The Binding of Isaac: Repentance Wiki
Descend through randomized dungeons, combine hundreds of items, unlock normal and Tainted characters, defeat branching bosses, and master challenges, secrets, routes, and four-player co-op.
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The Binding of Isaac Repentance Beginner Guide
Each run in The Binding of Isaac: Repentance is a chain of randomly generated floors. Clear combat rooms, collect resources, improve your build through special rooms, defeat the floor boss, and descend. Early success depends more on avoiding damage and making consistent decisions than on finding one perfect item.
Learn the room-clearing loop, protect your health, spend pickups wisely, and follow a proven path from Basement to Mom and Mom's Heart in The Binding of Isaac: Repentance.
Learn Movement, Shooting, and Room Control
- Movement and firing use separate directional controls. Bombs, active items, cards, pills, and trinket drops have their own inputs, which can be remapped in the options menu.
- Most enemies aim at Isaac's current position. Use short, deliberate movements instead of circling the room without watching projectiles.
- Destroy chargers, projectile-heavy enemies, and enemy spawners before slow melee enemies.
Checklist
- Practice moving in one direction while firing in another.
- Keep at least one open lane for dodging.
- Do not stand against a wall unless the attack pattern requires it.
Understand Health and Core Stats
- Red Heart containers can be refilled and are commonly used to pay for Devil Deals. Soul and Black Hearts protect health and help preserve deal-room chances.
- Damage controls how hard tears hit. Fire Rate controls shooting frequency. Range controls travel distance, Shot Speed controls projectile speed, Speed controls movement, and Luck affects many chance-based effects.
- Enable Found HUD in the options menu to display numerical stats during a run.
Checklist
- Prioritize an early damage or fire-rate upgrade.
- Keep enough movement speed to dodge comfortably.
- Treat Soul and Black Hearts as both health and deal protection.
Clear Rooms in the Right Order
- Most combat rooms remain locked until all required enemies are defeated. Clearing a room may create a pickup and recharge active items.
- Use rocks and pits as cover against grounded enemies, but remember that flying enemies and spectral projectiles can ignore some obstacles.
- Save bombs during easy rooms unless using one prevents more damage than the bomb is worth.
Checklist
- Identify the fastest or most dangerous enemy immediately.
- Move before firing when a room begins crowded.
- Finish slow enemies only after the room is under control.
Spend Keys, Bombs, and Coins by Priority
- Treasure Rooms contain a free pedestal item. Most Treasure Room doors after the first floor require one key.
- Shops require a key and sell items, health, batteries, cards, and other pickups. Donating spare coins improves future shops.
- Bombs reveal hidden rooms, open tinted rocks, damage bosses, and destroy obstacles. Keys also open locked chests and special doors.
Checklist
- Reserve an early key for the Treasure Room unless another door has clearly higher value.
- Look for tinted rocks with a faint cross and different color.
- Keep a bomb for a strong Secret Room location or a dangerous boss.
Recognize Valuable Special Rooms
- Treasure Rooms are the main source of build-changing items. Shops provide controlled purchases and utility.
- Libraries contain books, Arcades trade money or health for rewards, and Curse Rooms may contain Red Chests, Devil items, pickups, or enemies.
- Sacrifice Rooms provide increasingly powerful rewards after repeated spike damage, but beginners should use them only with spare healing.
Checklist
- Visit the Treasure Room on most early floors.
- Check the Shop when you have a key and at least 15 coins.
- Do not enter a paid-health room when the cost could prevent you from surviving the boss.
Choose Between Devil Deals and Angel Rooms
- Devil Rooms can appear after bosses from the second floor onward and usually sell powerful items for health.
- Taking Red Heart damage reduces the current floor's deal chance, especially during the boss fight. Soul and Black Heart damage does not apply the same penalty.
- In Repentance, refusing to enter the first available Devil Room guarantees that the next successful deal-room spawn will be an Angel Room. Entering the room but refusing its items keeps a mixed Devil and Angel route.
Checklist
- Take a Devil Deal only when the reward clearly outweighs the lost health.
- Skip the first Devil Room completely when targeting free Angel items.
- After Angel battles are unlocked, bomb two Angel statues to assemble the key for Mega Satan.
Find Secret Rooms Efficiently
- A regular Secret Room usually touches several ordinary rooms. Each connecting wall needs a valid doorway position without rocks, pits, or obstacles blocking it.
- A Super Secret Room normally connects to only one room and is frequently found near the later portion of the floor or the route toward the boss.
- Place the bomb at the center of the suspected wall. Test strong three-room connections before uncertain two-room locations.
Checklist
- Check whether every adjacent wall has a clear doorway position.
- Test locations touching three normal rooms first.
- Stop searching when the remaining bombs are more valuable for tinted rocks or combat.
Follow the First-Playthrough Route
- Start as Isaac on Normal Mode and progress through Basement I-II, Caves I-II, and Depths I-II.
- On each floor, find the Treasure Room, consider the Shop, then defeat the boss. Full-clear only when you still need health, keys, bombs, coins, charges, or a special room.
- Mom is the fixed boss of Depths II on the first route. Keep moving away from the stomping foot, watch all four doors for attacks, and use bombs when she is exposed.
Checklist
- Find at least one meaningful offensive upgrade before Depths.
- Enter Mom's room with spare health and one or two bombs.
- Defeating Mom unlocks the Womb and the first ending.
Defeat Mom's Heart and Open the Endgame
- After defeating Mom once, later runs continue through Womb I-II. Most damage in the Womb and later chapters removes a full heart.
- Mom's Heart becomes protected while summoned enemies remain alive. Clear the summons quickly, then damage the Heart while moving carefully through bullet patterns.
- The tenth Mom's Heart defeat unlocks ???. The eleventh defeat changes the boss into It Lives!, providing regular access to Cathedral and Sheol.
Checklist
- Save defensive active items for dense projectile patterns.
- Destroy summoned enemies before focusing on the Heart.
- After unlocking It Lives!, work toward five Isaac wins for The Polaroid and five Satan wins for The Negative.
Quick Tips
- Enable Found HUD early so you can read your damage, tears, range, and luck at a glance.
- Keep a bomb for a strong Secret Room location or a dangerous boss instead of spending it freely.
- Skip the first Devil Room to guarantee an Angel Room when you want free items and Mega Satan access.
- Look for tinted rocks with a faint cross for guaranteed pickups, hearts, or items.
The Binding of Isaac Repentance Item Tier List
This tier list favors items that perform reliably across many characters and builds. Lower-tier entries are not always weak: several become exceptional with the correct synergy, but they require more planning or create greater risk than universally strong upgrades.
Run-Defining
Items that can transform an average run into a winning one with little additional setup.
Sacred Heart
Provides a massive damage multiplier, homing tears, one Red Heart container, healing, and additional tear changes.
Take on nearly any conventional tear build; homing makes slow or easily missed projectiles far more consistent.
It lowers fire rate, but the damage and homing usually outweigh the penalty.
