Things to Do First

Control Resonant takes some of its predecessor's basics and turns them into something new. Whether you played the first Control or not, its sequel adds many new mechanics and a different world structure that is easy to get lost in. The game does a good job of teaching you many things, but knowing where to focus can be troublesome at first. That's why we have gathered a list of some things to do first.

In this IGN guide, we will go over some things and tips we would have loved to know before we started playing Control Resonant.

• Activate Every Location Tower as Soon as Possible
• Find the Vendors in Each Location
• Unlock Shortcuts
• Explore the Streets for Restaurants, Markets and Other Buildings
• Complete Every Access Terminal
• Unlock More Weapons and Abilities ASAP

Activate Every Location Tower as Soon as Possible

Most of the time, you can view a map of your current area from the Map menu. However, for a fully detailed look, you first need to reveal the Zone Map by using the Map Kits and activating the central Pylon (it’s like a tower with antennas). This is marked as a tower on your map, and before you can properly activate it, you need to interact with three Sensors.

Sensors are small antennas located within a close radius of the Pylon, but they don’t appear on your map, and you need to look for them. As a quick tip, from the Pylon, look to your surroundings and pay attention to flashing red lights. Unactivated antennas are marked that way, and they can’t be far away from where you are.

Activating Pylons gives you the best information for travelling through it and also marks some relevant collectibles and events. Not everything will be marked right away, mind you — many icons will appear once you get close to them. Regardless, this should be at the top of your list whenever you enter a new zone.

Find the Vendors in Each Location

Once your Zone Map is revealed, look for the area’s Vendor — it’s marked with a dollar sign on your map. Vendors appear as ice cream trucks, and they sell all the resources that you need to craft Artifacts and upgrade your weapons.

When you’re in front of a Vendor, you can easily visit the Gap, check the thing you want to craft or unlock, and get back to the Vendor. You’ll always have Source from your battles, so use it and improve your character.

It’s worth mentioning that Vendors have limited stock of every item, so you need to explore multiple Vendors when you need more of something in particular. Also, these merchants lock their items according to the Vendor Level you have.

Unlock Shortcuts

Usually, at the corners of every area, you’ll find big walls and doors with a red or green light. These are Zone shortcuts, and you usually need to go the other way around to open them, because they only open from one side.

You’ll quickly realize that many quests are on the other side of these walls, so you’re forced to explore other ways to reach those locations. Open your map and check the streets to create a new path. Once you reach the other side, instead of just completing the objective you need, don’t forget to get back to these doors and open them.

There's a small variation of this: stopped platforms that need electricity to work. You need to find Power Cores (marked on your map), hit them, and quickly go and hit the core close to the platform while your weapon is still charged.

Explore the Streets for Restaurants, Markets and Other Buildings

Most of the time, you’ll be jumping from roof to roof, dashing and floating around, to reach your next objective. However, every time you reach a new location, you should spend some time wandering the streets. It turns out you will find stores like restaurants, small markets, and laundries, which are easy to miss since they don’t tend to be marked on your map — the only visual clues are their signs and that you can look into the interior through the windows.

Whenever you see one of the places that you can go into, do so! They always have something inside, be it a chunk of health, a crate with resources, or other collectibles.

Complete Every FBC Terminal

In specific locations, such as buildings populated by FBC personnel or equipment, you might find PC monitors that you can interact with. They have the FBC logo, and you’ll see a prompt when you come close to one.

When you access one of these, it will ask you questions about the story and lore of the game, and you can use one of three options: “No”, “I don’t know”, and “Yes”. It doesn’t matter what you choose: if you answer three questions in a row, you’ll receive valuable resources for your upgrades.

Unlock More Weapons and Abilities ASAP

Control Resonant’s combat will be hit-or-miss for many players, and you don’t have a lot of options in your first hours. To help improve this, you should focus on two things: unlocking more Aberrant Forms (weapons) and looking for new traversal or Combat Abilities.

For the former, instead of focusing on only upgrading the weapons that you already have, try to unlock others as soon as possible. This won't only give you new options, but also increase your Aberrant Strength — the stat that defines your base Damage and Falter (stun damage).

You can use our previous Vendor’s tip to get the materials that you need, then go to the Gap and unlock it.

When it comes to unlocking new abilities, you have two paths: look for Resonants or find traces of Jesse. Resonants will be mentioned in quest descriptions, and you’ll find places to connect with Dylan’s sister when you come across illusions of her that guide you to an old video game console.

You can have two customized loadouts and then swap between them in-game by pressing a button. This way, you have abilities already prepared. However, to change your Aberrant Forms, you need to open your Loadout and manually change it every time.