I Need Tips!!!

[evo]

i got this game for christmas and have no clue what im doing xD
i've worked out how to put down bombs, i know how to shoot( i know the basics) but i just need help on how to kill. Is there a stragey or a way of doing something that could make this game awhole lot fun? Thanks in advance

[Nora]

well you could easily write entire book on strategies you can use but well im going to give few tips here not sure if helpful but this is how i started:

i asumme you play as isaac until you unlock azazel which you get by doing 3 deals with devil in one run. then use azazel. its in my opinion the easiest character to play to unlock few first things. once you beat mom enough to feel comfortable in the game itself try switching to isaac.



remember to take some form of trinket with you. apart from few all of them offer something even slightly good for you. rest of them are good situational or good in skilled hands. only one is bad. it will not be dropbable and unless you have item that allows you to have 2 trinkets you dont benefit anyway.

you can drop trinkets + consumable (cards pills runes etc) by holding ctrl. also if you have 2 cards runes or pills tapping ctrl will switch between currently selected one.

holding tab shows you current time played. you current points. name of current floor and if you have any curse. tapping tab will toggle larger map that is more transparent

pressing esc shows you your stats (damage speed etc) and also pictures last few items you got as well as seed of the run you currently playing.

look out for rocks with small cross on them. they can contain bombs/keys/health/and rarely items.

destroying mushrooms can cause poison cloud / pill drop / item drop (mini- or magic mushroom)

destroying skulls can drop black hearts/cards/runes/rarely dry baby follower. be careful tough as blowing them up also has change to spawn host enemy.

bombs can be used to safely get items from behind spikes. if you can get one close enough they will get pushed and then bounce from wall or if in center be possible to collect

if there is 1 block wide gap and rock next to it you can use bomb and it created path you can walk on top on. also possible with skulls and mushrooms.

if door is open and something spawns an enemy (such as blowing up skull) then exiting room and re-entering will remove that enemy. how ever if you bomb door open and then leave and come back all enemies will respawn instead (if you didnt kill all of them before you left that is)

each floor until mom contains 1 treasure room 1 shop and usually 2 secret rooms (normal and super secret) normal secret room tends to be close to first room you spawn in and it seems to like to be side by side to special rooms (item room cursed room etc) so if you have bombs try to bomb walls near the room you spawned in.

super secret rooms go near boss room and try to always avoid being next to special rooms.

first floor item room never requires a key but shops will always require a key or coin if you have right passive item. also if you get curse of the labyrinth on first floor there will be 2 item rooms and both will be open.

you cannot exit boss room normally after beating mom. you need teleportation item in order to do so.

getting hit will decrease change for both angel and devil rooms to appear. how ever finding goats head will simply always open devil room so if you find it its very recommended to be taken.

cursed rooms only hit you once if you are flying (when you exit) twice if you are walking.

once you unlock D6 keep in mind it can also be used to change shop/devil/angel room items. (devil deal price will also change so you wont get 2 heart item for 1 heart)


=bosses=

i think early bosses are more important right now to tell you about so here i explain few:

monstro. it has multiple attacks. spitting lots of blood towards you <- relatively short range and wide spread. jumping in air and trying to flatten you. impact also splatters blood around him. hopping towards you (he will stay on screen unlike in high jump seems to do it more often if you are close) my personal way to beat this boss is to run around him. when he spits i stop to safe area and shoot to him. when he does those small hops i back away and keep shooting to him. and when he does high jump i run away from the spot i was when he jumped and start to shoot towards it. once monstro is in air he will not adjust his landing position. it is set once he jumps

lil horn.
moves around the room floating and doesnt have any direct attakc like most other bosses do. he can jump to hole and leave troll bomb behind. he can create hole to ground which will stay for while and if you touch it you fall in and lose health. he can create 3 holes which then quickly move away from him again if you touch them you fall in. then his probably closest to directly attacking you is ball he creates that will try to get to you. its relatively slow but if you have low damage can take while to break.
i havent found too many good ways to speed up the fight. just keep in mind that when he jumps to hole and leaves bomb behind he usually tries to get behind your back so when he does start shooting to what once was your back side.

larry.
one of easiest bosses. he does not even chase you. he has seemingly random move pattern. if you break his body part in center it is possibly that back part gains a new head so then you have 2 of them moving around. focus on head/end of the tail to prevent that.
larry also spawns poop that can block you but more often than not he only blocks himself.

haunt.
possibly hardest boss to find early in game.
it starts invulnerable. after few seconds 1 of 3 smaller haunts attacks you. once you kill it 2 remaining will attack. these little haunts have very hard to track style of movement. they seem to both chase and avoid you at the same time making it hard to get past them before they corner you. once you have killed all 3 of the little haunts big one will go to back wall and start to move left/right. dont try to go directly on his sides because he will charge towards you very quickly if you do. he has 2 main attacks. 1 being 5 blood shots to slightly different directions and 2 being brimstone beam.try to stay little bit ahead of him so your tears will hit him while he moves left/right but also let him go past you before you hit wall. if he uses brimstone beam when you are almost at wall you have no way to escape.

duke of flies
probably second easiest boss. he bounces around the room kind of like those explosive flies do. try to focus on him and ignore the flies he spawns. he has maybe the lowest amount of health from all the bosses. bombs are extremely effective. standard bombs can when well placed kill him in less than 4 hits. piercing shots also make fight trivial because his flies no longer protect him from your attacks. try to make sure you never get cornered tough. both him bouncing on you and his flies surrounding you can be threat.

