Control Resonant Guide | Release date, 24 Sept, 2026

In Control Resonant, you join Dylan Faden as he searches for his sister, Jesse, in the warped hellscape of Manhattan. This sequel to Remedy Entertainment’s hit action-adventure game promises more thrills as you explore larger environments, all while fending off the otherworldly Hiss.

Unlike Jesse who wielded the modular Service Weapon and various psychic powers in the first game, Dylan utilizes an assortment of melee weapons with different aberrant forms. Likewise, he’s able to unlock new abilities after defeating bosses. Our Control Resonant abilities and skills guide tackles everything you need to know about these facets. However, given the topic at hand, be forewarned that this article contains spoilers.

You’re able to choose your first aberrant weapon form—i.e. primary melee attack—at the start of the campaign. You can pick Strike, a fast attack with a high critical chance; Glaive, a wide sweep; or Cleave, which deals extra damage if hitting an opponent from behind.

Eventually, you’ll be able to unlock a secondary form—i.e. secondary melee attack. Your options include Extend, a long-range flail; Drill, with its multi-hit piercing maneuver; and Crush, which lets you smash hostiles with a hammer.

Finally, there are six combo finishers to choose from, which activate at the end of your primary melee attack sequence. These include the straightforward Concussive Beatdown, where you pummel a target with empowered fists, and Split Orbit, which creates a flying blade that spins around enemies.

You may unlock different maneuvers by spending Living Shard materials. You can subsequently change these in the Loadout menu.

The most important Control Resonant abilities are those that are integral to traversal and navigation. These come from strange locations known as Faults, where Dylan glimpses visions of Jesse.

The first Fault is in the Downtown sector, and you visit it during the Orientation mission early in the campaign. The activity rewards you with abilities like the Double-Jump and Elevate, the latter of which lets you float and glide in mid-air. There’s also Rush, which speeds up your movement and cleanses negative status effects.

The remaining two traversal abilities come from other zones. If you go to the Fault in the West Incursion Zone, you’ll acquire the Shift ability. This gravity-based power lets you manipulate your surroundings by altering the plane and orientation, almost akin to the movie Inception. If a street seems to bend vertically or sideways, you can “shift” your orientation to traverse it.

There’s also the Reach ability, which comes from the Fault in the Evacuation Zone. Think of it as similar to a grappling hook. If you see a spherical point on a surface, press the button prompt to latch onto it and zip across the gap.

The next section of our Control Resonant abilities guide tackles the skills that you obtain from major bosses known as Resonants. Your first foe, The Artist, is fought during the Orientation mission. Once defeated, you can choose from Barrage, which lets you hurl multiple projectiles; Volatile Anomaly, where you summon an entity that you can also throw; and Shield, which absorbs damage and allows you to perform a Shield Bash when you dodge.

We recommend grabbing Shield since it helps a lot with survivability. Moreover, Shield Bash deals high falter damage, causing enemies to get staggered and leaving them open to an execution maneuver.

Note: At this stage, you won’t be able to unlock the other mutually exclusive options unless you reset your abilities. This action requires a Reset Item, which is obtained by eliminating bosses or purchased from zone vendors.

Those who visit the West Incursion Zone can face the Resonant boss known as The Dancer. This boss yields the Push and Ground Slam abilities. The former sends enemies flying. They can fall off ledges or hit hazards and obstacles. The latter, meanwhile, deals tremendous area-of-effect damage.

Our pick for this stage is Ground Slam since its damage is greatly increased depending on the height. Given that you’ll be traversing buildings and towers all across Manhattan, you’re bound to see a lot of Hiss milling about on streets, all waiting to get smashed to bits.

If you can make your way to the Park, you can unlock more Control Resonant skills by defeating The Collective boss. These abilities are Mold-based, which means they inflict the Infected debuff. Not only does it deal damage over time, but it also triggers an explosion if the target is suffering from the Burn debuff.

One option is Spore Burst, which turns Dylan’s fist into a machine gun that rapidly fires Mold projectiles. The other option, which also happens to be our choice, is Growth. The Growth skill lets you summon up to two worm-like allies that spit Mold globules at nearby enemies.

A bit later in the campaign, you’ll gain access to an area known as the Underpass. The boss therein, called The Physicist, rewards you with more abilities.

The Spike skill creates an Astral Spike that continuously attacks nearby foes. It can also knock down targets. The Astral Rebuke skill, meanwhile, erupts underneath enemies and tosses them into the air. This lets you follow up with an aerial combo. Both abilities inflict Astralized, which enhances the buildup of the Burn and Infected status effects.

We recommend picking the Spike skill here. This, in conjunction with the Growth worms, ensures that your foes remain busy with your summons, all while you’re wailing away on them.

You can unlock one more Control Resonant ability near the end of the campaign. Once you’re able to explore the Unknown, you’ll receive a mission called The Unknown Resonant. It leads to a boss battle against an opponent whose name we do not want to spoil here.

After defeating the Unknown Resonant, you’ll receive the Command ability. You can use it on enemies to force them to fight alongside you. Unlike other skills, you need to collect purple-colored Command Charges if you wish to recast this power.

This is done by finding a rare item known as a Resonant Token. One in particular is given to you upon completing the Pope’s Research mission in the Unknown sector.

A Resonant Token can be used to unlock a combat ability in The Gap. For instance, if you picked Ignite earlier in the game, you can unlock Inferno to complement your Fire-based build.

That does it for our guide on how to unlock all abilities and skills in Control Resonant. We hope these tips help you as you eliminate the threat of the Hiss once and for all.

Those who would like to experience a surreal and mind-bending adventure, one that only Remedy Entertainment can craft, should pick up Control Resonant, which is available now on the Epic Games Store. The Deluxe Edition, which includes the base game, digital artbook, digital soundtrack, and in-game goodies like the AWE Mission Outfit, Untapped Wallet artifact, and starting resources, is also available for purchase.