Broken Shovel

**Broken Shovel** is a name shared by two separate items added in *The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth †.*

Together they form , which is used in the process to unlock  The Forgotten.

## Activated Collectible

### Collection Grid

*(page 5, column 5, row 4)**(page 5, column 6, row 4)*

The first piece of the Broken Shovel is an activated item. It is acquired by defeating the first floor boss in under a minute (both bosses if Curse of the Labyrinth is in effect), navigating back to the starting room, and bombing the floor. The Lamb must have been defeated at least once with any character for the bomb explosion to reveal Broken Shovel. After having defeated the boss below the 1 minute cutoff, using the Sacrifice Room for the first time on that floor while having no Bombs will always reward Isaac with one rather than its normal payout.

It is the first part required to create .

### Effects

* While held, 1–2 Mom's feet will stomp randomly every few seconds, targeting Isaac. They will try to stomp Isaac's current position, so they will always miss if he is constantly moving. Each stomp deals a full Heart of damage.
	+ The stomps will not blow up Slot Machines or kill Beggars. They will still destroy Shopkeepers, open Bomb Chests, break Obstacles, and open doors.
* Upon activation, stomps will pause until entering another room.
	+ If used during the Boss Rush or in a Challenge Room / Boss Challenge Room, stomping will be paused for that wave of enemies only.
* The item's stomps cease while battling Mom.
* While held, removes the twenty-minute time limit on the Boss Rush door; the entrance to the next floor will be sealed until Boss Rush is completed (including those created by  and other methods).
	+ If the Boss Rush is left prematurely through any means after starting it, entering it again will immediately restart Boss Rush, even without picking up another item.
* Prevents  from appearing after defeating Mom. Only  will appear after the boss fight. After completing Boss Rush, Isaac is likewise forced to travel down to Sheol.

### Notes

* Mom's foot will still target Isaac even if he has the  or .
* It is impossible to obtain Broken Shovel during a RERUN.
* Though it is possible to obtain the Broken Shovel during a Victory Lap,  The Forgotten cannot be unlocked during a Victory Lap.
* While either of  Jacob and Esau holds this item, the feet will only target the brother who is holding it. The feet will still damage both of them.
* Regardless of which character holds the item, feet will target both  Tainted Lazarus' forms.
* The Broken Shovel will disappear if left behind in a room. Leaving and re-entering a room with it left on a pedestal will cause it to disappear.
* 's explosion will knock the Broken Shovel down.

### Synergies

* : Creates a tiny ghost wisp on the middle ring, which resembles  The Soul. These wisps' tears have a 10% chance of invoking  on enemies. This wisp is also created when Mom's Shovel is used, alongside its unique wisp.
* : Prevents all stomping from occurring for two waves of a Boss Rush or Challenge Room / Boss Challenge Room. As each wave of Boss Rush restores 2 charges, this allows Isaac to be free from stomping for its entire duration.
	+ If used in a normal room, the effect does not carry over to the next room.
* : Can be used to pick up the Broken Shovel without causing Mom's Foot to stomp down at all.

### Tips for Obtaining

* Characters with good starting stats such as  Cain,  Judas, or  Azazel are excellent for blazing through the first floor with time to spare.
* Tainted Magdalene ability to rapidly regenerate health in almost any circumstance makes this challenge much easier, and due to how Tainted Magdalene is played, the constant i-frames generated through hugging enemies is useful for negating the full heart damage from the stomps, the stomps also acting as extra damage when fighting bosses.
* Avoid wasting time for pickups, items, or any unnecessary rooms while progressing to the Boss Room. They can be returned to after clearing the rest of the floor and killing the boss.
* There is no time limit on claiming the shovel, as long as the floor boss was killed within the time limit. Obtaining it can wait until Isaac is ready to move on to the next floor.
* Look for items such as  to negate the stomp damage, or for damage/tear-increasing items to kill enemies quicker; conversely, when running into a mini-boss, getting Curse of the Maze or Curse of the Labyrinth, or encountering poor floor generation such as multiple large rooms and dead ends, restarting may be a better choice.
	+ Stomp damage can no longer be negated.
* If the criteria for Broken Shovel to appear are not met and there is ambiguity as to whether it is obtainable, look for a large, faint shadow of the shovel covering the starting room; if it is not there, the Shovel cannot be obtained.
* A legitimate strategy may be restarting repeatedly until one gets a godlike item, such as Tech X, The Ludovico Technique (as Azazel), or other personally preferred Quality 4s in the first room, since it really isn't very possible to think up a sufficient build on the fly as you have to focus on dodging Mom at all times.

## Passive Collectible

### Collection Grid

*(page 5, column 6, row 4)**(page 5, column 7, row 4)*

The second Broken Shovel piece can be acquired by completing Boss Rush while holding the first half of Broken Shovel.

### Effects

* Replaces the Broken Shovel active item with , ceasing the stomps from Mom's feet.

### Notes

* If either of  Jacob and Esau holds the first Broken Shovel piece, that same brother must pick up the second piece in order to obtain Mom's Shovel. If the other brother picks it up, it will simply be added to his passive items.

### Tips for Obtaining

* Make sure to keep moving; stopping for even a few seconds will increase the chance a foot hits Isaac.
* Items that give flight are even more helpful than usual as Isaac will not need to worry about navigating around obstacles to avoid a stomp. Any means of temporary (or even permanent) invulnerability has obvious merit as well.
* If an active item is offered in Boss Rush, it can be held for the duration of the fight; however, the Broken Shovel must be picked up before the last wave ends for the second half of Broken Shovel appear.
* If  is held and Boss Rush is completed, an additional pedestal item will appear. Be careful not to pick up this other item, as doing so will cause Broken Shovel to disappear.

## Unlockable Achievements

* The Forgotten - It's complicated.

* Bone Heart - It's complicated.

## Gallery

* The shadow of Broken Shovel's handle, as seen in the starting room after defeating the Boss in Basement I in under a minute.
* The dirt mound, as found in the Grave Room.
* The dirt mound opened with .

## Trivia

* The Broken Shovels were added in Booster Pack #5, after the initial release of the DLC.