Soul hearts are invaluable. Look for rocks with an X on theme. I did my first run with either Eve or Magdalene. Unlock some more characters. Isaac is good, but having the starting health and ability of Maggy is fantastic in The Depths. Too many times I've had to rely just on soul hearts as Cain or Judas and lost out just before the end of The Womb.

I have Magdalene. I'll try her on my next run. The extra health is very useful.

I've come to accept the fact that I'll probably never, ever manage to do a no damage run. I absolutely suck at dodging attacks from the spitting flies and spiders. Fuck them, seriously.

With Judas it's pretty much mandatory up to The Caves. I even managed to get through the Depths damage-free once. Admittedly I went through about three rooms between both spawns and bosses, and they were mostly empty, but...

So can we all agree this is one of the hardest games in a long time?

Well, it's random. Sometimes it's easy.

It's been easier, but it never got easy for me. Not yet, at least.

Technology, Book of Revelations, Lord of the Pit, The Mark and various numbers of Cube of Meat make for an easy run.

If you can find them all at once you're freakishly lucky. I got a similar build once minus the book and with the addition of a few flies. It was amazing.

Huh.

Kind of. I feel TBOI is on a level with Dungeons of Dredmor in its difficulty, although for different reasons. TBOI is mostly about your reflexes, being able to dodge enemies and knowing their weaknesses, while in DoD, success depends on a good skill build and tactical thinking, with the whole turn-based combat and all.

Haven't played TBOI lately. I beat Mom twice, I think, and that was it.