How do I skip the Intro on Binding of Isaac?

Question

I play the Binding of Isaac, and love the game. Though, I hate the very long intro. Is there anyway to skip it? Please tell me. Thank you.

Asked by Shadow Zorgon

Answer

All you have to do is hit the space bar.

Answered by spugsley

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Are there any ways to break rocks without bombs?

Question

Sometimes I have quite a bit of trouble finding bombs or I will need a bomb in order to get more bombs. What ways can I break rocks (via items or enemies) if I have zero actual bombs?

Asked by OrigamiRobot

Answer

The following activated items can destroy rocks:

• Anarchist Cookbook - Spawns 6 bombs in random locations so there's not a 100% chance that it'll break the rock you need.

• Bobs Rotten Head - Lets you throw a bomb in any of the 4 cardinal directions.

• Dead Sea Scrolls - Activates as any other random activated item, so it's super unreliable.

• The Doctors Remote - Activates a crosshair that will drop a bomb on that location (which can be changed) after a designated amount of time.

• Kamikaze! - Acts as if you blew up a bomb on your location.

• Mr. Boom - Drops a big bomb on your location.

• The Nail - Allows you to walk through rocks for the room you activated it in, and instead of flying over them, you destroy them.

Additionally, one passive item, Fetus in a Jar, allows you to shoot bombs as tears, and one pill, Explosive Diarrhea, causes you to drop a few bombs as you walk.

Also, if you can kill a Mulligoon near a rock, or prompt him to suicide near one, he'll drop a bomb on his death. Boom Fly's also serve the same purpose, except they immediately explode instead of dropping a bomb. Fred fires projectiles in an upwards arc that explode upon hitting the floor, but they don't have much range so you need to wait for him to get close enough to the rock you want to destroy, stand near it, and dodge his projectile matador style.

You can also use Troll Bombs (which drop in place of regular bombs sometimes) dropped from activated items and tarot cards, but in those situations, without the troll bomb you'll get a regular bomb anyway, so they're not very practical.

Another way to break rocks is to use the High Priestess Tarot Card to call down mom's foot on a random enemy in the room. The foot will break any rocks around the impact point with about the same radius as a bomb explosion. This strategy is rather impractical though, as it occurs on a random enemy (can be eliminated by having only one enemy left) and you have to get the enemy to the rock you want to destroy (which can be rather hard with some enemies).

Answered by Mr Smooth

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Is there any difference between champion colors?

Question

Do different colored champions have different bonuses, and, if so, what are they?

I.e. Are green champions the same as red champions?

Asked by OrigamiRobot

Answer

I've been experimenting for a while with these "Champions". These are results of my observations:

• different colors have the same stats. I've found 3 Champion Frowning Gapers on the same level, each one of a different color. They did double damage(1 heart instead of half) and had approximately double health. They dropped a penny, a soul heart and a bomb.

• same color doesn't mean same loot. I've found, on the same playthrough, a red Charger and a red Vis. The first dropped a Tarot, the second a penny. In this same game though, I've dropped another Tarot, but this one from a grey Pacer.

Naturally these are only examples, I've done a lot more observations of this kind, but these seemed the most relevant.

The general feeling I got from these experiments is that the color is purely aesthetic. It looks like that a champion has Double HP + Double damage + guaranteed random drop (the drop is chosen between those indicated as "Pickup items" in the post already linked by Raven). Also the randomness seems to be confirmed by this Formspring post by McMillen himself: the drop is chosen at the moment of death, it's not predetermined.

Answered by Kappei

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Can I prevent unwanted items from appearing more than once in the same playthrough?

Question

It happens every time! I go to the item room and find Teleport. I don't need Teleport, so I leave it. Then the next item I find is another Teleport! This will happen either in the challenge room on the same level or in the next item room. I thought I made it clear that I don't want Teleport. Is there any way I can prevent this from happening?

Note that this happens with unwanted items besides Teleport.

Asked by OrigamiRobot

Answer

The "drops" are completely random. There is no way you can force an item to NOT drop, but you can mitigate your chances of getting a duplicate:

• unlock everything you can. Characters' primary and secondary secret items, secret bosses, basically you have to play A LOT. Having to choose from a pool of 20 items is different from having to choose between 130.

• unlock the D6 by:

  beating the Womb with ??? (that is unlocked by beating the game 10 times)

This item lets you re-roll your unwanted items and with some clever combinations and tricks, grants you almost any item you want.

Answered by Kappei

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How can I unlock Super Bandage?

Question

How can I unlock Super Bandage?

