Bootstraps

Bootstraps

Effect

+2 Mult for every $5 you have
(Currently +0 Mult)

Rarity

Uncommon

Unlock Requirement

Have at least 2 Polychrome Jokers at the same time.

Stats

Buy Price

7

Sell Price

3

Type

Additive Mult

Activation

Independent

Compatibility

Copyable

✓ Yes

Perishable

✓ Yes

Eternal

✓ Yes

Bootstraps is an Uncommon Additive Mult Joker that grants +2 Mult for every $5 the player has. It does nothing if the player has $4 or less.

While Bootstrap's unlock condition may appear difficult to achieve, under the right circumstances it can be surprisingly easy.

• Ghost Deck ( [[Spectral Cards|{{hl|sblue|Spectral}}]] cards may appear in the shop, start with a {{spectral|Hex}} card Win a run with the {{D|Yellow}} on [[Stakes|any difficulty]] Ghost Deck.png) starts the player with a Hex (Add [[Card Modifiers#Editions|{{hl|edition|Polychrome}}]] to a random [[Jokers|{{hl|orange|Joker}}]], destroy all other Jokers Available from start. Spectral Hex.png), allowing any of the run's first purchased Jokers to become Polychrome ({{xmult|1.5}} Joker (Polychrome).png).
  • In addition to this, Hex cannot destroy Eternal () Jokers, making the requirement even easier on Black Stake and above.
• As long as the player uses the given Hex on an Eternal Joker, the unlock can be achieved by finding a second Hex in the shop due to Ghost Deck's innate ability.
• Alternatively, the player can use Ankh (Create a copy of a random [[Jokers|{{hl|orange|Joker}}]], destroy all other Jokers <br> {{hl|gray|(Removes {{hl|edition|Negative}} from copy)}} Available from start. Spectral Ankh.png) or Invisible Joker (After {{hl|orange|2}} rounds, sell this card to {{hl|orange|Duplicate}} a random Joker <br> {{currently|{{hl|orange|0}}/2}} <br> {{hl|gray|(Removes [[Negative|{{hl|edition|Negative}}]] from copy)}} Win a run without ever having more than {{hl|orange|4 Jokers}} Rare Effect N/A (Passive) Invisible Joker.png) to duplicate the Polychrome ({{xmult|1.5}} Joker (Polychrome).png) Joker to unlock the requirement.

• Yellow Deck ( Start with extra {{Money|10}} Discover at least {{hl|orange|50}} items from your [[Collection|collection]] Yellow Deck.png)'s starting Money bonus makes it easier to build up money quickly.
• Rich get Richer ( ) also encourages the player to have a lot of money, similar to Bootstraps.
• Blast Off ( ) starts with an Eternal Rocket (Earn {{Money|1}} at end of round. Payout increases by {{Money|2}} when [[Blinds|{{hl|orange|Boss Blind}}]] is defeated Uncommon Economy N/A (Passive) Rocket.png), which allows Bootstraps to get a lot of value pretty quickly.

Any hand can benefit from Bootstraps.

• Bull ({{Chips|+2}} for each {{$|1}} you have <br> {{currently|{{chips|+0}}}} Uncommon Chips Independent Bull.png) similarly provides a Chips boost for having Money.

• All Economy Jokers, like Rocket (Earn {{Money|1}} at end of round. Payout increases by {{Money|2}} when [[Blinds|{{hl|orange|Boss Blind}}]] is defeated Uncommon Economy N/A (Passive) Rocket.png) or Golden Ticket (Played [[Gold Cards|{{hl|orange|Gold}}]] cards earn {{Money|4}} when scored Play a 5 card hand that contains only {{hl|orange|Gold}} cards Common Economy On Scored Golden Ticket.png) help accumulate money quickly.
• Midas Mask (All played {{hl|orange|face}} cards become [[Gold Cards|{{hl|orange|Gold}}]] cards when scored Uncommon Effect On Played Midas_Mask.png), while not directly being an Economy Joker, can create Gold cards which can then earn money.

• Gold Cards ({{money|3}} if this card is held in hand at end of round Gold Card.png) give $3 at the end of the round, and can be doubled when combined with Mime (Retrigger all card {{hl|orange|held in hand}} abilities Uncommon Retrigger On Held Mime.png).
• Lucky Cards ({{hl|green|1 in 5}} chance for {{mult|+20}}<br>{{hl|green|1 in 15}} chance to win {{money|20}} Lucky Card.png) have a 1 in 15 chance to give $20. Retrigger Jokers or Oops! All 6s (Doubles all [[listed probabilities|{{hl|orange|listed}} {{hl|green|probabilities}}]] <br> {{hl|grey|(ex: {{hl|green|1 in 3}} -> {{hl|green|2 in 3}})}} In one hand, earn at least {{hl|orange|10,000}} chips Uncommon Effect N/A (Passive) Oops!_All_6s.png) are recommended.
• Gold Seal (Earn {{money|3}} when this card is played and scores Gold Seal.png) gives $3 when triggered, which is especially useful when combined with retrigger Jokers like Hanging Chad (Retrigger {{hl|orange|first}} played card used in scoring {{hl|orange|2}} additional times Beat a Boss Blind with a {{ph|High Card}} Common Retrigger On Scored Hanging Chad.png).