Unlock: Available in the Angel Room pool.
C Section
Replaces tears with homing fetus projectiles that repeatedly damage enemies and inherit many tear effects.
Combine with damage, multishot, homing support, and compatible tear effects.
Some tear replacements override or significantly change its behavior.
Unlock: Defeat The Beast as Lilith.
Glitched Crown
Most item pedestals rapidly cycle through several possible items, creating repeated chances to choose a premium result.
Watch the full cycle and time the pickup deliberately.
Poor timing can select the wrong item, while blind pedestals remove much of its control.
Unlock: Defeat The Beast as Tainted Isaac.
Spindown Dice
Rerolls a pedestal into the item with the previous internal item ID, allowing predictable transformations.
Save charges for known conversions into premium items and combine it with batteries or charge generation.
Its strongest use requires learning conversion chains.
Unlock: Defeat Delirium as Tainted Isaac.
R Key
Restarts the run at Basement I while preserving collected items and achievement eligibility.
Complete one late-game target, then restart with the existing build to pursue another route or collect more completion marks.
The timer does not reset, so missed Boss Rush and Hush limits remain missed.
Unlock: No character completion unlock is required.
Twisted Pair
Adds two familiars that copy the player's firing direction and scale with player damage.
Provides immediate damage and benefits from many global tear effects.
The separated firing positions can miss small enemies at unusual angles.
Unlock: Defeat The Beast as Tainted Lilith.
Sacred Orb
Filters many weak item results and rerolls some lower-quality pedestals into better options.
Take it early so later Treasure, Boss, Angel, Devil, and Secret Room rewards benefit.
It improves future item quality rather than providing immediate combat power.
Unlock: Defeat The Beast as Tainted Lost.
Excellent
Powerful options that consistently improve most builds but fall slightly below the most dominant run-defining items.
Brimstone
Replaces tears with a charged, piercing blood laser.
Excellent against groups and bosses, especially with homing, split-shot, or multishot effects.
Charge time changes the firing rhythm and some tear effects behave differently.
Unlock: Available in the Devil Room pool.
Mom's Knife
Replaces tears with a chargeable knife that deals very high repeated contact damage.
Release the knife through bosses and use its return path for additional hits.
It overrides many tear combinations and often requires closer positioning.
Unlock: Defeat Satan as Isaac.
Tech X
Fires chargeable laser rings that pierce enemies and cover large areas.
Use medium or large rings to control rooms; damage, homing, and multishot scale it well.
Very small rings can underperform when released too quickly.
Unlock: Available in the Treasure Room pool.
Godhead
Adds homing, a damaging aura around tears, and a major damage increase.
Especially powerful with slow, large, piercing, or lingering projectiles.
Obtaining the unlock requires completing The Lost's Hard Mode marks.
Unlock: Earn every required Hard Mode completion mark as The Lost.
D Infinity
Cycles between several dice effects for rerolling items, pickups, stats, or the full build.
Select the die that solves the current room instead of carrying separate reroll tools.
The wrong die can destroy a strong build or valuable room.
Unlock: Defeat Delirium as Isaac.
The Stairway
Creates a ladder in the starting room of later floors leading to a shop that sells Angel Room items.
Maintain a coin reserve and buy repeated Angel items over multiple floors.
The ladder disappears after leaving the starting room.
Unlock: Defeat Isaac as Jacob and Esau.
Birthright
Provides a unique character-specific improvement.
Its effects can add item slots, health, familiars, damage, or major mechanic upgrades depending on the character.
Value varies greatly between characters.
Unlock: Defeat ??? as Jacob and Esau.
Incubus
Copies the player's tears and most tear effects from the familiar's position.
Acts as a large damage multiplier for conventional tear builds.
Offset positioning can make shots miss in narrow rooms.
Unlock: Defeat Hush as Lilith.
Curved Horn
Provides a flat damage increase while held.
A simple early-game power increase with no health or charge cost.
It competes with defensive and utility trinkets.
Unlock: Defeat The Lamb as Judas.
Jera
Duplicates pickups and unopened chests in the current room.
Save it for battery rooms, chest-heavy endgame floors, or rooms containing several valuable pickups.
It does not directly duplicate pedestal items.
Unlock: Complete Challenge #2, High Brow.
Chaos Card
Throws a card that instantly defeats many enemies and bosses it touches.
Reserve it for a difficult boss or a room that threatens the run.
The card must be aimed, can miss, and does not bypass every final-boss phase.
Unlock: Complete Challenge #9, Demo Man.
Dependable and Flexible
Strong tools that improve many runs but usually require charges, health management, positioning, or a compatible route.
Satanic Bible
Grants a Black Heart and changes the current floor's boss reward into a purchasable Devil item.
Generate defense while replacing weak boss rewards with potentially stronger Devil items.
Repeated purchases can consume too many heart containers.
Unlock: Defeat Isaac as Azazel.
Book of Virtues
Creates orbiting wisps and combines with most active items to create unique wisp effects.
Pair with a low-charge active item to build offense and projectile protection.
Wisps can be destroyed by enemy shots and contact.
Unlock: Defeat Isaac as Bethany.
The Pact
Provides damage, fire rate, and Soul Hearts.
A dependable all-purpose offensive and defensive upgrade.
The Devil Deal price may still be unsafe on low-health characters.
Unlock: Available in the Devil Room pool.
Rotten Baby
Spawns blue flies while the player fires.
Scales with player damage and adds automatic burst damage.
Flies may be wasted on weak targets before reaching a boss.
Unlock: Defeat The Lamb as Lilith.
Holy Mantle
Blocks the first hit of damage in each room.
Excellent for Curse Rooms, difficult rooms, and characters with one-hit health mechanics.
After the shield breaks, it provides no further protection until the next room.
Unlock: Available as an item; The Lost starts with it after 879 Greed Donation Machine coins.
Diplopia
Duplicates pedestal items and pickups in the current room.
Copy an Angel item, Devil selection, shop inventory, or room with several valuable pickups.
Using it early can waste a stronger later duplication opportunity.
Unlock: Available in the Shop pool.
Credit Card
Makes purchases in the current Shop or Devil Room free.
Use in a room containing several expensive items.
Holding it for too long risks never finding a premium room.
Unlock: Complete Challenge #10, Cursed!.
Perthro
Rerolls pedestal items in the current room.
Replace weak Treasure, Boss, Angel, or Devil items.
The original item cannot be recovered after rerolling.
Unlock: Complete Challenge #6, Solar System.
Soul of Isaac
Makes pedestals alternate between the original item and a rerolled option.
Gain a second choice without immediately losing the original result.
Stepping onto the pedestal at the wrong moment selects the wrong item.
Unlock: Complete Boss Rush and defeat Hush as Tainted Isaac.
Cracked Crown
Improves several stats that are already above their base values.
Strong on balanced builds containing several small stat upgrades.
It provides less value when few base stats have been improved.
Unlock: Win five Daily Challenges consecutively.
