"Convert all but 1 health into regenerating shields. Gain 50% (+25% per stack) maximum health." Shields regen after 7 seconds without taking damage (2 second full regen). The retained 1 HP means near-immunity to fall damage. Percentage-based heals calculate off 1 HP = useless. Flat heals are wasted unless you have Aegis. Heretic-saver. REX-killer.
Transcendence bypasses three Eclipse modifiers at once: Eclipse 1 (halved starting health) is ignored since all HP converts to a larger shield pool. Eclipse 3 (increased fall damage) is nearly negated by the 1 HP retention. Eclipse 5 (halved healing) does nothing since you're not using healing. This makes Transcendence one of the strongest Eclipse items.
Transcendence converts all but 1 of your HP into regenerating shields and increases your maximum health by 50% (+25% per stack). Shields regenerate fully over 2 seconds after you avoid taking damage for 7 seconds. The 1 retained HP makes you nearly immune to fall damage. All future HP gains from items and levels are also converted to shields automatically.
Percentage-based healing (Bustling Fungus, Strides of Heresy %, Foreign Fruit 50% max HP) calculates off your current maximum HP - which is now 1. 50% of 1 HP is effectively nothing. Flat heals (Leeching Seed, Harvester's Scythe) fire as normal but since shields only regenerate naturally and cannot be healed directly, those heals are wasted unless you have Aegis to convert them to barrier.
It depends heavily on your build and survivor. It is excellent if you have few healing items, play a highly mobile survivor, or want to pair it with Aegis. It is a run-killer for REX (whose kit relies on self-damage and healing synergy). On Heretic it actually fixes the negative HP regen problem by converting all HP to positively-regenerating shields. In Eclipse mode it bypasses several penalties.
Yes - Aegis is the best item to pair with Transcendence. Since you're always at "full HP" (your max 1 HP is always at 1), every flat heal fires directly into Aegis barrier. Leeching Seed, Harvester's Scythe, and similar flat healing items all generate barrier rather than being wasted. Note that percentage heals are still near-zero and don't help Aegis either.
Nearly. Fall damage cannot reduce HP below 1, and fall damage is calculated from max HP (which is 1 with Transcendence). The absolute worst a fall can do is deal 1 damage to your single HP. Shields take no fall damage at all. This effectively makes fall damage irrelevant and is especially useful in Eclipse mode where Eclipse 3 increases fall damage.
Yes, surprisingly. Heretic has negative base HP regeneration that slowly kills her when not using her skills. Transcendence converts all HP to shields, and shields regenerate positively on their own timer (7 seconds no damage then full regen in 2 seconds). This completely negates the self-drain death spiral, making Transcendence one of the best items Heretic can hold.
