HowToIsaac.txt

HOW TO ISSAC
by ThirdEyeLem

***STEP ONE***
Find an Isaac. Preferrably one for PC seeing as the Vita/PS4 versions get updates more slowly.

***STEP TWO***
Get a controller with two working analog sticks. Analog movement is superior (and keyboard control is harder on the fingers).

***STEP THREE***
PREPARE YOURSELF WITH THESE EASY SUBSTEPS:
- Do not assume you will win the first time out. This game is hard, deal with it.
- Do not assume you will get item X on the first floor, or in the first devil room, etc. While this game does not seem to have a "Desire Sensor" it has something far, far worse...A Troll-O-Meter. I will discuss this device's inner workings when the time is right.
- Put on your own music if you get tired of the game's soundtrack for whatever reason.
- Take some time to relax if the game angers you too much.

***STEP FOUR***
Pick your character and jump into the abyss that is Isaac's Basement.

***STEP FIVE***
Take the time to explore the entire floor. Pick up all the loose junk you see, but try to leave hearts, chests and other valuables alone. Your priority is to find the golden Item Room (or the Shop if you're playing a Challenge, Item Rooms will not spawn in Challenge mode) since you can basically get a free item for a key. DO NOT USE BOMBS TO KILL ENEMIES OR DESTROY ROCKS/WALLS YET.

Upon finding the Item Room, do yourself a favor and look up said item on the wiki or something, see if you like its effects. You can fill up the collection later.

If you have a spare key for the shop, open it up. Be careful, as on later floors, the miniboss Greed might spawn, especially if you have a lot of coins on hand. If you do find the shop before the item room, and have keys to spare, open it up even if you don't have cash. This'll save you trouble later.

Once you get the item room's treasure, check out the shop. Most items cost 15 coins, some useful items include:
- The Bible (kills Mom and Mom's Heart/It Lives instantly on use, also gives flight for one room)
- The Ladder (lets you cross pits, or stand on them)
- Mom's Purse (lets you carry two Trinkets at once)
- Deck of Cards (gives you a random tarot card on us)
- Broken Watch (has a chance of either slowing down all enemies, or speeding them up once per room)
- Map/Compass (reveals the floor layout and locations of special rooms respectively)
- Steam Sale (cuts shop prices)
- Humbling Bundle (bomb, key, penny and heart pickups give two of each instead of one, doesn't affect black or blue hearts)

On that note, try not to pick up black or blue hearts until you've cleared the floor, or you're using a build that relies on soul hearts (more on that later). On that note...DO NOT PICK UP THE WHITE HEARTS. Those are Eternal Hearts, they will give you a new heart container if you collect two of them in the same floor, or take one to the exit.

***STEP SIX***
Prioritize where your remaining keys/bombs should go. If you have enough, open up any and all gold chests, as they usually contain a lot of pickups (or even a trinket or item in some cases). Same goes with those blue-tinted rocks. Try to prioritize the chests if you can. However...Avoid the red Curse Chests until after the boss is defeated, they have a (small) chance) to teleport you do a "glitch" room which will take you to the next floor.

***STEP SEVEN***
If you have a surplus of bombs, try finding the secret rooms. The Regular Secret Room is usually surrounded by 3-4 other rooms (sometimes it's surrounded by only two...) while the Top Secret Room only touches one (normal) room. The prizes in the Secret Room aren't quite as good (in my opinion) in Rebirth as they are in the original, but you can sometimes find good stuff.

***STEP EIGHT***
Try the Arena if you have the health for it, especially if there's an item or a gold chest...Or multiple chests.

***STEP NINE***
Don't do the arcade unless you have an assload of cash, you might be better off giving it to a beggar or donating to the shop in Rebirth.

***STEP TEN***
Did you make sure to pick up all the stuff you wanted/could get? Good. Now murder the boss. The bosses usually have nice stuff, but not always, look it up before you pick it up.

On that note, did a devil or angel room spawn? Check it out. Think carefully about the Devil Room deals though, some of them are good (Brimstone, Spirit of the Night), others are crap (9 Lives, most of the familiars). Angel Room stuff is free, and rarely is any of it bad (free Eternal Hearts anyone?)

***STEP ELEVEN***
Drop down to the next floor, rinse and repeat until either you die or Mom's Heart/Satan/etc lays dead at your feet.

***MORE GENERAL TIPS***
--Get Eve down to one heart ASAP so she can use her Whore of Babylon ability.
--Dark Bum is Eve's and ???'s best friend. Get it immediately if it appears.
--LERN2DODGE. Seriously, your ability to avoid getting hit is just as important as the items you find, if not more so. <s>Alternatively you could just drop yourself to one heart period and not pick up any more hearts</s>
--The Emperor card is good for skipping right to a boss, use it on The Womb II and later.
--Dice Rooms have some interesting effects, but avoid stepping on them until you're sure you have a good loadout (I think 3 and 6 reroll your items), or you collected everything on the floor (5 resets the floor).

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.