Secret Passive Items Guide
Complete unlock guide for all 4 hidden conditional passive items that only appear when you meet specific in-run requirements
🔐 What Are Secret Passive Items?
Secret passive items are special conditional passives that only appear in the item pool when you've met their specific unlock requirements during a run. These aren't unlocked through base progression—they're hidden behind in-run conditions.
How They Work: Normal passives always appear in the random item pool. Secret passives are excluded from the pool by default. Once you fulfill their condition (e.g., "have a curse evolution"), they're added to the pool and can drop like any other passive.
Strategy Note: These items don't replace your existing balls or passives—they ADD to your available drops. Plan your build around triggering these conditions to access powerful late-game effects.
🔮 All 4 Secret Passive Items
Voodoo Doll
Effect:
10% chance to instantly kill cursed enemies
Works on any enemy affected by curse debuff. Triggers independently per ball hit, stacking with curse's base damage-over-time effect (100-200 damage after 5 hits).
Unlock Requirements:
- 1. Obtain a curse-applying ball evolution during your run. Valid evolutions:
- 2. Once you have the curse evolution active, Voodoo Doll is added to the passive item pool
- 3. Continue playing—it will eventually drop as a random passive pickup
Best Character Synergies:
Strategy Tips:
- ✓ Combine with high attack speed characters (The Itchy Finger) for maximum proc rate
- ✓ Works best against tanky enemies—10% instakill is more valuable on high-HP targets
- ✓ Stack with curse damage passives for dual threat: either curse DoT kills them or Voodoo Doll procs
- ✗ Less effective in early waves where enemies die quickly anyway—prioritize for late-game scaling
Ghostly Shield
Effect:
Balls phase through allies and heal them for 2 HP per pass
Your balls no longer collide with stone effigies or allied summons. Instead, they pass through, healing for 2 HP each time. Enables aggressive positioning without ally body-blocking.
Unlock Requirements:
- 1. Obtain at least one Effigy passive during your run:
- 2. Once you have any Effigy passive, Ghostly Shield is added to the passive pool
- 3. Wait for it to drop as a random passive pickup
Best Builds:
Strategy Tips:
- ✓ Essential for effigy-heavy builds to prevent ally body-blocking
- ✓ Synergizes with high ball count builds (more balls = more healing procs)
- ✓ Position effigies in your ball path to maximize healing throughput
- ✗ Marginal value if you only have 1 effigy—better with 2-3 stone allies
Traitor's Cowl
Effect:
Enables friendly fire—your balls can damage stone allies
Stone effigies become vulnerable to your attacks. Extremely niche effect—only useful for deliberate ally-killing strategies or disabling unwanted effigies.
Unlock Requirements:
- 1. Obtain at least one Effigy passive (Stone Effigy, Archer's Effigy, or Healer's Effigy)
- 2. Traitor's Cowl is added to the passive pool and will eventually drop
⚠️ Warning:
This is generally a detrimental passive. Friendly fire actively harms your build by killing your support allies. Only pick this if:
- • You accidentally picked an Effigy and want to remove it
- • You're experimenting with unconventional strategies
- • You're trying to clear effigies to make room for better passives
When to Use (Rare Cases):
- ✓ You have too many effigies blocking your movement/ball paths
- ✓ Testing achievement challenges that require specific conditions
- ✗ Almost never in serious runs—actively weakens effigy builds
Artificial Heart
Effect:
Grants additional maximum HP and health regeneration
Increases survivability with both HP buffer and passive regen. Strong defensive passive for late-game scaling and boss fights.
Unlock Requirements:
Condition currently unverified. Community reports suggest it may require:
- • Having multiple healing passives active
- • Reaching certain HP thresholds or taking damage milestones
- • Specific character or evolution combinations
If you discover the exact unlock condition, please share with the community! This item is confirmed to exist but unlock trigger is still being researched.
Strategy Tips:
- ✓ Excellent for aggressive playstyles that take chip damage
- ✓ Synergizes with vampire-themed evolutions (Vampire Lord, Nosferatu)
- ✓ Strong value in boss fights and late waves (15-20+)
📊 Secret Passive Tier List
Ranked by impact and build versatility:
A-Tier: Worth Building Around
AB-Tier: Situationally Strong
BC-Tier: Avoid Unless Necessary
C🎯 Optimal Unlock Strategy
✅ Best Practices
- ✓ Prioritize curse evolutions early if aiming for Voodoo Doll—it's most impactful
- ✓ Pick up effigies strategically only if you plan to get Ghostly Shield
- ✓ Secret passives don't guarantee drops—just adds them to pool. Keep playing!
- ✓ Use The Shade for easiest access to curse evolutions (Dark starting ball)
❌ Common Mistakes
- ✗ Picking Traitor's Cowl by accident—read carefully!
- ✗ Building around effigies without getting Ghostly Shield—they'll body-block
- ✗ Expecting secret passives to drop immediately after condition—RNG applies
- ✗ Curse evolutions are weaker without Voodoo Doll—plan accordingly