Touch that character to unlock them for future runs. It will open a hidden room with the tainted version of the character you are playing as inside. Go into the hall outside of Mom's Room and use the Red Key. You can now use this item to unlock Tainted Characters. Open the chest here to find the Red Key item, unlocking it for future runs. It isn't randomized like the other areas of The Binding of Isaac, so work your way through the few rooms and you'll get to Mom's Room. Go all the way through the Ascension and you'll reach a new area called Home. You'll find Dad's Note inside this room and you'll begin your ascension. Return to the starting room after defeating the boss, and you'll find a door that can be opened with The Polaroid, The Negative or the Faded Polaroid. Look for a slightly different skull somewhere in the level and bomb it in order to find a Fool card if you don't have teleportation. To find it, you'll need to defeat the boss and then teleport out of the room. This is a special item you'll be able to grab in the biome Depths II. You'll need to find Dad's Note on another run. This is a new boss added to the Repentance DLC, and you'll find her at the end of the Corpse II biome. You'll need to defeat Mother at least once. However, it is time consuming if you want to catch 'em all, and you need to string together a good run in order to reach the point where you can access them. Unlocking tainted characters is simple to explain, as the process is the same for each one.
Here's how to unlock each tainted character and what makes them special. Even though they look like reskins of Cain, Isaac, Lilith, and the rest, most of them start with new items and abilities, effectively doubling the way you can begin a new run once they're unlocked.
A useful damage upgrade called Small Rock is unlocked after the player destroys 100 tinted rocks.Every playable character in The Binding of Isaac: Repentance has a "tainted" version. These can be destroyed to reveal spirit hearts and sometimes items. RELATED: Phasmophobia Is the BEST Indie Horror Game to Play This HalloweenĪny rock that has a small "x" marked on it and is off-color compared to the others is a tinted rock. The content of super secret rooms tend vary more, so players shouldn't prioritize these over secret rooms. There is a chance that they'll come up empty, but they're always at least worth checking out. If a player has the bombs to spare, these usually provide coins, bombs, keys or rare items. Super secret rooms, on the other hand, will always only border a single normal room. Secret rooms will always be bordered by at least three other rooms, but will never border the boss room or the treasure room. The most obvious are the game's secret rooms and super secret rooms. Some Helpful SecretsĪfterbirth+ has countless secrets that can provide players with helpful benefits to improve their run. However, one lesser known transformation is Bookworm, which can be earned by picking up three book items and allows the player to occasionally fire a double-shot. The most well known one is the Guppy transformation, which involves picking up three Guppy themed items. RELATED: Castlevania: Everything You Need to Know About Lament of Innocence/Curse of DarknessĪ different kind of synergy includes transformations. These often require the player to pick up a certain number of items out of a small pool of themed items. Due to Azazel's unique starting brimstone laser, most items that would normally synergize with Brimstone do not work or simply provide a damage upgrade. The previously mentioned Mom's Knife + Brimstone combination will work on any character except for Azazel. Some item synergies also depend on the character selected. Another good resource for learning item synergies is the Platinum God website, though this will spoil late-game items. There are mods on the workshop that provide details on how certain items work together. Some synergies also depend on the order that the player picks up the items. For example, picking up My Reflection and Ipecac will give the player exploding tears that arc back towards the player. However, not all item synergies are beneficial. Understanding what item synergies do is vital to completing some of the game's more difficult bosses. For example, picking up Brimstone and Mom's Knife will grant the player a brimstone stream made entirely out of knives. Synergies refer to how certain items can combine their effects to create stronger ones.