Isaac's Heart

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Isaac's Heart is an unlockable passive item.

Effects

  • (except in Repentance) Isaac's body becomes immune to all damage.
  • (in Repentance) Isaac's body becomes immune to all damage from enemies and the environment. This does not include interactable objects such as Blood Donation Machine.pngBlood Donation Machines and Devil Beggar.pngDevil Beggars.
  • A heart familiar appears and closely follows Isaac. If the heart is hurt, Isaac is hurt.
  • (in Repentance) The heart tries to position itself in the opposite direction of where Isaac is shooting.
  • (in Repentance) The heart charges up as Isaac fires. At full charge, upon releasing the fire button, it knocks back nearby enemies and tears, creates a small puddle of red creep on the ground, and releases blood shots in 8 directions that deal 8 damage.
  • (in Repentance) Enemies that come in contact with Isaac take 2x Isaac's current damage per tick or 4x Isaac's damage per second.
  • (except in Repentance) Most enemies now target the heart instead of Isaac. Eye.pngEyes and other similar enemies, however, will still target Isaac.

Notes

  • (except in Repentance) Blood Donation Machine.pngBlood Donation Machines and Devil Beggar.pngDevil Beggars can be used for free.
    • During (except in Rebirth) The Guardian (challenge #30), Devil Beggars and Blood Donation Machines deal damage to Isaac.
  • Spikes, Curse RoomCurse Room doors and (except in Rebirth) Spiked Chest.pngSpiked Chests do no damage. Sacrifice RoomSacrifice Room spikes still work, though the heart has to go on the spikes instead of Isaac. (in Repentance) The door to MausoleumMausoleum / GehennaGehenna is not affected.
  • Picking up a non-orbital familiar will cause either Isaac's Heart or the other familiar to be layered over the other's sprite. This is due to the heart not taking up the spot that the other familiar follows in.
  • Co-op babies gain the immunity effect without spawning additional hearts.
  • (in Rebirth) Enemy Brimstone shots (such as from Boss The Bloat ingame.pngThe Bloat) will not do any damage to the heart.
    • (in Repentance) Enemy Brimstone shots will now be blocked by the body. This visually resembles the blocking effect of (in Repentance)Collectible Divine Intervention icon.pngDivine Intervention.
  • The tracking lasers from (except in Rebirth) Boss Hush ingame.pngHush and light pillars from Boss Isaac ingame.pngIsaac do not damage the heart.
  • Isaac will turn into Character The Lost icon.pngThe Lost form if either he or the heart touches a (in Repentance) White Fire Place.pngWhite Fire Place.

Tips and strategies

Items / Trinkets

  • Items that activate on contact with enemies retain their ability, allowing Isaac to use them without suffering collision damage.
  • (except in Repentance) Items that hurt Isaac on activation, such as Collectible IV Bag icon.pngIV Bag and Collectible Blood Rights icon.pngBlood Rights no longer do so, allowing infinite uses for free.
  • (except in Repentance)Get 5 cents as soon as possible so an ArcadeArcade can show up, Blood Donation Machine.pngBlood Donation Machines and Collectible IV Bag icon.pngIV Bag are the best and most common ways to win Isaac's heart run.
    • (in Afterbirth † and Repentance) If (except in Rebirth) Lucky Penny.pngLucky Pennies are unlocked, it may be beneficial to immediately try to gain 10 luck or more via the IV Bag to maximize room drops and enhance tear effects.
  • Speed up items are invaluable when having Isaac's heart since the delay between the player moving away and the heart moving as well gets drastically reduced. Avoid speed down items early in the run.
  • Orbital familiars are invaluable as Isaac can get extremely close to the enemy without fear of contact damage.
  • Flight items are invaluable as the heart can be placed over a rock and Isaac can stick out enough to shoot at enemies without needing spectral tears.
  • Angel Rooms are safer bets for items than Devil Rooms.

Combat and Damage

  • Hug obstacles to avoid taking damage. Look out for enemies that fly or can jump over rocks, and make sure enemies don't push Isaac far away from his heart to expose it.
  • When dodging, Isaac must move in semi-straight lines as the heart only follows Isaac's movements when he is at a certain distance away, for example, moving in a circle would pull the heart in and make it stay in place in the middle of the arc as Isaac would no longer be moving away from the heart. Moving in a triangle formation would allow the heart to move more.
  • If dodging requires traversing long distances, it is recommended to shoot in the opposite direction to the movement direction (e. g. shoot left when moving right). This way, the heart will be positioned very close to Isaac, making the process easier.
  • Enemies that fly and charge like One Tooth.pngOne Tooth are extremely hard to dodge and should be killed as soon as possible, take caution since they can appear as early as CavesCaves / CatacombsCatacombs.
  • Enemies can be pushed away with Isaac's body, while not recommended, it can be used as a last resort.
  • (in Repentance)To avoid taking damage from Mega Troll Bomb.pngMega Troll Bombs, push into them while firing at them, instead of running away.

