This guide will walk you through “Hephaestus”, the eighth section of Bioshock. We will go through how to complete each area, as well as any optional items you can find along the way.
Map
Hephaestus
1 – Arrival
You’re finally closing in on Ryan, as Hephaestus is the final stop before reaching the central control level where the city’s idealistic founder awaits. Atlas will come across your radio to tell you that Ryan possesses a genetic key necessary to get out of this hellhole, and then follows this bit of information up with a “Would you kindly head to Ryan’s office and kill the son of a bitch?” You really have no other choice, so I guess we’re doing as he says.
You’ll want to take out this turret before grabbing the diary at area #3 and proceeding southward.
5 – Vita-Chamber and Audio Diary #83
Along with a second Vita-Chamber, you’ll find a new audio diary at the end of this hallway. This one is labeled “Scoping The Gate” and is narrated by Kyburz.
6 – Quarter-Can of Ionic Gel
There will be quite a few Quarter-Cans of Ionic Gel lying around Hephaestus, but you won’t be able to pick them up until you’ve started gathering components necessary for Kyburz’s EMP bomb. Just keep a mental note of where a few of them are to make your search a little quicker.
7 – Grenade Launcher
As you approach this Grenade Launcher, an unseen woman will laugh and say “A present… you like, yes?” When you grab the weapon, she’ll laugh again as a Frag Grenade and a Heat-Seeking RPG drop down from the ceiling. Picking these up will trigger an ambush from three Spider Splicers above you.
8 – Security Camera
This oscillating camera will attempt to keep you from getting any closer to Andrew Ryan’s office.
9 – Ryan’s Trophies
“A worm looks up and sees the face of God.” That’s how Ryan greets you as you enter this chamber, where you’ll discover several of Rapture’s citizens staked to the pillars leading up to the founder’s office door. Ryan claims that you’re next – he just hasn’t picked a spot for you yet.
Check the first corpse on the right for a new audio diary. This one is labeled “Stopping Ryan” and is narrated by McDonagh. Continue moving ahead and check the third corpse on the right for yet another diary. This one is labeled “Going To Heat Loss” and is narrated by Anya Andersdotter. This latest diary gives you your next goal – to overload the Hephaestus Core in order to gain access to Ryan’s sealed office. When you’re done listening to the diary, Splicers will begin cutting their way through the door to the southwest. Prepare accordingly.
When you’ve explored all of Hephaestus and have used Kyburz’s EMP Bomb to overload the core, you’ll have to return here and activate the Circuit Breaker outside of Ryan’s office door. This will destroy the magnetic seals and allow you to proceed to the bulkhead door to the east.
10 – Frozen Field 2 Tonic, Safe, and Audio Diary #86
Your first encounter with an Elite Bouncer and a Little Sister will most likely occur just as you enter the Hephaestus Core. If you’ve rescued every Little Sister up to this point, then saving this “little one” should prompt Tenenbaum to send you another gift at the next Gatherer’s Garden.
If you go down a floor, though, you’ll have to deal with a security camera at this very same spot on the map. When that’s finished, you can grab another audio diary on the desk. This one is labeled “Running Short On R-34s” and is narrated by Pablo Navarro.
After descending the Core’s first flight of stairs, you’ll discover a body here still clutching at a Crossbow that you can pick up and add to your arsenal. There’s also a Proximity Mine and a safe around the corner, just behind the “Please Stand By” display. Inside the safe you’ll find cash, thirty Antipersonnel Auto Rounds, and five Steel-Tip Bolts.
14 – Gatherer’s Garden, Power to the People, and Audio Diary #90
If you’ve been righteously saving all of the Little Sisters up to this point, then you should have a gift waiting for you at this Gatherer’s Garden. Search the teddy bear to find two hundred Adam, four EVE Hypos, and six Proximity Mines. Additionally, this Gatherer’s Garden has three new items for you to pick up, if you can afford them – the Cyclone Trap 2plasmid, the Electro Bolt 3 plasmid, and the Wrench Lurker 2combat tonic.
When you’re done shopping, pick a weapon upgrade from the Power to the People station and grab the Shotgun lying nearby. Finally, pick up the audio diary to the left of the Gatherer’s Garden. This one is labeled “Assassin” and is narrated by Anya Andersdotter.
15 – Ambush
After waiting for the lights to turn back on twice in this hallway, a small group of Splicers that appear to be dead on the floor will stand up and ambush you. A perfect opportunity to throw a couple of Enrage globules!
16 – Big Daddy and Little Sister
You’ll stumble upon this level’s second Little Sister and her Elite Bouncer protector somewhere in this vicinity.
17 – Audio Diary #91
Next to this Quarter-Can of Ionic Gel lies another audio diary. This one is labeled “Kyburz Door Code” and is narrated by Pablo Navarro. In case you’re wondering, Australia day is January 26th (01-26).
18 – Audio Diary #92
When you approach this area, you’ll witness the ghost of one of Andrew Ryan’s men hitting a switch to electrocute a couple of others down in the water below (they apparently were helping Fontaine). Hack that very same switch to disable the electrical current, then go down into the water to grab the audio diary off the desk. This one is labeled “Genetic Arms Race” and is narrated by McDonagh.
