Introduction:

Once again we return to the magnificent underwater city of Rapture. However, a lot has changed over the last "10 years". For example, this time around, there is no ‘Survivor’ mode and though there is plenty of room for exploration, the story is pretty linear. Also, finishing the game without using Vita-Chambers has a separate trophy so you can use them on hard yet finish the game in another playthrough on easy without using them. By and large single player in BioShock 2 is a lot easier than in the original BioShock. On the other hand, however, BioShock 2 has no backtracking (no Bathysphere) and no 'Chapter Select.' As such, anything you forget in the last level will be left there forever. What has also changed is how hacking and researching work. In this game, hacking is done through 'tuning' a wavering pin on a screen and landing the pin on green bars. As for researching, you will not photograph but film. You pick a target and film him 'in action', while attacking to get points for your research. Lucky for you, you don’t need to buy film as the film in your camera is infinite (see Research Master).

As for collectibles, though there is no backtracking, the trophy requires a max of 100 audio diaries and there are definitely way more than that to go around (see Rapture Historian ). Even better, though there are lots of Tonics in BioShock 2 as well, there isn't a trophy for collecting any Tonics!

There is also a new, prototype feature for BioShock – online multiplayer. It takes place a year before the main events of BioShock 1, in the form of a civil war. You start out at your apartment, which is the MP's 'lobby', and once ready, you proceed to the Bathysphere to go down and fight. However, the MP is laid out in a way where it is difficult but not impossible to boost so expect a lot of work on your own.


Walkthrough:

Step 1: Easy playthrough + collectibles.

It is HIGHLY recommended that you play on Easy first. If you want to go ahead and play Hard, then you still have to do the following instructions but skip Step 2. Trophy-wise, there is no difference between finishing the game on Easy or Normal, just Hard mode, which is a different story.

In this step, you are becoming acquainted with Rapture. Again, it is recommended to have the settings on Easy because you are aiming to have a seamless, fun playthrough, get collectibles easily and in addition any 'cumulative' trophy you may need, including kill-based trophies because the villains would be easier to kill on Easy. In this playthrough you should:

Note on Missable Trophies: As mentioned in the Overview, since there is no backtracking nor "Chapter Select" so there are a lot of missable trophies.

Step 2: Hard playthrough

In this step, you will focus mostly on finishing the game on Hard. Having already played the game and become acquainted with Rapture, playing Hard mode will be a lot easier. Also, in this playthrough you will be able to catch up on any trophies you missed in your previous playthrough. To make it easier (if you’ve gotten the pertinent trophies), enable Vita-Chambers, harvest little sisters when you need them only, avoid unnecessary confrontations with Big Daddy and just try to finish it as quickly as possible. In other words, make this your 'speedrun.'

A big mistake would be to treat BioShock 2 as a 'shooter, hit-and-run' game. It is not and nothing proves that more than Hard mode. You need to be punctilious, tactical and, above all, stingy with your supplies and ammo.

If you want to "cheap out", there is a glitch for infinite health, which is possible from Siren Alley onwards, only. Since multiple factors can 'disable' the glitch, I suggest you get all possible trophies in your first playthrough on Easy first, since this way nothing would disable the glitch (see Against All Odds for more info).

By this point, you should have gotten most, if not all, offline trophies.


Step 3: Online trophies

This doesn't necessarily have to be your "third step", you can just play intermittently whenever you want. What you should be aiming for in this step is getting the Choose the Impossible trophy, which is Rank 40. As you reach for that rank you will play on various maps and in various play modes so there is a VERY high possibility of getting all the online trophies 'en route'. Reaching Rank 40 should take anywhere from 15 to 30 hours of gameplay, depending on your skills. Also, all the online trophies are easy except for Mother Goose which is reported to be glitchy. It is frustrating to get as it is but on top of that, you may have to do it a few times for the trophy to pop. Check the guide for more details.

Useful MP Links:

Boosting Thread: LINK
Turret Boosting Maps Guide + DLC: LINK
Boosting Instructions and Survival Guide: LINK
Bioshock 2: Online Multiplayer Trophy Guide + Tips & Tricks: LINK
Non-Boosting thread: LINK
 

 
Rapture Metro Pack DLC:

Roadmap

Overview:

Introduction:

Note: This DLC isn't included in the PS4 version of the game.

All aboard the Rapture Metro! The first map pack for the BioShock 2 multiplayer is finally here folks, with a new game mode, 6 new maps and 3 new trophies including the infamous Aqua Incognita and Territorial . What makes these 2 trophies such a pain to get is that Territorial is glitched and you have to win outright on all 6 of the new maps since draws don't count towards it, there's no way of tracking which maps you've played/won on and there's no map filtering so actually finding the maps you want is a feat in itself. How long it takes you to get all 3 of the new trophies depends entirely on if you boost or play legit. If you go legit then expect to spend 25hrs or more due to the above issues plus the servers are unstable, the player count is very low and many of the remaining players don't play fair but if you boost, then expect to spend about 15hrs grinding your way to Lv50 and exchanging wins on the new maps.

When you reach Rank 50, you can usher in a new era, called Rebirth This is pretty much the same as the Prestige function from Call of Duty, except your leaderboard rank will also disappear and the Reincarnation trophy will pop. Pretty ideal if you're a completionist, otherwise if you want to keep your stats and weapons/Plasmids, I suggest you avoid Rebirthing at all costs (see the Guide for further info). Also, I recommend getting Aqua Incognita and Territorial before reincarnating as Rebirth will reset the stats for them as well.

Speaking of which, "Rebirth" has been confirmed to reset all the online trophies (it won't remove them if you already have the trophies). This is ideal for those who lost online trophies during the March 2010 Leap year Apocalypse bug so once you Rebirth, you can reclaim any online trophy you were missing and get your Platinum

One last thing to note is that you don't need the Sinclair Solutions Tester Pack, since the ability to reach Rank 50 is also possible with the Rapture Metro Pack DLC.


