Vgchartz Official BioShock 2 Thread

[GodOfWar_3ever]

The Plasmids of BioShock 2 -

February 4, 2010 - Whether it's meeting that annoying acquaintance who always has to get in the last word, bumping into that person on the subway who emits a musty odor, or arguing with the guy at the local sandwich shop who consistently adds tomatoes to your sub after very directly being told not to do so; everyone's got a moment when they wish they could shoot lighting from their hands. Thanks to genetic modification, plasmids, and the magic of interactive entertainment, you can do just that in BioShock 2. 

These are the equivalent of magic powers in the game, some of which you'll find scattered around Rapture, and some of which you'll pick up from the Gatherer's Garden machines. To buy upgrades you'll need Adam, which you pick up primarily by dealing with Little Sisters that wander around the city. Unlike the first game, you're not required to swap between plasmid and weapon use, which makes things a little easier for when you're trying to combo enemies with a lightning bolt and swat from your rivet gun. 

Another difference with BioShock 2 is how the plasmids evolve as they're upgraded. Instead of just doing more damage, for instance, the offensive plasmids will have altered functionality if you choose to invest in purchasing the best versions. A few other plasmids help out with navigating around enemies and with crowd control if you're feeling overwhelmed. Also covered will be a few of the tonics you get as you move through the story, which -- like plasmids -- can be found around Rapture and purchased from the Gatherer's Garden machines. Assuming you dump Adam into all the slot upgrades, you'll eventually open up space to hold eight active plasmids and 18 active tonics on your character, which can always be swapped around at a Gene Bank. 

Electrobolt: Useful through the entire game, Electrobolt stuns enemies and makes them more vulnerable to melee swipes. It'll knock security bots out of the air in one hit and disable cameras and turrets, giving you time to dart in for a quick hack job. It's also the plasmid of choice if an enemy is standing in a pool of water, dealing extra damage to all those with wet feet. If it's upgraded once, you get the option to charge up the Electrobolt to turn it into a chain lighting attack that arcs from target to target. The third upgrade eliminates the need to charge the attack to get it to chain. Now, if you charge the plasmid before firing, it'll unleash a lighting storm from your hand that continuously fires, damaging and stunning everything in its area of effect. This also sucks Eve as long as it remains active. 

Telekinesis: When equipped, this plasmid lets you manipulate objects in the environment so you can shoot them back at enemies to inflict damage. It's also useful for pulling out of reach ammunition or health pickups from hard to reach places towards you. Also, larger objects that you keep suspended in midair can function as shields. The second level upgrade boosts the damage you do when you hit an enemy with an object, and at level three you can actually pick up some of the smaller enemies in the game and hurl them at targets. 

Electrobolt lighting up the room.

Cyclone Trap: At its base level, this plasmid lets you set a whirling vortex on the ground that -- when triggered by enemies -- launches them high into the air, dealing damage, which is useful especially during Little Sister defense sequences. Bumping this up to level two allows you to infuse individual cyclone traps with other plasmid effects. So if you want to add lighting, fire, or ice to your traps, you can go right ahead. By upgrading it to level three, you'll gain the additional ability to set traps on the ceiling and along walls. 

Hypnotize: Probably my most used plasmid, this one at its base level causes splicers to attack each other. So if there are two in a room, you can hit them both with this thing and they'll battle to the death, or until the effect wears off. It's not really effective against a single splicer. However, upgrade this plasmid to level two and the splicers you hit will become friendly targets and fight for you for a little while. At level three, you gain the ability to turn Big Daddies and brute splicers into compatriots for a little while. 

Decoy: This plasmid can be used to summon a phantom image of yourself in Rapture, which works to divert enemy attacks for a little while. Upgrading it has the nice effect of actually reflecting damage back at any attackers who get drawn in, and at its maximum upgrade level the reflected damage is also fed back to you as health. Pretty useful in a jam. 

Telekinesis can fling bodies when fully upgraded.

Security Command: With this plasmid you can paint enemies to be targeted by security bots and cameras. This lets you trigger camera alerts for wandering enemies from a distance as well as serves as a control mechanic for any of your hacked security bots. At level two this lets you summon friendly bots at any time, and the last upgrade turns the bots into 'elite' versions of the basic friendly fliers. In combination with the Handyman tonic that lets you repair bots, this can be a great way to get around Rapture without having to use the Vita-Chambers or reload your game.

As far as tonics go in BioShock 2, they can be broken down into a few main categories. Depending on how you want to play, it helps to have a number of them equipped at once to make hacking easier, speed up research, reduce prices at vending machines, or make Little Sister defense sequences a little easier. Though the majority of tonics are found on the ground or bought in Gatherer's Garden machines, you do get a few by maxing out the research tracks for each enemy type. 

Hacking: Hacking's a big part of life in Rapture, from taking control of security bots to rigging health restoration machines as traps to reducing prices at vending machines. The Hacker's Delight tonic restores some health and Eve with every hack, Deadly Machines causes hacked bots and turrets to dish out more punishment, Thrifty Hacker further reduces vending machine prices, Careful Hacker makes the hacking mini-game easier, and Hardy Machines boosts the health of any hacked bots or turrets, to name a few. 

Research: If you want to take fewer videos of your foes to unlock bonuses, then these are some of the tonics you want to make sure are equipped. Extended Reel lets your research sessions last longer than normal, Damage Research gives you more of a bonus to damage across research levels, and Keen Observer moves progress along at a quicker clip. 

Take care which tonics you equip.

Drill Power: There's no wrench in BioShock 2, but in its place you get the option to melee with any weapon in the game. If you decide you're a fan of the drill arm, then you'll want to equip some of the following tonics. Drill Specialist will drop the cost of all plasmids but restrict you to only using the drill, hack tool, and camera, Drill Power lets you do more damage with the drill, Freezing Drill gives you percent chance to freeze enemies you hit, and Drill Vampire siphons health and Eve as you do drill damage. 

That's not all you can do in BioShock 2, but hopefully it gives you a sufficient overview of the kind of options that are available. In combination with the weapons and alternate types of ammunition highlighted yesterday, you can get some interesting results. Be sure to check back again tomorrow for more BioShock 2 coverage to close out the week.