Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

[TurboPubx-16]

The Cathedral?  Sheol?  I don't know what these words mean!  Wow, I am a really bad Isaac player. (I also never discovered the second quest and true ending of Symphony of the Night or the good endings to Fallout 1, so yay me...)

 

Keep slaying mom's heart and you'll unlock those floors eventually. If I find an emperor or sun card I always save it for the last floor so I don't have to clear out every room. 

 

I got to both the Devil and the Cathedral last night, and died to the bosses both times. I should have beat the Devil, just totally botched that. But on the Cathedral run, I just got hosed on damage. Not a single damage upgrade the entire run. And I had a badass character otherwise. I had Tech 1, Tech 2, Mutant Spider (which makes Tech 2 split into 4 lasers), and a trinket that makes your shots do this zig-zag motion (which did affect both lasers). It was like being a fucking Sith Lord. But my damage was just shit for the Cathedral.

 

Tech 1 and 2 were really risky to take in the original game because of how much they degraded your damage. If you can't build your damage back up or get Guppy then they are not suitable past the womb in my opinion, but they are great items for new players just trying to reach mom's heart. My first win on original BoI was Tech 1 and Poly, that's when I fell in love with the game.

 

@undermind09: I hate that poo boss so much.

[N1njaSquirrel]

This seed works and is fun. Good luck guys!

 

BRWN SNKE

 

Edit: oh fuck i couldn't even get past the first boss! XD

[Bjorn]

The Cathedral?  Sheol?  I don't know what these words mean!  Wow, I am a really bad Isaac player. (I also never discovered the second quest and true ending of Symphony of the Night or the good endings to Fallout 1, so yay me...)

 

In addition to what Turbo said, when you beat Mom's Heart, there is still a chance for a Devil/Angel room to appear (that's how I got to both areas, I haven't beaten the heart enough yet to permanently unlock them). Even before you've naturally unlocked the additional levels, you can go ahead and go in those rooms and there will be a new passage way in them. Go ahead and check them out if you get them, as you still get the Ending and item unlock from beating Mom's Heart even if you don't open the chest. You just have to go to the Endings menu to see it.

Items that raise Faith and Evil should increase the chances of the Angel and Devil rooms appearing, respectively.

 

Tech 1 and 2 were really risky to take in the original game because of how much they degraded your damage. If you can't build your damage back up or get Guppy then they are not suitable past the womb in my opinion, but they are great items for new players just trying to reach mom's heart. My first win on original BoI was Tech 1 and Poly, that's when I fell in love with the game.

 

@undermind09: I hate that poo boss so much.

The poo boss is the fucking worst. My first three solid attempts at taking no damage for two floors to unlock Samson were all ruined by it.

As for Tech 1/2, yeah, I know the limitations of them. But I got Tech 1 on the first floor and Tech 2 on the second floor. I was so sure of myself that getting them that early would let me bank a bunch of health (since they make the early floors so easy), and that I'd pick up at least a few damage upgrades. The first half of my plan worked perfectly.

 

This seed works and is fun. Good luck guys!

 

BRWN SNKE

 

Edit: oh fuck i couldn't even get past the first boss! XD

 

Looking forward to whatever that is!

[ariskany_evan]

Psyched to get in on the seeding runs!  I've only gotten to Mother once in the original and did not beat her, so I've got a lot of work to do!

 

Wish I could co-op, but the aesthetic will be an impossible sell with my wife.  (Too many co-op games suffer this fate...  )

[Bjorn]

Dammit, I have way to many thoughts about this game. Has anybody been playing around with the new characters? I've tried both Eden and Azazel. Azazel seems like he's got the potential to be one of the strongest characters in the game if you're good at dodging and can get a couple of early health pickups. Ultimately his downside in late game though is the extremely limited range of his attack. He's who I lost to Satan with, chasing those hooves around and I shudder to think about trying to go after the Cathedral with him. I never have been very good at finishing that level though.

Eden is possibly my favorite character now. Random stats and 2-3 random items. I like the random start over the fixed bonuses of other characters.

Oh, and one of the challenges unlocks a new Tarot Card: The Card Against Humanity. I think someone on the dev team might be making some commentary about CAH with it. It got me to laugh my ass off. If you want to be surprised, don't read the spoiler, just use it when you get it (it's not a bad effect).

When you use it, it fills the entire room you are in no matter how big it is with poop in ever single open square.

[BadHat]

Gonna give that seed a shot now! Edit: And done. Died to first boss. lol.

