5-Incinerate (BioShock/ Bioshock 2)
The reason why Incinerate is better than its successor, Devil’s Kiss, is because it is an instant nuke. Incinerate and Devil’s Kiss both serve the same purpose in torching your foes to death, but Devil’s Kiss required you to aim and fire (pun sort of intended), and there are many times when enemies can juke out of the way. With Incinerate, you snap your fingers and watch your enemies flee in terror. The flat damage output and ease of use of this Plasmid makes it one of the most common choices of mayhem.
4-Return to Sender (BioShock Infinite)
The only downside of Return to Sender is that you get it really late into the game, but once you get it, this Vigor can be a life saver, especially on a harder difficulty like 1999 Mode. Return to Sender is a magnetic field that reflects projectiles that your enemies fire at you. With the tap of the trigger, you can spawn a shield that protects you from projectiles, and when you hold down the trigger, you can collect everything that is fired at you and throw it back to deal damage in a radius. Because this Vigor combines defense and offense, it is one of the more unique choices you can pick to do battle with.
3-Murder of Crows (BioShock Infinite)
The name of this Vigor, alone, makes it stand out from the list of powers as it is one of the cooler sounding abilities in the franchise. Unlike Rapture, the combat in Columbia takes place on a larger scale. The environments are more open, verticality plays a huge factor, and enemies have a wider range of weapons. Murder of Crows is basically a get out of jail free card when you are facing sudden death. By sending out a bunch of crows to attack and blind your enemies, you can use your skyhook to find health, salts, or ammo and turn the battle around. Although the basic version of this Vigor doesn’t output a lot of damage, the upgraded version can spawn numerous groups of crows from dead bodies to increase your utility in battle. Murder of Crows also synergize with most offensive Vigors in the game, so offensive capabilities do exist.
2-Bucking Bronco (BioShock Infinite)
Bucking Bronco is another utility Vigor, but when you combine it with high powered guns, you can kill a ton of enemies with it very easily. Bucking Bronco shoots out a wave that knocks enemies into the air and immobilizes them for a few seconds. Enemies that are under the effect of Bucking Bronco take multiplied damage from other sources, so when you use a sniper or Hand Cannon with it, you can do some serious work. Bucking Bronco is also one of the least costly Vigors to use, so you don’t have to worry about running out of salts during combat. In addition, if you kill someone under the effect of the Vigor’s upgraded version, nearby enemies get tossed into the air for free.
1-Shock Jockey/ Electro Bolt (Bioshock Infinite/ BioShock 1 &2)
“Zap em’ then whack em’. One-two punch!”
The reason why Shock Jockey and Electro Bolt are both at #1 is because they are essentially the same power, and are the bread and butter of single enemy engagements. You get both of these powers relatively early in the games, and there is no other Vigor or Plasmid than can crowd control a single enemy better. Because of their low cost, when you are fighting a bigger enemy like a Big Daddy or Handyman, using one of these powers should be your number one priority if you don’t want to have to restart from a previous checkpoint. These powers deal pretty decent damage in addition to stunning enemies, so it isn’t hard to see why they are so integral to the gameplay.
