Star of Bethlehem

This article is about **Star of Bethlehem**, similar in appearance to Eden's Soul.
**Star of Bethlehem** is an unlockable passive item added in *The Binding of Isaac: Repentance*.

## Effects

* Spawns a star familiar that slowly travels toward the Boss Room, fading through doors as it travels towards it. Once it reaches the boss room, the familiar stands in the center of the boss room for the rest of the floor.
* The familiar emits an aura that, while Isaac stands inside it, gives him a 1.8x damage multiplier, a 2.5x fire rate multiplier, and homing tears. It also gives Isaac a 50% chance to ignore damage similarly to 's effect except with a higher chance.

## Notes

* In The Void, the familiar will travel to the boss room that contains Delirium.
* In Greed Mode, the star will travel directly to the position where Isaac spawns upon entering a new floor.
	+ On the last floor, it will move to the upper part of Ultra Greed's room.
* Once the star settles down in the boss room, the damage preventing aura can be used to play Blood Donation Machines and Devil Beggars for free, provided they are spawned via  or  cards, respectively.
* The star may travel through Secret Rooms and Curse Rooms on its path to the boss room.
* The star will travel through Red Rooms if they create an optimal path to the boss room.
	+ The star can backtrack into rooms it already went into if a more optimal path is created by a Red Room.
* During the Ascent, the star will linger in the boss room of each floor, and will not progress backwards through the stage.
* The star will not appear in the fight with The Beast.
* If the door to Mega Satan is opened, the Star of Bethlehem will enter it instead of the boss room containing ??? or The Lamb.
* For  Tainted Forgotten, the bonuses from the star are only applied if Tainted Forgotten is within its aura, not  Tainted Soul.
* If either  Tainted Lazarus or  Dead Tainted Lazarus have picked up the star, the familiar will spawn in the room where the character holding it becomes active, which may not be the starting room. It will only move while the character holding it is active, effectively making it take twice as long to travel to the boss room unless Tainted Lazarus also has .
* During Backasswards (challenge #31), the star acts as usual; originating in the starting room and gradually moving towards the boss room.
* The star will be copied in the Mirrored World and will simultaneously travel in both worlds.
* Entering and leaving the  area will reset the star and make it reappear in the room with the minecart.
* The star exhibits a "rubber banding" effect in its movement. If it is in a room that is closer to the Boss Room than the one Isaac is in, it will move slower; if the opposite is true, it will move faster.

## Synergies

* ///: The aura has a chance to block the damage inflicted, but the effects will still occur.
* : Isaac will keep the stat upgrades even after leaving the aura. However, it won't keep the homing effect outside of the aura.
* : The tears that the Sprinkler shoots will also be buffed, along with its rotation speed.

## Interactions

* : Isaac's damage before Adrenaline's flat damage increase is increased by 1.2x, then damage after is increased 1.5x.
* : Isaac's damage before Bloody Lust's flat damage increase is increased by 1.2x, then damage after is increased 1.5x.
* : The damage multiplier from the aura does not stack with white poop.
* : The damage multiplier is reduced to 1.5x while in the aura.
* : Isaac's damage before Ipecac's flat damage increase is increased by 1.2x, then damage after is increased 1.5x.

## Trivia

* This item is a reference to the *Star of Bethlehem* which appears in the Nativity story of the Gospel of Matthew, signifying the birth of Jesus.