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Bioshock Infinite |OT| No Gods, Kings, or Irrational Games

Zeliard

Member
Love the Shield when getting bombarded and can sneak a rest in. But what did those who completed 1999 concentrate their upgrades towards.

Salt and Shields in full, Hand Cannon and Carbine in full, and various Vigors (fully upgraded Possession, Murder of Crows, and Undertow, got one upgrade for various others).
 

malfcn

Member
For had I maxed out Shields, and then divided health/salts. I didn't upgrade Vigors much because I always hoard resources, and didn't use the powers much. For weapons I relied on the Shotgun and Sniper. Feeling like mixing it up a little this time if the difficulty allowed for it.
 

MartyStu

Member
For had I maxed out Shields, and then divided health/salts. I didn't upgrade Vigors much because I always hoard resources, and didn't use the powers much. For weapons I relied on the Shotgun and Sniper. Feeling like mixing it up a little this time if the difficulty allowed for it.

I really suggest the hand cannon. Like using a shotgun, but effective for medium range.
 

malfcn

Member
I can use possession on Dollar Bill's to steal coins for the achievement of not buying from them, right? Want to make sure any interaction won't spoil the pop-up.
 

Cudder

Member
I can use possession on Dollar Bill's to steal coins for the achievement of not buying from them, right? Want to make sure any interaction won't spoil the pop-up.

Correct. You can even activate them, but so long as you dont purchase anything youre good.
 
I can use possession on Dollar Bill's to steal coins for the achievement of not buying from them, right? Want to make sure any interaction won't spoil the pop-up.

Well I'll be damned... I didn't even know this was possible!

My next playthrough will be 1999 mode without using any vending machines, and try and mix it up with the weapons/vigors I use.

At the moment (semi-close to the end) I feel like I've sort of ruined the combat because fully upgraded charge just makes everything too easy!
 

RDreamer

Member
Is there a strategy to the Motorized Patriot battles on 1999 mode? I feel like the only real way to beat them is to cheese it and circle a pillar. That's how I beat the first two without dying.

I do like the mode for the most part, so far. I'm doing it trying to get the trophy for not using that Dollar Bill machine, and it's pretty nice being forced to grab different guns just to have ammo. I do feel like hits take a bit too much health away, though. It really forces you to turtle just slightly too much.
 
Finished 1999, sorely disappointed that it wasn't some kind of remixed mode that altered a core mechanic in some way or another, and instead acted just as another plain higher difficulty level of increasing enemy health and damage. Disabling nav arrows and the penalty for dying with no money were meaningless as they meant nothing for me before either. Seems completely pointless to give it that kind of name while not actually evoking anything about SS2 as the name would imply.

I wish they didn't go the typical two gun, regenerating health, sprinting, ADS, modern shooter route with their design, I quite liked the methodical approach to combat and encounter design in the original Bioshock. It was initially disappointing, but on its own merits it's fine, it's just that there are so many of these types of games that I just completely gloss over because they play so homogeneously that I'd rather more games like the original BS, or hey, SS. Though it was a nice touch to have gears randomize a bit for every run, I like that bit of improvisational character building while the stat upgrades had one single obviously superior path that I wish there was something to mix that up too.

Also this might be just me, but when a game steers more towards being a basic shooter I find the general act of looting a lot more tedious than a game that has a persistent inventory of some sort. I'll just take everything, there's no choice between what I want to carry and what I want to leave behind, just let me suck it all up instead of mashing use on everything in the environment and having Elizabeth constantly tossing coins at me.

During my first playthrough I found 77 voxos, on the next I found 2 that I missed which were behind ciphers/locks that I didn't get to. Figures that the last one I needed would be plainly obvious that I just happened to be completely blind to both in both runs. Hah.

Reposting this for the new page as I'm still curious:
One thing that's been bugging me that I haven't found an answer to about a side character, I might have just missed something or it's going over my head but
why does the wanted poster for Preston Downs posted on the chalkboard in the police station list him as Morgan Creed?
 

voltron

Member
Someone tell me please.... I dont to research or think or make a decision. Should I play on hard or medium? Is medium too easy? I just got my 3rd vigor and got to the station to take me to ****ment Island and thus the first rail jump.

Medium seems kinda easy. Its easy. Im hearing rumblings of hard being the way to go. Is it like Halo - Heroic? SHOULD I RESTART NOW? On 360 by the way.

Also considering theres the 1999 mode for the second play through as well.
 
Someone tell me please.... I dont to research or think or make a decision. Should I play on hard or medium? Is medium too easy? I just got my 3rd vigor and got to the station to take me to ****ment Island and thus the first rail jump.

Medium seems kinda easy. Its easy. Im hearing rumblings of hard being the way to go. Is it like Halo - Heroic? SHOULD I RESTART NOW? On 360 by the way.