19 – Security Evasion 2 Tonic and Audio Diary #93
Sitting on this desk is the Security Evasion 2physical tonic and a new audio diary. This one is labeled “Getting A Break” and is narrated by Pablo Navarro. This particular diary is actually part of your primary goal and will lead you to the Workshops area.
20 – Machine Gun Turret and Australia Day Sign
After hacking or destroying the machine gun turret, take a look at the sign on the wall behind it. This confirms Kyburz’s office code of 01-26.
Expect a run-in with this level’s third Little Sister and another “Mr. Bubbles” Elite Bouncer somewhere around the vent that lies on this staircase’s middle platform.
The door to Supervisor Kyburz’s office is guarded by two machine gun turrets. Hack or destroy them, whichever you prefer, then punch in the “0126” keypad code you learned earlier to unlock the door.
In addition, you’ll find that there’s a crawlspace door on the north wall just in front of the left turret. It’s very dark and hard to see, but it’s there. This will gain you access to area #25.
25 – Audio Diary #95
Using the crawlspace door at area #24, you can access this area below the staircase. Along with a Pistol, some Armor-Piercing Pistol Rounds, and some Electric Gel, you’ll discover another audio diary. This one is labeled “Market Maintenance Code” and is narrated by Pablo Navarro. If you haven’t yet hacked the keypad back in the Farmer’s Market, then you may want to return and use Pablo’s code of “0512.”
26 – Ammunition
Make your way through the many Trap Bolts strung across the area to grab the ammunition lying around this desk and in the pneumatic tube.
27 – Power to the People Station, Nitroglycerin, and Audio Diary #96
On the north side of the desk, you’ll find an “Intriguing Switch.” Activating this will raise the protective glass that was keeping your hands off the Nitroglycerin. You’ll need this to continue building Kyburz’s EMP bomb. Keep in mind that hitting this switch also conjures up a machine gun turret at the office entrance that will begin firing at you immediately.
28 – Audio Diary #97
Help yourself to the audio diary on the corpse here. This one is labeled “The Dream” and is narrated by Pablo Navarro.
29 – EMP Bomb, Damage Research Tonic, and Audio Diary #98
Move through the crawlspace at the back of this room to reach Kyburz’s hidden workshop. Sitting on the table to your left is the casing to an EMP bomb Kyburz was working on. To learn how it works, turn your attention to the table on the right. Here you’ll discover the Damage Researchcombat tonic and another audio diary. This one is labeled “Assembling The Bomb” and is narrated by Kyburz. In it, he explains what’s needed to assemble the bomb – the Nitroglycerin from area #27, four R-34 lead shield wire stubs (R-34 Wire Clusters), and a Half-Can of Ionic Gel (two Quarter-Cans will do).
The Nitroglycerin and Ionic Gel is easy enough, but the R-34 Wire Clusters can only be found on Big Daddies. Luckily, there’s a dead one lying just outside the crawlspace to the west that will get you your first of four. If your memory is good, you’ll also recall seeing one lying in the pool of water west of Andrew Ryan’s office. That leaves two more to find, so run around and check any corpses you’ve left behind from previous Little Sister encounters or take down a couple more Big Daddies just for sport to claim the final two.
When you have all the components, place them inside the casing. The weapon will start pulsing with energy and you can claim the “Completed EMP Bomb” for later use. This will trigger another radio message from Atlas, in which he explains how to use the bomb to destroy the harmonic core that is powering the magnetic seals on Ryan’s office door. Next stop? Geothermal Control.
30 – Magma Redirection
I’d recommend hacking the two machine gun turrets guarding this area (they’ll prove quite useful shortly), then listen to Atlas as he explains what you need to do here. To reach the lower area of Geothermal Control, you’re going to have to redirect the magma so that it runs down and boils out all of the water blocking your way. This will no doubt catch Ryan’s eye, so Atlas recommends that you should set up a perimeter to defend yourself against the inevitable Splicer onslaught. Aren’t you glad you hacked those turrets?
When you begin turning the Magma Release Valve, Ryan comes across your shortwave radio to offer you “a quick death” as he sends in the Splicers. Feel free to let go of the valve to help the turrets finish them off, then continue turning until the magma flows freely into the water below. Once it’s all been boiled into steam, take the west elevator down to the lower level.
31 – Shorten Alarms 2 Tonic
As you continue down the catwalk on the lower level of Geothermal Control, Andrew Ryan will begin speaking about your family and how Rapture feels “nostalgic” to you. As you try to figure out what the hell he’s talking about, you can pick up the Shorten Alarms 2engineering tonic and an Automatic Hack Tool on the corpse here.
32 – Plant the EMP Bomb!
Activate the Core Lift Control to reach the central part of the core, then place the EMP Bomb on the ledge. Within a few seconds, the device will overload the core and it will darken with crackling energy.
Your next goal is to switch the circuit breaker outside of Andrew Ryan’s office, though you’ll have to deal with some security bots on the way. At least your trip back to the office won’t be uneventful.