It's only item left to unlock Golden God.

Asked by Leadri

Answer

From The Binding of Isaac Wikia:

Increases HP by 1 and gives 2 soul hearts. Trivia: This is a reference to "Bandage Girl" from Super Meat Boy, another game Edmund McMillian worked on. Rarely Found in Boss Rooms.

Unlocked by killing four Horsemen in one playthrough, not just by collecting four Meat Cubes.

This can be pretty tricky given the random nature of the bosses. The four bosses you need to kill, like the quote says, are the Four Horsemen; War, Death, Famine, and Pestilence.

Sadly, encountering all four of them in a single playthrough is entirely random without the aid of The Book of Revelations, as mentioned by Timothy Roy.

Answered by Fluttershy

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What can you get from the Skull Game after Skatole?

Question

After getting Skatole (that's the poop that makes all the flies love you), is it possible to get another useful item if you find a second Skull Game guy on the same playthrough? Or will it be an endless loop of keys, bombs, hearts, etc?

Asked by spugsley

Answer

The Skatole is the only significant item you can acquire from the skull game. After getting the Skatole, it's an endless loop of coins, hearts, keys, and bombs. Also the occasional fly, which won't be an issue if you have the Skatole.

From the Binding of Isaac Wikia:

Shell Game: Bet 1 coin and a bomb, heart, key, coin, or the grand prize of Skatole is put under a skull and the skulls are shuffled in a manner impossible to follow.

This is also based on my repeated playthroughs.

Answered by Fluttershy

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What kinds of things can be in poop and are the chances always the same?

Question

So far, I have only found hearts and coins in poop. What else can be in there? Does it depend on where I find the poop?

Example: Larry Jr. leaves a lot of poop in his fetid wake. Do these poop piles have the same drop chance as poop piles found elsewhere? If not, are there any other instances of increased/decreased poop productivity?

Asked by OrigamiRobot

Answer

According to the Binding of Isaac Wikia:

Poop is a randomly generated item. The unlockable character ??? starts with an item that can generate poop. It randomly drops coins or hearts.

That said, I've made my way through the depths of Isaac's world more times than I care to count, and speaking from experience, have only ever seen Hearts (Regular and Soul), and Coins (pennies and nickels) drop from these piles of poo.

As for poop productivity, while I don't know the percentages, it doesn't seem like Larry Jr.'s poop has a higher chance of dropping anything. However it is a seemingly endless supply of poop. As long as you can stay alive, you can play in the poop all you want in hopes of farming some money or hearts.

One important thing to note, however, is the Lucky Foot. Unlocked by collecting 55 coins in one game, it will begin to appear randomly within the dungeon (treasure rooms, boss rooms, and Devil rooms). This little gem increases the likelihood of items dropping from those putrid little piles of poo.

Answered by Fluttershy

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When do I fight Satan?

Question

I killed mom (heart) 4 times but still there's no Satan at final.

When do I fight Satan? What should I do?

Thank you.

Asked by Leadri

Answer

As the wiki article about Sheol says, you can enter Sheol and fight Satan if you get a devil room after defeating Mom's Heart. Once you beat Mom's Heart 10 times, the chance of getting a devil room increases substantially and it may even be certain.

Answered by murgatroid99

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Why am I peeing?

Question

In Binding of Isaac, I notice that I sometimes leave a little pee puddle upon entering a room. What's causing Isaac to urinate? Is it random or based on an item or effect I have at the moment?

Asked by spugsley

Answer

It's a warning to remind you that your health is critical, i.e. that you only have half a Heart left.

As long as you're at half a regular Heart (regardless of how many Soul/Faith Hearts you have), you will soil yourself in terror each time you enter a room.

(If you're playing as ???, this will happen when your Faith is critical instead, because he has no regular health.)

Answered by lunboks

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Does Little Steven only appear after fighting Steve?

Question

The first time I defeated Steve, I got a message that said "Little Steven (the item) has appeared in the basement". Since then, I've only ever found Little Steven after defeating the boss Steve. Is he an item that can only be found under this particular circumstance or can he appear randomly in the basement?

Asked by spugsley

Answer

Little Steve can be found as a rare drop in any item room (or shop, or it can be rolled off of any other item with the D6) once he has been unlocked.

Steven also drops Little Steve when he is killed, most of the time (I think it's about a 90% chance).

If you already have Little Steve when you kill Steven, he will instead drop the buff item "Steven". He will also rarely drop "Steven" even if you don't have Little Steve.

Answered by Mr Smooth

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Do items despawn?

