IDNTG - CoLife


	Crown of Life
	Area:	Preloop Vaults
	Pro:	Big HP Chests More Common
	Con:	No HP Drops

Tech

Every level will roll a 66% chance to convert the rad can into a health chest, regardless of health.

If below half health the additional 50% roll for a health chest also takes place. This gives an ~83% chance of seeing one.

Ammo pickups will no longer convert into health pickups.

If an exit portal opens a health chest, then health pickups will still drop as intended.
Health Mimics always gives one guaranteed health drop. Their other drops will be ammo while using this crown.
Bloodlust will still work as intended, as well as extra HP from taking Last Wish or Rhino Skin.
Rabbit Paw will give the same amount of ammo drops, just that they will never convert to health.
Any other character-specific methods of healing will be uneffected.

Rebel's passive, Robot's active, Robot's Regurgitate, Horror's Thronebutt all work as intended.

The exception here is Fish's Confiscate which will not drop Health Chests, as it needs health drops in order to convert.

(Health Mimic's health drop will never become a health chest as it works differently from other pickups.)

Strategy Guide

Crown of Life is generally considered to be the worst crown in the game. Health chests only give 4 HP a level (8 HP with Stomach) and it's very easy to take more damage than that in just one or two hits - besides just being a chance of seeing a health chest. For this reason the con FAR outweighs the pro, the only circumstances this is usually ran is during weeklies or just to unlock. There is no benefit in using this otherwise outside of wanting a challenge run.

A core part of any build here will be Bloodlust. This is the only reliable workaround to the lack of health drops and is the highest priority - without it, runs should be treated like a no hit as health lost will be very difficult to regain.

In preloop especially runs should be treated as no hit runs, at least until Bloodlust can be found. This means that levels should be cleared out slower and more methodically to avoid taking risks - any longer range weapon can help well with that. If the player is only missing 2-3 HP then health chests can be saved until the end of the level in case another hit is taken, to maximize the health gained back. Though caution should be applied as the portal can easily cut the player off from healing at all.

For those trying to unlock the crown it's recommended to take it from the 5-2 Vault instead of 3-2, to minimize the levels in which health drops are missing. Aside from this general advice from Melting/no hit runs apply here - don't take major risks, try only taking reliable weapons for consistent damage and try to keep space between yourself and any threats.

The final roadblock for preloop will be beating the Throne, as there are very few enemies on 7-3 that can proc Bloodlust at all. A separate guide will be linked later but a general summary is to stand on the edge of the red carpet to 'bait' the beam attack, which has a very obvious charge-up / sound cue and is easy to dodge. This gives time to deal reliable damage against the Throne without worrying about projectiles.

Upon reaching loop the run becomes a matter of having Bloodlust or not - damage here is far more frequent as well as the drops, but removing health drops from that equation is where the crown becomes fully unviable. Any long range builds will do the best here for survival, as well as quickly handling any IDPD spawns. Keeping distance is the name of the game - the more breathing room the player has, the better. The biggest roadblocks will still be both Throne fights with few chances to heal.

For meta play (Loops 3+), the amount of enemies can make normal gameplay feel more vanilla with the amount of Bloodlust procs. However any boss fights that drag on (such as Big Bandits or Mom) can quickly have the player struggling for health - IDPD Freak respawns may give sparse HP back here, so a successful run mainly becomes how well the player can clear levels while avoiding damage. Due to the difficulty of the crown, sometimes a run may just be running on empty fumes.

Character/Mutation Notes:

To reiterate, Bloodlust is a core part of any successful Life build.
If trying to unlock the crown, Euphoria and Hammerhead are very good to avoid damage. Not high priority for loop play.
The amount of drops from Rabbit Paw are unaffected, just that they no longer convert to HP, thus is still a fairly strong pick.
Second Stomach gives +4 HP per health chest. This is fine for preloop runs, but there are many better picks for loop builds.
Open Mind will not give two health chests in a level.
Robot is

Character/Mutation Notes

-Bloodlust is a must to reiterate.

-While not in meta, mutations like Euphoria and Hammerhead can have their perks to help avoid damage.

-Rabbit Paw is moved down in priority by quite a bit, but can be a better pick than many mid-tier mutations still for the ammo drops.

-Second Stomach only gives an extra +4 HP per health chest, it's better than nothing but not worth taking on its own for the most part.

-Robot is the best at mitigating CoLife due to having an active that can heal. Regurgitate furthers their viability.

-Melting often has to go with taking minimal damage, while he doesn't excel at CoLife his active does excel at avoiding damage, making his gameplay is fairly similar to vanilla.

-Chicken pretty much requires Bloodlust to regain her head. With this condition met the extra Health Chests chances compliments Chicken very well.

-This crown hurts Rebel the most as taking damage is an active part of her gameplay. Without Bloodlust take Personal Guard and avoid using her active completely. With Bloodlust either ultra can be taken, though Personal Guard may still suit her better as spamming allies is not very viable.