Also considering theres the 1999 mode for the second play through as well.

You should switch to hard. Fortunately, you can just pause the game and change the difficulty option on the fly!
 

Easy_D

never left the stone age
Boss Spoilers:
Fuck the Lady Comstock fight
. Is it me or is there a huge diffuculty spike here? I could probably do it if not for the fact that my keyboard is broken so I have to play with a 360 pad, which has been working out just fine until now, game has been a literal breeze, save the previous Handyman fight, which sucked, until I got a strategy down. I don't have the accuracy needed for this :(.

Playing on hard.
 

DSmalls84

Member
Boss Spoilers:
Fuck the Lady Comstock fight
. Is it me or is there a huge diffuculty spike here? I could probably do it if not for the fact that my keyboard is broken so I have to play with a 360 pad, which has been working out just fine until now, game has been a literal breeze, save the previous Handyman fight, which sucked, until I got a strategy down. I don't have the accuracy needed for this :(.

Playing on hard.

Not just you. Upgraded Devil's Kiss works really well for that fight.
 

pa22word

Member
How I handled that particular fight on '99 mode was just by throwing shock jockey traps at said bosses' feet, putting up a return to sender shield, and emptying chamber after chamber of hand cannon shots into the bosses head until the boss died.
 

JB1981

Member
Is there a strategy to the Motorized Patriot battles on 1999 mode? I feel like the only real way to beat them is to cheese it and circle a pillar. That's how I beat the first two without dying.

I do like the mode for the most part, so far. I'm doing it trying to get the trophy for not using that Dollar Bill machine, and it's pretty nice being forced to grab different guns just to have ammo. I do feel like hits take a bit too much health away, though. It really forces you to turtle just slightly too much.

Not sure this helps but I always used Possession on them and just shot them in the back
 

Easy_D

never left the stone age
Not just you. Upgraded Devil's Kiss works really well for that fight.

I suppose I should work some devil's kiss/crow combo, I got the upgrade that makes any enemy currently attacked by crows a trap if they die before the effect goes away, usually makes for a fun Death Domino.

And I totally forgot about Return to Sender's shield function. Thanks dudes.
 

Cudder

Member
Not sure this helps but I always used Possession on them and just shot them in the back

I always thought possession was useless for Patriots because

a) it only lasts a few seconds
b) you do less damage to them when they're friendly

Shock them and blast em, I say.
 
I always thought possession was useless for Patriots because

a) it only lasts a few seconds
b) you do less damage to them when they're friendly

Shock them and blast em, I say.

It may only last a few seconds, but it's enough for all the enemies to turn on it and weaken it.

I like Shock Jockey's traps the most because you essentially get three for the price of one. You can essentially make a web of electricity. :lol
 

ScOULaris

Member
1999 Mode may have killed all the love I have for this game. It highlights all of its weaknesses and mitigates its strengths. Truly terrible mode.

I feel exactly the same way. The fights were designed around recharging shields, which is the main reason why I grew tired of this game's combat segments very quickly. I can only imagine how awful it must be on 1999 mode.
 

Cudder

Member
I got to talk to Ken Levine a few days ago while he was out promotting BioShock Infinite and I only got to put the video online now. So here it is for those who might like to see it : http://jeuxvideomagazine.com/actualites/interview-ken-levine-irrational-games-a1064231

In the video, he talks about a wide range of subjets like religion, controversy, coop, DLC, PS4. He really is interesting to talk/listen to.

Great interview.

So Levine had no involvement in the first DLC? I thought I heard he was "directing" all 3?
 

Himself

Member
Great interview.

So Levine had no involvement in the first DLC? I thought I heard he was "directing" all 3?

I've had such a hard time finding straight talk regarding the DLC. This is ultimately why I decided against buying the season pass.

If I knew it was three episodes directed by Levine I would have been all over it. I assume we're getting some skins/arena type bullshit for at least one of the DLCs.
 

t-ramp

Member
My friend beat the game on 1999 last night. I watched him play the last battle, and despite not going all-out with strategy he beat it within a couple tries. He used the Winter Shield gear very heavily, though. Hugely advantageous in fights where skylines are available.
 

UFRA

Member
Update:

So I went from this...

Thanks for this post, kinda settled my decision on not buying this.

I didn't like the first Bioshock for the exact same reasons you stated. If this one has more of the same issues then I just won't be able to tolerate it.

Many people then suggested I at least rent it, so I went...

To this...

Thanks for the feedback on my questions.

I just realized I can do a full-game trial via PS+. duh! I totally forgot about that.

Downloading it now. Will give it a try tomorrow. :)

And as of yesterday I bought it :)

I really like it. The atmosphere is amazing. I did every possible activity in the first area of Columbia prior to getting to the combat. Took me like 2 hours just to explore everything. I listened to music performers, watched sales pitches, crazy...

Excited to play more lol.
 

