Unlike Bethany, the other new character added in the Binding of Isaac: Repentance who has a fairly straightforward unlock path, unlocking Jacob & Esau is a bit more complicated.
Unlocking Jacob & Esau in Binding of Isaac Repentance
In short, in order to unlock Jacob & Esau, you need to beat the new ending boss, Mother, who can be found on the floor Corpse II. However, getting to Corpse II requires a pretty specific sequence of events.
In order to get to Corpse II, you’ll first need to reach Corpse which requires a special key to access. The key is made of two key pieces which can be found on the alternate floors that were added to the game in the Repentance expansion. Here is how you get each piece.
- The first piece can be found on one of the first alternate floors, Downpour. Once you unlock it, Downpour can manifest as Dross as well, so technically the key piece can be found on Downpour, Downpour II, Dross, or Dross II. To find the piece you must first locate a white fire and a room with a mirror. When you touch the white fire, you will be temporarily transformed into the Lost. As the Lost, enter the mirror to come out to a mirrored version of the floor you were just on. You can find the key piece in the treasure room. Head back to the mirror and you’ll be transformed back into your original character.
- The second key piece can be found on either Mines, Mines II, Ashpit, or Ashpit II. In order to find the key piece, you will first need to find three yellow buttons scattered throughout the map. The third button will always be in the room with the Minecart which is exactly where you want to go. Get in the Minecart and you’ll be taken to a special area where you will lose all of your abilities and stats. Find the key piece at the end of the path and prepare to run back the way you came while being chased by a dark mysterious monster resembling your mother. You cannot deal damage to this enemy, so all you can do is run. Keep in mind if you die in here, you will not be able to respawn even if you have an item that offers that ability. Once you’ve reached the exit, you’re safe and will have the completed key.
Alternatively, if you get the item Sharp Key, you can use that to unlock the door to Corpse, saving you the trouble of getting the key piece above, but that requires a bit of RNG.
The door to Corpse will appear after the boss fight in Mausoleum/Gehenna II. Use the key to stab the door open and you’ll head down to Corpse. Beat the boss and move on to Corpse II to finally take on Mother. Once you beat her, you’ll unlock Jacob & Esau. This can be done with any character.
That’s all you need to know about how to unlock Jacob & Esau in Binding of Isaac Repentance. Be sure to search for Twinfinite for more tips and information on the game.
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