• The Hermit (Doubles money<br>{{hl|grey|(Max of {{Money|20}})}} Available from start. Tarot The Hermit.png) can give up to $20.
• Temperance (Gives the total sell value of all current [[Jokers]]<br>{{hl|grey|(Max of}} {{hl|orange|{{Money|50}}}}{{hl|grey|)}} Available from start. Tarot Temperance.png) can also give up to $50 and works very well with Egg (Gains {{Money|3}} of {{Hl|orange|sell value}} at end of round Common Economy N/A (Passive) Egg.png) or Gift Card (Add {{Money|1}} of {{hl|orange|sell value}} to every [[Jokers|{{hl|orange|Joker}}]] and [[Consumables|{{hl|orange|Consumable}}]] card at end of round Uncommon Economy N/A (Passive) Gift Card.png).
• The Devil (Enhances {{hl|orange|1}} selected card into a [[Card Modifiers|{{hl|orange|Gold Card}}]] Available from start. Tarot The Devil.png) can make Gold Cards which give money at the end of the round.
• The Magician (Enhances {{hl|orange|2}} selected cards to [[Card Modifiers|{{hl|orange|Lucky Cards}}]] Available from start. Tarot The Magician.png) can make Lucky Cards which have a small chance to give $20.
• Talisman (Add a [[Gold Seal|{{hl|orange|Gold Seal}}]] to {{hl|orange|1}} selected card in your hand Available from start. Spectral Talisman.png) can apply the Gold Seal to a card, which gives money.
• Immolate (Destroys {{hl|orange|5}} random cards in hand, gain {{Money|20}} Available from start. Spectral Immolate.png) destroys cards and gives $20.

• Seed Money (Raise the cap on interest earned in each round to {{Money|10}} Base Seed Money.png) and Money Tree (Raise the cap on interest earned in each round to {{Money|20}} Max out the interest per round earnings for ten consecutive rounds Upgraded Money Tree.png) raise the interest cap, allowing Bootstraps to scale much faster.

• Investment Tag ( Investment tag.png), Handy Tag ( Handy tag.png), Garbage Tag ( Garbage tag.png), Economy Tag ( Economy tag.png), Speed Tag ( Speed tag.png) all give money if the player is willing to skip blinds for them. Investment and Economy though are the best ones for Bootstraps, as Investment will add a hefty +10 Mult to Bootstraps's Mult value once the Boss blind is defeated, and Economy can grant up $40.

• Green Deck ( At end of each Round: <br> {{Money|2}} per remaining {{hl|blue|Hand}} <br> {{Money|1}} per remaining {{hl|red|Discard}} <br> Earn no {{hl|orange|Interest}} Discover at least {{hl|orange|75}} items from your [[collection]] Green Deck.png) has poor synergy because it encourages the player to spend money as they earn it.
• Luxury Tax ( ) encourages the player to not have too much money, which can make it harder to use Bootstraps effectively.
• The Omelette ( ), while not being a direct counter, makes it very hard to get money, making Bootstraps weaker.

• Vagabond (Create a [[Tarot Cards|{{hl|purple|Tarot}}]] card if hand is played with {{Money|4}} or less Rare Effect Independent Vagabond.png) will never generate any Tarot cards if the player has a lot of money.
• Credit Card (Go up to {{hl|red|-$20}} in debt Common Economy N/A (Passive) Credit Card.png) is useless as going into debt makes Bootstraps do nothing.

• The Ox ( Boss The Ox.png) can neutralize Bootstraps if the most played hand is played, resetting money to $0.
• The Tooth ( Boss The Tooth.png) subtracts money for how many cards are played in a given hand, potentially weakening Bootstraps.

• Wraith (Creates a random [[Rare Jokers|{{hl|red|Rare}} {{hl|orange|Joker}}]], sets money to {{$|0}} Available from start. Spectral Wraith.png) should not be used as it sets money to $0, making Bootstraps useless.

• On Gold Stake, each Rental () Joker owned will weaken Bootstraps.

• This might be a reference to the phrase "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps", or to Bootstrap funding. The phrase originally described an impossible task, first used mockingly in an 1834 newspaper.^[1] Over time, it evolved to mean self-reliance, despite its ironic origins.
• As of Update 1.0.1f, having $-5 or less causes Bootstraps to erroneously show negative Mult (eg. +-2 Mult). This is purely visual, as Bootstraps does not do anything while this is in effect.