Build-Dependent
These items can become excellent, but their drawbacks or control changes can damage an incompatible build.
Soy Milk
Greatly increases fire rate while applying a severe damage multiplier.
Combine with flat damage additions, homing, and effects that trigger per tear.
Weak individual hits can create excessive knockback and poor enemy control.
Almond Milk
Greatly increases fire rate, lowers damage, and applies changing worm-style tear patterns.
Works with powerful effects that benefit from producing many projectiles.
Random trajectories reduce accuracy.
Tiny Planet
Makes tears orbit around the player with spectral behavior and increased range.
Combine with piercing, lasers, homing, or large projectiles.
Normal tears may miss nearby targets and require a different aiming style.
Ludovico Technique
Creates one controllable tear that moves independently from the player.
Very strong with Brimstone, Technology effects, homing, or large damaging auras.
A weak or slow tear can leave the player unable to answer threats from several directions.
Ipecac
Fires arcing explosive tears with a very large damage increase.
Clears rooms and bosses quickly while providing unlimited rock destruction.
Close-range enemies and unusual tear paths can cause self-damage.
Dr. Fetus
Replaces tears with fired bombs that inherit many bomb effects.
Powerful with bomb upgrades, homing, and explosion immunity.
Explosion timing and knockback can cause self-damage or slow clears.
Cursed Eye
Charges and releases a burst of tears.
Provides strong burst damage when fully charged from a safe position.
Taking damage while charging can teleport the player out of the room and reset boss progress.
Bob's Brain
Launches an explosive familiar when firing toward an enemy.
Offers strong early damage when spacing is controlled.
The explosion can damage the player, especially at short range.
Magic Skin
Creates an item from the current room's pool while adding a Broken Heart.
Use sparingly in premium pools such as Angel or Secret Rooms.
Repeated use reduces maximum health, and abandoned Magic Skin can replace later pedestals.
Missing No.
Rerolls passive items at the start of each floor.
Can rescue a losing build or create unusual high-roll combinations.
A winning build can be destroyed on the next floor without player control.
Reroll or Handle Carefully
Items with severe aiming, positioning, self-damage, or randomness risks unless a specific synergy removes the drawback.
The Wiz
Adds double shots fired diagonally.
Can work with homing, Tractor Beam, or wide laser effects.
Directly hitting enemies becomes difficult without a corrective synergy.
Strange Attractor
Tears create a magnetic force that pulls enemies and objects toward their path.
Can group enemies for piercing and area damage.
Dangerous enemies may be pulled directly into the player.
Guillotine
Detaches Isaac's head as an orbital while increasing damage and fire rate.
The orbital blocks projectiles and deals contact damage.
The visible head no longer represents the player's body hitbox, making dodging harder.
Isaac's Heart
Makes the player's body invulnerable while a following heart becomes the damageable hitbox.
Supports aggressive contact strategies and selected self-damage interactions.
The trailing heart is difficult to position and can be hit by attacks the body avoids.
Curse of the Tower
Spawns multiple troll bombs whenever the player takes damage.
Can deal heavy room damage with explosion immunity and bomb upgrades.
Without immunity, one hit may cause additional damage or destroy useful pickups.
TMTRAINER
Replaces future items with randomized glitched effects.
Designed for chaotic runs and can create extremely powerful combinations.
Effects may be useless, disruptive, or dangerous, making normal item planning impossible.
Unlock: Defeat The Beast as Tainted Eden.
The Binding of Isaac Repentance Characters and Tainted Characters
These tiers measure general consistency and accessibility rather than the quality of each character's unlock rewards. Permanent upgrades such as Isaac's D6, The Lost's Holy Mantle, and Keeper's Wooden Nickel can substantially improve a character after they are obtained.
Beginner-Friendly Powerhouses
Characters with strong starting tools, forgiving health, or mechanics that consistently create winning runs.
Isaac
Normal- Available from the start.
- Three Red Hearts and one bomb; The D6 becomes his starting active after defeating Isaac as ???.
- A balanced character whose D6 rerolls pedestal items.
Strengths
- • Balanced health and stats
- • Excellent item control with The D6
- • No restrictive mechanic
Weaknesses
- • Base Isaac has no special offensive advantage
- • D6 value depends on charge management
Magdalene
Normal- Have seven or more Red Heart containers at one time.
- Four Red Hearts and Yum Heart; completing Aprils Fool adds a Full Health pill.
- Large starting health and repeatable healing make mistakes easier to recover from.
Strengths
- • Very forgiving health pool
- • Dependable healing
- • Good for learning bosses
Weaknesses
- • Low starting speed
- • Healing cannot fix weak late-game damage
Cain
Normal- Hold 55 coins at one time.
- Two Red Hearts, Lucky Foot, one key, and a pill; Paper Clip is added after 68 Greed Donation Machine coins.
- Strong damage and speed combine with favorable pill and gambling outcomes.
Strengths
- • Strong starting damage
- • Good movement speed
- • Safer pill usage
Weaknesses
- • Only two starting Red Hearts
- • Reduced firing angle and effective range
Azazel
Normal- Take three Devil Deal items in one run.
- Three Black Hearts, flight, and a short-range Brimstone beam.
- Extremely high early damage and permanent flight at the cost of short range.
Strengths
- • Powerful early damage
- • Permanent flight
- • Fast boss clears
Weaknesses
- • Very short base range
- • No starting Red Heart containers
- • Close positioning can be dangerous
Tainted Judas
Tainted- Use Red Key or Cracked Key on the hidden closet in Home while playing as Judas.
- Two Black Hearts, three coins, and Dark Arts in the pocket active slot.
- Dark Arts makes Judas intangible and converts enemies and shots passed through into a powerful ending slash.
Strengths
- • Offense and defense in one ability
- • Strong room clearing
- • Can bypass projectile waves
Weaknesses
- • Cannot gain Red Heart containers
- • Poor timing can end inside a threat
Tainted Lilith
Tainted- Use Red Key or Cracked Key on the hidden closet in Home while playing as Lilith.
- One Red Heart, two Black Hearts, and an attached fetus familiar used as her main attack.
- Firing launches the fetus like a whip, dealing contact damage before it fires tears.
Strengths
- • High starting damage
- • Wide attack coverage
- • Strong familiar scaling
Weaknesses
- • Unusual aiming takes practice
- • Narrow rooms can restrict the attack
Strong and Consistent
Powerful characters that remain dependable once their central mechanic is understood.
Judas
Normal- Defeat Satan.
- One Red Heart, three coins, and Book of Belial.
- High base damage combined with a repeatable boss-room damage boost.
Strengths
- • High starting damage
- • Dependable active item
- • Fast early clears
Weaknesses
- • Only one starting Red Heart
- • Early mistakes are heavily punished
Eve
Normal- Complete two consecutive floors without picking up hearts.
- Two Red Hearts, Dead Bird, and Whore of Babylon; Razor Blade is added after 439 Greed Donation Machine coins.
