Item Compendium#

Item Compendium

The Binding of Isaac has 700+ items - each one changes how the game plays. This chapter lists core item categories, powerful combos and item pool notes to help you identify items and decide fast in-game

Item type quick reference#

Type	Icon look	Role
Passive items	Golden chest	Always active - effective the moment you pick them up
Active items	Purple glow in Treasure Rooms	Need charges - press Space to use. 6/3/1-room charges depending on the item
Trinkets	Small trinkets	Minor passive - hold 1 (can be increased)
Cards	Playing cards	One-time effects - use with Q
Pills	Colored pills	Random effects - you have to try them to learn what they do
Pickups	Coins/bombs/keys/red hearts etc.	Basic resources

Core powerful items#

Offensive#

Item	Effect	Rating
Technology X	Ring laser - grows as it charges	★★★★★ An instant great run
Mom’s Knife	Thrown piercing knife - high damage + pierce	★★★★★ A reliable run-ender
Godhead	Aura tears - homing + high damage	★★★★★ An Angel Room gem
Brimstone	Laser beam - sweeping wide blast when charged	★★★★★ The Devil Room classic
Magic Mushroom	All stats up	★★★★★ The most balanced buff
20/20	Double tears - double damage	★★★★★ Simple and brutal
Sacred Heart	Homing + high damage + healing	★★★★★ One of the strongest Angel Room items
Technology	Tears become lasers - scales with fire rate	★★★★ Very strong at high fire rate
Dead Eye	Scythe tears + pierce + damage up	★★★★ Steady output
Mutant Spider	Four tears at once but lower fire rate	★★★★★ Unstoppable with fire rate items

Survival#

Item	Effect	Rating
Void	Absorbs nearby items + stats	★★★★★ The universal build tool
Sacrificial Dagger	Orbiting dagger - one-shots minions	★★★★ A bodyguard staple
Dead Cat	9 lives - but each revive costs stats	★★★★ Beginner friendly
Holy Mantle	Blocks one hit for free each floor	★★★★★ The survival first pick
Placenta	Slow healing + speed down	★★★ Useful but at a cost
Black Heart	+1 red heart + clears the room on hit	★★★★★ Strong on both ends

Active items#

Item	Effect	Charges	Rating
D6	Reroll items in the room	6	★★★★★ Reroll forever
Book of Belial	Damage up in the current room	3	★★★★ A Devil Room must
Crystal Ball	Reveals the whole map + random pickup	4	★★★★ An exploration tool
Vaccine	Spawns an item from the current room’s pool	4	★★★★★ A run-start godsend
Teleport	Random teleport	1	★★ Useful in limited scenarios
Mom’s Shovel	Dig - unlocks hidden content	4	★★★ Situational

Powerful item combos#

Combo	Effect
Brimstone + Technology X	Twin lasers - full-screen destruction. Two laser items stack into explosive damage
Mom’s Knife + Godhead	Homing knives + aura damage - melts Bosses. The knife follows enemies and tracks automatically
Magic Mushroom + 20/20 + Sacred Heart	Double damage + homing + maxed stats - an invincible combo. Every stat maximized
Technology X + Transcendence + 20/20	Three ring lasers firing at once - extremely efficient screen clearing
Brimstone + Book of Belial	The Devil Room classic - Brimstone damage doubles again while Book of Belial is active
D6 + Void	Endless rerolls + absorption - maximum control over your build

Item pools explained#

Pool	Item types included	How to access
Treasure Room pool	Standard items	Golden chest in Treasure Rooms
Boss pool	Boss-tier items	After defeating the Boss
Shop pool	Practical items	Buy in the shop
Devil Room pool	Powerful items that cost health	Devil Room deals
Angel Room pool	Powerful free items	Angel Room chests
Secret Room pool	Special items	Inside Secret Rooms
Greed pool	Coin-related items	Greed Mode

Devil Room vs Angel Room: no damage taken → higher Devil Room chance → refuse Devil Room deals → Angel Rooms appear later. Devil Room items are strong but cost health containers - beginners should favor the Devil Room. Angel Room items are free but not necessarily stronger than Devil Room items. Strategy: run Devil Rooms on the first two floors, then choose based on build needs on the last two

Trinket recommendations#

Trinket	Effect
Paper Clip	Opens golden chests for free - no key needed
Fish Tail	Kills leave +25% extra drops
Cancer	Massively raises fire rate
Safety Pin	+1 each to bomb/key/coin drops
Golden Bean	Spawns a coin every few seconds

Character starting items#

Character	Starting item	Playstyle
Isaac	D6	Reroll playstyle - reroll every Treasure Room until something good shows up
Magdalene	Yum Heart (healing) + 4 starting red hearts	Beginner pick - the most forgiving
Cain	Lucky Foot (luck up) + starting key	Chase luck-based builds - open chests to your heart’s content
Judas	Book of Belial (3-charge damage up) + only 1 red heart	High risk, high reward - explosive early damage
??? (Blue Baby)	D6 + no red hearts (soul hearts only)	High difficulty - cannot heal with red hearts

Item quality system#

Quality	Color	Notes	Examples
Quality 0	Dark	Usually negative or useless items - avoid	The Beans, Milk! (no healing), Bugle
Quality 1	Dark gold	Slightly useful - but replaceable by better	Magnet, Double Jump, small spider
Quality 2	Copper	Mid-tier - solid in specific builds	Two Hearts, Battery, Coffee
Quality 3	Silver	Strong - a good pick in most builds	Inner Eye, Dark Arts, Tricorn
Quality 4	Gold	The strongest in the game - picking one up = half the run won	Godhead, Brimstone, Technology X, Mom’s Knife

