Overview
This guide gives general tips and pointers to that one character that you are probably pulling your hair out to get completion marks on. Spoilers ahead! Enter at your own risk!
I’m Not The Lost, I’m My Own Original Character, Ble Blost!
Alright, so at the time of writing this, I have only beaten Boss Rush and Hush as Tainted Lost aka Echo Fighter Lost aka Alt Lost aka The Baleful etc. But I think I have enough valid advice to give because it’s getting me far in my attempts with him. So, let’s get started. Who is the Tainted Lost? Well, basically, he’s the hyper offense version of The Lost. He has higher damage than The Lost as base stats, but lacks the Holy Mantle; not only this, but the item pools are modified.
MOST NON-OFFENSIVE ITEMS IN THE GAME IS UNOBTAINABLE WITH THIS CHARACTER.
To borrow from the TBOI:R wiki, this includes Dead Cat, Holy Mantle, all other revival items, Guppy’s Paw and Collar (just specifying that your shot at Guppy is very slim), Gnawed Leaf, Pyromaniac, Host Hat, and Stop Watch. So don’t waste your time trying to farm for them like I did for a while. It only ends in sadness, which you are going to go through plenty of anyway.
UPDATE: I have now beaten everything. So I’ll share what I know.
Getting Started
If you’re a Rebirth veteran, you likely recall endless resets trying to beat the original challenges on Hard Mode as The Lost. Get used to it here. You will not leave Basement II (or equivalent) without a “good item.” So, what is a good item? Well, we can separate these into two separate run categories.
As for things you should unlock beforehand:
Must haves:
(Item, Character, Destination Boss)
Book of Virtues, Bethany, Isaac
The Stairway, Jacob and Esau, Isaac
Birthright, Jacob and Esau, ???
Good to haves but not necessary:
Revelation, Bethany, Mother
Alabaster Box, Bethany, The Lamb
Soul Locket, Bethany, Ultra Greed
Star of Bethlehem, Bethany, Delirium
Jar of Wisps, Bethany, The Beast
Rock Bottom, Jacob and Esau, Boss Rush
Spindown Dice, Tainted Isaac, Delirium
there are probably way more it’s just kinda hard to keep track of all the unlocks so let me know if you have an item in particular
AT LEAST 100 COINS IN THE DONATION MACHINE, PLAY TAINTED KEEPER TO GET MORE IF YOU NEED IT
Ultimate Spear
The way Tainted Lost is structured leans almost entirely on offense. However, the items you pick are crucial to getting off the ground. I would not leave the first floor unless you get one of the following:
A decent tears/damage increase: This is the bare minimum for moving forward. You can move onto the third floor with one of each. However, if your first item does not contain one of these, or one of the following, do not bother. Personally, I give it as far as the first room with enemies to give me an Item Room or Library (more on libraries later). How far you want to go is up to you, I like to spend as little time having to think pre-run as possible.
A tear effect: Normally tear effects vary in being worthwhile because they are inconsistent to obtain. However, because you cannot get hit anyway, you are guaranteed to get the Perfection trinket on the third floor boss room. This turns the tables immensely, as a lot of luck-based effects are maxed out. Some of these are absolutely game breaking, short of the fact that you die in one hit.
These include:
Knockout Drops (absolutely destroys some bosses with knockback and has a funny sound effect)
Tough Love (which more than triples your damage output)
Large Zit (useful creep)
Apple! (quadruple damage, not guaranteed until 14 luck though)
Ocular Rift (ultimate s u c c)
Lodestone (alternate ultimate s u c c)
Holy Light (maxes at 50% chance but thats still really good)
Euthanasia (will help clear out large rooms)
There are more, but you get the idea. Beneficial tear bonuses are a godsend for this character. Do note that some effects, such as Sinus Infection, are great, but are unaffected by luck.
An ultimate weapon: you know the items. Brimstone. Tech X. Mom’s Knife. I don’t need to explain these.
A beneficial secondary effect: similar to tear effects, but guaranteed to the item. Think Scorpio, Jacob’s Ladder, or Spoon Bender.
Misc items that don’t really fit into another category, like 120 Volt. Use your judgement.
