Spider-Man 2 cuts down on the number of gadgets players have down to five, counting the web-shooters. Along with the web-shooters that are always equipped, the other four gadgets are equipped and used by both Spider-Men. After being purchased, each gadget has multiple upgrades that can be crafted to make it more effective or deal additional effects when used.
It’s best to at least unlock each of the gadgets so that they will be picked up and can be used during combat. Along with the various skills and abilities of the Spider-Men, gadgets are great for giving additional options in combat and are great crowd control options to help when outnumbered.
5 Upshot
The Upshot is a useful gadget in that it knocks multiple enemies up into the air, affecting a large range. This gadget can be upgraded to affect more enemies at a wider range, also with an upgrade to affect brutes. This gadget is great for crowd control even without comboing enemies who are knocked into the air, as launched enemies will need to land and recover before attacking again.
While this is a useful gadget for crowd control and knocking enemies up, other skills and gadgets accomplish these same goals in a more effective way. Both Spider-Men will learn area-of-effect abilities that knock enemies up, along with additional bonuses. This is still a worthwhile gadget to upgrade for an additional crowd-control option since you’ll be getting these gadgets anyway.
4 Ricochet Web
The Ricochet Web gadget is decent but isn’t incredibly effective until it is upgraded a few times, making its early uses virtually useless in comparison to other gadgets. A Riccochet Web will launch a few bursts of web at nearby enemies, slowing them down or fully webbing them up if enough bursts hit a single enemy.
The downside to this gadget comes from its lack of control or focus, making it only land a single web or two on some enemies in crowded situations, which only slows them down for a second. This gadget has the same general use as the Web-Shooters, but their benefits make this gadget seem like a lot more work for a not-as-good reward. With multiple upgrades, this gadget can be much more useful but requires much more of an investment than other tools on this list.
3 Web-Shooters
The Web-shooters are the most basic but also the most iconic gadget Spider-Man has. On top of their general uses, these gadgets can always be seen on Peter’s wrists during cutscenes or when he is not in his Spider-Man suit. This gadget is fairly useful thanks to how quickly they regenerate uses, making them any players most used gadget.
Web-shooters have a wide array of uses, such as webbing up weakened enemies to a wall to take them out or webbing up stronger enemies to leave them defenseless and open for a powerful attack. There is also a very useful Suit Tech upgrade that heals Spider-Man whenever a web-shooter hits an enemy, which is a very safe and easy way of regenerating health in combat for those who work their web-shooters into their usual fighting.
2 Concussion Burst
The Concussion Burst is a small force grenade that is great for knocking enemies off their feet, throwing them around a battlefield, and dealing a bit of damage through it all. This gadget is great for crowd control, as it can clear a small area, giving players enough room to do a combo, use a specific skill, or separate a specific enemy away from others to focus on bigger threats.
With a few upgrades, this gadget becomes even more useful by effecting a wider range of enemies or creating additional smaller explosions to further clear an area and keep enemies off their feet. This gadget is a great pair to the web grabber, as using them both back to back can leave a large group of enemies ineffective while they have pulled one direction and then thrown another.
1 Web Grabber
The Web Grabber is an incredibly useful gadget when paired up with other gadgets or abilities. This gadget pulls nearby enemies into a single point and can be upgraded to get more enemies from farther away. When used alone, this gadget is great for throwing enemies around and distracting them for a few seconds, but its real use comes from its ability to group up a few enemies for a devastating area-of-effect attack.
This gadget should be saved and used exclusively with either a Concussion Burst gadget or one of the Spider-Men’s unique area-of-effect abilities, such as Symbiote Surge or Venom Smash. These abilities deal incredible amounts of damage and are most effective when hitting multiple enemies that are pulled together with this gadget. This gadget can also get another upgrade that turns it into an electrical projectile that can be thrown, making it even more useful than its initial purpose.