Learn how to effectively use the Dead Bird and Dead Cat familiars in The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. Get tips on their effects, strategies, and when to grab them.
Alright, let's dive into Part 32 of our Binding of Isaac: Rebirth journey! Today we're looking at a couple of familiars that can really change the flow of a room: Dead Bird and Dead Cat. They've got some unique effects, so let's break 'em down.
First up, we've got Dead Bird. This little guy is pretty neat. When you take damage from anything in a room, Dead Bird pops out and goes after enemies, dealing touch damage until they're all gone. Once the room is cleared, it'll follow you around like a normal familiar, but it disappears when you move to the next room. To get it to attack again, you'll need to take more damage. It can even fly over obstacles, which is super handy!
The comments section says it's great for Eve as a starting item, and honestly, it makes tough rooms way easier. If you're struggling with a room, you can even just run around and let the bird do the work. It's also a lifesaver against those annoying immobile enemies that just spam projectiles. You can just set the bird on them and stay safe. Apparently, it's a really helpful item with no downsides, which is rare!
| TABLE POSITION: Row 7, Column 11 | ITEM MESSAGE: - |
| EFFECT: When the character takes damage (from an enemy or anything else), the Dead Bird appears and chases after any enemies that are in the room, inflicting touch damage until they are all killed. When enemies are all dead, the Dead Bird follows the player around like a normal familiar. It disappears when you move between rooms. You must take more damage to make it reappear. The Dead Bird can fly over obstacles. For the Dead Bird to attack an enemy, you must be close enough so that it notices it. | |
| FAMILIAR: | |
| COMMENTS: Quite a nice familiar item and Eve gets it as a starting item! It means that if you take damage in a room, the battle becomes instantly easier and can deal with the difficult enemies that you may find much harder to deal with otherwise. It may even be easier to simply run away from difficult enemies while you leave the bird to kill them instead. It's also great for killing immobile projectile-shooting enemies as you can set the bird on it and as long as you stay out of sight you don't need to worry about taking any sort of damage. A very helpful item with no negatives. |
Now, let's talk about Dead Cat. This one's a bit more controversial. You can buy it in a Devil Room for two heart containers. When you get it, your health drops to one heart, but you get 9 lives in return. The cat's head also follows you as a familiar. When you die, you respawn in the last room you were in before the one you died in. Important note: any extra hearts you've earned are lost when you die, and you'll respawn with just that one heart.
The comments section mentions that some players really dislike this item, especially if they tend to take damage easily. The fact that you have to redo the battle when you die can be a real pain, especially if it's a tough fight. If you can't skip the room (like a Boss Room), you might end up using most of your lives just to get through it, which can make the item feel pretty pointless. However, it can be a good pickup if you already have one heart of health, or two if you don't mind sacrificing a container. Just remember, if you gain more health later, it'll revert back to one heart when you die. Overall, the advice is that it might not be worth it for everyone.
| TABLE POSITION: Row 9, Column 1 | ITEM MESSAGE: 9 Lives |
| DEAL WITH THE DEVIL: Can be bought in a Devil Room for two heart containers | |
| EFFECT: Lowers your health to 1 heart. You get 9 lives in return. The head of the cat also follows you and acts as a familiar. When you die, you respawn in the last room you were in before the room that you died in. If you had earned any extra hearts, these are lost on death and you respawn with only one heart of health. | |
| FAMILIAR: | |
| COMMENTS: I personally dislike this item, but that said, I'm not the most skilled player and tend to take a heart of damage fairly easily. The fact that you have to redo the battle when you die only tends to worsen it. If it's a hard battle against say a group of Maws, I'll pretty much always take a heart of damage, at least. And if you can't skip this battle (it leads to the Boss Room), then you may find that you've already used up more than half of your lives, which makes the item rather pointless in my opinion. A good time to get this though, is if you already have one heart of health (or two, if you don't mind sacrificing a heart container) because there aren't any overly obvious negatives besides the fact that if you gain more health, when you die it reverts back to only one heart of health once again. Overall, I don't think this item's really worth it. |
Finally, we have Forever Alone. This one's pretty straightforward. It's a single blue fly that circles you at a distance. If this fly touches an enemy, it deals touch damage. Simple as that!
| TABLE POSITION: Row 12, Column 7 | ITEM MESSAGE: Attack Fly |
| EFFECT: A single blue fly circles the player at a radius of about one fifth of the length of a room. If the fly touches an enemy it deals touch damage to it. |
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