Bioshock Help Needed...

[Lanfear]

lol. I can only assume I'm doing something wrong.

Background: I am semi-decent at fps playing Half life 2, halo, team fortress among others, not spectacular...

I'm currently in the dock area of Bioshock, having just killed the surgeon guy near the beginning, and having killed.. 4 big daddies now.

My dilemma: I cannot kill the Big Daddies. It comes down to me respawning, and electro bolting them, hitting with the wrench because I'm out of ammo, dying, rinse, repeat. Over and over again whittling away at his health.

Obviously this can't be the way it's supposed to be.

I did decide to save the little sisters, instead of harvesting them....

I'm just looking for general tips, nothing gamebreaking or anything, I do like discovering stuff. I'm just wondering what I'm doing wrong.

[PharmaceuticalCowboy]

Buy ammo for the grenade launcher if you have it. It seems to be the best at taking down the big daddies. If the launcher isn't available to you yet, I would go with buying armor-piercing rounds, they help a lot more than you would think. Just take cover very often, the big daddies aren't all that smart.

[Elwood]

Hmm... not sure what to say. I did get into a similar situation... but it was about half way into the game before I was reduced to doing something like that.

For the record though, I don't know if you know this, but there are more Big Daddies then Little Sisters. There's a little total in the pause menu showing how many sisters are in the stage, and once you've collected them all you'd best stay away from any Daddies you encounter. They won't attack you unless you strike first, and they'd be a waste of ammo since you wouldn't get anything from them.

[Cassidy]

My strategy was to keep moving so they can't charge you or land a shot - as the others have said, electro bolt and armor piercing rounds are your best friend.

Also, what difficulty are you playing at?

EDIT - I like your avatar.

[Lanfear]

I believe I'm playing on the middle difficulty. I never feel good about myself if it is on easy, and hard is usually ridiculous.

[Jayson]

I think I wrenched just about everything in my first playthrough on easy and I know what you mean. My 2nd playthrough on medium, I upgraded the shotgun and it seemed easier. Electrobolt, shotgun while running backwards and dodging the charges, rinse, repeat until he's dead.

I can't remember when you get access to them, but the laser wire traps really made things easier. I just set a couple up and popped a couple shots from range with the pistol to lure him at me and through the laser wires. It really leveled the playing field.

[Cassidy]

I believe I'm playing on the middle difficulty. I never feel good about myself if it is on easy, and hard is usually ridiculous.

I hear you, believe me.

Bioshock had such a great story that I played through the first time on easy, just to really take in the plot and get a sense of how things worked in Rapture. I've since replayed on harder difficulties and, yeah, it gets tough.

I believe the ammo is more limited on Medium and Hard, have you tried hacking some of the nearby ammo machines to maximize your arsenal?

[maiku]

My strategy was to put a bunch of proximity mines between me and the Big Daddy before being noticed, then fire regular rounds to get his attention so he'd charge across them. After two or three mines I'd fall back on whatever ammo I had left. If you're really stuck without ammo maybe see if you can electro bolt him while he's in the water?

[s1mplehumar]

Trap bolts are your friend. It's amusing watching a Big Daddy charge through about seven lines of trap bolts and fall lifeless at your feet.