DatDude

Banned
I've had such a hard time finding straight talk regarding the DLC. This is ultimately why I decided against buying the season pass.

If I knew it was three episodes directed by Levine I would have been all over it. I assume we're getting some skins/arena type bullshit for at least one of the DLCs.

We aren't. It's all narrative. Can't find the link, but I remember Levine specifically stating that all the dlc's will be narrative pieces that will flesh out the world of Columbia.


Update:

So I went from this...



Many people then suggested I at least rent it, so I went...

To this...



And as of yesterday I bought it :)

I really like it. The atmosphere is amazing. I did every possible activity in the first area of Columbia prior to getting to the combat. Took me like 2 hours just to explore everything. I listened to music performers, watched sales pitches, crazy...

Excited to play more lol.

Glad to hear you enjoy it. Just take it slow, and take breaks if you ever feel burnt out from the bioshock formula.
 

Divius

Member
Played Bioshock II last week (had not played that before, was decent enough) and just jumped into Bioshock Infinite. Only played for a bit but the setting & atmosphere sure feel nice and the artstyle is pretty dope. Feels like a breath of fresh air compared to the first games. Will probably put more hours in tomorrow.
 
Having great fun. Right now at the part where I have to
retrieve Chen's tools from the Shanty Town...Really amazing how Elizabeth is growing and evolving as a character
. I have a question. Ever since
landing at Fink's manufacturing location, there has been a dearth of telescopes and kinetoscopes, compared to the prior location
. Did finding them got harder or is it laid out like that?
 

Deitus

Member
Finished 1999, sorely disappointed that it wasn't some kind of remixed mode that altered a core mechanic in some way or another, and instead acted just as another plain higher difficulty level of increasing enemy health and damage. Disabling nav arrows and the penalty for dying with no money were meaningless as they meant nothing for me before either. Seems completely pointless to give it that kind of name while not actually evoking anything about SS2 as the name would imply.

I wish they didn't go the typical two gun, regenerating health, sprinting, ADS, modern shooter route with their design, I quite liked the methodical approach to combat and encounter design in the original Bioshock. It was initially disappointing, but on its own merits it's fine, it's just that there are so many of these types of games that I just completely gloss over because they play so homogeneously that I'd rather more games like the original BS, or hey, SS.

I pretty much agree with all of this. I played through 1999 in my first playthrough because I was led to believe it had anything to do with old-school shooter gameplay, when really it was just Very Hard mode. By the time I determined this, I was far enough in that I didn't want to restart.

I think playing in 1999 soured my overall experience with the game. There was a lot to like in the game for sure. The vigors were a lot of fun to play with, and depending on which you used and which you upgraded, you could have vastly different playstyles. The gear was another interesting aspect that could modify the way you play (though I would have liked an overall better selection of gear). I thought the actual implementation of Tears in game was a lot more shallow than I expected from early trailers, but at least it added a tactical element to the combat that was unique to this game.

But because of the way the difficulty was implemented in 1999, I found myself hiding behind cover waiting for shields to recover more often than not. And my playstyle tended to be very conservative, and lacking in experimentation because taking risks was suicide, which ended up feeling repetitive by the end. But probably more than anything, the pacing was screwed up because I wanted to restart after every death (not just because of the money penalty, but because reviving on the spot without losing progress is just bad), but the checkpointing in this game is terrible and I ended up having to play huge chunks of the game multiple times.

I feel like I would have had a lot more fun playing on hard, but at this point I don't think going back and replaying the whole game on a lower difficulty would fix it (nor do I think this game really benefits from multiple playthroughs). I guess my memory of the game will just remain tarnished by the fact that it was not fun more often than it was fun.
 
Having great fun. Right now at the part where I have to
retrieve Chen's tools from the Shanty Town...Really amazing how Elizabeth is growing and evolving as a character
. I have a question. Ever since
landing at Fink's manufacturing location, there has been a dearth of telescopes and kinetoscopes, compared to the prior location
. Did finding them got harder or is it laid out like that?

It's laid out like that. If you're going for the trophy/achievement,
a few kinetoscopes repeat too, FYI.
 

Vark

Member
I suppose I should work some devil's kiss/crow combo, I got the upgrade that makes any enemy currently attacked by crows a trap if they die before the effect goes away, usually makes for a fun Death Domino.

And I totally forgot about Return to Sender's shield function. Thanks dudes.

Charge also works really well with devils Kiss during that fight, more so if you have some gear on that also does knockback.

I died repeatedly on that fight, started using charge and beat it with no problems in under a minute.
 
Charge also works really well with devils Kiss during that fight, more so if you have some gear on that also does knockback.

I died repeatedly on that fight, started using charge and beat it with no problems in under a minute.

Exact same thing happened to me. That 2nd upgrade to Charge is insane.
 