Question

I just found a heart! Unfortunately, I don't need this heart, but I am 100% sure I will need it later. If I leave the heart alone long enough, will it disappear? What about coins and other items?

Asked by OrigamiRobot

Answer

No, items on the ground never despawn as long as you are on the same floor (and once you leave it doesn't matter since you can never come back anyway).

Answered by murgatroid99

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When should I use the Blood Donation Machine?

Question

The Blood Donation Machine allows you to trade half a heart pre-Womb or a whole heart in or after the Womb for some amount of money. Additionally, there is a chance that the machine will explode and give you a Blood Bag, which gives you another heart and heals you five hearts (unless you're playing as ???).

I've read that the average number of usages to obtain a Blood Bag is around eight. I've never made it as high as eight personally, but it's supposedly possible to go well above that.

Is there a maximum or minimum number of times before a Blood Bag will drop? If I have a certain number of hearts, am I guaranteed a Blood Bag? Can it drop on the first use of the machine?

Asked by Ian Pugsley

Answer

The amount of time's you'll need to use the machine varies a lot.

I've received the bag on the first attempt multiple times, but I've also once had to use the machine 32 times before the bag finally appeared.

Most of the time it's worth it to at least give it a go, as you'll generally find it around 8 attempts, which will fully heal the hearts you spent.

The only time I don't go for the bag is if I'm already low on hearts and I think I'm going to need them.

Also, another note, it's generally worth it to give it at least 2-4 attempts because even if you don't get the bag, you can blow up the machine and possibly get a heart or two.

Answered by Mr Smooth

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What is different between the pre-Mom levels and post-Mom levels?

Question

I beat Mom for the first time yesterday and continued into the Womb on a second playthrough. I was doing pretty well (playing Cain, had 6-7 hearts, maxed out tears, high damage, 99 coins and keys, etc.), but noticed a significant difficulty difference in the Womb.

What is the differences between the pre-Mom levels (the Basement, Caves, and Depths) and the post-Mom levels (I know I took more damage, at least)?

I didn't find any shops or item rooms in one and a half levels in the Womb - is that a coincidence, or do I need to just hope all my items from before Mom can get me through the rest of the game?

Asked by Ian Pugsley

Answer

For one thing, as you have noticed, all monsters will do a full heart of damage, even those that did less in previous dungeons (unless you have the Wafer, which grants damage resistance). This applies to Blood Donation Machines as well.

Some special rooms (the Shop, and the Item Room) aren't present here, but you can still get Arcades and Gauntlet Rooms. The secret room can also contain an arcade machine.

The Womb is also the first area to have bosses from previous dungeons in regular rooms.

Answered by lunboks

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Are there always enough keys on a level?

Question

On a certain level of this basement, I found 2 locked doors but only 1 key. I think I have cleared out everything I can from this level but I still only found one key. Are there always as many keys as there are locks or should I simply move on?

Asked by OrigamiRobot

Answer

Unfortunately, no.

In my experience, there won't always be enough keys for every door. There will be a few times when you get 2 keys, but there will be 3 locked doors, requiring you to try and decide which (if any) door you want to open.

The exception to this rule is the Skeleton Key which can be found randomly in the treasure rooms or challenge rooms (kill x number of enemies after opening a chest). It awards you with 99 keys, which is enough to open ALL the doors (assuming you don't get the Bombs are Key pill).

Answered by Tristan

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Is there an in-game list of my current items' effects?

Question

I have no idea what a lot of these items do. I have seen a small description appear when I first pick up the item, but it goes away after a few seconds. When I pause the game, I can see the list of my items. Is there any way I can see exactly what each of these items does without looking it up every time?

When I hover over an item, it the cursor changes as though I should be able to click it, but nothing happens.

Asked by OrigamiRobot

Answer

Sadly, no. There is no in-game list of what the items do. You can select Collection from the main menu to see a list of the items you've found thus far, but even that won't tell you what each item does.

The best source for item information I've found is the Binding of Isaac Wikia. It has a complete list of the items, as well as a description of what each item does.

Answered by Tristan

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Is there a limit to how much health I can have?

Question

In The Binding of Isaac, what is the maximum amount of health I can get? Is there even a limit?

The health display in the upper-right corner has space for a maximum of 12 hearts. However, during a couple separate runs, I got so many hearts that I exceeded this visual limit, and apparently Soul/Faith Hearts collected after that do count, as when I took damage, it didn't show up.

Answer

Heart containers (red hearts) stack to a maximum of 12 hearts (24 normal hits before the womb, after which it's 12 hits).

