Tainted Mastema

The Persecuted

## Starting Stats

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*1.20*

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*1.39*

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*3.50*

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*6.50*

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*1.00*

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*-6.66*

*This is a page about "tainted" Mastema. The page about the regular version of this character can be found here.*

**Tainted Mastema** is a character that comes with the Mastema Mod for the game The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth and requires all DLCs to work. The mod is uploaded to the game's Steam Workshop.

Tainted Mastema takes regular Mastema's gimmick to the extreme. Most items you collect will add broken hearts, which you'll need to remove in order to keep taking items. In addition to Confessionals, Tainted Mastema is able to remove broken hearts by using the Sanguine Bond spikes in devil rooms, which spawn by default, as well as the spikes in sacrifice rooms. In angel rooms, defeating Uriel or Gabriel will spawn a Confessional if the room doesn't already have one. Also, one broken heart is automatically removed at the start of each floor. The character is unable to have red hearts, has Devil's Crown smelted by default, and has innate flight and triple shot. Devil room items have a 50% chance of appearing in treasure rooms for Tainted Mastema.

## Notes

* Most items will add broken hearts. However, certain item types will not, such as:
	+ Quest items
	+ Food items
	+ A hand-selected list of other items that are just HP ups or provide marginal benefits
* The broken heart cost of items is determined by their quality:
* The chance for the Sanguine Bond or sacrifice room spikes removing a broken heart is based on how many broken hearts Tainted Mastema currently has using this formula:
	+ (# of broken hearts \* 6) + 34
* Tainted Mastema has a greatly increased chance of finding soul hearts.
	+ All red hearts have a 33% chance of being converted into a soul heart.
* Items in devil rooms and black markets do not additionally cost soul hearts.
	+ If an item with a heart cost were to spawn through other means, it'll only cost 1 soul heart.
* In Greed Mode, the spiked button is also able to remove broken hearts.

## Strategy

* Taking every item you come across is a death sentence as Tainted Mastema. You need to carefully decide what items you should and shouldn't take.
	+ Deal rooms and sacrifice rooms are NOT guaranteed to spawn, so you must be extremely careful.
* If you have a lot of broken hearts, it's a good idea to not pick up any items until after defeating the floor's boss. That way you can make your decisions based on whether a deal room appeared or not.
	+ The Sanguine Bond spikes are much more reliable for removing broken hearts than Confessionals, so you may want to prioritize devil rooms when considering which deal room you should enter.

## Interactions

* Birthright: Gain damage, tears, and range up for every broken heart you have. Having 11 broken hearts grants Brimstone. Moving to the next floor while at 11 broken hearts causes you to shoot a Mega Blast for about 8 seconds. The stat up values are:
	+ +0.25 damage
	+ +0.18 tears
	+ +0.38 range

## Unlockables

* Broken Dice - Complete Boss Rush as **Tainted Mastema**
* Shattered Soul - Defeat Satan as **Tainted Mastema**
* Goodwill Tag - Defeat Isaac as **Tainted Mastema**
* Sanguine Jewel - Defeat The Lamb as **Tainted Mastema**
* Prayer of Repentance - Defeat ??? as **Tainted Mastema**
* Satanic Charm - Defeat Ultra Greed as **Tainted Mastema**
* Unholy Card - Defeat Ultra Greedier as **Tainted Mastema**
* Soul of Mastema - Defeat Hush as **Tainted Mastema**
* Satanic Ritual - Defeat Mega Satan as **Tainted Mastema**
* Sinister Sight - Defeat Delirium as **Tainted Mastema**
* Sacrificial Chalice - Defeat Mother as **Tainted Mastema**
* Corrupt Heart - Defeat The Beast as **Tainted Mastema**
* Spirit's Heart - Earn all  Completion Marks as **Tainted Mastema**

## Gallery

Tainted Mastema's transition screen portrait.
## Trivia

* Tainted Mastema's lore is that he himself has fallen into the grasp of temptation by betraying God and instead pledging his new faith to the devil, who claimed to offer him more than God ever could.
* In return, the devil restored Mastema's torn wings and gave him newfound power, with the catch that he'll forever have to sacrifice his blood to him in order to stay alive.