 

I got a power-up earlier which gave me "controlled shots." But all it seemed to do was give me a single giant tear that I steered around the screen with the shot controls. Not only was it really difficult and sluggish to control, it did far less damage than my shots did beforehand, so my run was pretty much dead at that point. Wish I could remember which pickup did that so I can avoid it in future...

[Treasure Goblin]

I was completing a challenge (just killed mom) when a door opened up in the room that was different to the angel/devil doors.  I went in and there were four items in a large room, and once I picked one up it triggered a boss rush - I fought every boss from the original Isaac other than mom/moms heart and the final bosses for sheol/cathedral/chest, two at a time.  I'm not sure whether this was a bug or not but I was expecting to get an achievement or unlock a new item but nothing happened after I beat it other than being rewarded with mom's pill bottle (uh... thanks?).  It was really cool though. 

I forgot how much I missed the sense of discovery, which was one of the things that appealed to me about Isaac initially.  

Edit: I just downloaded the new patch and now I'm not having black screen issues so I can actually fight mom's heart, yay.  

[ExitDose]

Gonna give that seed a shot now! Edit: And done. Died to first boss. lol.

 

I got a power-up earlier which gave me "controlled shots." But all it seemed to do was give me a single giant tear that I steered around the screen with the shot controls. Not only was it really difficult and sluggish to control, it did far less damage than my shots did beforehand, so my run was pretty much dead at that point. Wish I could remember which pickup did that so I can avoid it in future...

It's the Ludovico Technique. It actually has some really potent synergies. 

[mikemariano]

This seed works and is fun. Good luck guys!

 

BRWN SNKE

 

Edit: oh fuck i couldn't even get past the first boss! XD

 

Oh man, Lord of the Flies plus that seed is so unfair!

[Bjorn]

This seed works and is fun. Good luck guys!

 

BRWN SNKE

 

Edit: oh fuck i couldn't even get past the first boss! XD

 

I made it to the second boss, but only because the first one got stuck and I was able to stand still and blast him

[Problem Machine]

First Sheol win! Incredibly overpowered Azazel run, basically technology 2 + homing tears + a million damage ups (pact, mark, cricket's head, polyphemus) meant I had a laser which instantly scrambled through the room and minced every weak enemy the second I entered a room, plus the original mini-brimstone as a super high-damage cannon to hit tough enemies or hit enemies through rocks. I pretty much two-shotted satan's final form.

[undermind9]

This seed works and is fun. Good luck guys!

 

BRWN SNKE

 

Edit: oh fuck i couldn't even get past the first boss! XD

 

so, what part of the game is seeded? just the map layout or the bosses, gold item room drops? 

 

my bosses were - dingle, (forget?), husk, (forget), carrion queen, mom, death, mom heart

and first item was "they live inside" and boss was Squeezy, after that it blurs out

 

 

anyways - mom heart kill with that seed! i should have gone down to sheol but i went back in the level to get health back up and the devil room went away - oops

 

 

Like i said i got they live inside and a petrified poop trinket so i was able to farm up hearts after each room to full life.  Ultimately i found an arcade in caves 1 and since poop drops so many coins i was able to infinitely farm the arcade machines & blood bank till i got a Blood Bag item and could make money & flies on demand.  

 

You can see by the timer it was a slow crawl but with so many flies Carrion Queen and Death were no problem.  Using the orbitals i was able to stand there infront of Mom's heart and never eat any of the flying shots

 

it was good fun, ty for the interesting seed - i dont think i'll go back to that one again though

[Bjorn]

so, what part of the game is seeded? just the map layout or the bosses, gold item room drops? 

 

my bosses were - dingle, (forget?), husk, (forget), carrion queen, mom, death, mom heart

and first item was "they live inside" and boss was Squeezy, after that it blurs out

 

 

anyways - mom heart kill with that seed! i should have gone down to sheol but i went back in the level to get health back up and the devil room went away - oops

 

Nice, congrats!  I don't know what all gets seeded there, if it's the same every time with just the extra surprise, or what.  I don't think I'd have the patience to go all the way to Mom's Heart.

 

So I woke this morning and found my wife playing BoIR!  After playing in co-op the last few nights has gotten her hooked on it and she wanted to try it out herself.  She used to hate hard games, but she's become really hooked on a bunch of roguelikes in the last couple of years. 

 

I got through both Sheol and the Cathedral last night, both with pretty OP builds.  But that's all the characters unlocked except for ???.  Judas might be my favorite character, even though he's a pain to start with. 

[Twig]

I'd assume seeded levels won't have the same items for everyone if, for example, one person gets an item the other person has not unlocked. I think I remember reading something about that, actually.

[TurboPubx-16]

Got Guppy with Brimstone for the first time and beat Satan, unlocking Mom's Knife!   