- Whore of Babylon grants major offensive bonuses while Eve remains at one Red Heart or lower.
Strengths
- • Strong low-health offense
- • Excellent Soul Heart builds
- • Good Devil Deal routing
Weaknesses
- • Weak damage outside Whore of Babylon
- • Maintaining the bonus limits Red Heart protection
Lilith
Normal- Defeat Ultra Greed as Azazel.
- One Red Heart, two Black Hearts, Incubus, Box of Friends, and Cambion Conception.
- Lilith fires through Incubus, while Box of Friends temporarily duplicates her familiars.
Strengths
- • Excellent familiar scaling
- • Powerful active item
- • Cambion Conception adds familiars over time
Weaknesses
- • Offset aiming is harder
- • Her starting active competes with other actives
Bethany
Normal- Defeat Mom's Heart or It Lives! on Hard Mode as Lazarus without using his extra life.
- Three Red Hearts and Book of Virtues.
- Soul and Black Hearts become active-item charges instead of health, while Book of Virtues creates item-linked wisps.
Strengths
- • Powerful active-item synergies
- • Wisps provide offense and protection
- • Flexible charge storage
Weaknesses
- • Cannot use Soul or Black Hearts as health
- • Red Heart damage is especially costly
Tainted Isaac
Tainted- Use Red Key or Cracked Key on the hidden closet in Home while playing as Isaac.
- Three Red Hearts and an eight-slot passive-item limit.
- Most pedestals alternate between two choices, but only eight passive items can be held; Birthright raises the limit to twelve.
Strengths
- • Built-in item choices
- • Can discard weak passives
- • High average build quality
Weaknesses
- • Strict item-slot limit
- • Bad timing can select the wrong pedestal option
Tainted Azazel
Tainted- Use Red Key or Cracked Key on the hidden closet in Home while playing as Azazel.
- Three Black Hearts, flight, a long-range narrow Brimstone beam, and The Fool.
- A short-range sneeze damages and marks enemies, causing the Brimstone beam to deal amplified damage.
Strengths
- • Flight and long-range Brimstone
- • Sneeze supplies crowd control
- • Strong early consistency
Weaknesses
- • No starting Red Heart containers
- • Maximum damage requires close-range setup
- • Narrow beam requires accurate aim
Tainted Apollyon
Tainted- Use Red Key or Cracked Key on the hidden closet in Home while playing as Apollyon.
- Two Red Hearts and Abyss in the pocket active slot.
- Abyss converts unwanted pedestal items into permanent attacking locusts.
Strengths
- • Every pedestal retains value
- • Locust army scales throughout the run
- • Abyss does not occupy the normal active slot
Weaknesses
- • Only two starting Red Hearts
- • Consumed items cannot be recovered
- • Many items create only a basic locust
Balanced or Specialist Picks
Capable characters whose mechanics are powerful in the right hands but less consistently forgiving.
???
Normal- Defeat Mom's Heart ten times.
- Three Soul Hearts and The Poop.
- Cannot gain Red Heart containers and must rely on Soul, Black, Bone, or other non-red health.
Strengths
- • Simple standard tears
- • Good no-red-heart synergies
- • Soul Heart damage preserves deal chance
Weaknesses
- • No renewable Red Heart health
- • Weak starting active
- • Poor early damage can consume limited health
Lazarus
Normal- Have four or more Soul or Black Hearts at one time.
- Three Red Hearts, a random pill, and one extra life.
- Revives as Lazarus Risen with stronger offense; the extra life returns on later floors and planned deaths can grant permanent damage.
Strengths
- • Built-in extra life
- • Can gain permanent damage
- • Standard Red Heart healing
Weaknesses
- • Base form is ordinary
- • Poorly timed deaths can ruin health or deals
- • Revival costs maximum health
Eden
Normal- Defeat Mom's Heart or It Lives! to earn Eden Tokens; each Eden run consumes one token.
- Random health, stats, one passive item, one active item, and random pickups.
- Every run begins with a different build and stat distribution.
Strengths
- • Can start with rare items
- • Encourages broad item knowledge
- • Every run is different
Weaknesses
- • Unpredictable health and stats
- • Can begin with harmful combinations
- • Requires an Eden Token
Keeper
Normal- Donate 1,000 coins to the Greed Donation Machine.
- Two Coin Hearts and a triple shot; Wooden Nickel and a third Coin Heart are added through completion unlocks.
- Uses coins as health and initially has a low health cap.
Strengths
- • Strong triple-shot burst
- • Coins provide health and purchasing power
- • Wooden Nickel improves sustain
Weaknesses
- • Restricted health cap
- • Slow starting fire rate
- • Spending money removes possible healing
Apollyon
Normal- Defeat Mega Satan.
- Three Red Hearts and Void.
- Void consumes passives for random stats and stores active-item effects to trigger together.
Strengths
- • Converts weak items into stats
- • Combines active effects
- • Normal starting health
Weaknesses
- • Stat gains are random
- • Stored effects can conflict
- • Void has a long charge time
The Forgotten
Normal- After defeating The Lamb, complete the Broken Shovel sequence and use Mom's Shovel on the grave in the Dark Room.
- A Bone Heart body with a melee club and a Soul Heart spirit form with flight and spectral tears.
- Switches between a powerful melee body and a mobile ranged soul tethered to the body.
Strengths
- • Strong melee damage
- • Two complementary forms
- • Club can destroy projectiles
Weaknesses
- • Health is divided by form
- • The Soul is tethered to the body
- • Melee combat requires pattern knowledge
High-Execution Characters
Strong characters whose health, inventory, reroll, or dual-control systems demand advanced planning.
The Lost
Normal- Die in a Sacrifice Room while holding Missing Poster.
- Flight, spectral tears, no health, and Eternal D6 after its unlock; Holy Mantle is added after 879 Greed Donation Machine coins.
- Dies from any unblocked hit. Holy Mantle blocks the first hit in each room, and Devil Deals can be taken without a health payment.
Strengths
- • Flight and spectral tears
- • Free Devil Deals
- • Eternal D6 improves item quality
Weaknesses
- • One-hit death after the shield breaks
- • Small mistakes end long runs
- • Many self-damage interactions are unusable
Jacob & Esau
Normal- Defeat Mother.
- Jacob has three Red Hearts; Esau has one Red Heart and one Soul Heart. Their stats and items are separate, but consumables are shared.
- Both characters move together and can collect separate items from simultaneous double-pedestal choices.
Strengths
- • Two independent builds
- • Can obtain two items from selected choice rooms
- • High combined starting damage
Weaknesses
- • Two hitboxes are difficult to dodge
- • Different speeds cause separation
- • Health must be divided
Tainted Cain
Tainted- Use Red Key or Cracked Key on the hidden closet in Home while playing as Cain.
- Two Red Hearts, one key, and Bag of Crafting in the pocket active slot.
- Pedestal items break into pickups, and eight stored pickups are converted into a crafted item.
