The Mysterious and Powerful R Key in Binding of Isaac

The R Key is one of the most interesting and powerful items you can find in Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. This peculiar item allows you to completely restart your run while keeping all the items, stats, and resources you’ve gained so far. In this article, we’ll explore what the R Key does, how to find it, some useful tips for using it, and why it’s such a game-changing item.

What Does the R Key Do?

When you use the R Key active item, it will immediately send you back to the very beginning of your run. You’ll start over in Chapter 1, Room 1 However, you’ll keep everything you’ve collected so far including

• All stats increases
• All passive items
• All active items
• All pickups like coins, bombs, keys, etc.
• All trinkets
• Current character (if transformed)
• Any progression like Mega Satan keys

Essentially, it allows you to repeat the early floors with a late game build This can make the first few floors trivial and gives you a big advantage.

The R Key is a one-time use active item. After you reset the run, you can’t use it again. It won’t restart the timer or record either. So you can’t use it to cheese time-based unlocks.

Where to Find the R Key

The R Key is quite rare It can only appear in the Secret Room pool and shops The best way to get it is to use the Clicker active item. Using Clicker randomizes your items, so it can transform an active item into R Key. You can also get lucky and find it in a shop for 99 coins.

Tips for Using R Key

Here are some tips to make the most of this powerful item:

• Use it before fighting major bosses to trivialize them with your strong build.
• Hold off on picking up key items until after you use it. This lets you collect powerful items like Sacred Heart twice in one run.
• Use it to collect completion marks you’re missing by repeating early floors.
• Get two uses out of powerful consumables like the Angel Room key pieces.
• Fix jammed machines like the Donation Machine by resetting the run.
• It can let you swap out an active item by using R Key right after picking up a new active item.

Why R Key is So Good

The R Key is one of the most powerful items in Rebirth because it fundamentally breaks the normal flow of a run. Being able to bring an end-game character back to the beginning is an insane advantage. It essentially gives you two runs worth of items and resources in one playthrough.

Experienced players can use it to min-max and optimize their build by selectively picking up items after the reset. It also takes all the risk out of the early game since you’ll be overpowered for those floors.