Insect Swarm

BioShock



 * "Nothing Clears a room like swarms of stinging hornets."

Insect Swarm is a Plasmid available in BioShock. When selected, it manifests itself as a hive-like growth on Jack's wrists and palms, while bees crawl on his arm. Insect Swarm is an active plasmid which instantly releases a swarm of bees, at the cost of EVE.

Once released, the swarm becomes a singular entity, autonomously moving from target to target after one has been eliminated. Enemies in contact with the swarm will immediately be attacked by some number of bees until they die, even if the main swarm has moved away from that location. Splicers that are unaware of the player and neutral or friendly Big Daddies will be targeted by the swarm indiscriminately (it doesn't affect Security Bots or Turrets). The swarm travels into different rooms and up stairs, making them useful in scouting. Only a single swarm may be active at a time for about thirty seconds, and then dissipates.

Upgrade Path
Note: Higher levels of this plasmid also increase the size of the created swarm, raising the number of potential targets that can be attacked at once.

Combat Strategy
Because Splicers and Big Daddies being attacked by bees are considered to be unaware enemies, they will take extra damage from the next attack done to them with the Wrench, if the proper tonics are equipped.

Insect Swarm can help the player flush out enemies pretending to be dead.

Cyclone Trap, Incinerate!, and Sonic Boom should not be used in conjunction with Insect Swarm, as a group of attacking bees will disappear when enemies are hit with these plasmids. Electro Bolt will not stun an enemy being attacked by bees.

Two things make this plasmid unique: First, it homes in on enemies. Second, it distracts enemies even in the middle of combat. This makes it particularly useful if the player is not very accurate, but also if they wish to use it for stealth and escape tactics. It is also a good choice when sniping faraway enemies, as they do not attack the player upon being swarmed.

Recommended Tonics
EVE Saver will reduce the cost in EVE when casting this plasmid.

Natural Camouflage will help the player if they are using Insect Swarm as an escape tool.

BioShock 2
Insect Swarm is back in BioShock 2. The bees spawned by Subject Delta are smarter and more aggressive, seeking out hidden enemies and moving across several rooms.

Upgrade Path

 * Level One: Allows the user to create a swarm of bees which home in on the nearest enemy, dealing them continuous damage and distracting them. - 60 ADAM at a Gatherer's Garden, first available in Siren Alley.
 * Level Two: Swarm can target multiple enemies at a time. - 100 ADAM at a Gatherer's Garden, first available in Dionysus Park.
 * Level Three: Corpses killed by this plasmid will spawn a new swarm if an enemy passes over them. - 130 ADAM at a Gatherer's Garden, first available in Fontaine Futuristics.

Combat Strategy
Using Insect Swarm 3 with Cyclone Trap is very useful for defence. If the insects from the origional trap kill the enemy, the dead body becomes another trap in the form of an "insect bomb." This could continue to kill enemies and create a chain of traps, especially since the swarm will target multiple enemies each time. Telekinesis is also a useful plasmid with insect swarm 3 in that if you kill all the enimies in the room but one of them is a "bug bomb," then you can pick up the body and carry it to a new room. When you get close to an enemy the swarm will still leave the body and attack. If you throw the body you can usually take out splicers with a low EVE cost, as everyone killed in this manner will spawn more "bug bombs."

Recommended Tonics

 * Fountain of Youth restores Health and EVE when in water, which can allow constant (and free) use of this plasmid without using any EVE hypos.

BioShock 2 Multiplayer
Insect Swarm is the last plasmid received by the player, and is unlocked at Rank 20. In addition to dealing minor damage to the target over time, using this plasmid on an enemy will blur their vision for the duration of the plasmid, severely disrupting their aim. The insects can be dispelled through 2-3 melee attacks. It is different however from the single-player version in that the insects move slowly in a straight line when the plasmid is used. This was done so the plasmid would not be too powerful compared to the others, as the vision blurring effect is quite significant.

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Bugs/Glitches

 * BioShock
 * When the player uses Insect Swarm from a distance in an area with Splicers that are playing dead (areas from Hephaestus onward) the Swarm will attack the Splicers but they will not stand up, merely twitching and yelling until they expire. (confirmed on the PC and 360 version)


 * BioShock 2 Multiplayer
 * Using Insect Swarm on an enemy player near death and scoring a kill with it will give the player the "Heat Stroke" Trial as if the player had used incinerate instead.
 * If there is an enemy standing directly up against a wall another player can use Insect Swarm up against the wall on the opposite side of the room to send the effect through the wall.

Trivia

 * The Insect Swarm plasmid was first developed to appear in the BioShock X06 Teaser Trailer, and afterward the developers decided to put it in the game itself.