Strengths
- • Strong resource conversion
- • Can deliberately shape the build
- • Few pickups are completely wasted
Weaknesses
- • Cannot collect normal pedestal items
- • Crafting requires extensive knowledge
- • Poor drops can delay power
Tainted Lazarus
Tainted- Use Red Key or Cracked Key on the hidden closet in Home while playing as Lazarus.
- Alive Lazarus has Red Hearts, Dead Lazarus has Soul Hearts, and Flip occupies the pocket active slot.
- Clearing rooms alternates between two forms with separate health, stats, and inventories. Flip changes forms and reveals paired faded items.
Strengths
- • Two specialized builds
- • Flip can provide additional items
- • Forms can cover different roles
Weaknesses
- • Resources are split
- • Forced switching disrupts routing
- • One weak form can block progression
Extreme Challenge
Characters designed around near-perfect play with little protection from a single mistake.
Tainted Lost
Tainted- Use Red Key or Cracked Key on the hidden closet in Home while playing as The Lost.
- Flight, spectral tears, no health, a Holy Card, and an innate damage multiplier.
- Has no Holy Mantle. Many defensive or low-value items are filtered from the available pools, but Holy Card shields remain the main protection.
Strengths
- • Higher average item quality
- • Strong damage multiplier
- • Flight and spectral tears
Weaknesses
- • Any unshielded hit ends the run
- • No permanent Holy Mantle
- • Long bosses demand nearly flawless execution
The Binding of Isaac Repentance Unlock Guide
A useful progression route prioritizes unlocks that make future attempts stronger. Hard Mode is needed for selected rewards and final completion, while Greedier Mode provides a separate completion mark and important donation milestones.
1. First Ending
EssentialRequirement: Defeat Mom in Depths II.
Unlocks: The Womb chapter, Ending 1, and access to Mom's Heart on later runs.
Actions: Use Isaac or Azazel, visit each early Treasure Room, and enter Mom's fight with spare health.
Next: Defeat Mom's Heart repeatedly.
2. Mom's Heart Cycle
EssentialRequirement: Defeat Mom's Heart ten times, then complete an eleventh Heart run.
Unlocks: The tenth defeat unlocks ???. The eleventh permanently replaces Mom's Heart with It Lives!.
Actions: Use several characters to begin earning completion rewards while learning Womb enemies and full-heart damage.
Next: Use the It Lives! exits to reach Cathedral and Sheol.
3. Cathedral and Sheol
EssentialRequirement: After defeating It Lives!, enter the beam of light for Cathedral or the trapdoor for Sheol, then defeat Isaac or Satan.
Unlocks: Chapter V completion marks, character rewards, and progress toward the two Chapter VI routes.
Actions: Develop both routes while targeting useful character-specific unlocks.
Next: Defeat Isaac five times and Satan five times.
4. The Polaroid and The Negative
EssentialRequirement: Defeat Isaac five times to unlock The Polaroid and Satan five times to unlock The Negative.
Unlocks: The Polaroid opens Chest after Cathedral. The Negative opens Dark Room after Sheol.
Actions: Take the photograph that matches the intended route after defeating Mom.
Next: Defeat ??? in Chest and The Lamb in Dark Room.
5. Mega Satan and Apollyon
HighRequirement: Clear Chest or Dark Room once, then bomb Angel statues in two Angel Rooms to assemble both Key Pieces and open the golden door in Chapter VI.
Unlocks: Mega Satan completion rewards; defeating Mega Satan unlocks Apollyon.
Actions: Skip the first Devil Room to force the next deal-room spawn into the Angel route, and preserve bombs for both statues.
Next: Pursue Delirium through available Void portals.
6. Boss Rush and Hush
HighRequirement: Defeat Mom in under 20 minutes for Boss Rush and defeat Mom's Heart or It Lives! in under 30 minutes for the Blue Womb and Hush.
Unlocks: Character-specific completion marks, items, and progress toward the Repentance alternate path.
Actions: Attempt timed routes on strong runs, use map-reveal effects, and skip low-value rooms.
Next: Defeat Hush three times.
7. Alternate Path
Essential for RepentanceRequirement: Defeat Hush three times to unlock A Secret Exit.
Unlocks: Downpour or Dross, Mines or Ashpit, Mausoleum or Gehenna, the Knife Piece route, Corpse, and Mother.
Actions: The first alternate door costs one key, the second costs two bombs, and the Mausoleum or Gehenna entrance costs two full hearts. Collect both Knife Pieces and use the completed knife on the flesh door after Mom.
Next: Reach Corpse II and defeat Mother.
8. Mother and the Strange Door
EssentialRequirement: Collect both Knife Pieces, enter Corpse, and defeat Mother.
Unlocks: Jacob and Esau, the Strange Door in Depths II, Challenge #39 Isaac's Awakening, and the route toward Home.
Actions: Prioritize health and defense because Mother has two long phases and boss armor.
Next: Complete the Ascent and defeat The Beast.
9. Home, The Beast, and Tainted Characters
EssentialRequirement: In Depths II, defeat Mom, use The Fool to leave, open the Strange Door with The Polaroid or The Negative, reach Dad's Note, complete the Ascent, enter Home, and defeat The Beast route.
Unlocks: The final ending route and character-specific Beast rewards. Opening Mom's chest at Home grants Red Key on the first visit.
Actions: On later runs, leave a trinket in a Treasure or Boss Room before the Ascent. It becomes a Cracked Key in the corresponding Ascent room. Use Red Key or Cracked Key on Home's hidden closet to unlock the current Tainted character.
Next: Prioritize Tainted Isaac, Tainted Lilith, and other characters with strong rewards.
10. Greed Donation Milestones
HighRequirement: Complete Greed Mode and donate coins after defeating Ultra Greed.
Unlocks: 30 coins unlock Wooden Nickel, 500 unlock Greedier Mode, 879 give The Lost a starting Holy Mantle, and 1,000 unlock Keeper.
Actions: Rotate characters to reduce the effect of the character-specific machine jam chance, and save coins for donation.
Next: Earn Greedier marks and Keeper's survival upgrades.
11. Best Early Character Unlocks
Highest early-item priorityRequirement: Complete selected character marks.
Unlocks: Defeat Isaac as ??? for Isaac's D6; Satan as Isaac for Mom's Knife; Isaac as Azazel for Satanic Bible; Isaac as Bethany for Book of Virtues; Isaac and ??? as Jacob and Esau for The Stairway and Birthright.
Actions: Obtain these rewards before spending many attempts on low-impact completion goals.
Next: Begin Beast and Tainted-character rewards.
12. Best Repentance Unlocks
Highest late-game priorityRequirement: Complete selected Beast and Delirium marks.
Unlocks: C Section from The Beast as Lilith; Twisted Pair from The Beast as Tainted Lilith; Glitched Crown from The Beast as Tainted Isaac; Spindown Dice from Delirium as Tainted Isaac; Sacred Orb from The Beast as Tainted Lost.
