========== BIOSHOCK ========== ============================================== -= MISSABLES AND CHARACTER BUILD GUIDE =- ============================================== Written by Mech Gouki / Cyber Akuma =============== Version History =============== Version 0.95 14-07-12 Minor updates, edited Incinerate description. Again, let me repeat that SportBoost does not actually increase movement speed! IT DOES NOT WORK! Version 0.9 01-04-12 First Release ________________________________________________________________________________ ======== Contents ======== 1) Introduction 2) Checklist 3) Gatherer's Garden List 4) Missables List 5) Character Set-up 6) PC Issues 7) Frequently Asked Questions 8) Credits/References ________________________________________________________________________________ ============ Introduction ============ This guide is usable for the PC and XBOX360 version of Bioshock. Also usable for PS3 version. Bioshock is one of the best shooters I have played, despite having one of the worst DRM systems possible. In most first-person shooters that I have played, there is only one way to go - forward. Bioshock is different from other shooters, in the sense that you can go back and revisit most areas that you have already been to. In addition, you can also collect items, and customize your character. There are many different ways to play this game. I would say that Bioshock is like a Shooter, with RPG elements inside it. I have seen many walkthroughs on the game, but what I had really hoped for, was a guide that tells you where each item can be purchased, what are the things you should look out for in case you miss them, and how you can build your characters. After much studying and analysing, I decided to write a guide myself, regarding what are the purchases available, and what are the things you should look out for to not miss out on it for good. ________________________________________________________________________________ ========= Checklist ========= Intro- This is a list of all the items you should find in each stage. If you are missing anything, refer to this list to find it. Remember that you cannot return to Welcome to Rapture and Rapture Central Control. (The Power to the People Stations and Little Sisters are indexed on this list accordingly.) Welcome To Rapture ------------------ Plasmid: - Electrobolt Audio-Diary: - New Year's Eve Alone - Hole in the Bathroom Wall Medical Pavilion ---------------- Plasmid: - Incinerate! - Telekinesis Tonic: - Hacker's Delight - Security Expert - Wrench Jockey - Speedy Hacker - Static Discharge Audio-Diary: - Released Today - Adam's Changes - Higher Standards - Parasite Expectations - Limits Of Imagination - Love For Science - Vandalism - Surgery's Picasso - Freezing Pipes - Useless Experiments - Testing Telekinesis - Plasmids Are The Paint - Enrage Trial - Symmetry - Aphrodite - Not What She Wanted - Gatherer's Vulnerability Little Sister: - (1) - (2) Neptune's Bounty ---------------- Plasmid: - Security Bullseye Tonic: - Medical Expert - Shorten Alarms - Wrench Lurker - Focused Hacker Weapon Upgrade Station: - (1) Audio-Diary: - Bathysphere Keys - Timmy H. Interrogation - Fontaine Must Go - Finding The Sea Slug - Picked Up Timmy H. - Masha Come Home - Watch Fontaine - Have My Badge - ADAM Discovery - Eden Leaking - Fontaine's Smugglers - Death Penalty In Rapture - Meeting Ryan - Rapture Changing - Smuggling Ring - Working Late Again - Saw Masha Today - Arresting Fontaine - Putting The Screws On Little Sister: - (3) - (4) - (5) Smuggler's Hideout ------------------ Audio-Diary: - Meeting With Fontaine - Kraut Scientist - Offered A Deal Arcadia ------- Tonic: - Security Evasion - Hacking Expert Audio-Diary: - Seeing Ghosts - Big Night Out - Mass Producing ADAM - Arcadia Closed - The Market Is Patient - Offer A Better Product - Early Tests Promising - Heroes And Criminals - Shouldn't Have Come - The Saturine - What Won't They Steal? - Teaching An Old Hound - Lazarus Vector - Lazarus Vector Formula - Arcadia And Oxygen - Maternal Instinct - The Great Chain Weapon Upgrade Station: - (2) Little Sister: - (6) - (7) Farmer's Market --------------- Tonic: - EVE Link 2 - Photographer's Eye Audio-Dairy: - Bee Enzyme - Pulling Together - First Encounter - Hatred - Desperate Times - Water In The Wine - Functional Children - ADAM Explained Weapon Upgrade Station: - (3) Little Sister: - (8) Fort Frolic ----------- Tonic: - Alarm Expert - Frozen Field - Extra Nutrition 2 - Medical Expert 2 - Electric Flesh Audio-Diary: - Come To The Record Store - The Wild Bunny - Artist's Feud - Fancy Cigarettes - Stood Up Again - The Doubters - Musical Insult - The Iceman Cometh - Fontaine's Army - Guns Blazing - Pregnancy - It's All Griff - Bump Culpepper? - Ryan's Stableboy - Requiem For Andrew Ryan Weapon Upgrade Station: - (4) - (5) Little Sister: - (9) - (10) - (11) Hephaestus ---------- Tonic: - Frozen Field 2 - Security Evasion 2 - Damage Research - Shorten Alarms 2 Audio-Diary: - Ryan Takes F Futuristics - Scoping the Gate - Stopping Ryan - Going to Heat Loss - A Man or a Parasite - Fontaine's Legacy - Running Short on R-34s - Assassin - Impossible Anywhere Else - Kyburz Door Code - Genetic Arms Race - Getting a Break - Market Maintenance Code - Device Almost Enabled - The Dream - Assembling the Bomb - Great Chain Moves Slowly Weapon Upgrade Station: - (6) - (7) Little Sister: - (12) - (13) - (14) Rapture Central Control ----------------------- Audio-Diary: - The Vita-Chamber - Mind Control Test - Baby Status Olympus Heights --------------- Tonic: - Clever Inventor - Electric Flesh 2 Audio-Diary: - Mozart Of Genetics - Fontaine's Human Jukebox - Mind Control Antidote - Fontaine's Break-Up - Sad Saps - Artist Woman Weapon Upgrade Station: - (8) - (9) Little Sister: - (15) - (16) Apollo Square ------------- Tonic: - Medical Expert 3 - Focused Hacker 2 Audio-Diary: - What's Happening Here? - Atlas Lives - Protection Bond - Meeting Atlas - The Longest