Control Resonant Side Quests & Resonant Entity Hunts

Executive Overview: The Documented Optional Layer

Beyond the critical path, Control Resonant scatters its optional content across a warped Manhattan, and the parts that can actually be described with confidence are these: Resonant Entity hunts, the powerful creatures the Bureau asks Dylan to track down and defeat; Resource Crates and World Feats, the raw-material economy that funds Aberrant upgrades; points of interest, the low-risk conversation markers that build world context; named collectible chains such as the Museum of Curiosities speaker hunt; and the traversal services, vendors, health crates, fast travel doors, and The Gap that make long detours survivable.

There is also a parallel narrative track. Alongside the main chapters, the secondary storyline Search for Jesse pursues Dylan's missing sister, and it is where the traversal kit comes from: during the prologue ritual, the CRT televisions and Jesse's voice hand Dylan Double-Jump, then Elevate (jump and hold to float across a gap), then Rush (a sprint that leaves after-images and can be extended by later upgrades).

One honest caveat up front: Remedy has not published a total side-quest count, a collectible tally, or an official missability list. Players who report coming up short on a collectible chain are frequently pointed at New Game Plus, where the chapter videos differ, which suggests some collectibles are unobtainable in a single pass. Everything below is what the documented play experience supports, and where the numbers are unknown they are stated as unknown rather than invented.

Quick Answer: Clear optional Resonant fights and World Feats first, because they are the fastest route to Aberrant Slivers, Source, and the Zone XP that raises Zone Levels into Talent Points. Every Resonant after the mandatory first one can be attempted in any order, and you can finish the game without defeating all of them.

Optional Content At A Glance

Optional Activity	What It Pays	How You Start Or Find It
Resonant Entity hunt	Badge artifact, Living Shard, Reset Item, Source, and a Combat Ability choice	The FBC formally asks Dylan after the opening credits and points to the West Incursion Zone as the first documented lead
World Feat	Aberrant Slivers for weapon upgrades	Completed in the open world while traversing a zone
Resource Crate	Aberrant Slivers and Source	Found inside Safe Rooms and hidden pockets, including the bright-lit Safe Room in Orientation
Point of interest	Conversation and world context, no material reward	Marked by a white eye icon; look at it and hold the prompt to open the communication wheel and report it to Zoe
Collectible chain (example: Museum of Curiosities speakers)	Documents, audio files, and recordings filed in the Archives	Started by exploring named landmarks such as the Museum of Curiosities in the West Incursion Zone
Zone XP from any of the above	Talent Points	Zone XP accrues from completed battles and other activities in every location

Resonant Entities: The Optional Boss Hunts

After the opening credits, Dylan speaks with Emily Pope, the FBC's Head of Research and now acting Co-Director alongside Simon Arish. She explains that the Patterning AWE is producing Resonant Entities, powerful creatures seemingly created by it, and because the Bureau needs more data she asks Dylan to look for and defeat others, suggesting the West Incursion Zone as the first place to start. That request is the spine of the late-game side layer.

What previews and player experience establish about the structure:

The first Resonant is compulsory, the rest are not. The Artist is the opening encounter every player must clear. It has been stated in previews that you can tackle Resonants in whatever order you want after the first one, and Remedy communications lead Thomas Puha said he beat the game in 35 hours and still had two Resonants left unchallenged. Players corroborate the optionality from the other side: reports exist of finishing without fighting every Resonant.
The population is small but unconfirmed in exact number. Community estimates in the boss-count threads range from a handful up to double figures, and nobody has published a definitive tally, so treat any specific total you read as speculation. Zones named by players who have cleared them include Central, Park, and West Incursion.
Rewards are consistent and meaningful. Defeating The Artist yields the Untapped Badge artifact, one Reset Item, one Living Shard, and a large Source payout, and lets Dylan choose a new Combat Ability from Barrage, Volatile Anomaly, or Shield. A Badge is an artifact that offers a buff when activated and equipped, and some carry detriments, so read the full description before building around one.
Difficulty is dodge-dependent, not gear-dependent. The consistent community answer to being stuck is that Resonant fights punish haste: attacks are heavily telegraphed, damage is high, healing opportunities are limited mid-fight, and the dodge is the answer rather than out-statting the boss. Several players report that switching Aberrant form solved a wall instantly, including one who died repeatedly with the hammer form and killed the same boss on the first attempt after switching to the Glaive primary attack. Players also report that a Park Resonant reward helps keep boss Falter up.

The Deserter And The Dancer, As Players Describe Them

Two of the named Resonants dominate side-content discussion, and the descriptions below are player reports from the community threads rather than official design notes.

The Deserter, the furnace-themed Resonant, is the most polarising fight players describe. One report calls it disappointingly easy: get in close, stay off the ground, and chip the health away. Several others call it badly designed for the same set of reasons, a huge health bar, an awkward body shape that makes it hard to reach, and so much lava left on the floor that getting in to attack becomes tedious, with the damage phase only triggering if you back off and let it burn the whole arena first. One player rage-quit after more than ten attempts. The reward side of that complaint is documented: beating it grants the Ignite ability, which players report comes in clutch in the Mold area of the Park.