Actions: Begin with Lilith, Tainted Lilith, and Tainted Isaac. Attempt Sacred Orb after becoming comfortable with Holy Card management and final bosses.
Next: Target Rock Bottom, Godhead, Mega Mush, and Death Certificate.
13. Challenges, Runes, and Utility
Medium to HighRequirement: Complete selected numbered challenges and general achievements.
Unlocks: High Brow unlocks Jera; Demo Man unlocks Chaos Card; Cursed! unlocks Credit Card; Solar System unlocks Perthro; Isaac's Awakening unlocks Spirit Sword; five consecutive Daily Challenge wins unlock Cracked Crown.
Actions: Unlock at least six runes or Soul Stones so Rune Shards stop appearing, then prioritize reroll, duplication, combat, and free-purchase rewards.
Next: Complete the remaining character post-it notes.
14. Full Completion
FinalRequirement: Finish the required Hard Mode and Greedier marks, unlock every ending and secret, complete all other achievements, and pick up every item at least once.
Unlocks: All non-Tainted Hard Mode post-it notes unlock Mega Mush. All normal and Tainted post-it notes unlock Death Certificate. Completing the entire collection leads to Dead God.
Actions: Finish powerful characters first to improve the item pool, then complete difficult characters such as Jacob and Esau, The Lost, and Tainted Lost on a mature save file.
Next: Dead God on the current save file.
The Binding of Isaac Repentance Bosses and Endings
Repentance opens its endgame in layers. Early Mom's Heart victories unlock It Lives, Cathedral, Sheol, Blue Womb, and later alternate floors; deeper routes require the Polaroid, the Negative, Key Pieces, Knife Pieces, or the Strange Door. Use the route notes below to plan each run before committing at Mom, It Lives, or the alternate-path doors.
Route: Defeat Mom to open Womb or Utero, then clear the second floor of Chapter IV. Mom's Heart is the final boss until It Lives permanently replaces it after 11 Mom's Heart victories.
Requirements
- Defeat Mom once to unlock Chapter IV.
- Defeat Mom's Heart 10 times to unlock the Blue Womb route.
- Defeat Mom's Heart 11 times to unlock It Lives, which permanently replaces Mom's Heart.
Attacks
- Alternates between hiding in the ceiling and returning to the center while summoning enemies.
- Fires rings, spirals, and aimed spreads of red tears.
Preparation
- Enter Chapter IV with enough health for full-heart damage.
- Prioritize sustained damage, movement speed, and a way to clear summoned enemies quickly.
Result: Awards the heart completion mark. The early Mom's Heart victories advance Endings 2-11 and unlock major progression features.
The Binding of Isaac Repentance Challenges and Rewards
Repentance contains 45 preset challenge runs. Challenge runs block normal achievement progress, but completing the stated destination unlocks a specific rune, card, item, trinket, pickup type, pill effect, or character upgrade. The highest-impact early targets are High Brow for Jera, Solar System for Perthro, Waka Waka for Death's Touch, The Family Man for Epic Fetus, and Isaac's Awakening for Spirit Sword.
Pitch Black
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- No starting items.
- Rules:
- Permanent Curse of Darkness and Curse of the Unknown; shops cannot spawn; treasure rooms remain available.
Treat it like a normal Isaac run and use the visible map layout to compensate for darkness.
Reward: Rune of Hagalaz
High Brow
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Number One, E. Coli, Butt Bombs, Flush!, and Petrified Poop.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn.
Prioritize range because Number One sharply reduces it.
Reward: Rune of Jera
Head Trauma
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Tiny Planet, Soy Milk, The Small Rock, and Iron Bar.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn.
Fight at medium range and let the orbiting tear ring pass through enemies.
Reward: Rune of Ehwaz
Darkness Falls
- Character:
- Eve
- Setup:
- Sacrificial Dagger, Dark Matter, Dead Bird, Pentagram, Razor Blade, and Whore of Babylon.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn.
Use Sacrificial Dagger aggressively on early floors and keep red health low enough to maintain Whore of Babylon.
Reward: Rune of Dagaz
The Tank
- Character:
- Magdalene
- Setup:
- Infamy, Thunder Thighs, Bucket of Lard, and Yum Heart.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn; starting speed is extremely low.
Speed upgrades are the first priority.
Reward: Rune of Ansuz
Solar System
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Distant Admiration, Forever Alone, Halo of Flies, and Transcendence.
- Rules:
- Blindfolded; Isaac cannot fire tears; treasure rooms cannot spawn.
Use flight to hide over gaps and rocks while orbitals deal contact damage.
Reward: Rune of Perthro
Suicide King
- Character:
- Lazarus
- Setup:
- Ipecac, Mr. Mega, My Reflection, and one random pill.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn; reflected Ipecac shots can easily damage Lazarus.
Fire from open lanes and wait for the returning arc before moving forward.
Reward: Suicide King card
Cat Got Your Tongue
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Extra health, Guppy's Head, Guppy's Hairball, and Guppy's Tail.
- Rules:
- Blindfolded; treasure rooms cannot spawn; the Hairball and blue flies are the main starting damage.
Swing the Hairball through enemies, then retreat.
Reward: Rune of Algiz
Demo Man
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Remote Detonator, Dr. Fetus, and Match Stick.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn.
Use Dr. Fetus from long range and place bombs where enemies will remain until detonation.
Reward: Chaos Card
Cursed!
- Character:
- Magdalene
- Setup:
- Blue Map, Treasure Map, The Compass, Raw Liver, Yum Heart, and Child's Heart.
- Rules:
- Every normal doorway is lined with damaging spikes; special-room and secret-room entrances are not.
Plan the shortest route with the mapping items and avoid backtracking.
Reward: Credit Card
Glass Cannon
- Character:
- Judas
- Setup:
- Epic Fetus and Loki's Horns.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn.
Focus the intended Epic Fetus crosshair and ignore the extra Loki's Horns targets.
Reward: Rules Card
When Life Gives You Lemons
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- 9 Volt, Habit, Lemon Mishap, and one Lemon Party pill.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn.
Place Lemon Mishap where enemies must cross it, especially near doors and in narrow rooms.
Reward: Card Against Humanity
Beans!
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- 9 Volt, The Bean, Black Bean, Butt Bombs, and Pyro.
- Rules:
- Blindfolded; treasure rooms cannot spawn.
Conserve Butt Bombs and use The Bean whenever enemies group near Isaac.
Reward: Burnt Penny
It's in the Cards
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- 9 Volt, The Battery, Deck of Cards, Starter Deck, and two random tarot cards.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn.
Cycle Deck of Cards often and save high-impact cards for bosses or dangerous rooms.
Reward: SMB Super Fan
Slow Roll
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Polyphemus, Cupid's Arrow, and My Reflection.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn; damage is fixed at 100 and fire rate at 0.50.
Ignore damage and tears upgrades; seek range, homing, multishot, and other tear modifiers.