I love how Demon Judgy is poking his head out as if to say, "u dont fuck with teh boss man here!"

 

I unlocked the first "everything is harder" and everything is definitely harder. For every screenshot I post here of a win there are three or four runs that go nowhere, and I expect that discrepancy to get wider. For example, in the run before this one there were zero keys and every tinted rock I blew up had a gold chest inside .

 

Still no Cathedral for me. Maybe I need to start snubbing devil deals....

[N1njaSquirrel]

so, what part of the game is seeded? just the map layout or the bosses, gold item room drops? 

I'd assume seeded levels won't have the same items for everyone if, for example, one person gets an item the other person has not unlocked. I think I remember reading something about that, actually.

 

Actually that was just a special seed that created the poo trail, I believe the actual levels and stuff is random.

 

If it's not a special seed like that one, it should mimic the exact layout that you previously played, however, if the person who's playing the seed hasn't unlocked the same things you have, he will get different items, but it'll be the same item if he re-plays that seed.

 

There is a list of special seeds that have been discovered on the BoIR Steam Community.

[TurboPubx-16]

Judas might be my favorite character, even though he's a pain to start with. 

 Yes! The Book of Belial is incredible, but twice now I've switched it out for Krampus's Head. I just finished a Judas run, slaying Satan on my last heart because of this one fucking room in the womb where there were spikes popping out of the floor and five wallmasters who piece by piece took away all the soul and black hearts I had amassed. My jaw was wide open as I watched a run get away from me because of those fucking wallmasters! Who all respawned every time I failed! My dear controller, you were nearly destroyed today. ;_;

 

Edit: 

 

First Sheol win! Incredibly overpowered Azazel run, basically technology 2 + homing tears + a million damage ups (pact, mark, cricket's head, polyphemus) meant I had a laser which instantly scrambled through the room and minced every weak enemy the second I entered a room, plus the original mini-brimstone as a super high-damage cannon to hit tough enemies or hit enemies through rocks. I pretty much two-shotted satan's final form.

 

Yes! This is why Rebirth exists. There were so many synergies that were unrealized in the original game because they couldn't update it anymore. But I am saddened that you didn't include a screen shot! Check out all of these knives:

 

[atte]

Loved the original and this is a great remake/-balance/-surrection. I think one of the biggest changes is that you can't have more than 12 hearts, so you can't become an unstoppable bullet sponge and defensive items are very important at least for the late game bullet hell bosses. I've been playing Rebirth way too much since the release and saw the new area today and got the Golden God achievement (by beating both of the true end areas). I like the way the access to areas beyond Cathedral and Sheol is handled now, no more holding the Polaroid trinket.

I actually got to the Chest by accident through the new secret underground item room/shop passage, so I didn't need to collect all of the Polaroid pieces from Cathedral wins.

[Problem Machine]

But I am saddened that you didn't include a screen shot!

Didn't occur to me, I'll try to remember to do so next time I get something interesting. It would have been tricky to get a good one actually, since the best would be seeing the laser scramble all over the level killing enemies and it was only doing that for a few frames before everything died. In an empty room it was just a purple laser.

[Cleinhun]

Has anyone managed to beat the "solar system" challenge? I've gotten close a couple times, but man, it's a tough one.

[Bjorn]

Has anyone managed to beat the "solar system" challenge? I've gotten close a couple times, but man, it's a tough one.

It and Bean have both been tough, and no, I haven't gotten through either. Funny thing is that you can co-op them, and your co-op buddy can shoot. But even with that help, I haven't got through it. The baby's firepower isn't a ton, so your partner can't carry you through. And you always share orbitals with a co-op partner. So in Solar System, the baby gets the distant fly, and you only get the closer red fly.

I did get through the first challenge finally, the one where you can't see your health. Logically I know it shouldn't matter that much whether I know how much health I have, I should just play and gather hearts when I can. But it's nerve wracking as hell not knowing.

[Problem Machine]

Edit: Oh yeah, anyone else think the new music is kind of... average? It'd probably be fine if the original soundtrack wasn't so freaking great. Wonder why they decided to replace it with something so different.

I think it's decent enough but wasn't impressed at first... but I've been noticing that as I play more it seems like new layers are getting added in, particularly when I'm in rooms with lots of enemies. I'm curious what the full extent of this adaptable soundtrack is. That's probably why they made a new soundtrack, though, since it would be difficult and not especially rewarding to try to do the same trick with a soundtrack everyone's heard 100 hours of.