Con - Today's Raid Weapon Upgrade Station: - (10) Little Sister: - (17) - (18) Point Prometheus ---------------- Tonic: - Safecracker 2 - Damage Research 2 - Hacker's Delight 3 - Alarm Expert 2 Audio-Diary: - Changing Employers - Why Just Girls? - Extra Munitions - Marketing Gold - Protecting The Little Ones - Protector Smell - Mistakes - Cheap Son Of A Bitch - Missing Boots Weapon Upgrade Station: - (11) - (12) Little Sister: - (19) - (20) - (21) ________________________________________________________________________________ ====================== Gatherer's Garden List ====================== This is the price list of the Gatherer's Garden. Refer to this list, and see what items are available where. Be careful when purchasing Plasmids, as there are price differences. Since a Rank 3 Plasmid always replaces the lower rank ones, you are recommended to skip, and get the highest Rank plasmid at the lowest possible price. (E.g. You can get Insect Swarm 3 by skipping Insect Swarm 1 and 2 altogether.) For the Tonic and Plasmid Slots, some of the Gatherer's Garden sell more than one of the same slot. For such slots, I will list out the amount you can purchase. (E.g. x2) Medical Pavillion: Enrage! 60 Armored Shell 20 EVE Link 20 Health Upgrade 80 EVE Upgrade 80 Neptune's Bounty: Plasmid Slot 100 x2 Health Upgrade 80 EVE Upgrade 80 Enrage! 60 Target Dummy 60 Winter Blast 60 Armored Shell 20 EVE Link 20 Extra Nutrition 20 (Version 1.1) Sonic Boom 1 Machine Buster 1 Arcadia: Plasmid Slot 100 Physical Tonic Slot 80 x2 Engineering Tonic Slot 80 x2 Combat Tonic Slot 80 x2 Health Upgrade 80 EVE Upgrade 80 Enrage! 45 Target Dummy 60 Winter Blast 60 Electro Bolt 2 120 Cyclone Trap 60 Armored Shell 20 EVE Link 20 Extra Nutrition 20 (Version 1.1) Sonic Boom 1 Human Inferno 20 EVE Saver 1 Vending Expert 1 Machine Buster 1 Farmer's Market: Plasmid Slot 100 Physical Tonic Slot 80 x2 Engineering Tonic Slot 80 x2 Combat Tonic Slot 80 x2 Insect Swarm 60 Armored Shell 20 EVE Link 20 Extra Nutrition 20 (Version 1.1) Sonic Boom 1 Human Inferno 20 EVE Saver 1 Vending Expert 1 Machine Buster 1 Fort Frolic: Plasmid Slot 100 Physical Tonic Slot 80 Engineering Tonic Slot 80 Combat Tonic Slot 80 Health Upgrade 80 EVE Upgrade 80 Enrage! 45 Insect Swarm 2 80 Target Dummy 45 Winter Blast 2 100 Electro Bolt 2 80 Cyclone Trap 30 Incinerate! 2 80 Hacking Expert 2 50 Armored Shell 20 Extra Nutrition 20 (Version 1.1) Sonic Boom 2 1 Human Inferno 20 EVE Saver 1 Vending Expert 1 Machine Buster 1 Hephaestus: Plasmid Slot 100 Physical Tonic Slot 80 Engineering Tonic Slot 80 Combat Tonic Slot 80 Health Upgrade 80 EVE Upgrade 80 Enrage! 30 Target Dummy 45 Winter Blast 2 80 Insect Swarm 2 40 Cyclone Trap 2 80 Electro Bolt 2 20 Electro Bolt 3 150 Incinerate! 2 80 Hacking Expert 2 50 Wrench Lurker 2 50 Armored Shell 20 (Version 1.1) Sonic Boom 2 1 Human Inferno 20 EVE Saver 1 Vending Expert 1 Vending Expert 2 1 Machine Buster 1 Olympus Heights: Plasmid Slot 100 Physical Tonic Slot 80 Engineering Tonic Slot 80 Combat Tonic Slot 80 Health Upgrade 80 EVE Upgrade 80 Enrage! 30 Target Dummy 30 Winter Blast 3 150 Insect Swarm 3 120 Electro Bolt 3 120 Incinerate! 2 20 Incinerate! 3 150 Cyclone Trap 2 80 Hacking Expert 2 50 Wrench Lurker 2 50 Armored Shell 20 Speedy Hacker 2 50 (Version 1.1) Sonic Boom 2 1 Human Inferno 20 EVE Saver 1 Vending Expert 1 Vending Expert 2 1 Machine Buster 1 Machine Buster 2 1 Apollo Square: Plasmid Slot 100 Physical Tonic Slot 80 Engineering Tonic Slot 80 Combat Tonic Slot 80 Enrage! 30 Target Dummy 30 Winter Blast 3 150 Insect Swarm 3 120 Electro Bolt 3 120 Incinerate! 2 20 Incinerate! 3 150 Cyclone Trap 2 80 Hacking Expert 2 50 Wrench Lurker 2 50 Armored Shell 20 Speedy Hacker 2 50 (Version 1.1) Sonic Boom 2 1 Human Inferno 20 EVE Saver 1 Vending Expert 1 Vending Expert 2 1 Machine Buster 1 Machine Buster 2 1 Point Prometheus: Plasmid Slot 100 Physical Tonic Slot 80 Engineering Tonic Slot 80 Combat Tonic Slot 80 Health Upgrade 80 EVE Upgrade 80 Enrage! 30 Target Dummy 30 Winter Blast 3 120 Insect Swarm 5 Insect Swarm 3 120 Electro Bolt 3 120 Cyclone Trap 2 80 Incinerate! 3 120 Hacking Expert 2 50 Wrench Lurker 2 50 Armored Shell 20 Speedy Hacker 2 50 (Version 1.1) Sonic Boom 2 1 Human Inferno 2 50 EVE Saver 1 Vending Expert 1 Vending Expert 2 1 Machine Buster 1 Machine Buster 2 1 Proving Grounds: Plasmid Slot 100 x3 Physical Tonic Slot 80 x3 Engineering Tonic Slot 80 x3 Combat Tonic Slot 80 x3 Health Upgrade 80 EVE Upgrade 80 ________________________________________________________________________________ ============== Missables List ============== -Introduction- While much of the game is revisitable, there are some changes you cannot undo, as well as some things that you miss out on forever, should you fail to get them this first time. In this section, I will describe some of the things to watch out for, so that it doesn't happen to you. -Audio-Diary- There are two stages not revisitable. Welcome to Rapture, and Rapture Central Control. In these stages, there are 2 Audio Diaries in Welcome to Rapture, and 3 in Rapture Central Control. If you miss getting these, they are gone forever. -Research- There are 11 research categories. Most enemies you encounter in the game, can respawn easily. Only 3 of these categories are limited in number. Be mindful of these enemies. They are: Turrets, Cameras, and Little Sister. You can get to full research with just a single Little Sister. All you have to do is to wait for her to climb in, then out a vent again. So long as a single Little Sister remains not dealt with, you can get to full research. Turrets and Cameras, you have to watch out, as they are not unlimited. -Sander Cohen- You must NOT defeat Sander Cohen in Fort Frolic. If you do so, you will not face him again in Olympus Heights. This will result in you losing Power to the People Station #09. You will also miss the achievement of getting to Sander Cohen's secret room if you are playing the Xbox360 