UFRA

Member
Should I be putting thought into my infusion upgrades or is there enough that I will come across by the end of the game that I can max out everything?

And what about vigors and weapons? Maxed out by endgame or multiple playthroughs required?

I see people here talking about focusing on things but I don't know if that means upgrades are limited or if you just want certain things maxed out first.
 
Should I be putting thought into my infusion upgrades or is there enough that I will come across by the end of the game that I can max out everything?

And what about vigors and weapons? Maxed out by endgame or multiple playthroughs required?

I see people here talking about focusing on things but I don't know if that means upgrades are limited or if you just want certain things maxed out first.

Upgrades are limited, no new game+.

Shield/Salts are the way to go for infusions.
 

Orcastar

Member
Completed my 1999 run and I must say I was disappointed. For the entire game I was waiting for it to get challenging, but it never did. Only died five or six times total.

For most of the game I ran with a sniper rifle and shotgun, using Possession to take out key targets and Bucking Bronco for crowd control if enemies somehow managed to get close. I always end up sniping in games like this and I was hoping that 1999 mode would force me to take a more active approach to combat, but most of the time there are just too many safe places to snipe from, ammo is plentiful even without using vendors and the AI can't do a thing to smoke you out. Once I got and upgraded Return to Sender and equipped Blood to Salts, what little challenge the game offered just flew out the window since I could just walk up to enemies and shotgun/hand cannon them in the face while blocking everything. Even completed the final battle on my first try using only shotgun, hand cannon, Return to Sender and Possession.

Granted, there are a few fights in the game that forced me to take a different approach. The first handyman fight ended up being the hardest fight in the game since the area has no skylines, but running around and possessing the two turrets got him down eventually. I was expecting the
Siren
fights to provide some real challenge since I initially had some trouble with them on hard, but they were a joke with Shotgun/Charge/Burning Halo/Brittle Skinned.

I think the main problem is that the game just provides too much ammo and salts. There was never a point where I felt like I was low on either, even though I was using the same two or three weapons the entire time. Meanwhile Return to Sender and plentiful salts make you effectively invincible, which removes all tensions from the combat.

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the game, easily my game of the year so far, but I just wish it had provided some actual challenge.
 

subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
So I'm on the level they have been showing for the last two months. The game does nothing for me, I'm not interested in characters and plot that much. Should I power through just to see the ending? because I heard it's awesome.
 

LiK

Member
So I'm on the level they have been showing for the last two months. The game does nothing for me, I'm not interested in characters and plot that much. Should I power through just to see the ending? because I heard it's awesome.

Which level? And yes, play for the ending.
 

Andrew.

Banned
Love the Shield when getting bombarded and can sneak a rest in. But what did those who completed 1999 concentrate their upgrades towards.

Infusion-wise I pumped up Shields and Salts at an equal pace, followed by health. I only had my health Infusions up to 4 by the end game.

Weapons used primarily were the gold-skinned machine gun and the shotty

Bigots used were Charge (fully powered), Crows (fully powered), Bronco and Poss for Less
 
Completed my 1999 run and I must say I was disappointed. For the entire game I was waiting for it to get challenging, but it never did. Only died five or six times total.

For most of the game I ran with a sniper rifle and shotgun, using Possession to take out key targets and Bucking Bronco for crowd control if enemies somehow managed to get close. I always end up sniping in games like this and I was hoping that 1999 mode would force me to take a more active approach to combat, but most of the time there are just too many safe places to snipe from, ammo is plentiful even without using vendors and the AI can't do a thing to smoke you out. Once I got and upgraded Return to Sender and equipped Blood to Salts, what little challenge the game offered just flew out the window since I could just walk up to enemies and shotgun/hand cannon them in the face while blocking everything. Even completed the final battle on my first try using only shotgun, hand cannon, Return to Sender and Possession.

Granted, there are a few fights in the game that forced me to take a different approach. The first handyman fight ended up being the hardest fight in the game since the area has no skylines, but running around and possessing the two turrets got him down eventually. I was expecting the
Siren
fights to provide some real challenge since I initially had some trouble with them on hard, but they were a joke with Shotgun/Charge/Burning Halo/Brittle Skinned.

I think the main problem is that the game just provides too much ammo and salts. There was never a point where I felt like I was low on either, even though I was using the same two or three weapons the entire time. Meanwhile Return to Sender and plentiful salts make you effectively invincible, which removes all tensions from the combat.

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the game, easily my game of the year so far, but I just wish it had provided some actual challenge.

I think you just know how to play it really well, man - that's a good thing, but on the whole scale of things, 1999 mode is still going to be pretty hard for >99% of players. My big disappointment with 1999 mode is for most of the game, your health is so low, your forced to turtle in battles a lot. I can see how being a snipe player would remedy that.

I'm just not really sure what Levine was talking about when he said it "was not going to feel like Bioshock."
 
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