Gear



Gear is the passive upgrade system in BioShock Infinite. Gear is equipped to specific parts of the body, namely the head, torso, legs and feet. Booker can usually find Gear in gift wrapped packages on numerous locations throughout the game (usually behind locked doors and discreet locations). The Gear one obtains at every drop is randomized upon activation, meaning that reloading from a checkpoint and picking a Gear package up again will not yield the same item (except in certain cases, see below). In the main game, there are 41 different Gear items, though in a normal playthrough the player will not be able to obtain them all. Purchasing the Premium or Songbird Edition adds three more pieces of Gear (Betrayer, Bull Rush and Extra! Extra!), completing the Industrial Revolution online game yields three more (Fleet Feet, Handyman Nemesis and Sugar Rush) and purchasing the Season Pass grants another four Gear items (Ammo Advantage, Eagle Strike, Electric Punch and Ghost Soldier), bringing up the total to a possible 51.

Hat


Hat items specialize mainly in transfusing Vigor effects into melee attacks, giving them a chance to burn, shock or even possess enemies. Other hats grant the player better survivability in protracted battles by making them less vulnerable.

Shirt
Shirt items generally improve the player's effectiveness in the midst of combat, allowing them to thrive even when overwhelmed. Certain shirts even let the player release elemental bursts around them when struck, igniting or shocking nearby enemies.

Pants
Pants items are particularly useful at getting the player out of difficult situations, offering a means of escaping or making a final stand when low on resources. Other pants instead let the player initiate fights with increased effectiveness, allowing them to whittle down the enemy's numbers before they can react.

Boots
Boots items offer a variety of situational bonuses, enhancing the player's capabilities in specific situations. Boots mainly grant offensive advantages, but also offer more defensive boons such as momentarily invulnerability or a full recovery upon death.

BioShock Infinite
Though most Gear drops are randomized (even when looting Gear from Handymen), certain pieces of Gear only spawn in specific locations. They are the following:
 * Burning Halo is found immediately after defeating the first Zealot of the Lady in the Fraternal Order of the Raven's headquarters, next to a vending machine in the following room.
 * Drop Cloth is found in the Bull Yard in Shantytown.
 * Spare the Rod can be found behind a Dollar Bill vending machine in the Factory, in a room to the left after exiting the elevator and fighting a group of Vox Populi.
 * Spectral Sidekick is located in the Bank of the Prophet, right before coming across the Tear there.
 * Health for Salts is in Comstock House in the indoctrination area, in one of the rooms near the sign marked "Where We Learn".
 * Rising Bloodlust is placed upon a desk right after Health for Salts. Though it is visible when taking the elevator, it can only be reached after passing through the propaganda room.

There are certain Gear drops located close to checkpoints where it may be advantageous to reload the checkpoint until you get the desired Gear. Recommended locations are as follows:
 * In the Fraternal Order of Raven, after taking the elevator down from the chapel but before the first battle with a Zealot of the Lady, there is a Gear located in a room hidden behind a bookshelf.
 * Battleship Bay when Elizabeth first throws you a coin, there is one Gear located at the room containing a Voxophone at the end of the hallway. There is also potentially another Gear drop gifted by the Interracial Couple if you chose to throw the ball at Fink in Raffle Square.
 * After the elevator ride from Soldier's Field Main Street in the area before first picking up Bucking Bronco, there is a locked room (1 lockpick) containing a Gear drop and a Gun Automaton.
 * In Patriot's Pavilion, there is a locked room (3 lockpicks) in the Ticket building. It is recommended that the checkpoint at the gondola to the Hall of Heroes is triggered after clearing the area, to allow quick looting.
 * In the Hall of Heroes there are two Gear drops located in the workshop rooms of either the Beijing or Wounded Knee exhibits. There is also another piece of Gear that can be reached by entering the maintenance room, but the gate requires Shock Jockey to open.
 * Inside the Toy Soldiers shop, behind a door the requires Shock Jockey to open.
 * At the Worker Induction Center docks inside the locked trolley (5 lockpicks).
 * At the Plaza of Zeal, on the roof above Gunsmith Shop entrance.
 * In Shantytown near a broken vending machine right after the stockades.

Burial at Sea - Episode 1

 * Evil Eye is found on the counter of Workman's Wear, in the Menswear department.
 * Surprise Element can be found in Customer Service, behind a locked door in the Bridal Shop.
 * Ticket Puncher is located in a dressing room of the Haberdashery, guarded by a Turret.
 * Better Mousetrap is found behind one of the booths on the lower floor of The Daily Bread.
 * Magic Bullet can be found under a broken elevator in the Pavilion, with a corpse and a safe.
 * Roar to Life is located on the other side of some burst pipes in the Appliances store, on top of a desk.
 * Death Benefit is found In the Pavilion Station, before taking the tram to Housewares.
 * Filthy Leech can be found in a dressing room on the first floor of the Menswear department.
 * Quick-Draw is located inside a locked room in the Ladieswear department, guarded by a Turret.
 * High and Mighty is found in the locked room in the souvenir shop in Jack Frost's Village. The door requires Shock Jockey to open.

Bugs/Glitches

 * Though not specifically a bug, a design oversight within the game allows the player to obtain every single random Gear item early on, as well as max out on lockpicks and potentially earn infinite amounts of Silver Eagles. During the chapter Return to the Hall of Heroes, reentering and exiting the Hall of Heroes will cause most of the level to reset, allowing the player to loot certain areas ad infinitum. In particular, the shop near the carousel in Soldier's Field has a locked door inside that can be opened with Shock Jockey, though the player must first lift the shop gate to enter. Inside will be a Gear package alongside a Sniper Rifle and lootable pieces of furniture. The gear box respawns - Repeating the above will allow the player to obtain almost every single piece of Gear in the game, save for those with fixed locations.

Behind the Scenes

 * Gear works similar to Rapture's Gene Tonics, especially Gear's specific equip slots in the format of Rapture's Combat, Engineering, and Physical Tonics.
 * Before the Gear system was implemented, the game's passive upgrades came in the form of Nostrums, unstable solutions which would have granted the player a variety of permanent bonuses. Though the latter were replaced by Gear, the idea of permanent augmentations survived in the form of Infusions.
 * According to the game's files, Gears used to pertain to Lungs, Heart, Brain and Arms before becoming clothes.