version. -ADAM- The amount of ADAM you acquire in total is limited. In general, you should either always harvest, or always rescue. Having a mix and mesh doesn't grant you as good rewards as focusing on one. My personal recommendation, is to rescue them all. If you are on the Xbox360, you need them for the achievement, and even if you are not, the rewards are still worth the ADAM difference. Now that we've covered the part on earning ADAM, let's look at the spending part. How you spend your ADAM, is MORE important than how you earn it. How you earn the ADAM, the amount is already set. How you spend it, will determine whether you make the most out of it or not. If you are not careful, you will spend unecessary ADAM on a Plasmid you could have gotten cheaper, or bought a Tonic which you could have gotten free, and you don't get refunds on that. In short, you will waste your ADAM needlessly if you don't plan properly. Tonics which can be gotten free, DO NOT buy them. For Plasmids, make sure you buy them at their lowest price. For example, if you want Target Dummy, buying it at Arcadia would cost you 60 ADAM. Buying it at Olypus Heights would cost you 30 ADAM only. You don't get the difference back. And always make sure you buy a Plasmid at the highest tier. For example, if you want Winter Blast, make sure you get Winter Blast 3, at the lowest price. Winter Blast 1 would be overridden by Winter Blast 2, and in turn be overridden by Winter Blast 3. You don't get the ADAM back when they are overridden. Just buy only the highest tier. Refer to the Gatherer's Garden pricelist, as well as the Character Set-Up section. ________________________________________________________________________________ ================ Character Set-up ================ In this section, I will draw up a few plans of how you should set-up and build your character. Most unfortunately, the amount of ADAM given to you doesn't exactly allow you to purchase everything from the Gatherer's Garden. so you will have to spend wisely. You have 3080 ADAM if you rescue all Little Sisters. You have 3360 ADAM if you harvest all Little Sisters. Build 1: -------- All Achievements Build- This build basically aims to fulfil most of the achievements, such as all tonics, all Little Sisters rescued, all the slots. At the same time, we attempt to make a strong build from what we have. You buy all the slots available, all 8 purchase-only tonics from the Gatherer's Garden. The Health Upgrades are especially important. EVE upgrades are less important, but you should still get them. The only Plasmids bought are Electro Bolt 3 and Target Dummy. Purchases: 4 x Plasmid slot 100 = 400 4 x Physical Tonic slot 80 = 320 4 x Engineering Tonic slot 80 = 320 4 x Combat Tonic slot 80 = 320 8 x health upgrade 80 = 640 8 x eve upgrade 80 = 640 All 8 tonics from Gatherer's Garden = 280 ElectroBolt 3 + Target Dummy = 150 All 7 tonics/plasmids from v1.1 = 7 Total = 3077 Build 2: -------- Practical Build- This build focuses on buying only the tonics you need, and as much possible good plasmids. You won't be able to fulfil all achievements though. All Little Sisters are rescued. You have more Plasmids to choose from. Purchases: 4 x Plasmid slot 100 = 400 4 x Physical Tonic slot 80 = 320 4 x Engineering Tonic slot 80 = 320 4 x Combat Tonic slot 80 = 320 8 x health upgrade 80 = 640 7 x eve upgrade 80 = 560 Wrench Lurker 2 + Human Inferno 2 + Armored Shell = 120 ElectroBolt 3 + Target Dummy + Incinerate 3 + Winter Blast 3 OR Insect Swarm 3 = 390 All 7 tonics/plasmids from v1.1 = 7 Total = 3077 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recommended Plasmids and Tonics to equip: Plasmids- Hypnotize Big Daddy Target Dummy Sonic Boom 2 Telekinesis Also, any of the Rank 3 plasmids if you have them. Physical Tonics- Natural Camouflage SportBoost SportBoost 2 EVE Saver Medical Expert 3 Medical Expert 2 Engineering Tonics- Focused Hacker 2 Alarm Expert 2 Speedy Hacker Shorten Alarms 2 Hacking Expert 2 Speedy Hacker 2 Also, replace with Prolific Inventor and Clever Inventor when necessary. If you did not purchase Hacking Expert 2 or Speedy Hacker 2, replace them. Combat Tonics- Armored Shell 2 Human Inferno 2 Electric Flesh 2 Wrench Jockey 2 For the remaining 2, you can either use Wrench Jockey, Armored Shell, Wrench Lurker 2, Damage Research 2. Also include Frozen Field 2 when fighting the final boss. Keep Photographer's Eye 1 or 2 on until you no longer need them. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Plasmids and Tonics Setup strategies: Electro Bolt 3 - This move by itself doesn't do any damage, unless on water. When used, it stuns the enemy for a while. But unfortunately, they recover when they are hit. When Splicers are stunned by this move, if the next attack is a Wrench attack, it will damage them 5 times the normal attack, and will proc Wrench Lurker damage as well. You already get the first one free. Electro Bolt 3 stuns them for longer, making it more effective. If you shoot this at the water, it damages all in the water, including you. You can negate the damage with Electric Flesh, though. Damage for Electro Bolt 3 against enemies in the water is high, but not exactly uber. It has about the same damage as an Incendiary Bolt for a big daddy. This also can be comboed with your melee attacks for better damage. Unfortunately, my main complaint is that this move is totally useless against some enemies, first being Electric Thuggish Splicers, which are immune to all Electric effects, and second being the final boss. It has almost no effect if you shoot this at the final boss directly, and even if you lure him into the water, the damage from this move is reduced a lot. (Some reports say Electro Bolt 3 in the water deals 8000 damage? How is that possible? It barely deals more damage than an Incendiary Bolt on a Big Daddy.) Target Dummy - I highly recommend this one. When you use this, it distracts most enemies into trying to attack the dummy instead