Which tonics and plasmids are best in Bioshock? Bioshock guide, walkthrough
Last update: 04 February 2020
After reading this part of the guide, you can learn about the best tonics and best plasmids featured in Bioshock. We have prepared our proprietary descriptions for tonics and plasmids with our recommendations regarding their usefulness during the game.
Introductory note
- Don't limit yourself to purchasing the first level of a plasmid. You should definitely be interested in unlocking the next levels, which, depending on the plasmid, can, for example, increase its duration, add new properties, or allow you to more effectively weaken enemies.
- Try to constantly buy new slots for plasmids and tonics, spending Adam at the Gatherer's Gardens. This will allow you to have more plasmids and tonics active as you progress through the game. Only active plasmids can be used, and only active tonics guarantee statistics bonuses or other passive bonuses.
Best tonics in BioShock 1
Below are just our recommendations for the most interesting tonics. A full list of them can be found on a separate page titled Tonics-description.
 | Natural Camouflage This is an excellent tonic for preventing detection since it guarantees invisibility at the moment when the hero is standing still. You can use this to get through the patrolled areas, to lose pursuit or to escape detection of the rotating cameras and turrets. |
 | SportBoost This tonic increases the damage done by the Wrench and increases the walking speed. The first bonus is useful for attacking enemies by surprise. The second is more versatile-you can not only approach enemies but also avoid their attacks easier. |
 | Medical Expert This tonic allows you to restore more health points using first aid kits. It can especially help you during the game at higher difficulty levels when the possibility of frequent treatment of the hero is more limited. |
 | EVE Link This allows you to also restore EVE points when using first aid kits. If you regularly use plasmids that devour large amounts of EVE, consider putting it in the active slot. |
 | Speedy Hacker This is a useful tonic, but only in the future when you start to face locks and devices that are more difficult to hack. A higher level of security means a higher level of complexity of the hacking mini-game and the Speedy Hacker tonic will reduce the risk of failure. |
 | Prolific Inventor This is a great tonic for increasing the efficiency of crafting based on the U-Invent. From the moment the tonic is placed in the active slot, two parts of a given item are made. This way, you can quickly restore inventory and use less raw materials. |
 | Safecracker This tonic reduces the complexity of the hacking mini-game when cracking safes. Safes are the best protected objects in the game. We recommend that you activate this tonic only temporarily while you return to an exceptionally well-protected safe that you find. |
 | Photographer's Eye This is an extremely important tonic for studying all opponents with the camera. This speeds up the process of studying enemies, and you can get all the research bonuses by taking lower-quality pictures. |
 | Armored Shell This is one of the best tonics for keeping the main character alive. Its effect is to significantly increase the resistance of the managed character to injuries. This difference is especially appreciated If you play on one of the higher difficulty levels. |
Best plasmids in BioShock 1
Below are just our recommendations for the most interesting plasmids. Keep in mind that plasmids can be substituted depending on the specifics of a given location. For example, when exploring the "icy" location, you should equip the Incinerate! plasmid, and at the stage with a large amount of water, Electro Bolt will be useful. The full list of plasmids can be found on a separate page titled Plasmids-description and maps.
 | Electro Bolt This is the most important and useful plasmid throughout the entire game, and as a result, it is worth, as far as possible, constantly placing it in one of the slots. With Electro Bolt, you can paralyze enemies and subject them to further attacks. The plasmid is even more effective if the attacked enemies are standing in the water. Alternatively, use the Electro Bolt to sabotage devices. This will allow you to easily approach bots, turrets, and cameras with the intention of hacking them. |
 | Incinerate! Incinerate! This is another very useful plasmid. Incinerate can be used, of course, to set fire to enemies and elements of the environment, although it also has two other important uses-you can set fire to oil stains (e.g. to prepare traps) and melting ice to unlock passageways and "frozen" treasures. |
 | Telekinesis The most important feature of this plasmid is that you can capture objects from a distance. This can be useful for you to catch seemingly inaccessible items or throw them at your opponents. Telekinesis is very useful for the destruction of the towers. |
 | Hypnotyze Big Daddy This plasmid will be useful locations with Big Daddies. After hypnotizing this very strong opponent, he can fight on your side for a while. Use this plasmid if you are facing a large number of enemies and if you are playing at a higher difficulty level, and you don't want to risk a difficult encounter and save supplies. |
 | Winter Blast This is an extremely useful plasmid, the main action of which is the ability to freeze enemies and devices (cameras, bots, and defensive towers). You can easily attack a properly frozen opponent (note - if you break it in frozen form, it will not leave loot behind!) and easily get to temporarily frozen devices with the intention of hacking them. |