Item pool mechanics#

Pool	Related room	How to extract
Treasure Room pool	Treasure Room	Enter a Treasure Room - take one for free
Boss pool	Boss Room	Granted after defeating the Boss
Shop pool	Shop	Buy with coins
Devil Room pool	Devil Room	Trade health for it
Angel Room pool	Angel Room	Free to take - but requires a key or defeating the angel
Library pool	Library	Take one book-type item for free
Curse Room pool	Curse Room	Pay health to enter - high risk, high reward
Secret Room pool	Secret Room	Bomb the wall to enter - usually holds items
Greed Mode pool	Greed Mode exclusive	Available only in Greed Mode

Combo examples#

Combo	Effect	Rating
Brimstone + Technology X	Full-screen ring lasers - lockscreen-level damage	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Devastating
Godhead + Technology	Homing tears + aura - auto-aim, auto-output	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ An easy clear
Mom’s Knife + Technology	The knife becomes a laser knife - multi-hit pierce	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Strong but takes getting used to
Ipecac + Technology X	Ring of exploding lasers - beware self-damage	⭐⭐⭐⭐ High risk, high reward
Soy Milk + Ipecac	Rapid-fire explosive tears - fire rate so fast the screen shakes	⭐⭐⭐ Gimmick tier
Void + anything	Absorb spare items - convert them into stat boosts	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Universal

Item colors and types#

Color category	Type	Notes
Gold Chest items	Treasure Room/Shop	Standard items - change character abilities
Red Chest items	Curse Room/Devil Room	Usually cost something - but effects are strong
Silver Chest items	Angel Room	Free - usually defensive/support
Wood Chest items	Basic drops	Usually consumables (coins/bombs/keys)
Blue Chest items	Special/Secrets	Soul hearts or special items

Item priorities#

Item type	Priority	Notes
Damage up	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Output = survival = faster fights
Fire rate up	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Fire rate = higher DPS + better effect procs
Speed up	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Speed = better dodging = safer
Health up	⭐⭐⭐	Health = margin for error - but more is not always better (Devil Rooms need health!)
Range up	⭐⭐⭐	Needed by specific builds - but less universally useful
Luck up	⭐⭐⭐	Affects many proc effects - but the numeric gains are subtle

Item tier list#

Tier	Example items	Notes
S	Godhead, Brimstone, Mom’s Knife, Technology X, D6, Chaos	Grab on sight - the game gets far easier
A	Technology, Sacred Heart, Sacrificial Altar, Flatworm, Candle	Strong items - reliable combat power
B	Dr. Fetus, Juicy Sack, Enema, White Fire	Useful but need synergy
C	Soy Milk, Pea, Pencil, Milk!	Situational - some are traps
D	Technology, Bonin / small lumps etc.	Not recommended - easy to hurt yourself

Item pool distribution#

Distribution	Common items	Rare items
Treasure Room	Plain damage/fire rate ups	Brimstone, Mom’s Knife
Devil Room	Cost-trade items	Brimstone, Pact
Angel Room	Godhead-line items	Sacred Heart, holy tears
Shop	Consumables + low-quality items	Chaos, map resets

Acquisition efficiency compared#

Source	Quality range	Expected items per floor	Rating
Treasure Room	Quality 0-4	1	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The most reliable
Devil Room	Quality 2-4	1-2	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Powerful but costs health
Angel Room	Quality 2-4	1	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Powerful and free
Shop	Quality 0-2	0-1	⭐⭐⭐ Down to luck
Secret Room	Quality 1-4	0-1	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Worth hunting
Planetarium	Quality 3-4	1	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Highest quality

How to memorize items#

Method	Details	Difficulty
Picture memorization	Remember what items look like - e.g. Brimstone = red laser	⭐ Easy
Color grouping	Group by color - red = offense / blue = defense / green = support	⭐ Easy
Quality tags	Remember quality tiers - Quality 4 = always grab - Quality 0 = avoid	⭐⭐ Moderate
Item pool memory	Remember the pools - Devil Room = offense / Angel Room = defense - pick with intent	⭐⭐ Moderate
Live wiki lookup	Keep the wiki open - check every run in real time - most accurate but slowest	⭐ Easy

Item FAQ#

Question	Answer
Can items be dropped?	Passive items cannot be dropped - active items can be dropped with Ctrl
Can item effects be turned off?	No - passive items are permanent once acquired
Can the D6 reroll Devil Room items?	Yes - the D6 rerolls every unclaimed item - including Devil Room deals
Do item pools run dry?	Yes - take too many items from one pool and it empties - junk starts appearing
What is the Quality 4 item chance?	About 5-10% - depends on luck and the item pool

Quality breakdown reference#

Quality	Item count	Notes
Quality 0	~50 items	The weakest items - usually useless - but shine in certain builds
Quality 1	~100 items	Basic items - small boosts
Quality 2	~150 items	Mid-tier items - clear boosts - the core of most builds
Quality 3	~100 items	Premium items - significant boosts - relatively rare
Quality 4	~30 items	The strongest items - run-changers - extremely rare

Tip Quality is not everything - some Quality 2 items beat Quality 4 items in specific builds - explore synergies boldly!