Dishonored gives players an endless amount of options when it comes to taking down enemies and completing objectives, whether it be using magic to their advantage or making use of the many gadgets and gear available to them.
Corvo and Daud are outfitted with a number of useful tools - lethal and non-lethal, stealthy and conspicuous – to take down enemies in whatever way they desire. Naturally, some of Dishonored's tools are going to be a whole lot more effective in their purpose than others. But which ones will carry the player to victory in their quest to eliminate their targets and restore Corvo’s honor?
8 Pistol
Corvo’s pistol is a modified version of the standard City Watch pistol, and functions as one would expect. It’s loud, flashy, draws attention, and isn’t particularly reliable. It’s more of a close-quarters, shotgun-style gun, rather than a long-range sniper, which limits how it can be used.
That being said, the Pistol has almost a dozen different upgrades that can be purchased, improving everything from accuracy and reload speed, to its magazine size and bullet-carrying capacity. It also benefits from having more widely available ammunition than the crossbow, as well as special explosive ammo that can be unlocked by finding a blueprint. The pistol may be useless for most stealth runs, but it is highly effective for hand-to-hand combat.
7 Grenade
Suffering from many of the same problems as the pistol, grenades are far too conspicuous for stealth runs, with alarms ringing as soon as Corvo sets one off. However, they do have a few useful features about them. Grenades can be "cooked," reducing the time it takes until they explode. This can be done even after Corvo has used Bend Time, allowing players to cook grenades and watch as they immediately explode in an enemy’s face.
After acquiring the blueprint, Sticky Grenades can also be utilized, which attach to surfaces and explode in a devastating manner.
6 Corvo’s Sword/Daud’s Assassin’s Blade
Simple and reliable, the sword is a staple of any assassin’s kit. Whether used to slit a target’s throat, duel with a watch officer, slice up some pesky rats, or distract enemies with the loud clang of steel hitting stone, Corvo’s sword is an indispensable tool to have at a player’s disposal.
Best used to kill silently and kill quickly, skilled sword-wielders are able to take out entire rooms of guards with only their blade and some well-timed stealth attacks. It also has an upgrade available that helps Corvo out when locking blades with an enemy, which can be quite handy in a pinch.
5 Arc Mine
A new gadget introduced in Dishonored’s DLC, the Arc Mine is a simplified arc pylon combined with the functionality of a land mine. Daud simply places the mine down and anybody that enters its range will be instantly vaporized as if they had just walked into a wall of light. It also has multiple charges, meaning up to three dead hostiles if need be.
The Arc Mine also has a sister gadget, the Stun Mine, which is a non-lethal variant that simply knocks targets unconscious instead. These mines can be used to create devastating traps by luring guards within their range, helping to clear a path in some of the more heavily-guarded areas of Dunwall.
4 Rewire Tool
While technically not a weapon that can be used on enemies, the rewire tool specializes in indirectly taking out the opposition. It’s used on fuse boxes to reprogram the wiring and essentially turn enemy defense mechanisms against their former owners.
Players can rewire walls of light and arc pylons to vaporize enemies instead of themselves. Alarms can be disabled outright, whereas watchtowers will turn their attention away from Corvo and towards his opponents. Using these devices, crafty players can eliminate anyone standing in the way without doing any of the dirty work – proving that sometimes, the best weapon can be the mind.
3 Chokedust Grenade
Only available to Daud in The Knife Of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches DLC, the chokedust grenade is pretty much Dishonored’s version of tear gas. When thrown at enemies, it stuns them and prevents them from breathing properly, serving as a distraction or a way to disengage from combat.
It has an upgraded version, Baffle Dust, which has the additional effect of making enemies forget they ever saw you, as after the dust wears off, they will simply return to whatever they were doing beforehand instead of maintaining a state of high alert. Players can use this handy feature to return to stealth if ever detected.
2 Spring Razor
One of the grislier ways of killing enemies in Dishonored, the Spring Razor is essentially a shrapnel mine that is activated by movement. Anybody unlucky enough to stumble into one of these contraptions will be lacerated into pieces by its sharp metal razors.
Unlike the Arc Mine, Spring Razors can be thrown a short distance away to set them up, which makes them far easier to use. They can also be placed on humans or animals to trigger instantly or shot at with ranged weapons to activate them, making them highly flexible. Of course, these lethal traps earn bonus-style points, often eliminating enemies in a satisfyingly brutal manner.
1 Crossbow/Wristbow
A highly practical piece of kit, the Crossbow is a silent ranged weapon that can take down guards from afar without drawing much attention. It only requires one bolt to kill (excluding some more heavily-armored opponents such as tallboys), as long as the victim in question isn’t in a state of high alert. If they are, it may take multiple bolts, but these can often be retrieved from corpses and re-used.
If that wasn’t enough, there are even different types of bolts – a non-lethal option in the form of sleep darts, and incendiary bolts to set foes ablaze and create distractions. Then take into account upgrades to crossbow range, accuracy, and reload speed, plus a potential bolt capacity of 30, and players have at their disposal one of the most versatile and powerful weapons to be wielded on the streets of Dunwall.
Dishonored is available on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Windows.