BoI:A+ Item Starts for Speedrunning and Racing

Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+
Item Starts for Speedrunning and Racing
by Zamiel
updated Feb. 14th, 2018

+----------+
| The List |
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Items are listed in order of power level. More detail about these items can be found below. Note that the ordering is somewhat subjective; other speedrunners may prefer the list be slightly shuffled in some way or another. However, I am one of the top players, so this should be fairly accurate.

1) Mom's Knife
2) Tech X
3) Epic Fetus
4) Ipecac
5) Sacrificial Dagger
6) 20/20
7) Proptosis
8) Lil Brimstone
9) Magic Mushroom
10) Tech.5
11) Polyphemus
12) Cricket's Head
13) Death's Touch
14) Dead Eye
15) Cricket's Body
16) Dr. Fetus

Non-starts or borderline starts:

17) Monstro's Lung
18) Judas' Shadow (on Judas)
19) Chocolate Milk



+-------------+
|   S Class   |
| (The Big 4) |
+-------------+

The "big 4" are a set of 4 items that are considered above and beyond anything else present in the game. If you have one of these items and your opponent doesn't, and most other factors are equal, you will probably win the race.

1) Mom's Knife
- At the highest levels of play, Mom's Knife is considered the best item in the game. However, since using it effectively is a very technical affair, a low to mid tier speedrunner would probably go a lot faster with Tech X.
- Due to the mechanics of the movement involved with the item, you also have a higher propensity to take damage. If you combine this with all tears-up items being useless with a knife, it is recommended to take all health up items.

2) Tech X
- This is considered the second best item, but is the safest item.
- A minimum charged shot does the same damage as a maximum charged shot. Thus, you can maximize DPS by timing the shots such that you spam a lot of tiny shots as fast as possible.
- Avoid Stem Cells, Safety Pin, or Magic 8 Ball, since they increase shot speed. Other items that increase shot speed, like Cat-O-Nine-Tails or Speed Ball, are almost always worth taking for the damage/speed/etc.

3) Epic Fetus
- This is considered the third best item; you want to use the missile to "bomb" out of every room.
- Since this plays so differently from tear builds, some beginners are uncomfortable with this item, but it is fairly easy to use.
- It is highly recommended to use the mouse with this item via setting "MouseControl=1" in the "options.ini" file.

4) Ipecac
- Considered the fourth best item; you want to use the explosive tears to "bomb" out of every room.
- It is more dangerous to use than Epic Fetus. It also kills enemies and bosses much slower. However, it does have some powerful specific synergies, like Dr. Fetus and Godhead.
- Much like Mom's Knife, it requires a bunch of dedicated practice to utilize most effectively.



+---------+
| A Class |
+---------+

5) Sacrificial Dagger
- Much like Mom's Knife, using the dagger at maximum effectiveness is reliant upon perfect movement and cycling, an art that takes hundreds of hours to begin to master. Low to mid tier speedrunners may not even want to start this and reset for something else.
- Most bosses melt to a dagger. The most annoying part of the run is usually Caves 1 and Caves 2, which has many explosive enemies.
- The power level increase from flight and movement speed are magnified two-fold with any dagger build, so you should never roll these items.



+---------+
| B Class |
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6) 20/20
- Double damage with no other considerations.

7) Proptosis
- Double damage but only if you are very close to the enemy. Good players will nonetheless get close to (almost) every enemy in order to maximize DPS.
- Due to how this affects your tears, range up items won't have any effect.

8) Lil Brimstone
- The only start that doesn't scale in a multiplicative way. However, the fact that it is so strong makes this irrelevant.
- Some players claim that usefulness "drops off" in the Cathedral and Chest, which isn't really true. It's good all the way to the end of the game.



+---------+
| C Class |
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9) Magic Mushroom
- Preferred to Cricket's Head since you also get a speed up.

10) Tech.5
- You always want to take coal with this item, since it acts as a damage multiplier.
- Eve's Mascara becomes useful.

11) Polyphemus
- Generally not worth trading the D6 for Guppy's Head unless your build is completely carried.

12) Cricket's Head

13) Death's Touch
- It is not a damage multiplier, but the large tear size and piercing is multiplicative in that you will often hit many enemies with one shot.
- This is the only item upon that changes the rolling strategy such that you may want to roll a speed up for a tears up (at base speed).
- Tammy's Head becomes very strong with this.

14) Dead Eye
- Don't be overly conservative with the amount of tears that you fire, especially after getting a tears up, as you will not lose the multiplier on every missed shot.

15) Cricket's Body
- Don't start this on Cain, because the low range becomes crippling.

16) Dr. Fetus
- Initially this item was considered very good, since much like Epic Fetus and Ipecac, you can bomb through every room in the game. However, it is now understood that the average run time with this start is sub-par. This could be attributed to several factors, the most salient of which being that there is no synergy with most of the additional items you will find during the run.
- Due to this, some players do not start this item at all.
- If playing a ruleset where the big 4 are banned, you should probably still be starting this item.



