Pickups

Pickups are items which are not gear, runes, or blueprints. Pickups can be collected with the Interact command while the player is close or, in the case of gems, just by walking on top of them.

All main categories of pickups are:


 * Healing pickups that restore the player's health or reduce Malaise.
 * Scrolls to upgrade player stats.
 * Currency pickups, which award varying amounts of cells or gold.
 * Special pickups serving miscellaneous functions.
 * Keys, which let the player unlock doors.

Food
Food regenerates a fixed percentage of health when eaten (or twice as much if the Gastronomy mutation is active). There are 2 different functional types of food, each with 7 different appearances depending on the selected diet, which is altered by game settings. If untouched by the player, it will be chosen as "Carnivore." Both types of food can add Malaise on Nightmare and Hell difficulties if the piece of food is infected. The amount of malaise given depends on if the food is major or minor. Minor food gives 50 points (1 bar) and major food gives 150 points (3 bars) of malaise.

Minor Foods
Minor foods restore 15% of the player's maximum health (30% if Gastronomy is active). They're dropped from enemies, wall and floor runes, and can be purchased from food shops.

Major Foods
Major foods heal 50% of the player's maximum health (100% if Gastronomy is active). They're found in the same ways minor foods are, as well as in lore rooms, but are rarer.

Other Healing Items
These healing items are more uncommon than food and can usually only be encountered under certain conditions.


 * Note that Small Cough Syrup will still reduce infection level by one point, despite its description.

Scrolls
Scrolls are items that increase the player's stats.


 * Scroll Fragments can only be found while 3 or more Boss Stem Cells are active.

Gold Gold Currency Icon.png
Gold is the main currency used for making purchases and weapon upgrades throughout runs. All enemies will drop small amounts of gold when killed that appears as tiny, bright pebbles that automatically fly towards the player to be collected.

Gems
Gems give a significant amount of gold when collected. Each one awards a different amount of gold depending on type.

Dead Man’s Bag


A bag that spawns at the start of Prisoners' Quarters. It contains some of the gold from your last run. The value depends on your current level of Gold Reserves and any gold above this limit is lost.

Cells Cell Currency Icon.png
Cells are a special currency that is used primarily for unlocking items and upgrades. They're often dropped from slain enemies and bosses, or found in chests and canisters in biomes.

It is worth noting that all cells are lost on death.

Cells can be spent in two ways; unlocking items and upgrades from The Collector, or by increasing the chance for higher quality gear to appear in runs from The Blacksmith.

Liposuction


A rare pickup that produces one extra cell on every kill for 45 seconds, even if the enemy didn’t drop a normal cell. It randomly drops from enemies, but the exact chance is unknown.

Residual Cells


A bag that spawns next to the Dead Man's Bag if you defeated The Hand of the King. It contains any cells possessed upon reaching the Throne Room, as well as the 40 cells dropped by the Hand of the King. If not picked up, or if the run is reset, the cells will be lost.

Bonus Point Stars
See the main article for information about Bonus Point Stars.



Bonus Point Stars are exclusively found in the Daily Run. They give a 5-point bonus for each enemy killed for 15 seconds.

Keys
Unlike most pickups, keys are not used when they are picked up. Instead, they are added to the player's inventory, so they can be used later to open their respective doors. Keys remain in the player's inventory for the rest of the run if not used on the appropriate door. Unused keys disappear upon death or at the end of a successful run.