Ultra Hard















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.
Difficulty[edit | edit source]
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 Lost, Curse of the Maze and Curse of the Blind.
- These curses cannot be stopped through the usual methods of removing curses, such as the
Dagaz.
- 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
- There are no hearts to be found in this run - red, soul, black, or eternal hearts.
- 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 the Caves.
- 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 Delirium.
- 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.
- Because the player cannot progress through The Chest, they are unable to take advantage of the 4 items at the start of the Chest floor.
- This forces the player to progress through Sheol and the Dark Room to fight Mega Satan.
- If the player manages to defeat Hush, the entrances to the Cathedral, Sheol, and The Void appear.
Strategy[edit | edit source]
- Attempt to find a good starting combination from the item rooms in the Basement XL. Aside from getting something powerful like
Mom's Knife, getting something that grants HP regeneration is strongly recommended too, such as
Pyromaniac,
Leech,
Charm of the Vampire, or
Placenta (can be found in the Basement or Caves from bosses).
- The
D10 can also be surprisingly helpful, as, most of the time, it will reroll enemies into non-champions, and never spawn new portals.
Glowing Hour Glass can also be an excellent item for this challenge, allowing you to retry difficult rooms, avoid potentially game ruining items as well as peek at pills without the risk of a harmful effect.
- While the Challenge can likely be completed with accepting Devil Deals, it would be a better idea to attempt to choose Angel Rooms instead, since items that can make or break the player's victory could be found without sacrificing valuable heart containers. However, it should be noted that the
Satanic Bible and
The Nail are extremely good items for the run, and they may happen to be the two heart deal in the Devil Room. Libraries also contain books that can give health, such as the Book of Revelations and the Satanic Bible.
- Eating unknown pills can be very dangerous, because Hematemesis reduces Isaac to one heart without dropping any hearts. Identifying a Full Health, Balls of Steel or a Bad Trip pill early can be very beneficial, however. Thus, it is recommended to take
PHD whenever getting the chance. Ph.D. itself can also heal for 2 Hearts.
- Curse Rooms, generally, should be avoided because they cannot contain soul hearts.
- Curse Rooms can generally be entered on the first floor, where the challenge can be restarted if it does not contain a beneficial item.
- Be aware that
Clicker can remove the
Key Piece 1 and
Key Piece 2 passive items given at the start of the run.
- When playing co-op, having a Colorful Baby on start makes the run extremely easy, as the healing effect has infinite uses.
- Bedrooms will still heal all the player's hearts, but can only be used once.
- Rainbow Poop will still heal Isaac to full health.
- Obtaining
Blank Card and
XIX - The Sun, or
Placebo and Full Health/Bad Trip and can make this challenge a lot easier, as it allows Isaac to restore his health every 4 rooms (or for Bad Trip's case, when he is at one red Heart or less). If entering the Mega Satan fight with full health and any of these combinations, Isaac has at least 3 full health bars (4 if he has
Starter Deck or
Little Baggy) for the final boss fight.
- The
D4 and the
D100 can be very helpful since heart containers from health up items will not be removed when used when rerolling collectibles. This allows the player to quickly amass heart containers.
Reward[edit | edit source]
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 |
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