Pickups

Pickups are items which are not gear, or runes. Pickups can be collected with the Interact command while the player is close or, in the case of gems, just by walking or rolling 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 (+65% health restored if the mutation is active, half as much health restored if the  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 Hell difficulty 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. There will always be 1 clean piece of food in any one biome, dropping from an enemy. Another guaranteed piece of food will be found in a wall rune. This and any other drops, including those from lore rooms, will always be infected with Malaise on 5 BSC.

Minor foods
Minor foods restore 15% of the player's maximum health (25% if is active, 7.5% if  is active). They're dropped from enemies, wall and floor runes, and can be purchased from food shops with 0-4 BSC active (with 5 BSC, food shops will sell a cough syrup instead).

Major foods
Major foods heal 50% of the player's maximum health (83% if is active, 25% if  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.

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 buying weapon upgrades throughout runs. All enemies will drop small amounts of gold when killed that appear as tiny, bright pebbles that automatically fly towards the player to be collected. Gold is lost upon death leaving over a small amount depending on your Gold Reserves level (default 0 gold).

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


Cells are a special currency that is used primarily for unlocking items and upgrades. They are often dropped from slain enemies and bosses, or found in chests and canisters in biomes. Cells are lost upon 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 an enemy normally can't drop any (Myopic Crows, etc). Has a 0.3% drop rate from enemies killed. The extra cells are gold instead of blue.

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


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

Mysterious Map


The Mysterious Map can be obtained by collecting four Map Parts throughout the Infested Shipwreck. Having it will mark an X spot in the player's map.

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 and unused keys disappear upon death or at the end of a successful run.

The keys stop spawning if the respective Blueprints they are associated with have been obtained and turned in to The Collector.

For the complete list of Keys containing the 2 from the Return To Castlevania DLC check the official wiki.