of you. You are then given enough time to try to pick your enemies one by one. An enemy will return to attacking you instead of the dummy once you attack them. Basically, it will distract enemies, until you attack them, but you can summon a new one to distract them again. In addition, you can also use this to distract Cameras and Turrets. This plasmid will give you some tactical advantage in some battles. In addition, it will proc the extra damage from Wrench Lurker. I found it particularly useful in Proving Grounds, distracting the enemies to attacking the dummy. This Plasmid has been grossly underrated if you ask me. Enrage - I don't recommend this. I still believe Target Dummy is more effective than this one. It's useful if you want to make enemies attack Big Daddies, otherwise, the Target Dummy is better. Security Bullseye - The only time I found this useful, is when I was trying to reduce a Big Daddy's health without having him go hostile. It's usefulness may be situational, but you get this plasmid free, so why not? Insect Swarm 3 - This is a special Plasmid. It causes DOT (damage over time) to multiple enemies, and distracts them from attacking you. The damage is rather low, so don't count too much on it. It doesn't paralyze enemies, just distracts them periodically. They can still attack you even under the effects, and if you attack them, they will focus their attention on you. This will not proc extra damage from Wrench Lurker. The distraction effect works on Big Daddies. When you are fighting groups of enemies, this move can be useful. It will cause damage to them all while distracting them periodically. But when there is a Big Daddy nearby, this move becomes a liability. This plasmid is far from useless, but the question is, is it worth spending your ADAM to get it, and your EVE to use it. Incinerate 3 - In combat, the best use for this plasmid is to first start with using Incinerate on the target for the DOT, then switch to a weapon to continue your assault. The damage from Incinerate is not very high, so it is recommended to use it in conjunction with your weapons, rather than rely solely on it. Avoid spamming Incinerate, as it uses DOT damage. Overall damage is decent, but damages slowly. Repeating the use of Incinerate increases the damage rate, but defeats the purpose of its lower EVE cost. As an added advantage, this will panic many enemies. Incinerate does little damage against Big Daddies, and won't panic them for more than 1 sec. Damage is also not very much on the Final Boss. Takes some practice to use efficiently with weapons. Winter Blast 3 - It puts enemies in a frozen state for a good amount of time. When enemies are in a frozen state, you can see their health bar changing. They will now start to take Shatter Damage. When their Shatter Health is depleted, they completely shatter and die, leaving no loot behind. Unlike Electro Bolt, enemies hit after being affected by Winter Blast, do not immediately recover. However, in their frozen state, while most enemies can still receive damage to their health, that damage will be significantly reduced. So unless you intend to freeze and Shatter your enemy, this move will not be very useful. Big Daddies take NO health damage while frozen. After a certain period of time, enemies will thaw out. They will also thaw immediately when hit by Fire attack. You can freeze the enemy before they thaw to increase the time they stay frozen. Once an enemy thaws, the shatter damage resets, and you have to redo it. If you intend to stun enemy machines and hack them, you will find that Winter Blast 3 is better than Electro Bolt 3, since it gives you hacking advantage for Cameras. (The other 2 machines will become auto-success.) I would say that this move is useless on Big Daddies, unless you intend to Shatter them, which may as well be just as hard as trying to take them down normally. The good news is that this move affects even the last boss. Bad news is, you can't shatter him, and even though you can stop him from attacking, it reduces much of the damage you deal. Cyclone Trap 2 - This is next to useless to me. It can be good if you like setting traps like Proximity Mine. It can also be used to immediately attack your enemies, but there will be better attacks for that. Enemies going into the trap suffer some damage, and have to take time to get back on their feet. It is completely useless on machines and Big Daddies. Unlike Sonic Boom, this works only on a single enemy, making it next to useless. Do not try to spam this move. If you spam it too fast, it will consume your EVE without activating. Sonic Boom 2 - The damage isn't all that amazing, but it sends groups of enemies flying, giving you time as they try to get back up. In addition, the coverage is wide, so you don't even have to aim this directly at your enemy. Very useful against splicers, especially in groups. It is completely useless on machines and Big Daddies. It's very cheap, and has its uses, so why not? Only available in patches/DLC. Bloodlust - This tonic is not recommended. The amount healed per hit is acceptable, but it will not heal killing blows. So if you kill an enemy in one hit, you do not heal at all. It's not useless, but I think it will be better to use other Tonics. (I know that some people recommend this. But I don't.) Damage Research 2 - I tested this, on a fully researched enemy, using Damage Research 2 adds approximately 20% more damage than not having it. While this is still worth it, I'll like to say that the effect has been much exaggerated. They way they described it, I was expecting at least 50%. 