Effectively, you want a good base DPS leaving the early floors. These items can even synergize. I had a Tech X run with Knockout Drops and Tough Love and I shredded Hush, only losing to Delirium to unavoidable nonsense where it turned into The Pile and went right under me twice in a row (post-run salt is why I am writing this).
Ultimate Shield
So, we discussed offense, what about defense? After all, desire is noble, and we want it all. This is the more interesting part of dealing with this character.
The list of items you might want to look out for include, but are not limited to:
Libraries: Side section, since these are generally worth trying to get into if you see one on the first floor. Always try to get in. One of these good items might save you.
Book of the Dead: Top tier item for this character. Regeneratable projectile protection. In a room with numerous enemies, it can be incredible to get a full shield all at once with some Bonies to assist.
Book of Shadows: The economy version of Book of the Dead, but not anything to sneeze at if paired with Mom’s Knife or some other active contact damage. Worth starting a run for. Panic Button makes for a trinket combo with it to automatically shield you.
Book of Virtues: Alternate economy Book of the Dead. Can even be better than it with the right synergy. Always worth it, as you can pair it with Book of the Dead for bonus protection. Also pairs with Book of Shadows, as wisps do not go away while the shield is up.
Bookworm and Book of Belial: Offense, but might as well mention its obvious existence and favorability.
You cannot get Satanic Bible for extra devil items or Book of Revelations for Cubes of Meat/Balls of Bandages.
Other items include:
Blank Card: Another top tier item for this character, as you can regenerate holy cards using it. Holy cards stay in effect until lost. However, wait for the strategy section, I will explain more there.
The D1: Alternative to Blank Card. You can dupe a bunch of Holy Cards and hold onto them on each floor.
Wooden Cross: Trinket that applies Holy Mantle. Extremely good to have. Can potentially use Mom’s Box to generate one. You decide whether you want this or Perfection, based on your build.
Jar of Wisps: Risky with the long recharge, but better than nothing. If taken late can be very helpful.
Birthright: Your only chance at an extra life. Respawns you in the room you died and deals damage to enemies. Missing Poster can also be an extra life but other trinkets are way better.
Psy Fly: Can protect you from enemy shots. Invalidates Hush.
Censer: Slows down enemy shots.
The Soul: Protects you from enemy shots, even better if you have things slowed down in some way with Censer or another item.
Invincibility items: not great, but can help risk-free speed up a room or get you out of a curse room.
Circle of Protection: Shot protection.
2Spooky: Can move enemies away from you, potentially saving you from something.
Trinity Shield: Can be very handy for a number of bosses with bullet hells.
Glowing Hourglass: Can give you your shield back if you get hit by something stupid. Though I prefer not using the Holy Card unless I have a spare.
To elaborate on D1 vs. Blank Card: You won’t necessarily find both in a run, but if you somehow do, I’d judge on how likely you are to get hit. D1 is generally better, as it can be used for a lot more than just Holy Cards, and you can store Holy Cards for later at the start of a floor. I have made use of this on every D1 run I started. Blank Card has the same recharge rate, but works instantly. Useful as a panic button (though the eponymous trinket does that too). If you go D1, try to dupe in the boss room if you have a safe opportunity. Car Battery also works with D1 and not Blank Card for this purpose.
Ultimate No
Quickly, some things not to take or do. Fairly obvious and straightforward:
Anything involving explosions, unless you have an override that stops them. These include Ipecac, Bob’s Brain, BBF, Fire Mind, and others.
Curse Rooms: Do not enter without a way out. No Dead Cat means never worth doing.
Active hitboxes: Familiars can and will attack bomb flies and get you killed. Not worth using. Take items like Monstrance at your own risk.
Strategy Center
First rule of Tainted Lost: Pick a goal. Do not stray from it. Get your goal done. I cannot stress this enough, it is better to waste your defenses early and die on a later floor but beat Boss Rush than it is to try to conserve and die before reaching your goal.
Second rule of Tainted Lost: Do not use your Holy Card until your goal room. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “But I need that if I get hit!” The potential for getting Blank Card is precious. If you lose your holy card early, finding Blank Card later is meaningless. If you lose your mantle in a room with regular enemies the run was quite frankly just not meant to be.
