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Raise a Floppa - The Loop
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Challenge Number
34
Unlock Method
Defeat ??? or The Lamb. Possession of
The Polaroid /
The Negative is required, barring getting to
Dark Room through a
Sacrifice Room.
Defeat Mega Satan

Ultra Hard is Challenge #34. Isaac begins with both halves of the key for the Mega Satan battle and has to beat Mega Satan through the Dark Room.
Contents
Difficulty[]
This challenge, like the name suggests, is extremely difficult:
- All enemies with champion forms, including bosses, will be champions.
- Champions will not drop any collectibles.
- The player suffers from the following curses each floor:
Curse of the Labyrinth,
Curse of the Blind,
Curse of the Lost,
Curse of the Maze
- These curses cannot be stopped through the usual methods of removing curses, such as the
Rune of Dagaz,
Black Candle or
Genesis.
- In addition to the four curses, the player may additionally suffer from either Curse of the Unknown or Curse of Darkness, which can be removed through usual means.
- These curses cannot be stopped through the usual methods of removing curses, such as the
- Hearts of any kind – red, soul, black, eternal, bone, golden, blended and rotten hearts – do not drop on this run.
- Hearts can still be obtained through passive items that grant them upon collection, such as
Super Bandage or
Latch Key.
- Items and cards that normally drop hearts such as
V - The Hierophant tarot card will not drop any hearts. Using an
Ace of Hearts card will consume all pickups in the room, and not drop any hearts.
- However, items that add hearts directly to the player's count (such as Balls of Steel or the
Satanic Bible) will work.
- Hearts can still be obtained through passive items that grant them upon collection, such as
- Every boss fight that can be, will be double trouble.
- Since the Basement can't have double trouble bosses, these don't start until
Caves.
- Since the Basement can't have double trouble bosses, these don't start until
- Only
The Negative drops after killing
Mom.
- This forces the player to progress through
Sheol and the
Dark Room to fight Mega Satan.
Even though the option to proceed upward through the
Cathedral is presented, the run will end after defeating Isaac and touching the chest will not give the player credit for completing the challenge.
- The player can also beat the challenge by defeating
Delirium.
- Some players report no victory trophy spawning after defeating Delirium, under unknown conditions. It may not be safe to attempt this route.
- The player can also beat the challenge by defeating
- This forces the player to progress through
- If the player manages to defeat
Hush, the entrances to the
Cathedral,
Sheol, and
The Void appear.
Strategies[]
- Attempt to find valuable items from the two items rooms that appear in the Basement.
- Note that Isaac does not start with
The D6, making rerolling items at the start of a run impossible without the use of a rune such as
Rune of Perthro.
- Aside from trying to find powerful items such as
Polyphemus,
Mom's Knife, or
Tech X, trying to find items that grant health regeneration is invaluable.
- Items such as
Leech,
Charm of the Vampire,
Mom's Locket and
Placenta allow the player to slowly regenerate health.
- Active items such as
Yum Heart,
Yuck Heart, the
Book of Revelations, and the
Satanic Bible also allow for health regeneration.
- Combinations of items such as
Kamikaze! and
Pyromaniac or
Isaac's Heart and
Blood Rights can make the Ultra Hard challenge trivial.
- Also attempt to look for synergies such as
Blank Card and
XIX - The Sun or
Placebo and a Full Health or Bad Trip pill. These synergies can easily win the Ultra Hard challenge provided the player has means to defeat difficult bosses such as
The Lamb and Mega Satan.
- Items such as
- Note that Isaac does not start with
- The
D10 can be surprisingly helpful; most of the time, it will reroll enemies into non-champion forms, and as the D10 can never reroll enemies into portals, it makes managing rooms with portals much easier.
The D10 rerolls champion enemies into new champion enemies. Additionally, portals no longer spawn outside of
The Void.
- The
Glowing Hour Glass will allow the player to retry difficult rooms, avoid detrimental items, and peek at pills without the risk of harmful effects.
- Trinkets that drops hearts as pickups such as
Bloody Penny or
Monkey Paw are useless in this challenge. However, those that directly heal such as
Isaac's Fork or
Stem Cell will still function.
PHD is very valuable, as it reveals all pills, replaces detrimental pill effects with positive ones, and heals two red hearts upon pickup.
- Hematemesis is a major problem in this challenge as it drains all your red hearts and does not give them back.
Items that reroll the player such as the
D4 and the
D100 can be used to amass health very quickly, as hearts generated from items are not removed if the items that granted them are rerolled.
The
Clicker can potentially transform Isaac into
Keeper, allowing him to heal with coins. That said, using it will remove your most recently collected item, so it shouldn't be used if it would remove a powerful item or
Key Piece 2.
- Look for
Library and Bedrooms. Both of these rooms contain resources that can replenish the player's health.
-
Rainbow Poops can be destroyed to fully heal the player.
