Deals With the Devil - A Guide On OP-Ness

Hi, I'm Earbuds, and this is a guide on Deals with the Devil. As an early Binding of Isaac player myself, I used to look over Deals with the Devil, as I don't understand what they were. Now, I always go to them, knowing the potential that can come from it. For you to use the full potential of this guide, I reccommend that you have the Wrath of the Lamb DLC, as it adds some new items into the game. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the guide!

Deals with the Devil appear after you beat the boss on any floor of the Binding of Issac (excluding Sheol, The Cathedral, and The Chest). A demonic door will appear, and when you go inside, you'll see a statue of the devil and two items underneath him. The devil statue has no significance, but the items do.

The items can be "purchased" from the devil for 1-3 heart containers or 3 spirit hearts. Taking an item that costs more than the amount of heart containers you have will instantly kill you, unless you have atleast 1 spirit heart. Also, all items will appear as 3 spirit hearts for blue baby.

Introduced in the Halloween update, Krampus can sometimes be waiting for you in the Deal with The Devil Room. He drops a Lump of Coal on death, and can be re-rolled for a different Deal with The Devil item. The Fallen will also drop a Deal with the Devil item on death, and sed item also can be re-rolled.

There are certian events that can happen, in which you do not get a deal. As taken from the wiki, (more info here[bindingofisaac.wikia.com]) you start with a 1% chance to get a Deal with the Devil after killing the boss. Certian factors, such as having a pentagram or killing a beggar, can increase your chances of getting a deal.

Certian other things affect getting a Deal with the Devil. A deal will never appear on the first floor you start on (either the Basement 1 or the Cellar 1, if you have the WotL DLC). XL floors will have the Deal with the Devil appear after the second boss battle.

Some items can also affect what you get from Deals with the Devil. The D6 will change the item that the Devil gives away, but WILL NOT change the heart/spirit heart amount that he does. This could account for very cheap items, with a bit of luck. Also, the Judas's Tounge trinket will make all Deals with the Devil 1 heart container, but only if you are holding the trinket when entering the room. It does not change spirit heart trades, making Judas's Tounge useless as Blue Baby/???.

You can get many items from Deals with the Devil, including items exclusive to Deals only, and items from Item Rooms. I'll be breaking down every item and indicating if it's worth it or not to take.

Format:

Item: (item name)
Rating: (1-10)
How Much does It Cost?: (1-3 Heart Containers)
Should I Take It?: (Yes/Maybe/No)
Can I find it in Item Rooms?: (Yes/No)
Why?: (Explanation to get the item or not)

Please note that items may appear outside of the range listed, as it is only just an estimate of how much it ususally is. Also please note that for Blue Baby or any character with purely spirit hearts, all Deals with the Devil will cost 3 spirit hearts.

NOTE: If you buy an item that gives you spirit hearts as Blue Baby and use up all your spirit hearts before buying it, you WILL DIE before gaining your spirit hearts, so be warned.

NOTE 2: Assume the player Blue Baby can also be called ???.

NOTE 3: Please know what all deals may be replaced by three spirit hearts instead of the heart containers, and deals as Blue Baby will always have spirit heart deals.

NOTE 4: These item explanations will easily take 3+ pages to explain fully, so please read at your own pace.

Item: Stigmata
Rating: 8
How Much does It Cost?: 1 Heart Container
Should I Take It?: Yes
Can I find it in Item Rooms: Yes
Why?: Although you can find this in Item Rooms, you should almost always take the Stigmata if you find it in Deals with the Devil. The Stigmata boosts damage by 1, makes Isaac's tears red, and grants you one heart container, counting for a net gain of +1 damage. Always a good choice if it's at 1 Heart Container, medicore choice if it's anything higher, would not reccommend for Blue Baby, as it give you 1 spirit heart back only.

Item: The Mark
Rating: 7
How Much does It Cost?: 1-2 Heart Containers
Should I Take It?: Maybe
Can I find it in Item Rooms?: No
Why?: The Mark is an interesting item. Being a Deal with the Devil exclusive, you cannot get it anywhere else in the game. The Mark puts a 666 in a circular pattern on your forehead, inceases damage by 2, speed by 1, and gives you 1 spirit heart. At 1 Heart Container, this item makes up for it's cost in spirit hearts, and gives you some extra damage and speed. This can be a gamebreaking item if you use it to it's full extent. For Blue Baby/???, I would pick this up if I had a fair amount of spirit hearts and a fair amount of damage to make up for the high cost.

Item: The Pact
Rating: 8
How Much does It Cost?: 2 Heart Containers
Should I Take It?: Yes/Maybe (as Blue Baby)
Can I find it in Item Rooms?: No
Why?: The Pact is another Deal with the Devil exclusive, and slightly better than The Mark. It turns you black with horns, increases damage by 2, tear fire rate by 1, and gives you 2 spirit hearts. The extra spirit hearts compensates for it's increased price, as does the increased fire rate. It is reccommended for regular players, but be cautious as Blue Baby/???, as it WILL kill you before you get your 2 spirit hearts if you use the rest of yours before buying it.

