BioShock 2: Starting tips - list bioshock2 Guide

Last update: 22 May 2022

On this page of our guide, you will find a set of starting tips to BioShock 2. The following tips and tricks will help you start your adventure with the game, as well as reduce the risk of character's death. Also, you won't make and repeat the most common mistakes. More information about the main game mechanics can be found on separate pages of our guide.

1) Save the game manually whenever possible - just as in the first part of the series, you can make manual saves whenever you want, and you don't have to rely solely on auto-saves. Saving the game costs nothing, and it can save you in case you make a mistake or fail to complete some action. We recommend to save the game before you enter each new location and start each new gathering of ADAM while being accompanied by a little sister. In the case of the latter, you should load the previously saved game if the sister is attacked and the process of collecting Adam may prematurely end.

2) Prepare yourself for every battle with Big Sister - Big Sisters are a new type of enemies in BioShock 2 and you can easily forget about them. On the other hand, they are very dangerous, especially if you play at a higher difficulty level. Big sisters appear in a few locations as imposed enemies (use our walkthrough to get more info about them). Also, they usually spawn just a moment after you deal with all sisters in each of the main areas. Knowing about the upcoming attack of a big sister, try to cure the hero, restore the EVE bar, choose one of the best weapons from the inventory and, if possible, set a trap in the vicinity.

3) Use traps and take control over turrets or bots while collecting ADAM with little sister - after catching a little sister in BioShock 2, you can go hunting with her and help her drain ADAM from the corpses. Various Splicers will interrupt this process. As in the case of a confrontation with big sister, you should prepare for defense - set as many traps as possible along the main corridors and try to 'tame' as many surrounding bots and turrets as possible. After enemies begin to appear, stay close to little sister and wipe out all opponents that managed to avoid the traps. You can get a trophy for ensuring a perfect protection of little sister but the main objective is to collect as much ADAM as possible.

4) You can choose a high difficulty level right away, but only if you know the first part of the game - many of the main mechanics in BioShock 2 are very similar to those in the first installment, so you won't have to learn everything from a scratch. Selecting a high level of difficulty immediately makes it possible, at least theoretically, to acquire the platinum trophy in a single game run.

5) Immediately examine all the locations in 100%, because you can't return to them later - This is a big impediment in comparison to BioShock 1, which allowed you to return to almost all already visited locations by using a bathysphere. After you enter the next area or new location in BioShock 2, you won't be able to access the previous one. Carefully explore every area to find all collectibles. We recommend using our walkthrough and world atlas to find all audio logs (collectibles / secrets), weapons upgrade stations, plasmids and gene tonics.

6) Try to record the best possible videos with the camera - This is a modified mechanics compared to the camera available in BioShock 1. Start recording a video immediately after you begin the battle with enemies. Aim to effectively eliminate opponents and look for opportunities to use various types of weapons, plasmids, and environmental elements to defeat enemies. This will allow you to get high scores for your videos and conduct research faster at a much faster pace. Promotion to each subsequent level of research is rewarded. The reward can be, for example, a new gene tonic or a damage bonus that occurs in subsequent battles with the same variations of opponents.

7) Familiarize yourself with the new version of the mini hacker game - At first glance it seems simpler than the one present in the first part of BioShock, but in fact it can be more demanding because it requires a perfect timing (and feeling) to keep the indicator on the green or blue fields. Do not forget about the possibility of using tonics to reduce the level of complexity of the mini-game.

8) Save money to buy new slots for plasmids and gene tonics - This is something you should remember about if you completed the first part of BioShock. The presence of a larger number of active slots will allow you to use more plasmids and rely on a greater number of passive bonuses that are guaranteed by gene tonics.