Reward: Swallowed Penny
Computer Savvy
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Spoon Bender, Technology, and Technology 2.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn.
The homing lasers are already strong enough to clear quickly.
Reward: Robo-Baby 2.0
Waka Waka
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Anti-Gravity and Strange Attractor.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn.
Tap fire to release tears quickly instead of building unstable clusters.
Reward: Death's Touch
The Host
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- The Mulligan, Spiderbaby, and Tick.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn; Tick cannot normally be dropped.
Lean on fly generation and seek damage or luck.
Reward: Tech.5
The Family Man
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- BFFS!, Rotten Baby, Brother Bobby, Sister Maggy, and Dad's Key.
- Rules:
- Blindfolded; treasure rooms cannot spawn.
Collect familiars, orbitals, Box of Friends, and familiar-scaling effects.
Reward: Epic Fetus
Purist
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- No starting items.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn.
Treat shops, libraries, boss items, and Angel or Devil Rooms as the main build sources.
Reward: Rune of Berkano
XXXXXXXXL
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- No starting items.
- Rules:
- Every floor is much larger than normal.
Buy mapping and speed upgrades, then clear only what the build needs.
Reward: Gold Hearts can appear in future runs
SPEED!
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- No starting items.
- Rules:
- Most gameplay is accelerated; after 16 minutes Isaac takes damage every 10 seconds.
Skip low-value rooms, take fast damage upgrades, and avoid lengthy reroll setups.
Reward: Get Out of Jail Free card
Blue Bomber
- Character:
- ???
- Setup:
- Kamikaze!, Pyromaniac, Mr. Mega, and Brother Bobby.
- Rules:
- Blindfolded; treasure rooms cannot spawn.
Kamikaze! heals instead of hurting because of Pyromaniac, giving repeatable damage and recovery.
Reward: Gold Bombs can appear in future runs
PAY TO PLAY
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Money = Power, Sack of Pennies, and 50 coins.
- Rules:
- Every normal door costs one coin; Isaac drops coins when hit; treasure rooms cannot spawn.
Keep a coin reserve for mandatory doors and avoid unnecessary branches.
Reward: Percs! and Addicted pill effects
Have a Heart
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Twelve red-heart containers with only one heart filled, plus Charm of the Vampire.
- Rules:
- Red-heart pickups become coins and many regeneration items do not work.
Use Charm of the Vampire, health-restoring cards, beds, and non-pickup healing.
Reward: Re-Lax and ??? pill effects
I RULE!
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Key Piece 1, Key Piece 2, The Ladder, The Boomerang, Trinity Shield, and Mom's Knife.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn.
Mom's Knife supplies enough damage for the full route.
Reward: Poker Chip
BRAINS!
- Character:
- ???
- Setup:
- Thunder Thighs and three Bob's Brain familiars.
- Rules:
- Blindfolded; treasure rooms cannot spawn; Bob's Brain explosions can damage the player.
Fire only with open space between Isaac and the target.
Reward: Stud Finder
PRIDE DAY!
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Rainbow Worm, Rainbow Baby, and 3 Dollar Bill.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn; Rainbow Worm cannot be dropped.
Pause before entering dangerous rooms when Rainbow Worm is showing an awkward pattern.
Reward: D8
Onan's Streak
- Character:
- Judas
- Setup:
- Book of Belial and Chocolate Milk.
- Rules:
- Every tear that misses an enemy damages Judas.
Use fully charged, deliberate shots at large targets.
Reward: Kidney Stone
The Guardian
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Holy Grail, Punching Bag, Isaac's Heart, and Spear of Destiny.
- Rules:
- Isaac's Heart follows Punching Bag and is the vulnerable hitbox; Isaac cannot rely on normal tears.
Body-block threats with invulnerable Isaac while keeping the wandering heart away from enemies.
Reward: Blank Rune
Backasswards
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Random high health, 10 random items, and both Key Pieces.
- Rules:
- Starts at Mega Satan and moves backward to Basement I; one base item and one red-heart container are lost on each ascent.
Restart weak item sets before attempting Mega Satan.
Reward: Lazarus starts with Anemic
Aprils Fool
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- No starting items.
- Rules:
- HUD, pickups, item sprites, prices, and map information are misleading; every boss is The Bloat.
Judge pickups by their effect after collection instead of appearance.
Reward: Magdalene starts with a Full Health pill
Pokey Mans
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Friendly Ball and Mom's Eyeshadow.
- Rules:
- Friendly Ball creates a charmed monster and recharges when that monster dies; treasure rooms cannot spawn.
Capture durable or high-damage enemies and replace weak allies often.
Reward: Charged Keys can appear in future runs
Ultra Hard
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Both Key Pieces.
- Rules:
- Permanent curses, no heart pickups, mostly champion enemies, and double bosses whenever possible.
Restart until the first two treasure rooms provide major damage or renewable healing.
Reward: Samson starts with Child's Heart
Pong
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Cupid's Arrow and Rubber Cement.
- Rules:
- Damage is fixed at 100 and fire rate at 0.20.
Line up piercing ricochets to hit several enemies with each slow shot.
Reward: Greed's Gullet
Scat Man
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- 9 Volt, The Poop, Dirty Mind, three Butt Bombs, Skatole, E. Coli, BFFS!, Thunder Thighs, and Mysterious Candy.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn.
Break every poop to create friendly dips and use BFFS! to amplify them.
Reward: Dirty Mind
Bloody Mary
- Character:
- Bethany
- Setup:
- Blood Oath, Blood Bag, Anemic, Book of Belial, and Child's Heart.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn; Blood Oath removes red health at the start of each floor for temporary stats.
Seek renewable healing, Holy Mantle-style protection, and health generation.
Reward: Sigil of Baphomet
Baptism by Fire
- Character:
- Bethany
- Setup:
- Urn of Souls, Schoolbag, Guppy's Paw, and Maggy's Faith.
- Rules:
- Blindfolded; treasure rooms cannot spawn; Urn of Souls consumes collected souls as fuel.
Group enemies before firing the Urn and conserve charges for bosses.
Reward: Purgatory
Isaac's Awakening
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Spirit Sword, Trinity Shield, and Mom's Bracelet.
- Rules:
- Treasure rooms cannot spawn; the route ends at Mother.
Use charged sword spins to erase projectiles and Trinity Shield to cover the facing direction.
Reward: Spirit Sword
Seeing Double
- Character:
- Jacob and Esau
- Setup:
- 20/20 on both characters; Esau also has X-Ray Vision.
- Rules:
- Every enemy and boss spawns twice.
Keep Jacob and Esau tightly aligned and prioritize room-wide damage, piercing, and defensive items.
Reward: Broken Glasses
Pica Run
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- Mom's Box, Mom's Purse, and Marbles.
- Rules:
- All pedestal items become trinkets; Marbles activates on every hit.
Use Mom's Box constantly and swallow the strongest trinkets before replacing them.
Reward: Ice Cube
Hot Potato
- Character:
- Tainted Forgotten
- Setup:
- No starting items.
