Broken Modem

Item Icon
Pickup Quote	"Lag!"
Entity ID	5.100.514
Character Appearance
Item Pool	Shop Treasure Room
Quality	2
Item Tags
Collection Grid	(page 5, column 9, row 2) (page 5, column 10, row 2)
Unlock Method	Complete 7 Daily Challenges (by touching the trophy at the end)

Broken Modem is an unlockable passive item added in The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth † (Booster Pack #1).

Effects

• Enemies, enemy shots, tears and pickups will briefly freeze in place at random intervals.
  • The frequency of the effect depends on Isaac's luck.
  • Frozen enemy shots will disappear.
• Has a 25% chance to double the room drop, similar to Contract From Below.
  • Unlike the Contract, the Broken Modem cannot double chests, pills or cards.
    • However, it can duplicate chests that are an alternate reward from Options?. These chests will have different contents from each other.

Synergies

• Magneto + Options?: If Broken Modem duplicates a chest that was spawned by Options?, using Magneto to immediately open the chest while in its glitched form will create a TMTRAINER item if the chest contained an item.

Interactions

• Poke Go: The charmed enemies spawned by this item will also be affected by the modem.
• Contract From Below: Contract from Below spawns two items, Broken Modem has an independent chance to duplicate each one.

Gallery

• 

  Broken Modem's appearance prior to Booster Pack #4.

Trivia

• Broken Modem is based on this Steam Workshop item by freeze.
• Broken Modem is a reference to an internet Modem/box. because the internet box is broken, It means that there is a large amount of lag, as the client (player) computer is having trouble getting the data from the host server over the stuttering internet. This shows itself in the item through the following effects:
  • The client computer has trouble getting the inputs of other players over the broken internet, meaning the other clients freeze in place and look like they aren't moving, as the computer isn't getting the inputs fast enough to show them. (slows enemies, items, and tears)
  • The client computer gets the host's or other clients' inputs twice, as the client computer can't send the acceptance trigger to the host server fast enough. (double items)

Bugs

Bug!	If this item is rerolled ( D4, etc.) while the freezing effect is taking place in a room with enemies, those enemies will remain frozen permanently as long as Isaac remains in that room, making it a matter of time before the room is cleared. This includes bosses.

References

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
Achievements Challenges Completion Marks Items Trinkets Characters Chapters Rooms Transformations Attributes Bosses Monsters Pickups Modes Curses Objects Seeds Effects Endings Collection • Item Pools • Version History • Modding • Music