Activated Collectible
Broken Shovel is an active item added in The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth †. It is acquired by defeating the first-floor boss in under a minute, navigating back to the starting room and bombing the floor. If it is an XL floor both bosses must be defeated. The Lamb in the 
Dark Room must be defeated at least once with any character for the bomb explosion to reveal it.
Effects
- While held, causes one to two Mom's Foots to frequently come down and stomp around or on Isaac.
- This will happen randomly every few seconds and will persist as long as Isaac holds the item!
- The stomps are functionally identical to explosions.
- Using the item will stop the passive effect until entering another room. If used during the Boss Rush or in a Boss Challenge Room it will stop the feet for that wave of bosses only.
- The effect will not happen in the Mom fight.
- Disappears when picking up another active item and leaving the room.
- One of two parts necessary to create
Mom's Shovel. - While held, removes the 20-minute time limit on the Boss Rush door (part of unlocking The Forgotten).
- After defeating Mom, the entrance to the next floor will be sealed until Boss Rush is completed.
- This includes entrances found randomly on the map or spawned via We Need To Go Deeper! or an Ehwaz rune.
- This includes entrances found randomly on the map or spawned via
- Prevents The Polaroid from appearing after defeating Mom. Only The Negative will appear after the boss fight.
- After beating Mom's Heart or It Lives!, the path leading to the Cathedral will not appear. Isaac can only go down to Sheol.
Notes
- Mom's foot will still attack Isaac even if he has the Punching Bag.
- It is impossible to obtain The Broken Shovel during a Rerun.
Synergies
- Car Battery: Prevents the Mom's Foot from appearing for for two waves of a Challenge Room or the Boss Rush. If used in a normal room, the effect does not carry over to the next room, however.
- Moving Box: Can be used to pick up the Broken Shovel without causing Mom's foot to stomp down at all.
Tips for Obtaining
- Characters with high damage like Judas or Azazel are excellent for blazing through the floor in enough time. Cain has decent health and damage as well as the highest base speed of any character. Azazel has flight and very high base speed (though lower than Cain's), but his lack of any health besides Black Hearts can make surviving the rest of the run more difficult.
- Try not to slow down for pickups, items, or any unnecessary rooms while progressing to the boss room. They can be returned to after clearing the rest of the floor and killing the boss.
- There's no time limit on claiming the shovel, as long as the floor boss was killed within the time limit. For best results, wait to spawn the shovel until being ready to leave the first floor. Spawning it early will force Isaac to carry it through the rest of the floor, increasing the chance of losing health.
- Even if a bomb or an item that spawns bombs or explosions cannot be found, it's still possible to claim the shovel. If the requirements to claim the shovel are met, hurting Isaac in the Sacrifice Room will spawn a one-time bomb on the first hit. If Isaac no longer has this bomb or don't have enough health to survive the sacrifice, the run should be restarted.
- If struggling, it may be a good idea to keep restarting until getting a Treasure Room next to the spawn. Look for items such as Pyromaniac or Host Hat to trivialize the stomp damage, or for damage/tear-increasing items to kill enemies quicker. Conversely, when running into a mini-boss, getting Curse of the Maze or Labyrinth, or just running into a dead-end, restarting the first floor may be the best choice.
- Keep in mind that the trigger for the shovel activates once the pedestal item spawns, which is AFTER the death animation for the boss completes and all other enemies are dead. If Mom does not shout "Isaac!" followed by her walking, the shovel did not spawn and the run should be restarted.
Passive Collectible
Broken Shovel is a passive item added in The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth †. It is acquired by completing Boss Rush while holding the first shovel piece.
Effects
- One of two parts necessary to create Mom's Shovel.
Tips for Obtaining
- Make sure to keep moving; stopping for a few seconds will mean a high likelihood of the foot hitting Isaac.
- Because the stomps happen often and consistently, they can be used to damage enemies, destroy tinted rocks, and open secret rooms.
- Items that give flight are even more helpful than usual as Isaac will not need to worry about navigating around obstacles to avoid a stomp.
- It may be wise to keep an invulnerability pill or card on hand just in case.
- If an active item is offered in Boss Rush, it can be held for the duration of the fight. However, the Broken Shovel must be picked up before the last wave ends for the passive piece of Broken Shovel to spawn.
- If There's Options is picked up and Boss Rush is completed, an additional pedestal item will spawn. Be careful not to pick up this other item, as doing so will cause the Broken Shovel to disappear.
In-game Footage
Gallery
The shadow of the shovel's handle, as seen in the spawn room after defeating the Boss in Basement I in under a minute.
The dirt mound, as found in the Grave Room.
The dirt mound opened with Mom's Shovel.
Trivia
- The Broken Shovels have been added in Booster Pack #5, after the initial release of the DLC.
Unlockable Achievements
 The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
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