The pistol is the first ranged weapon you receive in Bioshock 1, and while it starts as a trusty backup, it quickly becomes overshadowed by more powerful tools in your arsenal. In this guide, we’ll break down the pistol’s stats, its various ammunition types, and realistic strategies for using it effectively—especially on higher difficulties like Survivor.

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Pistol Basics and Damage Output

• Base Ammo (Pistol Rounds): Deals 40 piercing damage per shot.
  • Headshot Bonus: Delivers 4× damage, totaling 160 damage.
  • On higher difficulties, this may one-shot weaker splicers early on, but often it will take two shots per enemy as the game progresses.
• Armor-Piercing Rounds:
  • Deals 80 damage to Big Daddies and 120 damage to machines.
  • Solid choice when engaging security systems or Big Daddies—if other options are scarce.
• Anti-Personnel Rounds:
  • Deals 240 piercing damage to splicers.
  • Combines with the headshot multiplier to dish out serious damage, making it surprisingly decent for late-game if used with precision.

Ammo Limitations:

• You can only carry 24 rounds of each special ammo type at once.
• Anti-personnel rounds are expensive, so spamming them is rarely efficient.

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Strategic Notes on the Pistol

• Despite high headshot damage, the pistol is not ideal as a main DPS weapon.
• It functions better as a finisher, perfect for dropping a fleeing enemy after you’ve softened them up with plasmids or heavier weapons.
• The pistol fires as fast as you can click—rapid fire is possible, but it’s limited by your own accuracy.

Combat Tips and Tactics:

• Peek-and-Shoot: Especially effective with precise weapons like the pistol. Peek around corners, shoot, then retreat before return fire lands.
• Circle Strafing: Riskier, but if you’re close to an enemy and keep moving sideways while aiming for the head, it can be effective.
• Plasmid Combinations: Pair with Electro Bolt to stun enemies and land clean headshots. You can also use this with Target Dummy to distract foes.

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Boss Example: Dr. Steinman

Using the pistol against Steinman on Survivor difficulty is doable—but it’s far from optimal. Even with frequent headshots, the pistol’s damage output is underwhelming. Strategies like pairing Electro Bolt with shotgun bursts will perform far better.

• Wrench vs. Pistol: At close range, you’re often better off just using the wrench, especially with the right physical tonics equipped. The wrench also causes a brief stun, creating safe windows for extra hits.
• Sights vs. Hipfire: ADS (aiming down sights) offers no advantage—pistol accuracy is already maxed at hipfire, so there’s no need to zoom in.

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Should You Upgrade the Pistol?

In short: No. Your upgrade resources are better spent on nearly any other weapon.

• Shotgun: High burst damage, great for peek shooting.
• Crossbow: Incredible headshot multiplier (10×) and high base damage.
• Chemical Thrower: Fantastic elemental versatility.
• SMG: A decent backup if you like to suppress targets.

The pistol simply doesn’t scale well into the late game, especially in tougher fights. Even anti-personnel rounds lose effectiveness compared to what you can achieve with upgraded alternatives.

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Final Verdict

The pistol is accurate and precise, but it lacks stopping power. It’s best used for:

• Cleaning up low-health enemies
• Conserving ammo on stronger weapons
• Situational use with specialty rounds (if no better option is available)

But don’t build your strategy around it. For powerful headshot-oriented play, move to the crossbow as soon as you can. And for general utility, rely on your wrench, shotgun, or plasmid combos.

Use the pistol wisely—but don’t waste your upgrades on it.

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Got more weapon requests or Bioshock questions? Drop them in the comments, and I’ll see you in the next guide!