Dark Arts

**Dark Arts** is an unlockable activated item added in *The Binding of Isaac: Repentance*.  Tainted Judas starts with this item in his consumable slot.

## Effects

* When used, Isaac gains +1.0 speed and can walk through enemies/bullets for 1 second or until he shoots. If Isaac walks through an enemy or bullet during this time, it freezes until the effect ends, then takes damage equal to 2x Isaac's damage plus a flat 3.5. If there are multiple enemies/projectiles caught in the attack, each consecutive attack deals an additional flat 3.5 damage. At the end of the effect, an area of effect blast is created, dealing more damage the more enemies or bullets were pierced during the effect.
	+ The damage of the blast at the end of Dark Arts is equal to the sum of all damage dealt while dashing between enemies.
		- Bullets walked through will still count for the final blast damage calculation, even though they can't be damaged.
* When used as  Dark Judas or  Tainted Judas, for every enemy/bullet he walks through, he will gain a temporary +1 damage bonus, which wears off at a rate of -0.25 damage every half second.

## Notes

* The invincibility can be canceled early by firing tears (and hence receive the damage bonus early with Tainted Judas or Dark Judas).
* If an enemy/bullet Isaac walks through dies or otherwise disappears before Dark Arts deactivates, they will not grant a damage bonus.
* Orbitals that deal contact damage such as  will still deal damage and potentially kill an enemy, while those that block shots like Pretty Flies will still block and destroy projectiles. This is not generally recommended, as it will make it difficult to gain damage off of targets.
	+ Dark Arts still works on reflected bullets, which may be beneficial.
	+ Explosive projectiles will explode when destroyed by Dark Arts, unlike those destroyed by .
* Isaac cannot pick up items or donate to Blood Donation Machines or Devil Beggars while Dark Arts is activated, but he can pass through Curse Room doors or over spikes.
* Dark Arts cannot open Spiked Chests or Mimic Chests while active, but standing on the chests when the effect ends will safely open them.
* Isaac can still press Pressure Plates while Dark Arts is activated.
* Dark Arts will trigger certain tear effects on enemies it damages, such as burning from .
* Dark Arts is extremely effective against enemies with multiple segments such as Larry Jr. because it can affect each segment individually, greatly increasing damage.
* Invincible enemies such as Stonies and Stone Grimaces can still be affected and used to increase the damage.
	+ Hosts can be damaged and killed even while they are lowered and invincible.
	+ Similarly, using Dark Arts on Scolex's invulnerable segments will still deal damage, making the fight significantly easier.
* Dark Arts can be a useful tool for  Tainted Jacob to avoid colliding with Dark Esau, as the invincibility and stunning effects of the item fully work against him even if Esau charges at the player.
* is fantastic in Greed mode. It can be used to press the button without taking any damage, kill many enemies with each activation, and have the item be constantly recharged with each wave.
	+ While playing as  Tainted Judas, each enemy or projectile ran into will grant a damage buff. With the sheer amount of enemies appearing, especially in Greedier, Tainted Judas will gain an immense damage buff and can kill huge swaths of enemies with ease. Additionally, this is even more potent against Ultra Greed, as you can run through the many Greed Gapers summoned to gain even greater damage buff, as the Gapers will be clustered very closely together.

## Synergies

* ///: These items stay in effect even while using Dark Arts, allowing Isaac to deal more damage to nearby enemies while invulnerable.
* : Due to the nature of Dark Arts, Isaac can easily damage enemies with the trail left behind.
* : Tagging an enemy from behind will apply Backstabber's effect.
* +  as  Judas /  Dark Judas: Grants temporary damage ups for every enemy/projectile hit by Dark Arts, similarly to  Tainted Judas. This stacks with  Dark Judas' inherent version of this, doubling the amount of damage gained.
* : Spawns black wisps on the middle ring whenever an enemy is killed with Dark Arts. The wisps do not persist between rooms.
* : The stealth mode given by Camo Undies won't be removed by activating Dark Arts.
* : Allows 2 charges to be stored. Second charge can be used while Dark Arts is active, essentially making it last longer.
* : Dark Arts will last twice as long, totaling at 2 seconds per use.
* : When Dark Arts ends, each enemy tagged may instantly die and release a burst of black tears as if hit by a Euthanasia tear.
* : If Isaac is stationary when Dark Arts ends, he will gain invulnerability without any downtime. Dark Arts can also be used from invulnerability without taking damage.
* : Jumping over an enemy or projectile while Dark Arts is active will tag it.
* : Because Dark Arts' damage is scaled off of tear damage, Ipecac gives an extremely high damage boost to each Dark Arts hit, easily capable of destroying some early bosses in a single hit.
* : Kamikaze! can be activated without harm when using Dark Arts.
* : Isaac is able to dash while using Dark Arts, allowing him to reach more enemies in one use of Dark Arts while still dealing damage with Mars' dash.
* : Extremely powerful. Isaac will unleash a black Brimstone ring while using Dark Arts, letting Isaac do crazy damage while invincible.
* : Mom's Knife will still deal damage even while in Dark Arts, killing most weaker enemies and bosses easily.
* : The Brimstone beam created will still be active while Dark Arts is active.
* : Activating Dark Arts will not cancel the effect, turning Pause into an instant room clear in most situations and an effective tool for damaging bosses.
	+ + : Pause becomes an even more effective tool against bosses, as it can now be activated several times in the fight.
	+ + : Pause can be used every room, making most of them very easy to clear.
* : Rock Bottom will prevent the damage bonus given to Tainted Judas or Dark Judas from decreasing, allowing him to keep the highest achieved damage bonus.
* : Dark Arts' speed increase will contribute towards Taurus' activation, allowing Isaac to become invulnerable much earlier.
* **Wisps**: Wisps cannot be destroyed while Dark Arts is in effect and still deal contact damage.

## Interactions

* /  /  /  /  / : On-touch effects won't activate while Dark Arts is active.
* : **Not recommended**. The speed boost during the invincibility phase is transferred into other stat bonuses, which are useless as tears cannot be used. If used with Tainted Judas or Dark Judas, the temporary damage boost is divided across all of his stats, resulting in negligible stat boosts.
* / : Clots gain increased speed and are no longer be able to fire, but are still vulnerable to damage while Isaac is using Dark Arts. They're likely to hit any enemies or projectiles Isaac runs through if the he does not use the drop button to make them stay still.

## Trivia

* The item is a reference to a flash game Edmund Mcmillen created in 2005 called *Grey-Matter*. In this game, enemies would be killed in a fashion identical to Dark Arts.
* Before being in the videogame, Dark Arts was the starting item for Dark Judas in The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls, the card game of The Binding of Isaac. Here's a link to the card!