As a continuation of a previous blog, today I'll be talking about the 4 characters added in The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth and Afterbirth+. As usual, there are spoilers ahead- read this at your own peril if you're familiar with the game, or don't really care.
Lilith is a very strange character. Technically, you don't start off much different from Isaac- you have 3 hearts, and the same stats. That said, two hearts are black hearts, and rather than normal tears, you shoot from a follower (Incubus). This can make aiming a fair bit harder- to make up for it, you start with Box of Friends, meaning once every 4 rooms you can have a second follower, essentially doubling your potential damage output for a room. Lilith isn't the best character in most situations- as I said, aiming is trickier, and things like Dead Cat which give non-shooting followers end up spreading out your shots when you use Box of Friends. That said, in Greed Mode, or Boss Rush, or any room if you have a good combination of items, you can get multiple uses out of Box of Friends. All it takes is Battery Baby, along with Sack of Sacks or Rune Bag (assuming you have Jera Runes unlocked), and Boss Rush becomes trivial as your number of followers quickly grows exponentially out of hand.
I've never actually played as the Keeper (funnily enough, I actually just unlocked him about 3 hours ago). I've seen him played though, and talked to my brother about him, so I can comment a bit. The Keeper is, honestly... Pretty bad. You can't have more than 2 maximum health- items like Breakfast don't do anything (unless you previously lost one to, say, a devil deal), and spirit hearts are replaced with blue flies. He shoots very slowly- admittedly, three shots at a time- but since they spread out, it's hard to hit with all three. The best shot you really have is getting items like Swallowed Penny or Head of the Keeper- things that give you pennies regularly to keep you from dying. I suppose it makes sense that the Keeper is the reward for putting a thousand coins in the donation machine in Greed Mode- it's a challenge, and very money-oriented, much like the Keeper himself.
Apollyon is an interesting character- quite comparable to Isaac, if you ask me. He starts with the same base stats (though with one less heart container), and an item that, in very simple terms, allows you to make use of items that would normally be useless. Rather than re-rolling them like the D6, it deletes them, and gives you a random stat boost. If it's an active item though, it's a bit different- you absorb the item into the Void, meaning every time you use it in the future, it does the effect of the absorbed item too. That's probably a bit complicated, so I'll give an example. Using the Void in a room containing, say, the Bible, would give the player flight for the room, remove the Bible from the ground, and give the Bible effect every time the player uses the Void from then on. It can, theoretically, allow for some really good combinations- I have yet to see any, but to be fair, I've not played as Apollyon much as of writing this.
I've already talked about this character- twice- but I'll do so again in a format more appropriate for this post. The Forgotten is a really unique, and interesting character. I personally see him as very similar to Azazel- short ranged, and very powerful. That said, he has a second form with better range, and more generic stats. I've stopped playing as The Forgotten as much as I used to, honestly. He's a really fun character, but doesn't have as much room to grow as others do, like with Azazel. A character like Isaac can get things like Ipecac, Dr. Fetus, Brimstone or Tech X, all of which drastically change how your attacks work. The Forgotten, on the other hand, can only really get upgrades to range and damage, along with things like the number of attacks at once. Essentially- you're guaranteed a decent run as The Forgotten, but there's less of a chance at a really great run. A character like Isaac, on the other hand, isn't guaranteed anything decent, but has a much better chance at something outstanding.
Anyways, that's gonna be it for today- hopefully you enjoyed this post!
