Alabaster Box

**Alabaster Box** is an unlockable activated item added in *The Binding of Isaac: Repentance*.

## Effects

* This item starts with no charges. Rather than gaining charges by clearing rooms or picking up batteries, Alabaster Box has to be charged through Soul or Black Hearts. Instead of being added to Isaac's health bar, they charge the box at a rate of one charge per half heart.
* Both Soul or Black Hearts that are picked up, or directly added to Isaac's health will count towards Alabaster Box's charges.
* Upon use, Alabaster Box is consumed and vanishes from Isaac's inventory, spawning three Soul Hearts and two items from the Angel Room item pool.
	+ There's a small chance for each of the spawned Soul Hearts to be replaced with an Eternal Heart.
	+ If a Devil Deal was taken previously, it spawns only two Soul Hearts and one Angel Room item instead.

## Notes

* If Isaac takes a Devil Deal that requires Soul Hearts while holding a charged Alabaster Box, hearts are taken from the box before it takes from Isaac's health.
* If  The Lost picks up a Black Heart the box will not gain any charges.
* If the box requires two or more charges and Isaac picks up a Black Heart, the box gains charge as for a Soul Heart and the last Soul Heart (or half Soul Heart, if there is one) in Isaac's health becomes black.
* If the box requires only one more charge and Isaac picks up a full Soul Heart or a Black Heart, then the box becomes fully charged and a half heart of the same type is added to Isaac's health.
* If sleeping in a bed would restore Soul Hearts, they are used to charge the Alabaster Box instead. Any excess are added as Soul Hearts as normal.
	+ This applies to  The Lost, who is always in the state to recover Soul Hearts, even if usually without effect.
* Soul hearts from Blended Heart can also be used to charge the box. They are, as usual, used for red health first.
* Bulbs are able to drain charges from Alabaster Box.
* Batteries cannot be picked up while using this item, unless Isaac has  and another active item that uses charges.
* It isn't recommended to use the Alabaster Box in a Crawl Space, as one or both items can spawn within the wall and become impossible to collect.

## Synergies

* : Activates Alabaster Box without consuming it, allowing for multiple uses.
* Bethany /  Tainted Bethany: Soul/blood charges count as charges for Alabaster Box.
* +  as  Judas /  Dark Judas: Changes the payout to 2 Black Hearts and 1 item from the Devil Room item pool. If a Devil Deal has been taken, the payout is boosted to 3 Black Hearts and 2 Devil items.
* : Spawns up to 8 normal wisps, filling up the middle ring.
* : Found Soul will also activate Alabaster Box when Isaac does, doubling the rewards.
* + : Heart containers converted to Soul Hearts contribute to Alabaster Box's charge instead of being added to Isaac's health. This enables a full charge for just two heart containers.
* : When Metronome chooses Alabaster Box, it will immediately activate without requiring Soul Hearts.
* : Can activate Alabaster Box without consuming Soul Hearts. The effect is only used by Void once.
* : Allows for multiple uses of Alabaster Box so long as no other activated item, card, pill or rune has been used following the initial activation.

## Interactions

* /  / 48 Hour Energy /  /  /  /  /  /  : No effect.
* Battery Bum: No effect, even though there's a cue that the item was charged.
* : Cannot use charges stored in Alabaster Box.
* / : The extra Devil items will count as taking a deal, lowering Alabaster Box's payout.
* Keeper /  Tainted Keeper: Though Keeper cannot encounter Soul Hearts normally, it is possible to charge the Alabaster Box by having something that adds them directly to health, such as Schoolbag with  or , purchasing soul hearts spawned by , or playing in Co-op alongside someone not playing as Keeper.
* Tainted Magdalene: Not recommended. If Tainted Magdalene has any soul hearts as health, then soul hearts will leak from the box, taking priority over soul health.
* The Lost /  Tainted Lost: Alabaster Box does not gain charges from Black Hearts. Soul Hearts still function as expected.
* : Taking this trinket as a character that can't use red hearts grants a Soul/Black Heart instead of giving it to Alabaster Box.
* : Picked up Soul Hearts are consumed by Alabaster Box, even if it's in the second slot.
* : Takes up to 6 full hearts if possible without giving charge, even when having Soul Hearts.
* cards apply a temporary charge on characters that can only use Soul/Black Hearts such as  ??? or  Tainted Judas.

## Trivia

* Alabaster Box originates from the *Antibirth* mod. In *Antibirth*, the item was guaranteed to drop an eternal heart.
* Alabaster Box is one of the three activated items, alongside  and , that:
	+ Has no charges upon pickup.
	+ Needs to be charged and disappears upon use.
* Prior to patch 4.0.3, an Alabaster Box crafted from  was immediately fully charged.
* Tainted Eden can reroll into a fully-charged Alabaster Box.
* The item is likely a reference to the anointing of Jesus - while He was in Bethany, a woman came to Him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on His head as He was reclining at the table.
* In Biblical times, alabaster boxes were made of a rich marble-type stone called alabaster. Much like an alabaster jar or vial of perfume as mentioned in Mark 14, the perfume would be sealed inside. When the owner wished to use it, the seal or neck had to be broken so that it could be used.