The 25 Best Weapons and Powers in "BioShock Infinite"

The air shotgun pops up all but once—in the very beginning of BioShock Infinite, during the fair that the city is celebrating upon Booker's arrival. You'll use it to shoot cut-outs of those scoundrels, the Vox Populi, in a carnival game.

Like the air shotgun, the air rifle only appears in one place: at the fair at the beginning of the game. If nothing else, it gives you a taste of the delicious carbine rifle that you'll get later on. Only this one never needs reloading!

Possession is the first "vigor" power you'll get in BioShock Infinite, and it's easily one of our favorites. At first you can only use it on machines like turrets and vendors, but with an upgrade you can also possess human enemies, who'll fight for you briefly before killing themselves, usually by shooting their own faces off. It's brutal.

The skyhook is the first true weapon you'll get in BioShock Infinite, and it's one you'll rely on throughout the entire game. Its most important function is arguably to hit people in the face with, but it can also decapitate enemies or grind their chest cavities to pulp (pictured!) if you pull off an execution. Plus, it lets you zip around on skylines!

The Broadsider is the first gun you'll get in the game, and it serves its purpose well until more powerful firearms appear. We ditched ours as soon as we could, but with upgrades to damage and clip we reckon the pistol could eventually become pretty powerful.

Devil's Kiss is the second vigor you'll find in BioShock Infinite, and it's a much more direct attack than Possession. You can hurl fireballs at opponents or leave traps that erupt when they pass over them.

Finally, a real gun! That's what we thought when we first got our hands on the Triple-R machine gun. It makes a deadly combo with the pistol, though we were happy later on to trade it for something with better range.

The introduction of this vigor is even better than the power itself: you watch through the crack of a door as some poor bastard is eaten alive by swarming black birds. When you get the power in your hands, the birds will mostly just annoy and distract enemies so you can duck behind cover or shoot their faces off.

Ahhh. The China Broom shotgun. What would we have done without you? Sure, its range is limited, but up close it packs enough firepower to take out three enemies with a single shot, even on the highest difficulty.

The Heater makes a brief appearance relatively early in the game, when you can grab it off the wall at the risk of pissing off the attending shopkeeper. You'll have to kill him (and a whole bunch of other Columbians), but boy is it worth it for this fire-spewing shotgun.

The carbine keeps popping up throughout BioShock Infinite as one of the best choices for almost every situation. It's got power at range, but its accurate enough to be used up close as well. Overall a solid choice.

Bucking Bronco is another of our personal favorites. Enemies behind cover or coming at you in a group? Send a wave of energy barreling their way and they'll be flung up into the air, where they'll take extra damage from bullets until plummeting back down to the ground.

The Birds' Eye is often found up in hard-to-reach perches, but it's worth getting up there if you like to get a leg up on enemies before they've even realized they're being attacked. Unfortunately, it quickly gets out-classed unless you apply its damage, clip and firing rate upgrades liberally.

The Barnstormer has its drawbacks, but when it comes to fighting Motorized Patriots and other heavy-hitters, nothing can beat this RPG. Fortunately, there always seems to be one waiting for you when you need it.

Partway through the game Elizabeth and Booker realize that they can start using the girl's ability to open "tears" to other worlds to their advantage in combat. She can pull in everything from ammo and health to turrets and even powerful allies to fight for you, and you'll suffer if you don't use these smartly.

The Peppermill is a chain gun that carries 200 rounds and a punch like a freight train. It's the weapon of choice for Motorize Patriots, the George Washington and Abe Lincoln mechs, to carry around. Fortunately, it's also our weapon of choice for taking them out.

You'll spend a good chunk of the game just trying to get the Shock Jockey vigor, but fortunately, it's worth it when you finally do. You can leave electrified traps or use it on enemies in water for extra damage, and the best part is that it will momentarily stun even powerful enemies like the Handymen and Patriots.

The volley gun isn't as powerful as the RPG, but with more ammo and a better firing rate, it's often the better choice. Fortunately, the grenade launcher appears frequently in later levels.

If you ditched the pistol early in the game because it wasn't powerful enough, the hand cannon might be for you. You'll be familiar with the concept if you've played any Resident Evil game. It's a revolver that's really fucking powerful. Like making-guys'-heads-explode powerful. Ammo can be scarce, but it's usually worth it.

The Vox version of the repeater has some key differences—it's got more power and does more damage than the standard machine gun, but at the cost of a slower firing rate and smaller clip. Is that trade-off worth it? We didn't think so, but you might prefer it.

The burst gun is the one weapon that we felt really unsatisfied with. It's the Vox Populi variation of the carbine, but where that gun is a single-shot rifle, the burst gun fires bursts of three rounds. Unfortunately, unless you apply the right upgrades, it's going to be too inaccurate to use at a distance.

Charge is a late-game vigor that lets you charge directly at enemies, stunning them and gaining you time to follow up with a melee attack or shotgun blast. It's even better with upgrades that grant you brief invincibility after successful charges. Just don't use it on groups of enemies and get yourself surrounded.

Undertow has some interesting applications: you can use a jet of water to knock enemies off Columbia to plummet to their deaths, or you can charge it up to pull them toward you wrapped in aquatic cyclones that leave them helpless for a few seconds. It's a double-edged sword, though, as those enemies will then be right next to you. It can buy you a second, but the aftermath is brutal if you pull in a Handyman.

The Hailfire is the anarchist Vox Populi's version of the Pig Flak volley gun, and its grenades will bounce around and detonate after a few seconds if they don't hit a target directly. Useful for clearing crowds, especially if your aim is slightly off.

The final vigor you'll find in BioShock Infinite is also arguably the most difficult to use. You can tap it to form a short-lived shield that will absorb damage for a few seconds while you duck behind cover or get some shots off. Or you can hold it to absorb bullets while your power drains, then launch a ball of pure damage back at enemies or lay a trap of it at their feet.