20% on almost every enemy in the whole game is definitely still worth it. You may want to replace it before the final battle, though. Medical Expert - Late in the game, when you have more Health, this becomes important in tough battles. Having more Health restored, makes you last much longer. Stacking Medical Expert 2 and 3 together makes a First Aid Kit heal you twice as much. Recommended to stack 2, unless you need the slot for something else. Wrench Jockey - Past the first stage, under no circumstances should you attack your enemies with the Wrench if you don't have Wrench Jockey 1 or 2, as the damage would be far too low. Personally, I comboed this with Sport Boost and Wrench Lurker, and my Wrench becomes a very efficient weapon on all splicer enemies. If you don't intend to use your Wrench, then save the Combat Slot for other tonics. If you intend to use a Wrench, try to stack Wrench Jockey 1 and 2, and use Sport Boost and Wrench Lurker 2 if you can. Armored Shell - Armored Shell 2 is only available if you save the Little Sisters. It is very worth it in my opinion. It reduces damage from even more attacks you receive. If I am not mistaken, this is how it works. Lets say a normal attack does 8 damage to you. With the Big Daddy effect, it is reduced to 6 damage. With Armored Shell 2, you further reduce that to 4 damage. If you stack it with Armored Shell 1, you reduce that to 3 damage. This is just a rough estimate. Armored Shell is still worth getting, even if you already have Armored Shell 2. You probably won't have enough slots if you are going for Wrench Jockey, though. Frozen Field 2 - Ice damage that you receive is reduced. This effect isn't really that useful, for the simple fact that I counted exactly 2 ice attacks in the whole game. The first is from Ice Houdini Splicers, the second is from the Final Boss. It will probably be useful for the final stage, but not so useful elsewhere. The freezing effect isn't too useful, in my opinion. Many people have already said before, getting no loot isn't something advantageous. Even if you don't take that into consideration, your DPS isn't necessarily increased from this effect. There is another additional effect from the Frozen Field tonics not mentioned. Whenever an enemy use melee attacks on you, they will be damaged, quite similar to Static Discharge. The damage is quite low though. Electric Flesh 2 - It reduces Electric Damage you receive, and increases Electric damage that you deal. You have some useful Electic attacks, quite effective on enemies like Big Daddy, so it is recommended that you get it. It will increase damage on Electric Gel, Electric Buck etc. In addition, if you have Electric Flesh 2 equipped, you do not suffer environmental Electric damage, including from Trap Bolts, or your own ElectroBolt when you are in the water. It will also reduce damage from Electric Thuggish Splicers melee. Human Inferno 2 - This Tonic reduces Fire damage you receive, and increases Fire damage that you deal. Fire damage you receive is the most common, next to bullets and melee, so this will help. In addition, it will also increase damage of fire attacks like Incendiary Bolt and Napalm, etc. There does not appear to be any significant increase of damage with Incinerate though, but maybe that is just me. You will have to buy this from a Gatherer's Garden, since it can't be found. Sport Boost - If they actually increase your movement speed like the description says, I would rate them as the most important Physical Tonic. Unfortunately, they don't. I have personally tested this many times. In the PC version, it doesn't increase your movement speed. It does increase your Wrench attack speed, so if you intend to attack with a Wrench, get it. Pair it with Wrench Jockey, you will get some good DPS. Better movement speed would have meant better strafing and dodge as well. IF IT ACTUALLY WORKED!! Doesn't seem to work for Xbox360 version either. Wrench Lurker - The first one is free, the second has to be purchased. When you become a Big Daddy, most enemies ignore you, but you will still get bonuses when you hit them with this for the first time. Wrench Lurker 1 boost your first hit to 250% damage, Wrench Lurker 2 to 300% damage. You get bonus from using Electro Bolt and Target Dummy as well. (The increase is is proportionate to the nett damage with Wrench Jockey.) It's a question of whether Wrench Lurker 2 is worth 50 ADAM to buy, but if you intend to use Wrench Lurker, you might as well get the better version of course. (I seriously doubt you will have enough slots to use both Wrench Lurkers, if you still intend to equip Tonics that reduce damage you take.) Natural Camouflage - Many people have stressed on this Tonic's usefulness, so I won't go into detail. I would say it is a must-have, not a nice-to-have. Note that when you become a Big Daddy, most enemies would just ignore you, making this Tonic less important. Hacking Expert 2 and Focused Hacker 2 - These 2 are very good Tonics for hacking, but they are only available through purchase. The problem however, isn't with these two tonics. It's with the fact that by endgame, you literally would have run out of things to hack. Hackable objects are limited, so once you have hacked everything, you won't be needing them again. Shorten Alarms 2 - Completely optional. Most of the time, you won't be triggering alarms. But in the rare occasions that you have raised an alarm, you would really wish that it was shorter than 1min. Static Discharge 2 - The effect should be clear, so I won't go into detail. But I will mention this, you DO NOT want to have this on you when you are standing near a Big Daddy. If it triggers, they go hostile on you. Not to mention that Static Discharge is useless against Electric Thuggish Splicers, the one enemy that this should have been good against. This Tonic is just not worth using. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To Wrench, or not to Wrench?