Have a Heart

Have a Heart
Challenge number
25
Character
Starting Items
Charm of the VampireHeals the character for half of a red heart for every 13 monsters killed.
Available rooms
: yes          : yes
Goal
/
Unlocks
2 new pillsComplete challenge #24
Unlocked by
Defeat Mom for the 1st timeHave a Heart

Have a Heart is Challenge #25. You start off with Charm of the Vampire and 12 heart containers, but only one of them filled. Your goal is to defeat Mom's Heart or It Lives.

Difficulty

Charm of the VampireHeals the character for half of a red heart for every 13 monsters killed. is your main way to fill your heart containers (see below for exceptions). All red heart pickups are replaced with pennies (half heart = one penny, full heart = 1+1 free penny). HP up items (e.g.: BreakfastGrants Isaac one full red heart container.) give red heart containers, but do not fill HP. The Lovers Card spawns coins instead of red hearts. The 2 of Hearts card and Yum HeartRestores 1 whole red heart. have no effect. The TickDrain 15% health of each enemy with more than 60 HP (ie. most bosses). Also restores one red heart of Isaac whenever he enters an uncleared boss room. The Tick cannot be swapped out for another trinket. will still reduce a boss' health, but will not heal upon entering the boss room. Shops sell coins instead of hearts. Slot Machines, Blood Donation Machines, the Hematemesis pill, and any of the Beggars drop coins instead of hearts. Even a Super Secret Room which usually contains hearts will contain money instead. You also cannot recover health with PyromaniacIsaac heals 1 heart instead of taking damage from an explosive source. Adds 5 bombs., PlacentaGrants a full heart container, and a chance to regenerate a half-heart of health every minute of gameplay., or LeechSpawns a friendly familiar leech on the ground that hunts down enemies and heals you for half a heart each time it eats one..

Strategy

The biggest difficulty lies in acquiring health. However, with numerous heart containers, there are several strategies to survive the challenge. First is finding a way to fill health.

• Obviously, the Full Health pill is a major boon for this challenge.
  • The Bad Trip pill can also heal fully, but only when at half a heart.
  • If these pills can be found, the PlaceboWhen used, copies the effect of the pill Isaac is currently holding without consuming it. Does not copy the effects of cards or runes. becomes very powerful in this challenge. It can be purchased in shops.
• XIX - The Sun card also heals to full health, as well as providing floor plans and a Necronomicon-like effect.
  • Combined with a Blank CardHas the same effect as the card or rune currently held by Isaac., the challenge becomes trivial. This can be purchased from shops.
• If you can also get the HabitWhen Isaac is hit, 1 point of an item's charge is filled. or Sharp PlugUsing an activated item while it's not charged will charge it and Sharp Plug does 2 full heart damage to Isaac. from a shop, Placebo or Blank Card can be practically used at will without any fear of death.
• Rainbow poop will also give full health, but it is also very rare.
• Likewise, beds still refill your health if you can find them.

Second is getting rid of excess heart containers. Removing even one heart container will make obtaining Deals with the Devil and Angel Rooms much easier, as the open HP spot can hold Soul/Black hearts, providing insurance against red heart damage.

• The Devil Room or Black Market deals not only give good items, but also frees up space for soul hearts. This, naturally, comes with the downside of preventing Angel Rooms.
  • AbaddonIncreases damage and speed, removes all red heart containers, grants six black hearts, and adds a chance to shoot fear tears. can remove all heart containers to be replaced by six Black Hearts.
• The Health Down pill can clear away some of the extra heart containers to allow picking up Soul/Black Hearts. This can couple with Placebo nicely.
• Guppy's PawRemoves one red heart container in exchange for gaining 3 Soul Hearts. is one of the more useful items for survival, because it removes hard-to-fill heart containers and replaces them with soul hearts.

A third method involves grinding enemies to fill your health.

• Mulligans and their variants, Sacks, and other spawning enemies can provide limitless sources of enemies to fully fill health.
• Getting the D7Restarts the current room and brings back all enemies, allowing more rewards to be acquired by completing the room. and repeatedly clearing a room filled with easy-to-kill enemies can help you fill your whole HP bar.
• The Shell Game Beggar spawns flies when you lose.

Because hearts turn into coins, shops purchases are easier to make.

• Trinkets such as Bloody PennyGives a 50% chance to drop a half heart when money is collected., Burnt PennyGives a 50% chance to drop a bomb when money is collected., Counterfeit PennyGives a 50% chance of increasing the value of every coin pickup by one., Flat PennyGives a 50% chance of spawning a key upon collecting a penny., and Rotten PennySpawns a blue fly every time a coin is picked up. are beneficial, as there is a greater chance of coins dropping when Isaac finishes a room.
• BumboSpawns a beggar familiar which floats around the room and picks up any nearby coins, leveling up after collecting several coins. At level 2, Bumbo gains a body. At level 3, it begins to fire tears. At level 4, Bumbo chases enemies slowly, dealing contact damage. and Bum FriendA portable beggar who follows Isaac, picks up coins for himself, and occasionally drops a pickup after collecting a coin. Does not spawn collectibles. also are better with the increase in coin drops.

Some other things to note:

• If you manage to get full health, the boss should take priority. Health lost during the battle can be replenished from unexplored rooms.
• Avoid using Hematemesis, as it will remove all but one heart without spawning two hearts as usual.
• If you die with 1up!Gives an extra life. Upon death, you will respawn in the previous room with full health and lose the 1up!., all heart containers will be filled.
• Judas' ShadowAdds an extra life; upon death, it respawns Isaac as Black Judas with only two black hearts. purges your heart containers and leaves 2 Black Hearts.
• Mom's LocketGrants half a red heart each time a key is used. Converts half red heart pickups into full red hearts. refills half a heart each time a key is used.

Reward

• 

  2 new pills - Complete challenge #25.

Challenges

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