Walkthrough:

Step 1: Get the map trophies out the way.

See the Guide for more details but in this step you want to focus all of your efforts on playing and winning on the new maps so you can get those out the way ASAP. At the end of this step, you will have earned the following:

Aqua Incognita
Territorial


Step 2: Rebirth.

This step is simple but time consuming since you need to grind a lot of XP to hit Lv50, though you should be almost there by the time you get the map related trophies done. At the end of this step you will have earned the following:

Reincarnation
 

 
Protector Trials DLC:

Roadmap

Overview:

WARNING: Some people have reported that they were not able to load their saves for the main game after installing this DLC so either install it before starting a new campaign or wait until after you have all the offline stuff done. If you have installed the DLC and are facing this problem, then uninstall everything via the Game Data folder on the XMB and reinstall everything minus the DLC. Thanks to Trig28 for the heads up. In the PS4 version of Bioshock 2, this problem is a non-issue because everything comes pre-installed.


Introduction:

Welcome to the Protector Trials!

This is the first single-player DLC in BioShock 2 is based on the ADAM Gathering component of the main game. You will have to fend off the hordes of Splicers and protect the Little Sister as she gathers ADAM. However, you have a preset selection of weapons, Plasmids and Tonics for each gather so you have to make do with them and at the end of the Trial, you will receive stars for completion and an "A" grade for performance.

The trials are separated into 6 different maps and in each map there are 3 different trials. In total, there are 18 trials plus 6 unlockable bonus trials. The trials get progressively hard as they progress and the Gathers will become progressively longer. You will get stars for completion and a grade for performance i.e A+, A, B, C or D. The first, second and third trials of each map give you 1, 2 and 3 stars, respectively, tallying to a total of 36 Stars. As for grades, they are assigned on how much ADAM your Little Sister has gathered versus the total ADAM possible; the longer she gathers uninterrupted, the higher the multiplier will be and thus the more ADAM she will get. This is also the only thing you need to focus on to get a high grade i.e. you can take as many hits as you want but it only matters that no one touch the Little Sister – that is the sole basis for the final grade. Note: Although the highest grade is A+, you need only an "A" on all the Trials and just 1 A+ for the Perfect Protector trophy. Simply put, the key to success is to fend off the enemies and let the Little Sister perform the Gather uninterrupted.

Once you complete the Trials, you will unlock 6 Bonus Trials, which are very easy. See Guardian Angel for more info. The DLC also unlocks a few art work and concepts, both scrapped ideas and a glimpse into the next DLC. It's a nice award for completion on top of the trophies you receive. Also note that the difficulty in this DLC is preset to "Medium" and cannot be changed.

With that said, the maps in this DLC are:

Walkthrough:

Step 1: Playthrough the DLC once with any Grade and get all the Stars.

This step is the easiest once since you all you need to do is finish all 24 trials to get the Guardian Angel and "Star" related trophies. At the end of this step, you will have earned the following.

Litmus Test
Acid Test
Trial By Fire
Guardian Angel


Step 2: Get an "A" grade on every trial and harvest 50% of the available ADAM.

This is where things get tricky since some of the trials can be pretty difficult so you will probably have to redo them a few times before you get an "A" grade on all of them and an "A+" on a single trial. Also during this step, you will be aiming to harvest 50% of all the available ADAM but that will come naturally whilst aiming for the "A" grades. At the end of this step, you will have earned the following:

Enemy of the Family
Get A Bigger Bucket


Step 3: Cleanup by getting the Perfect Protector trophy.

By this point, all you will have left is Perfect Protector so use this step to get it. At the end of this step, you will have unlocked the following:

Perfect Protector
 

 
Minerva's Den DLC:

Roadmap

Overview:

WARNING: Some people have reported that they were not able to load their saves for the main game after installing this DLC so either install it before starting a new campaign or wait until after you have all the offline stuff done. If you have installed the DLC and are facing this problem, then uninstall everything via the Game Data folder on the XMB and reinstall everything minus the DLC. Read here for more information LINK

In the PS4 version of Bioshock 2, this problem is a non-issue because everything comes pre-installed.


Introduction:

Welcome to Minerva's Den - Rapture's brain and central computing! This is the third and final DLC in BioShock 2. You will be assuming the role of Sigma, a new Big Daddy, with an even newer weapon - the Ion Lance, a laser beam gun. You will be guided through the intricate maze of this DLC by C.M. Porter, a former programmer at Minerva's Den and join forces, if only via communication, to take down Reed Wahl, the antagonist. You will also know the fate of Tenenbaum after her first disappearance in the game proper so this DLC will provide a 'closure' in some way.

The enemies are the same but are more powerful this time; Leadhead Splicers use shotguns, Brute Splicers emit fire and Security Bots fire laser and rockets. Lest we forget, you will be introduced into the new prototype Big Daddy - the Lancer, who roams about Minerva's Den and protects the Little Sisters in their harvest.

Walkthrough:

There are a total of eight trophies in this DLC, 4 of which are missable. Difficulty doesn't affect any trophies so play on 'Easy'. This DLC is divided into three levels - Minerva's Den, Operations and The Thinker. However, it is only in the first two levels that you need to focus on the missable trophies. Here's what you have to do:

As always, if you ever get stuck, press and under "Goals", you will find hints on what to do.

Other than that, there are some side quests and a few Easter Eggs that are not trophy-related. For example, you do not need to collect the audio diaries and how you choose to Deal with the Little Sisters is completely at your discretion (though if you need ADAM, Adopt, let them Gather, then you can Rescue them). Other than that, enjoy your final trip to Rapture.