- Here, I will do a brief description on the pros and cons of using the Wrench. First, why should you use the Wrench? Well, the Wrench costs nothing to use, unlike other weapons that need ammo. With the right set up, your Wrench can deal a lot of damage, at the cost of having Wrench Tonics in your Combat Tonic slots which could have been used for others. With Sport Boost 1 + 2, as well as Wrench Jockey 1 + 2, you will find yourself having a very high DPS. Against a small group of splicers, you will find that you can kill them a lot faster by strafing and running around with a Wrench, then you would with a Machinegun or Shotgun, running around trying to shoot them dead. And because they cost nothing to use, you will find your gathering of resources much faster, compared to if you were using a weapon that needs ammo. For example, if you used a pistol to kill an enemy, the items and cash that you loot from the enemy may not be able to effectively cover the cost of the ammo used to kill him/her. Using a good Wrench set up ensures that you almost never run out of resources to use, including ammo or First Aid Kits etc. Next, we look at why should you NOT use the Wrench. First off, I'll like to say that the Wrench may work very well on Splicers, but it will not work well on every single enemy. And I'm not just talking about enemies that are in hard to reach places, which would obviously make the Wrench useless in such situations. Enemies like Big Daddies, using Wrench on them would be detrimental. For one thing, they take much more reduced damage from your Wrench, so your DPS would not be very high. Secondly, you DO NOT want to get too close to the Big Daddies. The Bouncer, for obvious reasons, their attacks are most dangerous up close. The Rosie may not be as dangerous up close, but every time you get too close, he gun-butts you, and knocks you down. If you try to melee him, you will still find yourself on the losing end. For the Final Boss, it is possible to use the Wrench and win, just that I don't highly recommend it. Mostly because his attacks are more dangerous up close. Next, apart from SportBoost tonics, making the Wrench effective would mean having to use up a few good Combat Tonic Slots. For example, Wrench Jockey 1 + 2 and Wrench Lurker. These slots could have been used for other things, such as tonics that reduce damage you receive even more, or Damage Research tonics. The main disadvantage of using the Wrench, in my opinion, is that if you specialize your character to be very effective with the Wrench, such as using 2 Wrench Jockey and 2 Wrench Lurker tonics, your character will have great DPS with the Wrench, but when facing enemies that are strong against it, such as Big Daddies, you will find yourself at a significant disadvantage. You need to set some balance in short, as you can't exactly go through the entire game only using the Wrench. So, consider these facts carefully, and decide for yourself if you want to be a Wrench user. My personal recommendation, go for it. Many people claim that the game becomes too easy if you do so, though. ________________________________________________________________________________ ========= PC Issues ========= Settings- The PC version has several settings. Should you wish to know what settings you should use, you should refer to this guide. http://www.tweakguides.com/Bioshock_1.html For having higher performance, it is recommended that you use lower settings for your graphics, as this will give it a smoother framerate. However, the offset of doing that is that the game will not appear as nice, therefore affecting your gaming experience as well. I would recommend leaving High Detail Shaders on, but most of the other settings off, such as Distortion, Reflection, etc. Texture detail should be fine even at the highest setting. It is better for the game to be smooth, then it is to appear pretty at the cost of having the action choppy and laggy. Patch 1.1- When you patch 1.1, some of your settings a reset. Most notably, you have to reconfigure your Input Settings for Misc. DRM Issues- The PC version of this game has some annoying DRM features. In addition to the Disc Check from Securom, requiring the disc in your drive every time you play the game, the game also requires an online connection for installation, and for activation. A lot of people, myself included, found this act to be extremely restrictive, and protested against it. Those without a constant internet connection felt the worst of it. Thankfully, the 5-time activation limits was removed, meaning you can use the code to install as many times as you need. They however, refused to change requiring to go online to activate and install the game. Personally, I have a great disatisfaction with games requiring to go online to authenticate your game. As we have seen from Ubisoft, servers DON'T last forever, and they will fail at some point, and the companies will eventually discontinue their service after a few years. If that were to happen, it would mean you can't play your game any more. Personally, when I buy a game, I expect to be able to play it any time I wish to. Requiring me to connect to the internet to ask for game company's permission to play the game, after they verify that I paid for it, is not acceptable. If I read the fine print of the system requirements of this game before I bought it, I might actually have skipped it. I realized this fact only after I installed it. But it is a seriously good game, to be honest. I just wished the future releases don't have this kind of DRM shit. I buy original games, and I hate to be subjected to such bullshit. These DRM measures harm the consumers, not the pirates. Bioshock 2 DRM- Bioshock 2 is using a disc check, as well as an online date check. The online date check can be flagged by using an offline activator from Securom support site. Overall, the DRM of Bioshock 2 is more acceptable than Bioshock 1 in my honest opinion. However, Bioshock 2 uses Games for Windows Live, and like all other GFWL, they encode your saves. This basically means that you can't simply copy your save files over to another computer. If you reformat your computer, or try to bring your save file over to another computer, it will not work. In short, if you want to backup your savegames, you're screwed. (From what I heard, it is possible to use some tools that can allow you to transfer the saves to a different profile, but you need to keep your profile files from the GFWL program folder as well. Not too sure on the details yet.) Bioshock Infinite DRM- The worst DRM in my honest opinion. Using Steam means that all you pay for is a bloody code. If you buy the retail box, the discs are bloody useless. After installation, you don't need them, and no one else can use them. You can't resell the box either (unless you are trying to cheat the buyer). Do you support pirating this game?