Now that we have discussed the ground rules and items, we can discuss bosses. I will tell you what builds I recommend for each major path finisher.
Boss Rush
I would recommend tackling these in the order I list them. If you want to go out of order, fine, but I would do them in order of relative difficulty by distance into the run. You will have to do them all anyway.
So, the Boss Rush. It isn’t that the bosses are hard, it’s that you have a lot of opportunities to mess up. I would recommend a primarily offensive build for this. Blank Card is the ideal for this run, but Book of the Dead is great too. Be mindful of the enemies with lasers, such as The Adversary and The Fat Fu- I mean The Bloat. Your shields mean nothing to lasers, short of the Book of Shadows. Homing Lasers are especially worrisome. Make sure there are no spiders, boom flies, etc roaming that could kill you if you aren’t paying attention to them.
Hush
Book of the Dead is the best thing you can have in this fight. Go in with a full shield, then spawn a new shield after killing the flies once yours gets low. Of course, you will want a high damage rate for this fight (not necessarily high damage, more hits is generally better). Know Hush’s patterns, and do your best for the harder to dodge attacks. However, try to not use your Holy Card if you think you can do it without it. That is going to be saved for the next boss.
Delirium
Ah, yes, everyone’s favorite spastic mess. This boss made me salty because of how stupid fast it is and how it can appear right under you. It is, in all honestly, a crapshoot. Take your good build in, you’ll want both shielding and good damage output. The less thinking you have to do, the better. Faster it dies, less chance it gets to turn into The Pile and instantly kill you. You can’t really ever be 100% prepared for this fight, as even getting to it requires either luck or Hush.
Mega Satan
This route is slightly different, as it forces you to take angel rooms, so no devil items. That being said, angel rooms are arguably better in Repentance, and there are plenty of beneficial items to get in them. Do not use Dad’s Key unless you get lucky in The Chest/Dark Room or have Schoolbag. Offense is more important than defense for the most part, though if you’re not good at dodging, it isn’t a bad idea to pack the good defensive items.
Mother
So, Mother. The first of the new bosses. Mother requires you to go through the alt floors. I would recommend decent speed for this, as getting there can be difficult with the enemies you encounter. Decent speed is important in general, but you don’t need more than 1.20 usually with good defenses.
That being said, Mother is actually one of the easiest final bosses in the game to learn. Kiting shots around and dodging patterns consistently are more doable than you would think. Just be sure to have good enough damage to move the fight along.
The Beast
So, the final chapter of the game. Like Mother, this one is easier to learn than you would expect. War and Death are the only relatively annoying phases, and Dogma gives you a free Holy Mantle. You can kite Dogma around for some attacks, such as the ring attack being kiteable with a triangular dodging path (it makes sense once you start doing it). Be absolutely sure you can consistently do the final stretch, and that you remember the lasers will happen.
??? and The Lamb
Gonna be honest, these are stock standard and you should be used to them by now. I don’t need to explain much. Regular build you’ve used for the other ones.
Ultra Greed and Ultra Greedier
Ok, now that I’ve done this, some strategy.
Because Greed Mode is wave based, you should be using your actives more. As usual, Angel Rooms tend to be better, so go with those. Room clearing attacks are fantastic. Car Battery and The Battery are must haves if you have a good active. Piercing of some kind is important. Do not corner yourself. Ace Cards are lifesavers, especially Diamonds. The Stairway is a fantastic item to get, and it also works on the Ultra Greed floor.
For Ultra Greed and Greedier specifically, you don’t have too much for defense, as Pyromaniac and Host Hat are removed from the pool. Jacob’s Ladder is excellent for crowd control on the key waves. As with normal runs, Holy Light combos great with this. You should be familiar with your previous 15+ Greed Mode waves by now, so Ultra Greedier shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Just play it safe, and make sure you have decent speed. Don’t run into a laser.
Closing
Thanks for reading my guide! If you have information to add, let me know, I’ll add it! Hopefully you guys can suffer less than I had to.