Item: Guppy/Dead Cat
Rating: 2 or 8
How Much does It Cost?: 2 Heart Containers
Should I Take It?: Maybe
Can I find it in Item Rooms?: No
Why?: Ugh, this item. We have a love/hate relationship, as sometimes it's good, and other times it's bad. The Guppy item sets your Heart Containers to 1, gives you 9 lives, and gives you a useless cat familiar. If you use your last 2 Heart Containers on buying this item, you will die and respawn with 8 lives. With Blue Baby, this item will respawn you with 1 spirit heart every time you die. You may collect additional health upgrades, but they will be reset to 1 Heart Container if you die. Depending on your opinion, this item can either make it or break it for you in The Binding of Isaac. I personally use this item to buy other Deal with the Devil items (e.g, Mom's Knife, Brimstone, etc.) and have a 1 life concequence, or try to play the game regularly. There's a lot of talk about this item saying if it's good or not, and in my opinion, I say go for it. It's a pretty good item to use for free items in which you have to sacrifice health or Heart Containers, or a nice challenge for those good at The Binding of Isaac. On the other side, however, I would not reccommend this item to any new players, as they will be prone to losing health a lot, and would take away from the overall fun of the game. By the time you have Blue Baby/???, you should be at least halfway decent, and Guppy would not be out of the question. In conclusion, Guppy is a bi-polar item, and should be used only if you're confident of your situation and/or skill. Counts towards becoming Guppy.

More coming soon.

Item: Stigmata
Rating: 8
How Much does It Cost?: 1 Heart Container
Should I Take It?: Yes
Can I find it in Item Rooms: Yes
Why?: Although you can find this in Item Rooms, you should almost always take the Stigmata if you find it in Deals with the Devil. The Stigmata boosts damage by 1, makes Isaac's tears red, and grants you one heart container, counting for a net gain of +1 damage. Always a good choice if it's at 1 Heart Container, medicore choice if it's anything higher, would not reccommend for Blue Baby, as it give you 1 spirit heart back only.

Item: (item name) Guppy's Head
Rating: (1-10) 4
How Much does It Cost?: 1-2 Heart Containers
Should I Take It?: Maybe
Can I find it in Item Rooms?: No
Why?: Guppy's Head spawns 2-4 blue flies/kamikaze flies that do 2x your damage per use and recharges once per room. It can be useful, as with any damage setup the kamikaze flies can increase your killing rate dramatically. You should take this item if it's one heart container and if you don't have a better spacebar item (e.g., Blue Candle). I wouldn't reccommend taking it if it costs 2 heart containers or if you're Blue Baby, but you still can if you want. Counts towards becoming Guppy.

Item: Guppy's Paw
Rating: 9
How Much does It Cost?: 1 Heart Container
Should I Take It?: Yes (No as Blue Baby)
Can I find it in Item Rooms?: No
Why?: Guppy's Paw is a great item, and I almost always reccommend you pick it up. Guppy's Paw is a spacebar item that transforms one of your heart containers into 3 spirit hearts. Not only does this theoretically triple your maximum health, it also grants your Permanent Polaroid Invincibility. Be warned though, as Blue Baby, this item is useless, as he only uses spirit hearts, and may be dangerous if you have a low amount of heart containers. Otherwise, this is a great item to pick up. Counts towards becoming Guppy.

Item: Guppy's Tail
Rating: 3
How Much does It Cost?: 1-2 Heart Containers
Should I Take It?: Maybe
Can I find it in Item Rooms?: No
Why?: Guppy's Tail is an item that decreases the spawn of pickups like coins and bombs and increases the spawnrate of Golden Chests. It also changes most (if not all) regular Chests to Golden Chests. This item could either help or hinder you depending on what you have. If you:

1. Have >10 keys
2. Don't have a Golden Key on the floor you're currently on
3. Are on the chest

Then this item is basically worthless to you. As Blue Baby, you would be better off investing your spirit hearts into other items. Counts towards becoming Guppy.

Item: Spirit of the Night
Rating: 9
How Much does It Cost?: 2 Heart Containers
Should I Take It?: Yes
Can I find it in Item Rooms?: No
Why?: Spirit of the Night is most definitely one of the best items you could hope for in a Deal with the Devil. Spirit of the Night gives you the ability to fly and shoot spectal tears, which are tears that can pass through obstacles. This item is nearly perfect, and because of its relatively low cost, can allow you to gain the upper hand on your enemies by allowing you to hide ontop of rocks and being able to shoot through them. I would reccommend this item to any normal character, or even Blue Baby if you have the spirit hearts for it.

Item: Bloody Lust
Rating: 1
How Much does It Cost?: 2 Heart Containers
Should I Take It?: No
Can I find it in Item Rooms?: Yes
Why?: This explanation might get me yelled at, but let me explain. Bloody Lust increases your damage per kill in a room, about .28 per kill, and caps out at 3.3 extra damage. Although this may seem like a lot, the Lump of Coal increases your damage by .14 PER FRAME it is on the screen, and can be raised to about 22. This means that in 2 frames, a shot fired with the lump of coal will do the exact same amount of damage as 1 kill with Bloody Lust. The average amount of frames per second in Isaac is 15. Do the math. Do not take this item.

No, you always don't have to, but in my opinion, yes, you always should check. From Mom's Knife to Sacrifical Dagger, Deals with the Devil contain most of the powerful and awesome items the the game. I always reccommend going to one, just to see the choices that are available.

Should be self-explanatory. I need a format, soooo....

Glitch Name:
What is it?
Requirements:
How to do it:

Enjoy!

Glitch Name: Free Deals
What is it? You can get free Deals with the Devil using this one simple trick.
Requirements: Blue Baby, or a player with only Spirit Hearts and no Heart Containers or negative Heart Containers, an invincibility item like Book of Shadows
How to do it: Go into the Deal with the Devil, use the invincibility item, grab the items being offered

Version 0.1 - Release - 1/18/2013
Version 0.2 - Added Boldings and Versions page - 1/18/2013
Version 0.21 - Added "Guppy" item - 1/20/2013
Version 0.3: Finally! - Added 5 new items under Wrath of the Lamb, created two new pages, reorganized some stuff, added a glitch - 7/28/2013