Combat in Control Resonant runs on one rule, and Remedy states it outright: aggression fuels power. Hitting enemies with the Aberrant recharges your Combat Abilities. There is no meaningful passive regeneration, which means hanging back to recover is the single worst instinct you can bring from the first game.
The Intended Loop
Remedy’s Miika Huttunen has described the cycle directly:
- Attack with the Aberrant to recharge your abilities.
- Spend an ability to stun an enemy.
- Execute the stunned enemy, chained on L3.
- The execution grants a temporary percentage buff to melee damage.
- That buff feeds the next round of attacks, which recharges the next ability.
That fourth step is the one worth internalising. Executions are not just a finisher, they are a damage buff with a timer, so the game wants you chaining them rather than saving them. Remedy frames the whole economy around using L3 as much as possible.
Combat also emphasises air juggling, a combo meter, and crowd management, since melee range means threats arrive from every direction rather than in front of you as they did for Jesse. Our Dylan versus Jesse guide covers why that changed.
The Abilities Confirmed So Far
Remedy has named several by function:
- Seekers, which summon an increasingly volatile telekinetic entity you launch at enemies for major damage
- A Shield that doubles as an offensive ram
- A Turret that can be thrown like a bomb
- Mold Turrets, a summon that applies harmful status effects
- A projectile barrage
- An environmental ally formed from ambient debris
- Force-push and remote explosions
Each is described as having a distinct DualSense haptic feel on PS5.
How many you can equip at once is not officially confirmed. One reviewer describes six power combinations equippable simultaneously plus a separate seventh slot, drawn from twelve total choices, but Remedy has not published those numbers, so treat them as a reviewer’s account rather than fact.
Where Abilities Come From
You earn paranatural abilities by defeating Resonants, the game’s major bosses, choosing one power from a small set tied to each. Official material indicates up to three choices per Resonant.
That makes boss order a build decision rather than just a difficulty curve, though not an irreversible one. You can swap a previously chosen ability by respeccing with Reset Items, and Remedy’s launch hotfix permanently lowered the respec cost, stocked more Reset Items at all vendors, and made the first Resonant, The Artist, drop two instead of one. Remedy said the goal was “to encourage buildcrafting and experimentation.” Remedy has also said New Game Plus lets you equip several abilities tied to the same boss, as our New Game Plus guide explains.
One review-sourced warning worth acting on: some damage-type abilities are locked behind optional Resonant fights, so doing optional Resonants early rather than saving them is the better plan. Reviewers also reported enemy health outpacing upgrades in the back half, which is exactly what the launch hotfix went after.
What the Launch Hotfix Changed for Combat
Remedy shipped hotfix 1.3.3 at launch because, in its words, players found “enemy health pools feeling too high, requiring too many hits to Falter (stun) enemies for executions, and Dylan’s overall combat strength early on in the game not feeling powerful enough.”
The fixes go straight at the loop above:
- Lower base health and a lower Falter (stun) threshold for most enemies and the Dancer and Deserter bosses, so you reach executions, and their damage buff, faster.
- Higher maximum Aberrant Strength and Ability Strength, on a curve with bigger increases the more upgrades you have.
- A clearer stat label. Aberrant Strength now reads “Damage and Falter X%”, which makes clear it speeds up stuns as well as damage.
Our launch hotfix guide covers the full patch. Artifacts add one more lever on the Power economy: player reports say the preorder Pickpocket’s Tool makes the next ability after a Perfect Dodge free, and the Deluxe Wallet lets abilities spend Health when Power runs dry, per its official store text. Our Artifacts guide covers both.
Remedy has not published exact Power costs per ability, so we are not listing them.
Our Aberrant weapon guide covers the other half of the loop, and our Assist Mode guide covers the Power Recovery Speed slider if the rhythm is not clicking.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I recharge Combat Abilities?
By landing melee strikes with the Aberrant. Abilities do not meaningfully regenerate on their own.
What does executing an enemy do?
Beyond killing it, an execution grants a temporary percentage buff to your melee damage, which feeds back into the loop.
Where do new abilities come from?
Defeating Resonants, the major bosses, then choosing one power from a small set tied to that boss.
Can I change my ability choices later?
Yes, by respeccing with Reset Items. Remedy’s launch hotfix permanently lowered the cost and put more Reset Items in vendors.
Did the launch patch change combat?
Yes. Hotfix 1.3.3 lowered enemy health and stun thresholds and raised Dylan’s maximum Aberrant and Ability Strength.