Top 7 Best Items in The Binding of Isaac

     The Binding of Isaac is a game filled to the brim with powerups; some are fantastic and some warrant an "Ugh!" when they're found in treasure rooms. Some can transform you into an absolute powerhouse while others will almost guarantee your run will end in failure. These are 7 of the best items in The Binding of Isaac!



Number 7. Habit

     The Nun's habit is an amazing item, but I felt it deserved the number 7 spot because it's usefulness depends entirely upon your current space bar item. If the player is equipped with the Habit, his or her space bar item will recharge by 3 blocks anytime he or she takes damage (which also includes blood banks, self-sacrifice rooms, etc.). This ability can be  used to great effect when combined with items such as the Yum Heart, allowing the player to use blood banks without actually losing health. 

Also, combining the Habit, Book of Revelations, and The Wafer grants the player infinite life.



Number 6. Polyphemus

     Polyphemus has been a hit with the Binding of Isaac community since it was released with the Wrath of the Lamb expansion. Polyphemus works like this; your Tears are reduced to minimum, but your damage and tear size are increased significantly. If one of your over-sized tears hits an enemy with less HP than the amount of damage your tear would inflict then the tear passes though the enemy, decreases in size, and inflicts the remaining damage upon the next enemy it hits (if any). Polyphemus deserves the number 6 spot because it's only 'good' by itself; Polyphemus REALLY shines when it's combined with another tear effect such as Technology, Sacred Heart, or Mutant Spider.

Trivia: "Polyphemus" was the name of the cyclops Odysseus encountered in The Odyssey.



Number 5. The Mulligan

     Flies are prevalent enemies in the Binding of Isaac; in fact, several enemies use them as a method of attack and the player was finally granted the same ability in the expansion via the Mulligan. Similar to the enemy of the same name, the player will sometimes release a blue fly along with a tear. These blue flies aggressively home in on enemies until their death and any surviving flies will begin hovering around the player until he or she encounters more enemies. The Mulligan is another item that's a lot more effective if you have something else that amplifies it. For instance, the rate at which flies spawn seems to be based upon the player's Tears stat, so the more tears the player can fire at a time, the more flies that have the potential to spawn. Items that increase Tears work wonders for the Mulligan.

Technology 2 and The Mulligan are a fantastic combination, but expect to have a little trouble with the Isaac and ??? (Blue Baby) boss fights.  



Number 4. Mom's Knife

     Mom's Knife is a powerhouse item that was added in the Halloween update. It's unlocked by defeating Satan with Isaac and is one of the strongest items in the game. There's not much to say about this item; if you've seen it in action or used it yourself then you know just how much damage this item can deal, killing some bosses in only one hit, in fact. This item will also travel through objects and enemies increasing its effectiveness Mom's Knife isn't without it's cons, however, as it has abysmal range and needs to be charged in order for it to travel it's maximum distance. If it weren't for these cons Mom's Knife would have received a lower spot on this list.

Did you know Mom's Knife can be used as a melee weapon? You can damage enemies by simply walking into them with the knife pointed in their direction. Be careful though; you wouldn't want to get TOO close!



Number 3. Prayer Card

     The Wrath of the Lamb expansion introduced "eternal hearts" into the game; these unusual half-heart pickups grant the player a permanent heart container if he or she collects two of them or leaves the floor with one. Along with these pick ups we were also given a new space bar item, the Prayer Card, that grants the player one eternal heart upon use and takes six rooms to recharge. Wow! An item that allows the player to generate ACTUAL heart containers! This effect is already useful by itself, but when you consider the fact that these extra heart containers can be used to make trades with the devil this effect becomes downright overpowered!

Hint 1: If you have the Habit and several spirit hearts you can use the Prayer Card and the Habit's effect to transform those spirit hearts into heart containers! (WARNING: Does not work with blood banks because they take eternal hearts FIRST!)

Hint 2: Use the Prayer Card on after a boss fight and go down to the next floor to guarantee yourself a heart container!



Number 2. The Candle

     The Candle is another space bar item that was added with the Wrath of the Lamb expansion and is my favorite space bar item in the entire game, beating out high-tier items like the Book of Belial and The Nail! When The Candle is used the player holds it above his or her head and shoots out a blue flame that does massive damage AND destroys enemy projectiles! That doesn't sound fantastic alone, but The Candle recharges multiple times PER ROOM! The Candle is a great item for boss fights, especially Isaac and Blue Baby because it can protect you from their tear barrages!

The Candle is unlocked by completing the Dark was the Night challenge which is one of the easiest in the game; you can't see your map for the entire game, but you have access to treasure rooms making the challenge condition mildly annoying at most.



Number 1. Epic Fetus

     Epic Fetus is an upgraded version of the powerful Dr. Fetus item. Dr. Fetus allows the player to shoot bombs and the new and improved Epic Fetus allows the player to fire NUCLEAR MISSILES! The player does this by aiming a crosshair, similar to the Doctor's Remote space bar item, with the mouse or arrow keys at whatever the player wishes to destroy and boy does it ever destroy! Not only do the missiles do incredible damage, but you can destroy groups of enemies from across the screen with very little effort!

Epic Fetus is unlocked by completing the Doctor's Revenge challenge; another very easy challenge because you start off with the Dr. Fetus item. You have to have the Dr. Fetus item unlocked, however, in order to gain access to the challenge. 



What do you think the best items in The Binding of Isaac are and how does my list compare to yours?

Pictures from the Binding of Isaac Wiki.