CONTROL Resonant Abilities: Combat and Traversal Explained | CONTROL Resonant
Quick answer: CONTROL Resonant splits abilities into two tracks: combat abilities, which come from defeating Resonant bosses and offer a choice between two options, and traversal abilities, Shift and Reach, which come from clearing specific Faults. Push versus Ground Slam and Ignite versus Inferno are two of the confirmed combat ability choices.
How are abilities structured in CONTROL Resonant?
Abilities fall into two separate tracks. Combat abilities come from defeated Resonants, where you pick one of two options rather than receiving a single fixed unlock. Traversal abilities, specifically Shift and Reach, come from Faults instead, Incursion for Shift and Subway for Reach, which keeps the two systems distinct even though both ultimately shape how capable Dylan becomes over the course of the game.
Where does Shift come from?
Shift is unlocked through the Incursion Fault, found in the West Incursion Zone’s Parking Garage Jesse Sighting. It’s a traversal ability rather than a combat pick, and it’s also a prerequisite for reaching certain other content, including The Dancer’s fight in the Theater Hall.
Where does Reach come from?
Reach is unlocked through the Subway Fault, located in the Evacuation Zone’s northern Dense Patterning area. Like Shift, it’s a traversal ability rather than a combat ability, and it opens up movement options you’ll need for later areas, including gaps you’ll run into during Recursions and Iterations.
What is the Push-versus-Ground-Slam choice?
After defeating The Dancer, you’re offered a choice between Push and Ground Slam as a combat ability. Push is built around knockback, useful for shoving enemies into hazards, while Ground Slam is an aerial-focused ability with area damage that scales with how high you are when you use it. Neither is universally the stronger pick; which one suits you better depends on how you prefer to engage groups of enemies.
What is the Ignite-versus-Inferno choice?
After defeating The Deserter, you choose between Ignite and Inferno. Ignite threads fire damage into abilities you’re already using, melee, Barrage, Shield, and Volatile Anomaly, rather than handing you a brand-new tool. Inferno instead gives you standalone fire waves as their own effect. Beginner-leaning guidance tends toward Ignite for dealing with Mold specifically, but Inferno remains a legitimate heavier fire option within the same general toolkit.
| Ability | Type | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Shift | Traversal | Incursion Fault |
| Reach | Traversal | Subway Fault |
| Push / Ground Slam | Combat | The Dancer |
| Ignite / Inferno | Combat | The Deserter |
Do other Resonants also grant combat ability choices?
Yes. The same general pattern, defeat a Resonant, then choose between two combat ability options, applies across the Resonant roster beyond just The Dancer and The Deserter. The Artist grants your first ability choice at the very start of the game, and the remaining regional Resonants follow the same structure as you progress.
Are abilities the same thing as talent trees?
Not exactly. Combat abilities from Resonants and traversal abilities from Faults are the two tracks covered on this page, but CONTROL Resonant also layers in deeper talent trees and Aberrant form upgrades on top of them, giving the overall progression system more of an action-RPG lean than a simple binary-choice structure. Talent picks like Strike plus Crush, Barrage, and Perfect Dodge sit in that separate talent layer rather than being additional Resonant or Fault unlocks themselves.
Can I change my ability choice later?
For choices like Ignite versus Inferno, the pick holds until you deliberately use a Reset Items action to reverse it; there’s no casual, on-the-fly toggle between the two options once you’ve committed. That’s worth knowing going in, since it means these aren’t minor loadout tweaks you can swap moment to moment mid-fight.
Should I prioritize combat or traversal abilities first?
In practice, you don’t have to choose one track over the other, since combat abilities come from Resonants you’ll fight as part of the story and traversal abilities come from Faults tied to specific zones you’ll naturally pass through. Picking up Shift and Reach as they become available, rather than deliberately delaying them, keeps you from getting stuck on traversal-gated content later.
How do abilities connect to combat traversal, like gravity anomalies?
Shift and Reach are the two named traversal abilities, but they sit alongside broader movement features such as gravity anomalies and inverted geometry that exist throughout Manhattan’s zones. Having Shift and Reach unlocked makes it easier to actually take advantage of those larger vertical spaces, since the traversal abilities are what let you reach the areas those gravity-affected spaces are built around in the first place.
Do combat abilities interact with each other once unlocked?
Yes, in at least one documented case. Ignite, if chosen over Inferno after The Deserter, adds its fire component directly onto melee, Barrage, Shield, and Volatile Anomaly, meaning it layers on top of other abilities rather than functioning as a fully separate tool. That’s worth keeping in mind as you unlock more combat abilities from later Resonants, since not every ability choice stands entirely on its own the way Push and Ground Slam do.
For more on exactly where each Fault is located and what order to tackle them in, see our faults guide. And for a closer look at the Ignite-versus-Inferno decision specifically, our Ignite or Inferno guide breaks down both options in more depth.