a second (usually Set or Yog for the early-game utility), and leave the rest for dedicated builds.

FAQ

What is the best religion in Conan Exiles? For early game, Yog (Purified Flesh health buff) and Set (poison arrows + cure potions) are the consensus picks. For the north/frost content, Ymir's tools are essential. For PvP raiding at the top, any god's avatar is devastating — the "best" is the one whose gear matches your build. Crom is the only objectively bad choice: it gives nothing.

How do you summon an avatar in Conan Exiles? Upgrade your altar to tier 3 (roughly 500 Manifestations of Zeal), place a named Archpriest on it, craft the True Name of your god, and use it at the summoning site. The ritual destroys the altar and consumes the Archpriest — bank materials before you do it.

Can you worship more than one god in Conan Exiles? Yes. You pick one at character creation and can learn more from trainers on the Exiled Lands (Mek-kamoses for Set, Nunu for Yog, etc.) or relics on Siptah, where there are no trainers. Each additional god needs its own altar (placed ~8 foundations apart) and priest.

How do you get a priest thrall in Conan Exiles? Capture one like any thrall — knock out with a truncheon, bind, drag to the Wheel of Pain — from the camps of the god's followers. Priests are god-locked by race (Stygian priests for Set, Nordheimer/Cimmerian for Ymir), and Archpriests (T4) spawn rarely in the same camps, required for avatar summoning.

Does Crom have an avatar in Conan Exiles? No. Crom is the god who refuses worship — no altar, no priest, no recipes and no avatar. The wiki is explicit that he "watches the world from his mountain top, but does not answer prayers and will receive no worship." It's a lore pick only.

Related Guides

• Conan Exiles Gameplay Guide
• Conan Exiles Thralls Guide
• Conan Exiles DLC Guide
• Conan Exiles Sorcery Guide
• Conan Exiles Interactive Map Guide
• Conan Exiles Building Materials Guide

Official resources: Steam store page · Official wiki — Religion · Official wiki — Priest (profession) · Official wiki — Thrall

Last Updated: August 13, 2026