- First off, I'll like to say that I don't support piracy normally. But even though I paid for the retail version of this game, I have to say this is one of the rare exceptions. Any game that requires you to go online to connect to a server, simply for the sake of verifying that you paid for this game, is UNACCEPTABLE NO MATTER THE REASONS FOR IT. You are essentially going to that server to ask permission to play the game, even though you paid for it. For such games, I cannot honestly in good faith recommend paying for it. Such games do not deserve our money, no matter how good they are. Some people believe that no reason is ever good enough to be a pirate. I believe in the reverse. No reason is ever good enough, for a game company to force a legitimate buyer of a game to go on to a server to ask for permission to play it. I do not recommend that you pay money for this game. Interpret that any way you wish. Perhaps one day, these game companies will actually get the message: LEGITIMATE BUYERS/OWNERS DO NOT WANT TO BE SCREWED BY YOUR CRAPPY DRM! I can understand if you disagree with me, but please do not send me your arguments. You are free to agree or disagree, just don't expect me to conform to your views. You are entitled to your own opinion, just please don't tell me about it. I've seen too many of these arguments, and I have no intention of starting another. ________________________________________________________________________________ ========================== Frequently Asked Questions ========================== --- Q: Does SportBoost increase your movement speed? A: I do not believe so. At least for the PC version. I ran many tests. With SportBoost 2, stacking SportBoost 1 and 2, and no SportBoost. The movement speed is all the same. There is no difference with the movement speed. It does increase your Wrench attack speed, but I really don't believe that in increases your movement speed. --- Q: What is the total amount of ADAM you can get, if you harvest the Little Sisters, or rescue them all? A: If you harvest them all, you get 3360 ADAM. If you rescue them all, you get 3080, including a few tonics and one plasmid. There are 21 Little Sisters. Every Little Sister you harvest gives you 160 ADAM. Every Little Sister you rescue gives you 80 ADAM. Every 3 Little Sister you rescue gives you 200 ADAM. (A net loss of 40 ADAM for every 3 Little Sister you rescue.) --- Q: I can't find Human Inferno Tonics! How can I get them? A: You must be using PC version 1.0. Human Inferno is not inside that version. It is an error, as it was intended to be included. Once you patch it to 1.1, you can get it normally. --- Q: What are the Tonics or Plasmids available from Tenenbaum's gifts? A: They are: Hypnotize Big Daddy Safecracker Hypnotize Big Daddy 2 Prolific Inventor Armored Shell 2 There are 7 gifts, and 2 of them do not have significant rewards apart from the ADAM. --- Q: In order to get the best ending, do you really have to Rescue all 21 Little Sisters? A: Let's assume that you don't need the achievement. Personally, I used a seperate save file. I had 20 sisters rescued, 1 harvested. I still managed to get the best ending. People have been saying you need ALL. I'm not so sure that is entirely true. --- Q: This is strange. I have both Sonic Boom and Sonic Boom 2? A: This is normal. Sonic Boom 2 does not replace Sonic Boom. --- Q: Is it possible to freeze and shatter a Big Daddy? A: It is, but not highly recommended. When enemies are frozen, they receive normal damage, as well as shatter damage. Shatter damage always resets when the enemy thaw, so you have to get it done all at once. When their shatter endurance hits 0, they shatter. For Big Daddies, when they are frozen, they take Shatter damage, but they DO NOT take normal damage. Meaning if you fail, you gain nothing. For me, here was how I did it. I used Winter Blast 3, fired Shotguns, immediately go back to Winter Blast, reload, Winter Blast again, fired the shotgun, repeated this process, that's how I shattered the Big Daddy. There are better ways to defeat them. --- Q: I have Wrench Jockey tonic. I just Researched a Bouncer to get the Wrench damage bonus, but the damage I deal is not increased? A: Don't be fooled by the description. Here's how it actually works. Wrench base damage is 20. Wrench Jockey 1 and 2 adds 70 and 110 damage respectively. The permanent melee damage bonus from researching Bouncers only adds 10 more damage. Whoopee. --- Q: What is the best way to defeat a Big Daddy? A: Personally, I would say the best weapon is the Chemical Gun Electric Gel. Other weapons like Shotgun Electric Buck, Incendiary Bolt, Frag Grenade, Machine Gun with Armor Piercing rounds would also work. --- Q: Should I Rescue or Harvest Little Sisters? A: Again, the choice is completely yours, but I would still recommend Rescuing them. You can only get Armored Shell 2 this way. The difference is 280 ADAM, versus a few Plasmids and Tonics. --- Q: I am trying to get the Brass Balls achievement. Do I have to complete the whole game in Hard, or just the final stage? A: There are ways to achieve it without going through the whole game in Hard. All you have to do is to have the setting at Hard before you complete the game. View here for details. http://www.trueachievements.com/a11309/brass-balls-achievement.htm --- Q: Are the prices on the Gatherer's Garden you listed correct? They seem to be