The C-Side of Repentance
The Binding of Isaac: Epiphany is a fan-made expansion mod that adds "Tarnished" characters for The Binding of Isaac: Repentance.Tarnished Tropes:
- Added Alliterative Appeal: The Delirious Die Dispenser, and active item that is a rarer version of the Portable Dice Machine
- Alternate Reality Game: Every Tarnished Character's unlock since Tarnished Keeper.
- Call-Back: Tarnished Eden's unlock requirements are basically a repeat of The Forgotten's unlock: beat the first boss in under a minute, go back to the starting room, pick up an item that makes the rest of the run harder, then go to a specific location. Mercifully, the location required is far earlier than The Forgotten's (Chapter 3's second floor, at the starting room's Strange Door, rather than the Dark Room).
- Doppleganger Attack: Tarnished Judas has multiple shadowy clones, with the amount depending on how many Broken Hearts he has.
- Game-Breaking Bug: The 1.7.9b patch for TBoI ended up introducing a bug that heavily broke Epiphany: if any other Game Mod is downloaded that causes a callback error, that leads into a domino effect where every other mod with the same callback will break, which Epiphany uses a lot of. The result is the Tarnished characters select screen failing to load, instead cutting straight into the run as a silhouetted Isaac with a red question mark that's unable to movenote ; the pause menu is the only thing that works.
- Guide Dang It!: While the other Tarnished characters have straightforward unlock requirements listed on their character select screen, Tarnished Eden's requirement message only mentions beating the boss in the first minute of a run; the following being glitched text. Like the unlock requirements for the Forgotten, backtrack to the first room to find and obtain the Glitched Portrait, which randomizes enemies and obstacles in rooms. Then, with the portrait in hand, attempt to open the Beast route door to get warped to a hidden room with Tarnished Eden. Wake them up, static will flash, and the run ends with them unlocked.
- Tarnished Keeper's unlock is only slightly less intricate. Start a Greedier Mode run as Tainted Keeper and plant a bomb in the first floor's Super Secret Room. Pick up the Keeper's Association Entrance Keycard (K.A.E.K.) that drops and carry it all the way to the end of the run (regardless of whether or not you actually use it). After beating Ultra Greedier, instead of the ending chest, enter the golden door that appears at the top end of the boss room. You'll find yourself in a hidden room with Tarnished Keeper. Wake him up, and the run ends with him unlocked.
- Wave 5 adds a new unlock method for Tarnished Cain. As Tainted Cain, blow up an oddly-shaped rock on the first floor and pick up the Sharp Rock it drops, which will replace Tainted Cain's Crafting Back with a Throwing Bag Cain can use to spin it around, but not throw. Then, pick up Wheat that enemies sometimes drop, and once you have 70, enter a Sacrifice Room, touch the pedestal, and fight Abel with all your items removed.
- Tarnished Samson is straightforward, but long: As Tainted Samson, after clearing a Challenge Room or Boss Challenge Room, Delilah's Razor will drop. Picking it up will put it in Tainted Samson's pocket slot and allows him to enter (Boss) Challenge Rooms regardless of health. After clearing three Challenge Rooms, a trapdoor will spawn and take Tainted Samson to a large room filled with marble pillars, where he must defeat eight increasingly-difficult waves of Philistine enemies. After the last wave, enter the newly opened door and use Bombs to destroy the pillars Tarnished Samson is chained to.
- Tarnished Lost has a similar unlock method as The Forgotten and Tarnished Eden, but it's thankfully not time-gated. As Tainted Lost, leave your starting Holy Card in the starting room, then come back after beating the first boss. The Holy Card will be replaced with a new pocket active item: Broken Orb. On use, this item will destroy an item pedestal and turn it into a Mantle Shard, which will grant a Holy Card shield on pickup. It also has two passive effects: Guaranteeing a bedroom spawn on every floor, and forcing you to fight another boss from the next chapter after clearing the boss room (similarly to IV - The Emperor?). Upon collecting six Mantle Shards, enter the next bedroom you find. In the center of the room is a spotlight that will take you all the way Home. Progress through Home like you normally would, until you get to the TV room. The usual path to Mom's room and Dogma is gone, and instead there's a ladder to an attic. Climb up into the attic, where you will find Tarnished Lost. When you wake him up, a special cutscene will play, and the run will end with him unlocked.
- Tarnished Keeper's unlock is only slightly less intricate. Start a Greedier Mode run as Tainted Keeper and plant a bomb in the first floor's Super Secret Room. Pick up the Keeper's Association Entrance Keycard (K.A.E.K.) that drops and carry it all the way to the end of the run (regardless of whether or not you actually use it). After beating Ultra Greedier, instead of the ending chest, enter the golden door that appears at the top end of the boss room. You'll find yourself in a hidden room with Tarnished Keeper. Wake him up, and the run ends with him unlocked.