[TurboPubx-16]

I think the new music fits the tone very well, and one wailing guitar lick aside I like it. Nothing will beat Danny B's music so it's good that they didn't try to imitate it. The way the game looks matches up with the way the game sounds and that's an important thing to me.

 

I got my first victory in the Cathedral. I was Judas with the Dead Cat and a Knife and the entire time I was begging the game to give me the Paw. I had the Goat's Head but the Devil wasn't dealing cat pieces. I was so happy to find a Paw in a gold chest in the womb. When you keep repeating the name of an item in your head non-stop it feels so good to pick it up .

 

It took a while but I've found some items that I don't like:

The Ludovico Technique is the first item I've found that is just plain sucky. Even when it's powerful and useful it's really boring! 

 

Bob's Brain is something I feel forced to take when the game won't give me enough damage-ups. This item first fires after spawning after you've shot two tears... or is it three? It's definitely not one! If it fired right when you fired your first tear then it might be useful, instead it's just there to be imprecise and take your health.

 

The Tiny Planet or whatever is called was fun the first couple of times I got it but now I feel differently. Like the Ludovico Technique it encourages you to hide in a corner and slowly let your tears do all the work, taking away the fun part of the game, shooting enemies while trying not to get shot or touched yourself. Do not use this item with Proptosis or the Knife!

[Bjorn]

Spent a pretty big junk of today playing around in co-op. We're slowly getting better at it! Knocked out a couple of challenges, but we still haven't been able to make the Heart in a regular run. I think the Spelunky comparison I made before is apt, we're both significantly better by ourselves than we are playing together. It's just enough of a distraction that throw both of us off. Still a ton of fun though. We fired up the Challenge "Demo Man" not knowing what it was, and just about pissed ourselves laughing at what a debacle that was.
 

It's the one with the Dr. Fetus item, where you throw bombs instead of tears. With two people that's a disaster waiting to happen! We tagged each other several times, but were still hanging in when I picked up Tammy's Head, the space bar item that fires a big burst of tears. This is great, I said, I'll have an attack once per room that won't be bombs and maybe we won't be as prone to hit one another. Walked into the next room, pulled the trigger, and 10+ bombs shot out of each of us in a star burst. That was not a combo I was expecting. It was a beautiful death, I can say that much at least.

 

I found the most powerful combo of stuff I've yet encountered tonight.  Cricket's Body and the Parasite with some decent damage upgrades.

 

Cricket's Body adds a splash damage effect when it hits an enemy. The Parasite causes a shot to split into two when it hits an enemy. Combined, they create this ridiculous cascading fireworks every time a shot hits an enemy. Bosses were dropping in a matter of seconds. Mom's Heart and Isaac lasted less than 0 seconds each.

[Bjorn]

Oh yeah, I learned some stuff last night!

So the Donation Machine doubles as a bank/atm as well. If you bomb it, it pops out money. This has a minor cost of one lost coin per bombing (so if it pops out 5 coins, it will deduct 6 from the machine). But crazy valuable when there is a great item in the store and you're just a few coins away from being able to buy it. The dead merchant can also drop coins sometimes, so just make sure to place the bomb so it hits the merchant and the machine. If you aren't dumping tons of money into the Donation Machine, you should be. The upgrades are all well worth it. I'm currently in the 200s on it.

The Rune of Jera (spoilered in case people haven't unlocked it and want to try it themselves the first time)

This rune doubles all the items laying on the floor. Obviously awesome in lots of situations (like farming a slot machine but leaving everything on the ground), but one unexpected bonus is that it will duplicate store items like bombs, keys and hearts, but not items like maps. The duped item can be picked up for free. This can be combined with bombing the donation machine before hand to double some money as well.

The Shovel is both awesome and infuriating.

It no longer functions as just a level skip, it can also open up the hidden passage way to the Zelda treasure room or Black Market. So if you find one for free and don't want it, it's at least worth picking up and using once. You can tell the difference between a level skip and treasure room by whether or not the hole has a ladder in it. So that's awesome if that's what you're looking for, but it kind of hosed me last night when I was counting on it to let me skip Utero I on a run where I had low health and I got a treasure room instead.

 

Lastly, earlier I mentioned having to restart a run because I couldn't kill the enemies in the room due to my short range orbital attack.  Apparently there is a failsafe in which the doors of a room will automatically open after some amount of time (at least 2 minutes...not sure exactly).  I got the Soy Milk item, which is terrible unless you have some other items to synergize with it (in which case it is probably awesome).  It took me so long to clear out one of the big rooms that I triggered the timer and all the doors popped open.  I was super confused, until I went searching and discovered that this is apparently a new feature.  So yeah, if you get stuck in a room like that, just hide and go make a sandwich or something.