A Lump of Coal

Effect

• Tears gain a flat damage bonus of about +0.5-0.6 per tile of distance traveled, unaffected by all multipliers. There is no upper limit to the bonus.

Notes

• A Lump of Coal can be found as a drop from (Krampus) Krampus, a possible payout of (Added in Afterbirth †) Mystery Gift, or using (Added in Repentance) Spindown Dice on Guppy's Paw.

• The item has somewhat of an opposite effect of the item Proptosis, which makes Isaac deal more damage at close range. Proptosis is based on a shrinking multiplier instead of an increasing flat bonus, however.

Synergies

• Godhead: Tears and more importantly their auras will increase in size and damage the farther they travel.
• (Hook Worm) Hook Worm: The movement pattern increases Coal's damage at the same effective distance.
• The Ludovico Technique: Increases the tear's damage and size the farther the tear is from Isaac. Even at close range, it will still do about +3.5 damage.
• My Reflection: Hitting enemies with tears that initially missed will grant possibly considerable extra damage.
• (Added in Afterbirth †) Pop!: Tears will increase their damage and size as they travel, and they are not limited by range.
• Soy Milk: Coal's flat damage increase is not affected by Soy Milk's multiplier, so tears gain the full benefit from Coal.
• Tiny Planet: The movement pattern allows much longer airtime and reasonably easy way to hit enemies with the powered-up tears.

Interactions

• Anti-Gravity: Despite the tears visually growing while they hover, they will still only deal bonus damage based strictly on how far they travel. If the enemy hits the tears by running into them, Coal will add no damage.
  • (Added in Afterbirth †) Tears no longer grow while hovering.
• (Added in Afterbirth) Athame: Damage of the Athame ring is halved.
  • (Added in Afterbirth †) The ring deals normal damage.
• Brimstone: +2 flat damage.
  • (Added in Afterbirth) Beam will gradually increase in size and damage the farther it travels, on a multiplier that is roughly +20% per tile of distance.
  • Brimstone + The Ludovico Technique: Makes the Brimstone circle widen and deal damage based on how far away it is from your character. At very close ranges, the damage is reduced to about 73% (unlike normal Coal effects).
• Dr. Fetus: No benefit though the bombs appear darker.
• Epic Fetus: No benefit.
• (Added in Afterbirth †) Lachryphagy: Tears will grow until they burst, though their actual damage bonus is only based on distance traveled. Burst tears will also grow as they travel.
• A Lump of Coal: No benefit from an additional Lump.
• (Added in Afterbirth) Maw of the Void: Damage of the Maw ring is halved.
  • (Added in Afterbirth †) The ring deals normal damage.
• Mom's Knife: No benefit. The Knife becomes a very dark brown.
• (Added in Afterbirth †)(Ouroboros Worm) Ouroboros Worm/(Ring Worm) Ring Worm: The peculiar movement patterns result in overall less damage from the same effective distance.
• Proptosis: Proptosis scales with Isaac's damage while the Coal does not. At base damage, tears will have approximately the same damage at any range; with increased damage, tears do more damage up close.
• Technology / Technology 2: No benefit.
  • (Added in Afterbirth) Damage increases the further away the enemy is, on a multiplier that is roughly +20% per tile of distance.
• (Added in Afterbirth) Tech X: The laser ring will grow as the ring distances itself from the player, but will shrink as the player approaches it. Damage increases the further away the enemy is.
  • (Added in Repentance) The damage increase per tile is significantly lower.
• (Added in Afterbirth †) Trisagion: The damage of the blasts is increased by a negligible amount.