However, soul hearts have no limit (I personally have collected over 200 soul hearts using the battery/xray glasses/book of revelations trick). Even if they surpass what can be physically seen, they will still act in the same way as all of your other soul hearts, with the invisible hearts being consumed first.

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Can I die if I still have soul hearts?

Question

Can I die if I have soul hearts but lose all my red hearts, either from making a deal with the devil or using the razor or using the blood donation machine?

Answer

This answer is a little tricky.

You are not supposed to die. Soul hearts function just like regular hearts for the purpose of keeping you alive. So in most cases, as long as you have soul hearts, you won't die.

Making a deal with the devil, however, is slightly different than the other examples you've given here. While using a blood donation machine or the razor will cause you damage, making a deal with the devil will actually make you lose regular heart containers. This is probably the reason that making a deal with the devil can get you killed even if you have soul hearts left after the deal, though this is actually a bug:

Bugs:

• If you have hearts and soul hearts and make a purchase that uses all of your regular hearts you will also lose all of your soul hearts. You will then have no hearts shown in the top right but still be alive.
• If you have hearts and soul hearts and make a purchase that uses all of your regular hearts you can be killed despite still having soul hearts.
• If you have a 1-Up and you make a deal that kills you, you will come back with no heart capacities, and will still be alive, and you will be unable to gain more heart capacities.

(Taken from here)

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Defeated Mom with Magdalene but got no achievement on STEAM [closed]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Binding of Isaac achievements and Steam in-game not working

I defeated Mom for the first time, but I did not get the Killed Mom! achievement on Steam.

I played as Magdalene and had some neat accessories:

• Sister Maggy
• Mom's Underwear
• PHD
• Distant Admiration
• A Dollar
• Technology
• Spelunkers Hat
• Heart

Did I not get the achievement because of Magdalene or her items?

Answer

I will assume that you do not have a problem getting achievements in general (otherwise, you should indeed try the solution proposed here), but that you failed to obtain the specific achievement you are asking about.

Having played quite a bit of this game myself, there have been several cases where an achievement did not unlock for me when it should have (though as far as I remember these were always "Unlock item XXX" achievements, such as The Spelunker). Luckily, the game seems to take the fact that it has issues unlocking achievements into account, and I've always had said achievements unlock the next time I started up the game.

That being said, your achievement may still not unlock, so know that you did nothing to disqualify yourself from obtaining it (I don't think there's any actual way to do that. You get it even if you take the easy way out and kill mom using The Bible. Heck, you even get an extra achievement for that). Since killing mom is something you do quite often in the game, you'll probably get this achievement soon enough one way or another, though that doesn't make the fact it did not unlock properly any less annoying.

To reduce the chance of achievement unlocking issues in the future, you can still check out this thread mentioned in the answer I pointed to earlier. I'll admit I never did try the fix from that thread, personally, as I did not need it.

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Which walls are bombable?

Question

I've recently started playing The Binding of Isaac, and I've noticed that some walls can be bombed to reveal a secret room containing coins, or items. The problem is, I can't tell which ones can be destroyed and which ones can't, leading me to place (read: waste) bombs on random walls.

So, is there a specific way to tell which ones will lead to an extra room?

Answer

There is no foolproof way to find the secret room (except with some of the items you can pick up, like x-ray glasses), but 99 times out of 100 you can find it with one method and a little luck.

Most secret rooms are contained in between at least 3 other rooms. All you have to do is look on your minimap for 5 rooms that are all joined in a square "U" shape (3 on the bottom, and 2 for the sides). Bombing in the middle of the wall that faces towards the gap in the U from any of the 3 rooms that will share walls with the room will lead you in.

You can then bomb your way out into another room if you so choose. This can be useful in getting into the treasure room with no keys if the secret room borders the treasure room.

Some maps have more than 1 "U" shape in them, in this case you're just going to have to guess and hope to get it on your first go.

Some maps won't have even 1 U shape, in this case, the room will probably be in bordered by 2 other rooms, so look for a set of rooms in a square "r" shape and hope that the one you picked is the right one.

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Binding of Isaac achievements and Steam in-game not working

Question

I can't get achievements in this game, also the Steam In-game function doesn't work. May this problem related to the fact that the game is in Flash? Anyone has the same problem?

Answer

In Windows, the FlashAchievements.exe that ships with the game is broken for many people. I've contacted Edmund with information about a fix, not sure when that's going out but he says he's working on it after this update goes out, in the meantime the fix on this page works:

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2216833

You want the 1.5 version, the second link to a zip on that page. This is for windows, on the Mac there's nothing at present.

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