- Rules:
- Blindfolded; treasure rooms cannot spawn; the body automatically explodes every 2.5 seconds and is the main weapon.
Throw the body, move the soul to safety, and time explosions before retrieving it.
Reward: The reversed Chariot card
Cantripped!
- Character:
- Tainted Cain
- Setup:
- Bag of Crafting.
- Rules:
- Cards and pills become item cards; using one grants a random item effect for the current room; boss rewards expand the hand and provide more item cards.
Save powerful item cards for bosses and use weaker effects to clear normal rooms.
Reward: The reversed Justice card
Red Redemption
- Character:
- Tainted Jacob
- Setup:
- Dad's Key and Red Key.
- Rules:
- Floors begin isolated; use infinite Red Key charges to reveal rooms. Dark Esau appears after 20 uses, with another added every five additional uses.
Use mapping items to locate likely special-room and boss positions with fewer Red Key openings.
Reward: The reversed Hermit card
DELETE THIS
- Character:
- Isaac
- Setup:
- TMTRAINER.
- Rules:
- Glitched items have randomized effects; floor visuals and shop prices are randomized.
Test glitched effects in safe rooms and avoid repeatedly triggering effects that damage, teleport, or soft-lock the run.
Reward: The reversed Temperance card
The Binding of Isaac Repentance Best Mods
For a stable loadout, begin with one information overlay, one boss-bar system, and a small number of quality-of-life mods. Add music frameworks only when a soundtrack requires them, and test large content expansions on their own before combining them. Repentance+ also includes newer built-in interface improvements, while Workshop tools such as External Item Descriptions remain useful for deeper statistics and modded content.
External Item Descriptions
InterfaceLearning items without leaving the game
Shows detailed descriptions for collectibles, trinkets, cards, runes, pills, horse pills, and selected rooms. It also supports Spindown Dice results, Bag of Crafting information, transformations, and a large number of content mods.
GoodTrip [Fixed]
Quality of LifeRemoving cleared-room backtracking
Lets players teleport between cleared rooms directly from the minimap. Mouse, keyboard, and controller navigation are supported, while combat rooms and uncleared destinations remain blocked.
Enhanced Boss Bars
Interface and VisualsClearer multi-boss health tracking
Replaces the standard boss display with individual icons, responsive health bars, and more than 45 special boss-bar designs. It is especially useful for segmented bosses and rooms containing several bosses.
Planetarium Chance [REP+]
InterfacePlanning treasure-room skips
Adds the current floor's Planetarium chance to the HUD and accounts for relevant collectibles and modifiers. It makes Planetarium routing readable without manual percentage tracking.
Practice Mode
PracticeTraining against superbosses
Adds a practice challenge for Mega Satan, Hush, Delirium, Mother, and Dogma with the final gauntlet. The mode supplies a realistic minimum build, provides unlimited health, and tracks how many times the player is hit.
Da Rules
Sandbox and TestingCustom experiments, spawning, and rule-based practice
Adds a sandbox menu for replacing, resizing, moving, spawning, and modifying enemies, pickups, visuals, and room behavior. It is useful for testing synergies, recreating situations, and building custom practice rules.
Antibirth Music+++
MusicA complete Antibirth-style soundtrack
Replaces the default soundtrack with an expanded and polished Antibirth music set, including alternate shop and arcade tracks and additional boss music options.
Soundtrack Menu
Music UtilityMixing soundtracks floor by floor
Adds an in-game menu for selecting music packs and assigning tracks. It allows several compatible soundtrack mods to coexist without permanently replacing one another.
Music Mod Callback
FrameworkSupporting advanced soundtrack mods
Provides music callbacks used by soundtrack replacements and music-selection tools. It does nothing by itself and should only be installed when another subscribed mod lists it as a requirement.
Fiend Folio: Reheated
Content ExpansionA large post-completion content overhaul
Adds more than 500 monsters, 23 bosses, more than 140 items, over 48,000 rooms, two major playable character concepts, and 10 challenges. It significantly changes floor variety and difficulty.
Installation and Activation
SetupA clean first-time mod setup
Open a Workshop page, select Subscribe, let Steam finish the download, launch the game, open Mods from the main menu, and enable the mod plus every listed dependency. Restart the game after installing frameworks, large content packs, or music systems.
Load Order and Troubleshooting
SetupFixing crashes, missing menus, duplicate HUDs, and broken audio
Isaac does not include a drag-and-drop load-order manager. Keep required frameworks enabled, remove obsolete duplicates, and add mods in small batches. If a problem appears, disable half the loadout, restart, and repeat until the conflict is isolated.
The Binding of Isaac Repentance Plus Online Co-op
Repentance+ is the free Steam DLC that adds integrated online co-op to Repentance. Up to four full characters can enter the same run through Friend Match, Public Match, or Quick Match, with challenges, Greed Mode, Daily Runs, achievements, completion marks, chat, emotes, and multiplayer-focused balance changes included.
Install the Required Steam Content
- Every player needs Rebirth, Afterbirth, Afterbirth+, Repentance, and the free Repentance+ DLC on Steam.
- Use the same current Repentance+ version and restart after updates.
Choose Matchmaking
Friend Match
Create a lobby for up to four players from the host's Steam friends list.
Public Match
Host or join a visible lobby with other online players.
Quick Match
Join an available group automatically.
Select Characters
- Each player selects a full character available on that player's Repentance+ save.
- Health, passive and active items, cards, pills, and trinkets are individual; coins, bombs, and keys are shared.
- Combine durable, damage, and utility characters so the group does not compete for every upgrade.
Choose a Supported Mode
- Online play supports Normal, Hard, Greed, Greedier, Challenges, and Daily Runs.
- Choose Hard or Greedier when the intended completion mark requires the harder setting.
Share Items Fairly
- Many pedestals still go to one player, so assign build-defining items by synergy and rotate general upgrades.
- Use the emote wheel's dice roll when several players want the same item.
- Spend shared coins, bombs, and keys only after the group agrees.
Earn Progress Together
- Eligible players can earn achievements, unlocks, and character completion marks in online runs.
- Normal route, difficulty, challenge, and prerequisite requirements still apply to each player's save.
- Plan one destination that clears missing marks for several selected characters.
Communicate and Moderate
- Use the emote wheel to mark routes, tinted rocks, secret rooms, pickups, and item choices.
- Use group text chat for route and resource decisions.
- Use vote kick when a public player repeatedly disrupts the match.
Fix Connection or Compatibility Problems
- Check DLC ownership and version matching first.
- Disable Workshop mods, restart the game, and verify files through Steam.
- Recreate the lobby with another host when joining or synchronization still fails.
Follow Official Patch Notes
Patch Notes
- 1.9.7.6Early online fixes and system adjustments
- 1.9.7.8More online bug fixes and improvements
- 1.9.7.11Gameplay fixes, online improvements, and compatibility work
- 1.9.7.13New features, balance changes, fixes, and built-in item descriptions