He is the face of the franchise for a reason. When you first fire up the game, he's there—bald, crying, and completely naked. Honestly, after hundreds of hours and several DLCs like Afterbirth+ and Repentance, it’s easy to overlook the original protagonist. You get distracted by the high-risk playstyle of The Lost or the sheer chaos of Tainted Bethany. But The Binding of Isaac Rebirth Isaac remains the most important character in the roster because he represents the perfect mechanical balance. He isn't just a "starter" character. He's the baseline.
Every single item interaction in this roguelike is measured against Isaac’s starting stats. He’s the yardstick. If a character has a higher tears rate, they're "better than Isaac." If they move slower, they're "worse."
The D6 Changes Everything
You haven't really played Isaac until you unlock the D6. It’s a literal game-changer. Without it, Isaac is basically a blank slate with three red hearts and average speed. He’s fine, but he's boring. Once you beat Cathedral as Blue Baby (???), Isaac starts every run with the most powerful activated item in the game.
The D6 lets you reroll any pedestal item into another one from the same item pool. Think about that for a second. In a game governed by RNG, Isaac is the only character who can consistently tell the game "no thanks, try again."
You find The Bean in a treasure room? Reroll it. Maybe it becomes 20/20. Maybe it becomes Sissy Longlegs. The point is, Isaac has agency. Most characters are at the mercy of the floor generation, but Isaac manages the chaos. It transforms the game from a test of survival into a resource management sim. You start calculating charge optimization. You wonder if you should clear the whole floor to get one more reroll on that mediocre shop item.
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Why Isaac’s Stats Actually Matter
Isaac starts with a speed of 1.0 and a tear delay that equates to roughly 3.5 tears per second in the Repentance build. His damage multiplier is a flat 1.0. This sounds unremarkable. It is unremarkable. But in a game where many characters have crippling weaknesses—like Maggy’s sluggishness or Judas’s glass-cannon health—Isaac’s neutrality is his greatest strength.
He can take a "Devil Deal" without immediately dying. He can outrun most early-game bosses like Monstro or Larry Jr. without needing a speed upgrade.
Edmund McMillen, the game's creator, designed Isaac to be the "control" in this twisted experiment. If you look at the game's code or the community-run wikis, you’ll see that every synergy is tested against this base template. When people talk about The Binding of Isaac Rebirth Isaac, they’re talking about the purest expression of the game’s mechanics. No gimmicks. Just tears and dodging.
The Strategy of the Reroll
It isn't just about the D6, though. It's about how you use it. Professional players like Northernlion or CobaltStreak have shown over the years that playing Isaac is about "fishing."
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You aren't just looking for good items; you’re looking for specific pools. If you find a library, Isaac is almost guaranteed to get the Book of Virtues or Book of Revelations because he can cycle through the limited pool of books.
- Secret Rooms: This is where the D6 shines. Finding a pedestal in a secret room is rare. If you find one, and it’s something useless like Missing No., you reroll it. The Secret Room pool contains some of the best items in the game, like Death's Certificate or Rock Bottom. Isaac is the only character who can reliably "force" these items to appear.
- Angel vs. Devil: Most players currently prefer Angel rooms in the Repentance meta. Isaac can walk into an Angel room, see a choice between two mediocre items, and reroll both.
Sometimes the game trolls you. You reroll a bad item and get something even worse. That's the beauty of it. It’s a gamble.
The Narrative Weight of the Character
We have to talk about the story. It’s dark. It’s uncomfortable. Isaac is a child suffering from severe trauma, imagining a world where his mother is a monster and he is a sinner. Every item he picks up—a coat hanger, a spoon, a belt—is a reference to domestic abuse or childhood suffering.
In The Binding of Isaac Rebirth Isaac is the vessel for this narrative. While other characters represent different facets of his personality or his fate (like Blue Baby representing his death), Isaac is the "real" boy. When you play as him, you’re engaging with the core plot of the game. The endings, particularly Ending 20 and the Final Ending, hit harder when you’re playing as the boy himself rather than an unlockable ghost or a demon.
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The Learning Curve
If you're new, don't rush to unlock everyone else. Stick with Isaac. Learning how to dodge with his hitbox is essential training. He doesn't have the flight of Azazel to bail him out. He doesn't have the high damage of Cain. He forces you to get good at the fundamentals.
Once you’ve mastered Isaac, you’ve mastered the game. Every other character is just a variation on the themes he establishes.
Common Misconceptions
A lot of people think Isaac is "easy mode" because of the D6. It's actually the opposite. The D6 encourages greedy play. You might skip a decent item hoping for a "won run" item, only to end up with nothing because you ran out of charges. Isaac rewards knowledge. If you don't know the item pools, the D6 is useless. You need to know that rerolling an item in a Shop will always give you another Shop item. If you reroll a Boss item, it stays a Boss item.
Knowledge is the real power-up in this game.
Tactical Next Steps
To truly maximize a run with Isaac, you should prioritize these specific actions:
- Unlock the D6 immediately. If you haven't done this, stop playing Isaac and start a run with Blue Baby (???). You need to beat Mom's Heart/It Lives to unlock the Cathedral, then beat Isaac (the boss) as Blue Baby. It’s a grind, but the game is fundamentally different afterward.
- Hunt for Batteries. Items like The Battery, 9-Volt, and Sharp Plug are top-tier for Isaac. More charges mean more rerolls.
- Abuse the Perthro Rune. This rune has the same effect as the D6. If you find one, hold onto it for a room with multiple pedestals, like a Boss Rush or a late-game Vault.
- Don't reroll everything. Sometimes a "good enough" item is better than the risk of a terrible one. If you have 3 red hearts and find a HP up, just take it. Don't get cute.
- Check the Shop for "The Habit." Taking damage to gain item charges is a classic Isaac strategy that allows for infinite rerolls if you have a reliable source of healing.
The Binding of Isaac Rebirth is a game about transformation. Isaac starts as a victim and ends as a god, or a corpse, or a demon. But through all the expansions and the thousands of new items, he remains the heart of the basement. He is the most consistent, most rewarding character for anyone who actually wants to understand the "dance" of the game's mechanics.