- Wave 5 adds a new unlock method for Tarnished Cain. As Tainted Cain, blow up an oddly-shaped rock on the first floor and pick up the Sharp Rock it drops, which will replace Tainted Cain's Crafting Back with a Throwing Bag Cain can use to spin it around, but not throw. Then, pick up Wheat that enemies sometimes drop, and once you have 70, enter a Sacrifice Room, touch the pedestal, and fight Abel with all your items removed.
- Tarnished Samson is straightforward, but long: As Tainted Samson, after clearing a Challenge Room or Boss Challenge Room, Delilah's Razor will drop. Picking it up will put it in Tainted Samson's pocket slot and allows him to enter (Boss) Challenge Rooms regardless of health. After clearing three Challenge Rooms, a trapdoor will spawn and take Tainted Samson to a large room filled with marble pillars, where he must defeat eight increasingly-difficult waves of Philistine enemies. After the last wave, enter the newly opened door and use Bombs to destroy the pillars Tarnished Samson is chained to.
- Tarnished Lost has a similar unlock method as The Forgotten and Tarnished Eden, but it's thankfully not time-gated. As Tainted Lost, leave your starting Holy Card in the starting room, then come back after beating the first boss. The Holy Card will be replaced with a new pocket active item: Broken Orb. On use, this item will destroy an item pedestal and turn it into a Mantle Shard, which will grant a Holy Card shield on pickup. It also has two passive effects: Guaranteeing a bedroom spawn on every floor, and forcing you to fight another boss from the next chapter after clearing the boss room (similarly to IV - The Emperor?). Upon collecting six Mantle Shards, enter the next bedroom you find. In the center of the room is a spotlight that will take you all the way Home. Progress through Home like you normally would, until you get to the TV room. The usual path to Mom's room and Dogma is gone, and instead there's a ladder to an attic. Climb up into the attic, where you will find Tarnished Lost. When you wake him up, a special cutscene will play, and the run will end with him unlocked.
- Wave 6 adds a new unlock method for Tarnished Isaac. As Tainted Isaac, bomb the item pedestal in Basement I's Treasure Room, which will replace it with the Blighted Photo. Upon taking this item, it will serve as a pocket active item, and all future item pedestals will be replaced with Blight, a Quality-0 item that does absolutely nothing. However, if you use the Blighted Photo on a blighted item pedestal, it will deal a full heart of damage to you, and then give you a choice between two items of the same quality and pool of the item that was replaced by Blight. With this system in place, take the Blighted Photo all the way to Depths II, where you'll literally have no choice but to use the Blighted Photo to open the Strange Door. From here, you can progess through Mausoleum II normally. That is, until you enter the boss room. Dad's Note is replaced with Child's Drawing, which will instantly take you Home (skipping the entire Ascent sequence) on pickup.
- Right away, there's Ending Chest just beside Isaac's bed. However, you can't open it, let alone jump inside. Instead, you have to explore the house. Most doors (including the one to Mom's room and thus the Dogma fight) are locked. There is, however, an open door at the southern end of the TV room. Follow this path through the foyer and into the bathroom, where you'll find a golden key. Take this key back to the chest in Isaac's room, enter the chest, and you'll find Tarnished Isaac. Wake him up, and the run will end with him unlocked.
- Improbable Weapon User: Tarnished Cain uses his Bag of Crafting as his main weapon of choice, even getting special abilities depending on what he stuffs inside it.
- Mechanically Unusual Class: All of the new characters, for an example:
- Tarnished Cain cannot shoot tears but has a bag he can swing and throw at enemies.
- Tarnished Keeper cannot pick up non-coin or non-quest items or pick-ups unless bought. Otherwise they turn into coins.
- Obvious Rule Patch: Prior to Wave 5, it was possible to use Blighted Dice to heal to full by sacrificing an HP up after breakfasting. Attempting to do this now gives Blight, an item that does nothing on its own, but can recharge Blighted Dice instantly when consumed.
- Secret Character: All the Tarnished Characters can only be unlocked if you meet certain requirements while playing as the respective Tainted Characters.
- Tarnished Isaac: Earlier versions of the mod had you simply defeating Delirium as Tainted Isaac. As of Wave 6, however, he has a more intricate unlock process, described in the Guide Dang It! example above.
- Tarnished Maggy: As Tainted Maggy, use the Yum Heart in a Sacrifice Room to swap it with the Bleeding Heart. With that in tow, go to Womb II and kill Mom's Heart or It Lives. Jump into the pit that spawns to find Tarnished Maggy.
- Tarnished Judas: Take both an Angel and Devil deal in a single run as Tainted Judas.
- Tarnished Cain, Samson, Eden, Lost, and Keeper have more intricate requirements that require some figuring out. See Guide Dang It! above.