different from some FAQs. A: I checked a few FAQs, and their pricing on some of the tonics. Some of them are different from what I actually have. I don't have the 360 version, but after checking with Bioshock Wiki website, I am positive that these guys made the mistake, not me. There are no mistakes on the pricing for the PC version in my guide. --- Q: Which are the areas that we cannot revisit? A: The areas that you cannot return to, are: Welcome to Rapture Rapture Center Control Any Audio-Diaries you missed out in these two areas are gone forever. You also cannot return to Crash Site. --- Q: You mentioned this tonic/plasmid as a loot. But I am seeing it in the Gatherer's Garden now? And you did not list the price of this tonic/plasmid either. A: Any Tonics or Plasmids you have already acquired, whether through looting or purchase, will not show up in the Gatherer's Garden. I did not list out the prices of those lootable Tonics/Plasmids. You are not recommended to buy them this way either, because ADAM is the one thing that is limited. Most of these Tonics and Plasmids are not missable, you can go back and get them. Buying them just wastes your ADAM. --- Q: What happens if we buy a tonic instead of taking it as loot? A: The tonic where you could have found it as loot is gone forever. --- Q: Is it just me, or is this game too easy? Even on Hard Mode with Vita-Chambers off, it is still easy. A: I do not agree, in the sense that I do not believe this game is easy by default. However, it does have the potential to become very easy, depending how you play the game. Basically, it's not that the enemies are weak, it's that you can become too powerful. Remember when you started the game, most of the enemies offered you some challenge, even on Normal. Those Big Daddies are especially tough. Past Neptune's Bounty, after you get stronger, assuming that you build your character right, most of the seem easier and easier. Good tonics, many weapons, effective research, all these add up until you become a powerhouse. With the Big Daddy suit and the damage reduction tonics, you become very durable. But you didn't always start out like that. Using your resources right, customizing you character effectively, all these add to your power. That gives you potentially the chance to be very powerful. If you did not conserve your resources, such as bullets, and if you did not build your character right, you will find this game harder. --- Q: What is this Survival Mode I keep hearing about? A: Survival Mode is basically a higher difficulty mode, higher than Hard difficulty. It is only available on the PS3 version. --- Q: I heard that there is a glitch that lets you harvest/save more than 21 Little Sisters. Is it true? A: Yes, it does exist. It is more like an exploit than a glitch. Basically, in some parts, a Little Sister automatically spawns, as part of the storyline. And this happens even if you have already dealt with all the Little Sisters in the stage. If that happens, you can get extra one. More information can be found here. Unfortunately, I have not tested much of this myself. I hope to do so in future. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/924919-bioshock/42810264 --- Q: I heard about a difficulty and balance mod for the PC version. Should I try it? A: I really wouldn't bother. They fix everything, except for the one thing that really needs to be fixed. Have they actually tested Sportboost, and check to see if it really was working the way it was supposed to? If they couldn't fix something simple such as Sportboost, I certainly wouldn't want to be touching one of their mods. If they can fix Sportboost, I'll think about it. --- Q: Can I contact you? A: My email is strictly off-limits. If you wish to contact me, go to the Gamefaqs board if I am still around. If I am not there any more, contact me by my blog. http://cyberakuma.livejournal.com/ Any emails sent to me will be deleted promptly, and possibly blocked. --- Q: Can I post your guide on my website? A: Yes you may. Provided that you do not alter any part of this guide. You don't have to ask for permission, but it would be nice if you can drop a notice on my blog. ________________________________________________________________________________ ================== CREDITS/REFERENCES ================== Thanks to AboutLastNight's Walkthrough and Checklist, which was the one I used. Thanks to Joystick's mechanics guide. His guide is very useful in describing damage. This website also has a lot of information on Bioshock. http://bioshock.wikia.com/ Notes: There were other walkthroughs from other people. But most of these walkthroughs have a problem: they were missing a few items from their list. SHORTEN ALARMS seems to be too hard for some of them to find. TheCrimsonOmen's guide could have had a good checklist, but unfortunately, he's missing a few items, such as SECURITY EXPERT. These guides may be useful if you are a first timer. But if you intend to get all the tonics, achievements, and optimize your ADAM, then I cannot honestly in good faith, recommend you these guides. For example. Powerless listed SHORTEN ALARMS as available only through a Gatherer's Garden. That is why I cannot recommend his guide. ________________________________________________________________________________ =================== - LEGAL INFORMATION - =================== THIS DOCUMENT IS PROTECTED BY INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT LAWS. ALL COPYRIGHTS OF THIS DOCUMENT ITSELF BELONG TO THE AUTHOR. THIS AUTHOR IS NOT AFFLIATED WITH THE CREATORS OF THE GAME, 2KGAMES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. UNAUTHORISED COPYING OR REPRODUCTION WILL RESULT IN LEGAL ACTION BEING TAKEN AGAINST THE OFFENDING PARTY. ________________________________________________________________________________ ------------------- End of Document By Chen Guojun COPYRIGHT 2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED -------------------