BioShock 2: Which plasmids and tonics are the best? bioshock2 Guide

NAME OF THE RECOMMENDED PLASMID

WHAT MAKES A PARTICULAR PLASMID USEFUL?

Electro Bolt

The most popular use for this plasmid is the ability to electrocute and stun enemies. This is a great way to stop them and make vulnerable to your next attacks. You can also use this plasmid to temporarily sabotage turrets and cameras, as well as to open doors.

Improved versions of this plasmid allow e.g. to use area of effect attacks. You will be able to hit all the enemies that are in the plasmid's range.

Incinerate!

With this plasmid, you can set enemies on fire and make them lose health gradually. However, this isn't the only way to use this plasmid - you can also set fire to oil stains found in some rooms. The advantage of this solution is that you can simultaneously set fire to all the enemies in the area. Always wait with setting oil on fire until the enemies are in the position.

The Incinerate plasmid also allows you to melt ice, for example, to reveal loot or unlock a passage. Upgrading this plasmid increases the power of fire projectiles.

Security Command

This is a useful plasmid, especially at higher levels of difficulty, which allows you to focus the attention of all the surrounding machines on the affected enemy. They will attack that enemy, without your direct involvement. This will reduce the risk of injury and help you save ammunition and other supplies.

Try to upgrade this plasmid - when you mark a target, you can force security bots to arrive. Their attacks will have a better chance of defeating the enemy or leaving them severely injured after the alarm is over.

Summon Eleanore

This is a unique plasmid because it only has one level and is acquired only in the penultimate stage, Persephone Outer. However, it is extremely useful in all final battles, because it allows you to summon the immortal Eleanore, who can support the hero during the battle. This plasmid makes battles challenging easier to win.

Unfortunately, Summon Eleanore plasmid consumes a lot of EVE, but we still recommend activating it in all big battles. Eleanore stays active for a few minutes, and that should be enough to win any major confrontation.

Hypnotize

This plasmid has a similar purpose as the Security Command plasmid described earlier - its main use is to eliminate or weaken enemies without directly engaging them in combat. Opponents affected by this plasmid will start attacking each other. Then you can, for example, stand aside and wait for the outcome of the match.

It is very important to improve this plasmid, as this will allow you to hypnotize stronger opponents. After you unlock its third level, you will be able to hypnotize e.g. Alpha Series and Big Daddies. The only type of opponents that Hypnotize won't work on are the Big Sisters.

Winter Blast

This plasmid is a good replacement for Electro Bolt. It can temporarily stop the opponents by freezing them. It is worth noting that this works not only to living characters but also on protection systems.

As with other plasmids, you should try to unlock Winter Blast upgrades. The second level of this plasmid allows you to turn opponents into a block of ice. Then you can use Telekinesis plasmid and break that block. The improved Winter Blast plasmid can also transmit the freeze effect to other enemies who come into contact with the target.

NAME OF THE RECOMMENDED TONIC

WHAT MAKES THIS TONIC ESPECIALLY USEFUL?

Armored Shell

This tonic grants you increased damage resistance. This is a very useful bonus, especially when playing at the high difficulty level.

You can also get an improved version of this tonic, which further increases the character's resistance.

Careful Hacker

This tonic reduces the difficulty level of all hacking mini-games by reducing the speed of the pointer. This is especially useful if you use hacking to help you progress in the game (e.g. sabotaging turrets).

You can also get an improved version of this tonic that slows down the indicator even more.

Damage Research

This tonic is useful only in the later portion of the game, because its effect is to increase the damage dealt thanks to the opponents' research (with the camera).

Deadly Machines

This is a very useful tonic if you use hacking on bots and turrets. All security objects hacked in this way can cause additional damage to opponents. This increases the probability that the bot or turret will kill a specific enemy/enemies before it gets destroyed.

We also recommend Handyman and Hardy Machines tonics, which will allow you to repair machines and give them more energy points.

Demanding Father

This tonic is only useful when you try to rescue all the Little Sisters and collect ADAM. It allows you to speed up the collection of this resource. This reduces the risk that the Little Sister will be successfully attacked by an enemy and take damage.

Elemental Vampire

This may be an interesting tonic to recover lost health points. You can start using it near the end of the game because you need to use Electro Bolt 3, Incinerate 3, or Winter Blast 3 plasmids. Successful attacks with this tonic will allow you to suck the lives out of enemies and replenish your health points.

EVE Saver

This is another tonic reserved rather exclusively for playing on a high difficulty, where it is more difficult to get supplies. Once you place this tonic in the slot, all plasmids will consume less EVE. This will allow you to use them more often before your "mana" reserves run out.

You can also get an improved version of this tonic, which further reduces the consumption of EVE.

Extended Reel

Consider using this tonic if you have problems with researching enemies. This tonic increases the length of each camera recording, and it makes it easier to get a higher note for the videos.

Keen Observer tonic is also useful - it increases the research points when recording fights.

Fountain of Youth

This tonic is also useful mainly when playing the game on high. The hero can recover health and EVE every time he gets into a puddle of water. This can allow you to save supplies and keep them for the most difficult battles.

Headhunter

This can be a very good tonic for saving ammunition, but it requires good aiming. This allows you to deal much more damage to opponents but this applies only to headshots. Try to use high-precision weapons with this tonic.

Natural Camouflage

This is probably the best tonic for sneaking and stealth attacks. It allows you to become partially invisible when standing still. You can use this tonic to avoid detection by cameras and turrets, sneak up on enemies, set traps, or lose the chase.

Short Circuit

This is a useful tonic if you want to make confrontations with enemy machines (bots, turrets, etc.) easier. At the first level, Short Circuit plasmid sabotages machines for much longer. At the second level, the machines are completely deactivated. In both cases, you can use the extra time to destroy, avoid, or hack this device.

Sports Boost

This tonic is worth getting if you aren't satisfied with the hero's movement speed. It makes the character slightly faster and this can be useful both for faster exploration and greater mobility in combat.