Binding of Isaac: Rebirth Wiki
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(in Repentance)

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 HeartSoul or Black HeartBlack 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.
    • There's a small chance for each of the spawned Soul Hearts to be replaced with an Eternal HeartEternal Heart.
    • If a Devil Deal was taken previously, it spawns only two Soul Hearts and one Angel Room item instead.

Notes[]

  • 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.
  • If Isaac has a full HP bar, and he has either Soul or Black Hearts in his health pool, picking up Bone HeartBone Hearts will take away 2 charges from Alabaster Box each, instead of replacing any Soul/Black Hearts as they normally would. Bone Hearts will only replace health if the Alabaster Box has no charges.
    • If Isaac picks up a Bone Heart at max HP while the Alabaster Box only has 1 charge, then it will take away both that 1 charge and half of a whole Soul/Black Heart (half hearts are unaffected).
  • If Character The Lost iconThe Lost picks up a Black Heart the box will not gain any charges.
  • 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 Character The Lost iconThe Lost, who is always in the state to recover Soul Hearts, even if usually without effect.
  • Soul hearts from Blended HeartBlended Heart can also be used to charge the box. They are, as usual, used for red health first.
  • BulbBulbs are able to drain charges from Alabaster Box.

Synergies[]

  • ? Card? Card: Activates Alabaster Box without consuming it, allowing for multiple uses.
  • Character Bethany iconBethany / Character Tainted Bethany iconTainted Bethany: Soul/blood charges count as charges for Alabaster Box.
  • Collectible The Book of Belial iconThe Book of Belial + Collectible Birthright iconBirthright as Character Judas iconJudas / Character Dark Judas iconDark Judas: Changes the payout to 2 Black HeartBlack 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.
  • Collectible Book of Virtues iconBook of Virtues: Spawns up to 8 normal wisps, filling up the middle ring.
  • Found SoulFound Soul: Found Soul will also activate Alabaster Box when Isaac does, doubling the rewards.
  • Collectible Guppy's Paw iconGuppy's Paw + Collectible Schoolbag iconSchoolbag: 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.
  • Collectible Metronome iconMetronome: When Metronome chooses Alabaster Box, it will immediately activate without requiring Soul HeartSoul Hearts.
  • Collectible Void iconVoid: Can activate Alabaster Box without consuming Soul Hearts. The effect is only used by Void once.
  • Wild CardWild 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.

Interactions[]

In-game footage[]

Trivia[]

  • Alabaster Box originates from the Antibirth mod. In Antibirth, the item was guaranteed to drop an eternal heart.
  • Alabaster Box is one of the three activated items, alongside Collectible Eden's Soul iconEden's Soul and Collectible Broken Glass Cannon iconBroken 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 Collectible Bag of Crafting iconBag of Crafting was immediately fully charged.
  • Character Tainted Eden iconTainted 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.

Bugs[]

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


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