+---------+
| D Class |
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17) Monstro's Lung
- Ipecac and Chocolate Milk are the strongest synergies.

18) Judas' Shadow
- Most races are done with Judas. Many players do not start this item at all when playing with Judas, because:
  1) It is only a 48.15% DPS increase, which is relatively low. (Consider that 20/20 is a 100% increase.)
  2) You have around a 17% chance to "miss" a devil deal by not having enough health.
- Typically you will want to roll a Basement 1 health up. However, on Dark Judas, you want to take the health so that you can take a devil deal.
- The positive side of this item is that since it is a character damage multiplier, it scales better than a few other items, like Death's Touch.
- If playing as a character other than Judas, Azazel, or Samael, you definitely should start this item.

19) Chocolate Milk
- Many players do not start this item at all, mostly because it is just not good enough. If no power level increase from a devil deal is received, then the resulting long Caves 1 and Caves 2 can turn into an automatic loss.



+----------------------+
| Other Considerations |
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20) Jacob's Ladder
- Almost no players start this item, as it is just not good enough. If no power level increase from a devil deal is received, then the resulting long Caves 1 and Caves 2 can turn into an automatic loss.

21) Clicker
- Starting as Azazel with no items is not something that is recommended by the top players. Thus, the only character you are looking for is Dark Judas.
- There is around a 6.3% chance (1 / 16) to get Dark Judas. (You divide by 16 because it is possible to Clicker into the same character. It is not possible to Clicker to Samael.)
- If you see it before rolling, should you use it?
  - No, as 4.7% (to get a starting item) is too low of a chance to warrant the time investment of having to watch the Clicker animation. (16 starting items / (339 items in the pool - 1) = 4.7%)
  - Furthermore, you might roll into a worse character and will then have a harder run than you otherwise would.
- If you see it after rolling, should you use it?
  - No, as 6.3% (to get Dark Judas) is too low of a chance to warrant the time investment of having to watch the Clicker animation.



+--------------------------+
| Racing+ Diversity Starts |
+--------------------------+

1) Ipecac
2) Sacrificial Dagger
3) 20/20
4) Proptosis
5) Crown of Light
6) Incubus
7) Lil Brimstone
8) Sacred Heart
9) Magic Mushroom
10) Tech.5
11) Polyphemus
12) Cricket's Head
13) Death's Touch
14) Dead Eye
15) Cricket's Body
16) Dr. Fetus
17) Monstro's Lung



+-----------------------------------+
| Old Starts for the Afterbirth DLC |
|       (using the Jud6s mod)       |
+-----------------------------------+

Normal starts:
1) 20/20 (Treasure)
2) Cricket's Body (Treasure)
3) Cricket's Head (Treasure / Golden Chest)
4) Dead Eye (Treasure)
5) Death's Touch (Treasure / Devil)
6) Dr. Fetus (Treasure)
7) Epic Fetus (Treasure) - Considered the 2nd best start.
8) Ipecac (Treasure)
9) Lil Brimstone (Treasure / Devil)
10) Magic Mushroom (Treasure / Boss / mushrooms)
11) Mom's Knife (Treasure / Devil) - Considered the best start.
12) Monstro's Lung (Treasure)
13) Polyphemus (Treasure)
14) Proptosis (Treasure)
15) Sacrificial Dagger (Treasure / Devil)
16) Tech.5 (Treasure)
17) Tech X (Treasure)

Borderline starts:
18) Chocolate Milk (Treasure) - Some people start it.
19) Judas' Shadow (Treasure / Devil) - Some people start it. It is a low DPS increase on Judas. You have a decent probability to miss the Basement 2 devil deal.

Honorable mentions:
- Mutant Spider (Treasure) - Nerfed from Rebirth since the shots spread out more. This also increments the special counter.

Statistics:
- 277 items in the Treasure Room pool
- 17 / 277 = 6.1% chance to find a start per item seen





+---------------------------------+
| Old Starts for Rebirth (No DLC) |
|      (using the Jud6s mod)      |
+---------------------------------+

1) 20/20 (Treasure)
2) Cricket's Body (Treasure)
3) Cricket's Head (Treasure / Golden Chest)
4) Death's Touch (Treasure / Devil)
5) Epic Fetus (Treasure) - Considered the 2nd best start, but requires a lot of practice to use effectively.
6) Ipecac (Treasure) - Considered the 3rd best start, but requires a lot of practice to use effectively.
7) Lil Brimstone (Treasure / Devil)
8) Magic Mushroom (Treasure / Boss / mushrooms)
9) Mom's Knife (Treasure / Devil) - Considered the best start.
10) Monstro's Lung (Treasure)
11) Mutant Spider (Treasure)
12) Polyphemus (Treasure)
13) Proptosis (Treasure)
14) Tech.5 (Treasure)

Honorable mentions:
- Chocolate Milk (Treasure) - Some people start it.
- Judas' Shadow (Treasure / Devil) - Some people start it. It is a low DPS increase on Judas. You have a decent probability to miss the Basement 2 devil deal.