Alabaster Box

Alabaster Box is an unlockable activated item added in The Binding of Isaac: Repentance.

Effects[]

This item starts with no charges. Rather than gaining charges by clearing rooms or picking up batteries, Alabaster Box has to be charged through Soul or Black Hearts. Instead of being added to Isaac's health bar, they charge the box at a rate of one charge per half heart.
Both Soul or Black Hearts that are picked up, or directly added to Isaac's health will count towards Alabaster Box's charges.
Upon use, Alabaster Box is consumed and vanishes from Isaac's inventory, spawning three Soul Hearts and two items from the Angel Room item pool.
- If a Devil Deal was taken previously, it spawns only two Soul Hearts and one Angel Room item instead.
- There's a small chance for each of the spawned Soul Hearts to be replaced with an Eternal Heart.

If Isaac takes a Devil Deal that requires Soul Hearts while holding a charged Alabaster Box, hearts are taken from the box before it takes from Isaac's health.
- This also applies to The Lost, even though Devil Deals are usually free for this character.
If the box requires two or more charges and Isaac picks up a Black Heart, the box gains charge as for a Soul Heart and the last Soul Heart (or half Soul Heart, if there is one) in Isaac's health becomes black.
If the box requires only one more charge and Isaac picks up a full Soul Heart or a Black Heart, then the box becomes fully charged and a half heart of the same type is added to Isaac's health.
If sleeping in a bed would restore Soul Hearts, they are used to charge the Alabaster Box instead. Any excess are added as Soul Hearts as normal.
- This applies to The Lost, who is always in the state to recover Soul Hearts, even if usually without effect.
Soul hearts from Blended Heart can also be used to charge the box. They are, as usual, used for red health first.
Bulb Flies are able to drain charges from Alabaster Box, so careful movement around them is advised.
Batteries cannot be picked up while using this item, unless Isaac has Schoolbag and another active item that uses charges.

? Card: Activates Alabaster Box without consuming it, allowing for multiple uses.
Wild Card: Allows for multiple uses of Alabaster Box so long as no other activated item, card, pill or rune has been used following the initial activation.
Bethany / Tainted Bethany: Soul/blood charges count as charges for Alabaster Box.
The Book of Belial + Birthright as Judas / Dark Judas: Changes the payout to 2 Black Hearts and 1 item from the Devil Room item pool. If a Devil Deal has been taken, the payout is boosted to 3 Black Hearts and 2 Devil items.
Book of Virtues: Spawns up to 8 normal wisps, filling up the middle ring.
Found Soul: Found Soul will also activate Alabaster Box when Isaac does, doubling the rewards.
Guppy's Paw + Schoolbag: Heart containers converted to Soul Hearts contribute to Alabaster Box's charge instead of being added to Isaac's health. This enables a full charge for just two heart containers.
Void: Can activate Alabaster Box without consuming Soul Hearts. The effect is only used by Void once.

4.5 Volt / 9 Volt / 48 Hour Energy / The Battery / Battery Pack / Car Battery / Charged Penny / Habit / Jumper Cables : No effect.
Battery Bum: No effect, even though there's a cue that the item was charged.
Converter: Cannot use charges stored in Alabaster Box.
Devil's Crown / Satanic Bible: The extra Devil items will count as taking a deal, lowering Alabaster Box's payout.
Keeper / Tainted Keeper: Though Keeper cannot encounter Soul Hearts normally, it is possible to charge the Alabaster Box by having something that adds them directly to health, such as Schoolbag with Book of Revelations or Dream Catcher, purchasing soul hearts spawned by Keeper's Box, or playing in Co-op alongside someone not playing as Keeper.
The Lost / Tainted Lost: Alabaster Box does not gain charges from Black Hearts. Soul Hearts still function as expected.
Mother's Kiss: Taking this trinket as a character that can't use red hearts grants a Soul/Black Heart instead of giving it to Alabaster Box.
Schoolbag: Picked up Soul Hearts are consumed by Alabaster Box, even if it's in the second slot.
Sharp Plug: Takes up to 6 full hearts if possible without giving charge, even when having Soul Hearts.
XI - Strength cards apply a temporary charge on characters that can only use Soul/Black Hearts such as ??? or Tainted Judas.

Alabaster Box originates from the Antibirth mod.
Alabaster Box is one of the three activated items, alongside Eden's Soul and Broken Glass Cannon, that:
- Has no charges upon pickup.
- Needs to be charged and disappears upon use.
Prior to patch 4.0.3, an Alabaster Box crafted from Bag of Crafting was immediately fully charged.
Tainted Eden can reroll into a fully-charged Alabaster Box.
The item is likely a reference to the anointing of Jesus - while He was in Bethany, a woman came to Him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on His head as He was reclining at the table.
In Biblical times, alabaster boxes were made of a rich marble-type stone called alabaster. Much like an alabaster jar or vial of perfume as mentioned in Mark 14, the perfume would be sealed inside. When the owner wished to use it, the seal or neck had to be broken so that it could be used.

Bug!	Picking up Bone Hearts while at 12 hearts removes charges from the Box.

Bug!	If Glowing Hour Glass is used during Alabaster Box's activation animation, Alabaster Box is not be consumed but still spawns it's pay-out, allowing for a large amount of uses.