Essential Tips I Wish I Knew Sooner - CONTROL Resonant

Storyline (Control / Remedy)

• You play Jesse Faden, trying to regain/maintain control in the Federal Bureau of Control, a reality-warping facility known for strange distortions and “anomalies.”
• The world is organized around zones, missions, and hidden progression points tied to “Resonant” encounters/entities.
• Progression also depends on finding Faults—special locations that unlock new movement mechanics and let you reach previously unreachable areas.
• The video also highlights recurring Boss/Resonant fights, which shape important build/ability choices in the gap afterward.

Gameplay Highlights & Key Systems

Buildcrafting is central

• Early build decisions matter a lot because you can’t unlock everything in one playthrough.
• You can switch unlocked weapons/combat options, but:
  • Changing primary/secondary forms, combo finishers, and combat ability choices costs Reset items
  • Reset items are limited; vendors sell them in small quantities.

Faults and exploration gating

• Look for psychedelic Jesse-face projections while exploring—these indicate you’re near a Fault.
• Faults unlock movement mechanics to access new areas.
• Fault locations mentioned:
  • Near a subway entrance by Railyard Street Station in the Evacuation Zone
  • In the parking garage in the West Incursion Zone

Combat core: Falter & Execution loop

• Enemies have a yellow “Falter” bar (stagger/stun equivalent).
• When Falter is fully built, you can perform an Execution
  • Controller: L3
  • Keyboard: R
• Executions trigger Dominance (a talent-driven buff) that:
  • boosts damage
  • improves healing drops

Power management

• Abilities consume a white power bar.
• If it turns red, you can’t use abilities until power recharges (about half is typically needed to resume).
• Power charges outside combat, so it often starts fights topped off—but you should still build power via attacks to avoid being locked out mid-fight.

Major Strategies / Recommended Early Build Approach

1) Get Inferno (burn) ASAP

• The video emphasizes early fire/burn progression as a major advantage.
• Why: burn increases Falter over time, and is especially strong versus mold enemies.
• Where it comes from:
  • Beating a resonant entity in the patterned factory (Central Zone) unlocks Inferno vs Ignite
• Recommendation:
  • Inferno for easier burn application
  • Ignite is also noted as fun with Volatile Anomaly

2) Early combat ability: Volatile Anomaly

• After beating the first Resonant boss, you choose one of:
  • Shield
  • Barrage
  • Volatile Anomaly
• Recommendation: Volatile Anomaly
  • Summons a ball that automatically shoots small projectiles
  • Key payoff: throw it low on enemy health so it explodes, dealing high damage and large Falter build-up (good AoE)
• Boss synergy:
  • Resonant enemies rapidly lose Falter if you stop damaging them
  • Volatile Anomaly helps keep consistent pressure

Practical usage loop

• Summon Volatile Anomaly and let it shoot briefly
• Monitor its health bar
• When it’s low:
  • aim at enemies
  • tap the ability button again to launch/throw
• Repeat while preserving power

3) Deal with laser Hiss: Perfect Dodge + back attacks

• For Hiss laser flyers:
  • Unlock Perfect Dodge
    • Grants slow-motion + invincibility
    • Triggers retaliation: +50% damage and Falter build-up
  • Strategy: dodge through their lasers a few times, then strike
• Also recommended:
  • Unlock Skilled Backstop to reward attacking from behind with improved damage and Falter

4) Healing/tempo strategy: “Falter Dominance Loop”

Goal: shorten fights so you get more healing drops and executions reliably.

Loop (described)

1. Build an enemy’s Falter to full
2. Perform Execution
3. Triggers Dominance (active ~8 seconds)
4. Immediately kill a small enemy to secure health elements (“healing snacks”)
5. Dominance improves health drops and increases damage while active

Dominance targeting tip

• Plan the next target so it can be killed within the 8-second Dominance window.

5) Early Falter-building unlocks

• Secondary form: Crush
  • Applies strong Falter and quickly knocks off armor
  • Especially effective for armored enemies (blunt damage/armor breakdown)
• Combo finisher: Uppercut Surge
  • Triggered on the 4th hit of the primary combo
  • Recommended pattern:
    • do your normal 3-hit combo
    • on the 4th hit, hold to charge Uppercut Surge
    • release to lift the enemy and apply heavy Falter (lifting can chain repeatedly)

6) First primary form recommendation: Glaive

• Why:
  • Strong damage and long reach reduces the chance of getting hit
  • A strong opener upgrade helps charge power by hitting enemies without fully damaging them
• Suggested early loadout:
  • Glaive (Primary)
  • Crush (Secondary)
  • Uppercut Surge (Combo Finisher)

Alternative:

• Cleave
  • Can lift enemies easily with a dodge+attack pattern after an upgrade
  • Has an opener that boosts damage/Falters for breaking full-health targets quickly

7) Ground Slam is an ASAP traversal/combat unlock

• Acquire Ground Slam from a Resonant Entity in the theater hall (West Incursion Zone).
• Benefits:
  • AoE slam that knocks down enemies
  • Damage scales with how high you are before slamming
• Exploration utility:
  • can break through certain barriers (e.g., trap doors)

Additional Key Tips & Quality-of-Life Guidance

• Gap choice testing after Resonant bosses
  • After beating a Resonant entity, Jesse sends you to the gap, where you can swap combat ability options until you leave the gap.
• Reset item availability
  • Reset items are scarce and partly tied to missions/vendors; changes aren’t free.
• Extra resets
  • Red flashing vending machines may drop reset-related resources if destroyed.
• Map navigation shortcuts
  • Instant zoom out: controller Left D-pad or keyboard A
  • Switch zones quickly: D-pad Up/Down (W/S on keyboard)
• Power level matters
  • If enemy power is higher than Dylan’s, fights become much harder
  • Dylan power can be checked in the Loadout tab
• Don’t forget the gap
  • Talent/unlock choices improve power; the game doesn’t always remind you to return.
• Artifacts
  • If you craft an artifact, you must equip it manually via the menu.
• Environmental interactions
  • Some buildings open via control panels (e.g., garage doors)
  • “Lit” doorways are often enterable
  • Push enemies off ledges—especially with large explosive abilities (Volatile Anomaly) or Alternate Ground Slam
• Rush removes status effects
  • Getting Cleansing Rush earlier is recommended so Rush clears statuses faster.
• Ignite + mold spore clouds
  • Ignite can cause spore-cloud explosions, spreading fire to more mold enemies.

Gamers / Sources Featured

• No other gamers, creators, or external sources are explicitly named in the provided subtitles.
• Only game characters/roles like Jesse and Dylan are referenced, along with system terms (e.g., Resonant entities), plus an implied “next video” without identifying a creator.