Synergies

  • (in Repentance)Collectible 120 Volt icon.png120 Volt/(in Repentance)Collectible Monstrance icon.pngMonstrance: These items become much safer to use offensively as they are centered around Isaac's body which no longer takes damage.
  • (except in Repentance)Collectible Blood Rights icon.pngBlood Rights: Blood Rights doesn't deal damage to Isaac, allowing repeated usage without penalty.
  • (except in Rebirth)Collectible Box of Friends icon.pngBox of Friends: Box of Friends does not duplicate the heart, making it safe to use.
  • (except in Repentance)Collectible Breath of Life icon.pngBreath of Life: Isaac can be infinitely invulnerable, as invincibility carries out to the heart without hurting the player. Note that the item needs to be activated for longer than one second for the invulnerability to kick in, however.
  • (in Afterbirth † and Repentance)Duct TapeDuct Tape: Makes dodging significantly easier.
  • Collectible E. Coli icon.pngE. Coli: Isaac can turn enemies into poop without taking damage.
  • Collectible Holy Mantle icon.pngHoly Mantle: The shield effect carries over to the heart.
  • (in Repentance)Gigante BeanGigante Bean: Makes the heart much easier to defend as it increases the knockback amount and radius of the heart when fully charged and the heart makes farting noises when it shoots.
  • Items granting invulnerability or a shield: The invincibility carries over to the heart.
    • (in Repentance) Due to the contact damage, Collectible Gnawed Leaf icon.pngGnawed Leaf allows Isaac to clear most rooms without moving.
  • (except in Repentance)Collectible IV Bag icon.pngIV Bag: Can be used without taking damage, resulting in an infinite amount of coins.
  • Collectible Kamikaze! icon.pngKamikaze!: As long as the heart is away from the blast radius, no damage is taken. The character must be at high enough speed for this.
  • Collectible Pyromaniac icon.pngPyromaniac / (except in Rebirth)Collectible Host Hat icon.pngHost Hat: Explosion immunity carries over to the heart.
    • The heart must be in range of explosion for Pyromaniac to heal Isaac.
  • (except in Repentance)Collectible Razor Blade icon.pngRazor Blade: Isaac cannot take damage from the Razor Blade, allowing for infinite uses of the item.
  • (in Afterbirth †)Collectible Sacrificial Altar icon.pngSacrificial Altar: Can remove the Isaac's Heart familiar while the item remains, making Isaac invulnerable.
    • (in Repentance) Sacrificial Altar now doesn't remove Isaac's Heart.
  • (except in Rebirth)Collectible Serpent's Kiss icon.pngSerpent's Kiss: Isaac can poison enemies by contact without taking damage, allowing for free black hearts.

Interactions

  • (in Repentance)Collectible Aries icon.pngAries: The invulnerability does not extend to the heart.
  • (in Afterbirth † and Repentance)Baby-BenderBaby-Bender: The heart's tears do not gain homing.
  • (in Repentance)Collectible BFFS! icon.pngBFFS!: Fires additional shots in random directions, and leaves larger puddles of creep.
  • (except in Repentance)Collectible Dry Baby icon.pngDry Baby: If Isaac has obtained Dry Baby in the first familiar spot before Isaac's Heart, the baby will block enemy tears before they can hit the heart. Enemies touching the heart can still do damage, and picking up the baby after the heart will cause the heart's hitbox to be checked first against shots.
    • (in Repentance) Isaac's Heart no longer follows Isaac in a way where Dry Baby can constantly block it from tears.
  • (in Afterbirth and Afterbirth †)Collectible Farting Baby icon.pngFarting Baby: If Isaac has obtained Farting Baby in the first familiar spot before Isaac's Heart, the baby will block enemy tears before they can hit the heart. Enemies touching the heart can still do damage, and picking up the baby after the heart will cause the heart's hitbox to be checked first against shots.
    • (in Repentance) Isaac's Heart no longer follows Isaac in a way where Farting Baby can constantly block it from tears.
  • (in Afterbirth †)Collectible King Baby icon.pngKing Baby: The Heart will follow King Baby. This makes it much harder to avoid damage, but also makes other synergies like Collectible Kamikaze! icon.pngKamikaze! much easier to use.
  • (in Repentance)Collectible A Pound of Flesh icon.pngA Pound of Flesh: Consumables can no longer be picked up in Shops.
  • Collectible Sharp Plug icon.pngSharp Plug: Sharp Plug can no longer be used.
  • Collectible The Soul icon.pngThe Soul: Isaac's body repels projectiles, but Isaac's Heart doesn't.
  • (in Repentance) Character Tainted Forgotten icon.pngTainted Forgotten: The heart follows Tainted Soul.

In-game Footage

In Rebirth (except in Repentance)

In Repentance (in Repentance)

Trivia

  • (except in Repentance)Isaac's Heart while it's following Isaac fittingly shares the same sprite as Child's HeartChild's Heart.
  • The nature of the item is similar to that of a Mask Heart.pngMask + Heart enemy.
  • This item is used in (except in Rebirth) The Guardian (challenge #30).

Gallery

Bugs

Bug Bug! When picked up by Tainted Lazarus after picking up Birthright, the character which has Isaac's Heart can be damaged even in ghost form.