The Family Man

**The Family Man** is Challenge #19. Isaac is blindfolded and must instead rely on familiars to do damage. The goal is to defeat Isaac. Isaac starts with , , ,  and .

 Isaac also starts with the   transformation due to the familiars the player starts with, making the challenge more difficult. This is because the Conjoined transformation decreases your damage, which the blue flies from Rotten Baby rely on.

## Difficulty

The slow fire rate of the familiars makes this challenge difficult, especially in Womb and Cathedral. The familiars can also be hard to aim, as they linger behind Isaac.

 Both Brother Bobby and Sister Maggy have been buffed, making this challenge markedly easier: Brother Bobby now has a higher fire rate; while Sister Maggy has an increased damage of 6 (with BFFS! a respectable 12)

## Strategy

* Dad's Key allows the player to enter Secret Rooms and Shops without using Bombs or Keys. Saving and obtaining extra pickups via Dad's Key can be leveraged for items from Beggars and Arcade machines to offset the challenge's lack of treasure rooms.
	+ Also, Dad's Key can be used to exit the Boss Rush without having to fight any bosses, granting a free item if the Boss Rush is reached in time.
* Gaining flight will allow Isaac to stay safely out of range while the familiars deal damage.
* Damage from blue flies scales with Isaac's damage, allowing more damage into the late game. Several items can help achieve this.
	+ spawns a fly whenever a familiar's tear hits an enemy, providing a continuous supply of extra damage.
		- The chance of a fly spawning has been changed from 100% to 50%. Despite this, however, flies are still plentiful.
	+ 's Blue Flies can seek enemies at range.
	+ doubles all Blue Fly damage.
	+ or  will also greatly increase the damage of Blue Flies.
* is extremely useful, because with BFFS! it deals 30 damage per tick, making it extremely useful against bosses. However, this does not apply to .
	+ Getting this combined with invincibility such as  will allow a guaranteed kill on bosses.
* Additional damage-dealing familiars can be leveraged against enemies.
	+ is particularly useful for its significant damage, unlimited range, and attacks that pierce obstacles and enemies.
	+ can also deal high damage and can be controlled to attack enemies anywhere in the room.
	+ can be tricky to use effectively but offers a tremendous boost to damage.
* Damage-dealing active items, such as , , or  also offer a reliable amount of damage, and are all obtainable from the Shop.
* Defensive orbitals block projectiles and some can be used to deal damage. Using Slot Machines is a relatively reliable method to get 2-3 defensive flies.
* Re-rolling Isaac's Items with a Dice Room, the , the , or  is not recommended as it can leave Isaac without means of dealing damage.
* Most of  Lilith's unlockable items will make the challenge easier:
	+ enables Isaac to fire as  Lilith does, and also benefits from the Conjoined transformation.
	+ doubles familiars, and therefore allows Isaac to double his tear output.
	+ and  are reliable methods of generating new familiars.
	+ can deal high amounts of damage and help clear rooms.
* gives all familiar's tears homing ability.
* Both  and , when combined with Rotten Baby allows Isaac to snipe enemies from safety.
* will convert health into a  that benefit from BFFS! and the damage upgrade increase the damage of flies.
	+ will do the same in a slower rate by guaranteeing the Harbingers to spawn at the cost of leaving Dad's Key behind if you don't have .

## Reward

* Epic Fetus - Complete **The Family Man (challenge #19)**.

* Glass Cannon - Beat **The Family Man (challenge #19)**, defeat Lokii, and unlock  Judas.