The 10 Best Items in Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

The beauty of Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is that each playthrough is a different experience entirely; you never know what you’re going to get! With over 300 in the game, some Binding of Isaac: Rebirth items can be the difference between a lost run and a secured win. 

Revelation: Inner Enlightenment

• Unlock Requirements: Defeat Mother as Bethany (must have the Repentance DLC)
• Where To Find: Angel Rooms

Revelation is essentially the Angel Room deal version of the Devil Room Brimstone item. Like Brimstone, players must hold the direction in which they want to attack, unleashing a powerful holy laser when the fire button is released.

Note

Angel Rooms have a 50% chance to appear after defeating a floor’s boss. You get an increased chance if you have the Rosary Beads item.

While Brimstone only lets the player fire out a blood laser, Revelation grants the player Flight and Two Soul Hearts, arguably providing more utility. Interestingly, tear delay doesn’t affect the laser charge time, so it stays fixed at 2.35 seconds.

Stop Watch: Slow Things Down

• Unlock Requirements: Donate 999 Coins to the Donation Machine in the Shop across several runs
• Where To Find: The Shop

Grab this nifty item from the Shop for just 15 cents (sometimes even on sale for seven—a bargain). Once picked up, all enemies and their damaging projectiles are automatically slowed to 51% of their original movement and attack speeds.

This is especially handy for dealing with end-game bosses like Hush, or Mega Satan, who both fire dozens of tears at once. In any case, you’ll have an easier time dodging with the Stop Watch, so you’d better start saving your coins!

Magic Mushroom: All Stats Increased

• Unlock Requirements: Available from the start of the game
• Where To Find: Boss Rooms (after they’ve been defeated, Treasure Rooms, Ultra Secret Rooms) or by blowing up mushrooms

This Magic Mushroom is another run-saver for many players and is a fan favorite. It boosts most stats simultaneously when picked up, including size, just like the iconic red Super Mushroom from the Super Mario games. It even plays the 1-Up Mushroom sound from the aforementioned games when picked up!

Although the quote upon picking up says “All stats up!”, Magic Mushroom does not give tears, luck, or shot speed increases.

Polyphemus: Who Needs Two Eyes Anyway?

• Unlock Requirements: Available from the start of the game
• Where To Find: Treasure Rooms

Polyphemus is a passive item, resembling a giant all-seeing eyeball, making the character resemble a cyclops once equipped. Despite Polyphemus increasing your tears’ delay, it also increases your damage to x2. This includes all the previous stat upgrades you’ve snagged, turning you into a tear-firing machine.

A bonus is that if your tears kill an enemy with leftover damage to spare, the tear travels on and deals the remaining damage to the next enemy hit. Polyphemus synergizes well with Dr. Fetus, replacing your tears with Bombs that explode on impact.

Sacred Heart: Holier Than Thou

• Unlock Requirements: Unlocks once you’ve purchased the Repentance DLC
• Where To Find: Ultra Secret Room, Angel Rooms

The Sacred Heart has one of the highest damage multipliers in the game, offering a x2.3 damage increase. You’ll know it’s the Sacred Heart when you come across a heart item with a cross in the center and flames sprouting from the top.

Similar to the Godhead item, Sacred Heart makes your tears hone in on enemies. Although it reduces shot speed, the damage multiplier more than makes up for it. You should aim to pick up Sacred Heart if your health is running low, as it fully restores all your HP and even provides a new Heart Container.

Godhead: The Angels Are On Your Side

• Unlock Requirements: Earn all Completion Marks on Hard mode as The Lost character
• Where To Find: Angel Rooms

As the name of this item suggests, the Godhead can only be found in Angel Rooms. Opening up the player’s third eye, this passive item increases your tear damage by x0.5 with a homing effect. Even if you completely miss, there’s still a chance they’ll lock on and melt your enemies anyways.

If that’s not deadly enough, Godhead grants you an angelic halo with AoE damage to any enemy mobs in its path. The Godhead is truly a run-saving item, so pick it up whenever you get the chance. 

Mega Blast: An Active Brimstone

• Unlock Requirements: Defeat Mega Satan as every character in Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (must also have the Afterbirth DLC)
• Where To Find: Devil Rooms

Mega Blast is essentially an active item version of Brimstone. When activated, it fires a giant Mega Satan laser beam for about 15 seconds. As such, it can clear entire rooms and even devastate boss rooms in a single quick burst. The main downside is that Mega Blast has a whopping recharge time of 12 rooms, requiring several batteries to fully recharge.

While firing Mega Blast, players cannot open chests, pick up items, sleep in a bed, or enter the chest that spawns after defeating a final boss.

Mom’s Knife: Stick Them With The Pointy End!

• Unlock Requirements: Defeat Satan at least once as Isaac
• Where To Find: Devil Rooms, Treasure Rooms

Mom’s Knife converts your tears into knives thrown at enemies. Like Brimstone, this is a charged item: the longer you hold fire, the further the knife travels. In the right hands, Mom’s Knife can instantly turn a lost run into a win.

The strengths of Mom’s Knife lie in its item synergies. It can work well on its own, but it needs a little extra help to be viable. If you collect invincibility items like the Book of Shadows or The Wafer, you can become a deadly, short-range melee attacker who can run through enemies, clashing and dashing.

The Wafer: Damage Resistance

• Unlock Requirements: Defeat Mom’s Heart 7 times
• Where To Find: Angel Rooms, Treasure Rooms

Once your run-through takes you past the Depths II, by default, you will start taking one heart of damage each time something hits you or you fail to dodge. This can be game-ending for many players unless you have The Wafer! This ceremonial Christian cake reduces any instance of damage you take to just half a heart.

Warning

The Wafer doesn’t reduce damage from instant death effects like Devil Room deals, Health Down pills, or Suicide King.

If you’re looking for divine protection, The Wafer is a sure bet! You can play much riskier, knowing you’re taking less damage, like using Blood Donation Machines or Demon Beggars to get extra loot.

Brimstone: Blood-Laser Beam

• Unlock Requirements: Available from the start of the game
• Where To Find: Devil Rooms, Ultra Secret Room

Brimstone is a fan-favorite item by a mile, offering an almost guaranteed successful run. This item upgrade transforms your tears from projectiles into a straight, focused, blood beam. All you need to do is hold down the direction in which you want to attack and then let loose to release a fully charged laser beam of death.

Your Brimstone beam can pass through both obstacles and enemies with piercing effects, massacring all mobs from a safe distance. If you get a rate of fire upgrade with items like Soy Milk, you won’t even need to charge your laser anymore—so you can fire your deadly beam indefinitely!

Binding of Isaac: Rebirth brings a total of 341 items to the game, excluding those found in DLC, making each run a mixed bag! While securing the items for a perfect run-through, we hope this guide sets you on the path of greatness, from slaying Mom to vanquishing Satan.