[evo]

Thanks alot dude!!

[pala pala pala]

wow nice post !!!!
+1

[Onibushou]

Always shoot poops, they might drop money and there's an easy unlock for shooting enough of them. Donate to the machine in the shops where possible. The first one is only 10 cents and it unlocks some good stuff.

Most of improving at this game is just the patience to play it a lot. Learn what items do and how they interact with each other, enemy patterns, hidden secrets, etc.

[paugus]

I'll try to be more concise and give advice that applies to most (if not all) situations. These are sort of the precepts of my play style.

Defense! It's first!
1. Learning enemy shot and movement patterns is easily what you'll spend the most time learning, and is the greatest contributor to the learning curve of the game (other than bad luck).
2. Once you can identify an enemy and be able to anticipate its behavior, you'll want to work on what I call "situational awareness" which is the idea that you try to look at a room all at once. As soon as you enter, you should note all traps and enemies, and be able to quickly plot a path to move towards safety.
3. Once you've reached whatever relative safety you can, prioritize and eliminate enemies based on how dangerous they are. (Small spiders right next to you are an imminent danger to your health. A small spider across the room might not be.) Clearing even a small corner can provide you with the room you need to work without being swarmed.

Offense! It's necessary!
1. Shoot. Always. Unless you have a huge charge time (from Brimstone or Chocolate Milk etc) you should be firing constantly in the direction of the enemy. Even if you're playing defensively (there's a reason I put that section first) you'll want to try to cause as much damage as you can while retreating.
2. Distance is obviously important. Being far away usually keeps you safe, but without upgrades it can be tough to land shots from far away. I tend to learn what a safe distance is from a particular enemy, then run up and toe that line while blasting them. Good examples are Monstro and Gurdy. They have long telegraphed attacks that can be easily sidestepped, so I run right up in their grill and give'm hell. Just be careful not to get too aggressive.
3. Rushing forward while shooting will often bunch your tears up and send them flying forward into an enemy. Once you're used to moving and shooting at the same time, you can build up masses of tears ahead of you as you charge at mobs. If they're not killed outright, usually the combined knockback will keep them from immediately retaliating, so you can regroup and charge them again.

Items! Lots!
1. People have varying opinions on this, but since I play games for enjoyment, and not to be robbed of my enjoyment as soon as I get to the Depths, I like to reroll the starting room until I get at least one solid dmg or tears up item. I try not to be too picky, but ending up fighting Mom (or worse) with base tears and dmg is lame.
2. Learn what they do. Some items are great always, some items are great sometimes, some are neutral, and some are garbage. Depending on what you already have, picking up a single item can totally tank your run. Items that lower tears rate sometimes stack together and you'll get to fire every 20 seconds or so. Soy Milk is a good example of a hit-or-miss item. It cranks up tears rate while dropping dmg into the gutter. It's great if you have something like Guppy that spawns flies for every tear hit, but usually terrible if you're relying on base tear dmg to kill things.
3. Experiment. Just because some items aren't always great doesn't mean they won't be amazing in some cases. Don't get in the habit of completely ignoring an item to the point you forget what it does and don't pick it up because of an emotional aversion to it.

www.platinumgod.co.uk/afterbirth <-- A cheatsheet for items.
http://bindingofisaacrebirth.gamepedia.com/Binding_of_Isaac:_Rebirth_Wiki <-- A cheatsheet for everything.

[evo]

Thanks for the help!! :)

[unknown soldier]

Some really nice, helpful posts. Ill add to be patient and be thorough. Patient in terms of taking your time in game to assess the enemies (from safe locations and only when possible of course), but also be patient in terms of not giving up. Its a hard game, especially to begin with and even the very best players die fairly regularly. Dont give up and just view each death as a learning process. Remember how/why you died and maybe how to avoid it next time.
As far as being thorough, its maybe just my personal preference of game play. I would advise to search each room, who knows what goodies you might leave behind if you dont. This includes doing the challenge rooms. They can spawn hardiish enemies/bosses, but again it will help you learn their behaviour so even if you die a few times it will all be leading to a point where your not gonna die nearly as often under these circumstances. Challenge rooms are great for topping up your consumables (keys/bombs/coins/hearts) and can also contain items. i would also wait until you have cleared the boss and all the rooms on the floor before you try and use bombs to find secret rooms, or keys to open a golden chest. You might find a tinted rock, or not come across anymore keys keeping you locked out of item rooms, so best to wait until you have found everything and assess what would be the best use of your consumables depending on your situation. Of course as you become more experienced you will find these decisions far easier.
Importantly though enjoy it! If things are going bad, we all have runs of nothing but deaths, take a break, come back and things will look at little rosier. Anyway sry for the wall and good luck on your quest!

[BossGalaga]

5 d's of Binding of Isaac = dodge, dip, dive, duck, and dodge