- Bombing Tinted Rocks is much less beneficial for the player, as soul hearts will not drop from them.
- Tinted Rocks can still contain
The Small Rock, however, so if the player has a surplus of bombs or another way to destroy rocks, there is no reason to not destroy them.
- Tinted Rocks can still contain
- Deals found in
Devil Rooms are generally not worth taking. It may be preferable to pursue
Angel Rooms instead, as the player already has both key pieces, which greatly increases their chances of spawning. Due to no Soul hearts or Black hearts being able to spawn naturally, taking damage and lowering the chance for a Devil / Angel room is very common. Make sure to find items that give these hearts such as
Book of Revelations or
Satanic Bible.
- One-heart deals are almost never beneficial — many one-heart deals do not pay for themselves, whether that be in health or other effects. Avoid taking one-heart deals unless you are confident that they are worth their cost.
- Two-heart deals are very powerful, such as
The Pact and
Brimstone. Be wary that
Abaddon can remove the player's red hearts, making items such as
Pyromaniac,
Yum Heart and
Placenta useless until the player regains red hearts.
Judas' Tongue will hide two-heart deals due to Curse of the Blind. It is therefore a bad idea to hold Judas' Tongue if the player desires to extract powerful items from a deal.
Satanic Bible now changes the
Boss Room item into a Devil Deal, which depending on the item cost (as 2 heart deals generally provide better items), is not recommended
- If
Red Chests spawn in the Devil Room, be wary of picking up any items that they may contain. The Red Chest item pool contains powerful items such as
Dead Cat but also contains potentially run-ruining items such as
Cursed Eye and
Curse of the Tower.
- Do not enter
Curse Rooms and do not use
Sacrifice Rooms.
- Curse Rooms very rarely contain a worthwhile item, and as Curse of the Blind is in permanent effect, it is impossible to tell if an item in a Curse Room contains a good item, such as
Dead Cat, or a bad item, such as
Curse of the Tower.
- Sacrifice Rooms do allow the player to potentially obtain a powerful
Angel Room item; however, spending at least three full hearts for a chance at getting an item is almost always not worth it, especially as hearts do not naturally drop. Additionally, there is no reason to fight the angels, as the player already has both key pieces, and there is no reason to teleport early to the Dark Room and skip multiple Treasure Rooms, as the player is forced to take
The Negative anyways.
- Curse Rooms very rarely contain a worthwhile item, and as Curse of the Blind is in permanent effect, it is impossible to tell if an item in a Curse Room contains a good item, such as
The Colorful Baby, which can be utilized in co-op mode, makes the Ultra Hard challenge trivial, as its healing effect can be used infinitely.
Due to the permanent Curse of the Blind and the inability for hearts to drop,
Binge Eater is an extremely powerful item as long as you can time the item swapping properly. This removes the worry of most harmful items while supplying a lot more healing and stats, and even allowing Devil Deals to be utilized to their fullest extent. The only drawback is the fact it is from the Secret Room pool, therefore making it very hard to come across. If you have the patience to farm Secret Rooms for this item, it can essentially guarantee a win.
- The
D7 will decrease the difficulty of rooms, as it does not reroll enemies into champions.
Shard of Glass is a very dangerous item in this challenge, as once damaged, there are no ways to stop the health draining effect unless you find an HP up, as heart pickups of any kind cannot spawn in Ultra Hard.
Reward[]
- Samson Feels Healthy! - Complete Ultra Hard (challenge #34).
Trivia[]
- Despite being the "Ultra Hard" challenge, this challenge is actually played in Normal Mode. Although it is not as noticeable in Afterbirth, in Repentance, it is far easier to notice due to the lowered shot speed of many enemies.
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Rebirth | ||||
1. Pitch Black | 2. High Brow | 3. Head Trauma | 4. Darkness Falls | 5. The Tank |
6. Solar System | 7. Suicide King | 8. Cat Got Your Tongue | 9. Demo Man | 10. Cursed! |
11. Glass Cannon | 12. When Life Gives You Lemons | 13. Beans! | 14. It's in the Cards | 15. Slow Roll |
16. Computer Savvy | 17. Waka Waka | 18. The Host | 19. The Family Man | 20. Purist |
Afterbirth | ||||
21. XXXXXXXXL | 22. SPEED! | 23. Blue Bomber | 24. PAY TO PLAY | 25. Have a Heart |
26. I RULE! | 27. BRAINS! | 28. PRIDE DAY! | 29. Onan's Streak | 30. The Guardian |
Afterbirth † | ||||
31. Backasswards | 32. Aprils Fool | 33. Pokey Mans | 34. Ultra Hard | 35. Pong |
Repentance | ||||
36. Scat Man | 37. Bloody Mary | 38. Baptism by Fire | 39. Isaac's Awakening | 40. Seeing Double |
41. Pica Run | 42. Hot Potato | 43. Cantripped! | 44. Red Redemption | 45. DELETE THIS |