The Dancer is the fight most often named as the real skill check: players report it taking several attempts where other Resonants fell first try, with the second phase demanding precise dodge timing, and one player reporting roughly seven attempts.

If you are stuck on either, the community's two cheapest levers are to do side content and raise your level before retrying, and to level up Aberrant forms you do not even use, because raising every form increases your overall Aberrant level, which makes you stronger. Adjusting the difficulty setting is also available, and the game's settings include an assist mode.

World Feats, Resource Crates & The Exploration Economy

The quiet upgrade economy is the strongest reason to explore rather than rush:

Aberrant Slivers are the resource behind weapon upgrades, and the documented ways to collect them are Resource Crates and completing World Feats.
Resource Crates sit inside unlocked Safe Rooms and hidden pockets, stocking Aberrant Slivers and Source. The first example players meet is the bright-lit Safe Room in Orientation, which also holds the Containment Guard Note collectible.
Source is the game's currency, exchanged at vendors for upgrade materials and other items.
Living Shards are what unlock additional Aberrant forms. The two documented supply lines are the vendors in each zone, which sell shards directly once you have raised the Vendor's stock level, and major or story missions, which award them as you follow the main plot.
Points of interest are marked with a white eye icon anywhere in the city. Look at the icon, hold the prompt to open the communication wheel, and report the finding. They are not required, but they are the cheapest lore-density lever in the game: zero combat risk for permanent conversational context with Zoe.

The practical services that make long detours worth taking are the ice cream truck vendor, health crates placed around the city, and the fast travel doors players are advised to use often; plus The Gap, Dylan's mental space, reached by holding down on the directional pad or the G key, where you upgrade weapons, unlock abilities, activate artifacts, and freely reset skills to test builds. Remember the hard rule: once you leave The Gap, your unlocked forms and abilities become permanent until you spend one of the limited Reset Items.

A Collectible Chain In Practice: Museum Of Curiosities

The clearest documented example of a named side chain is the speaker hunt around the Museum of Curiosities at the West Incursion Zone. Players report that the Museum is where the chain is triggered, that talking with Zoe about the exhibition awards one of the speakers, and that a further document sits in the Pulse Gym near the Museum, up the road from it, which is easy to miss because it does not appear to be linked to the quest in the log.

The chain is tracked in the Archives tab of the menu, which files the collected notes, documents, recordings, and videos by section, and marks new entries with a red triangle. One player auditing their list at 15 of 16 in that chain recorded the individual entries by name, including the auction ledger and receipt, the Museum flyer, the Museum worker's note, the warning note, the noise complaint, the exchange location note, the SINKKI D50 speaker entries, and a false SINKKI lead. Two failure modes worth knowing:

The red triangle can fail to appear. Players report that when picking up a document and opening the menu to read it, the new-item marker sometimes does not show, which makes it impossible to tell a fresh collectible from one already read purely from the flag. Completionists should audit the Archives section directly.
Some collectibles may require a second playthrough. A player who finished the main story missing five Dr. Darling videos was told that New Game Plus offers different chapter videos, including a different final one, and another player hunting a missing audio file noted that there were not many guides for that chain at all.

Side Content Optimization Anti-Patterns

Ignoring side content while the main bosses wall you off. Players stuck on Resonant fights are repeatedly told to do side quests and level up first, since Zone XP, Aberrant level, and extra form upgrades all come from the optional layer.
Upgrading only the form you use. Levelling the forms you never equip still raises your overall Aberrant level and makes Dylan stronger, so hoarding Slivers for one favorite weapon costs you passive power.
Skipping the communication wheel. Reporting points of interest carries no combat risk and permanently enriches the dialogue context, and it is the only content type that costs nothing to clear.
Trusting the new-item marker instead of the Archives. With the red triangle bug reported on documents, the marker is an aid rather than a completion record.
Treating one playthrough as a guaranteed 100 percent clear. The New Game Plus report on differing Dr. Darling chapter videos means a single campaign may not expose every collectible.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I finish Control Resonant without doing side content?

Yes on the boss side of it. Previews state that Resonants can be tackled in any order after the first, and a Remedy representative reported beating the game with two Resonants still unfought. What you give up is the Zone XP, Slivers, Shards, Source, and Badge rewards that the optional layer produces.

Is there an official list of missable side content?

No. Remedy has not published a missability list or a total collectible count, and the player reports on differing New Game Plus chapter videos are the closest thing to evidence that some items are not obtainable in one pass.

Do side quests reward Talent Points directly?

Indirectly and reliably. Talent Points come from raising your Zone Level, and Zone Levels grow from Zone XP earned through completed battles and other activities in every location, so every Resonant hunt, World Feat, and Crate run is talent currency.

What is the hardest optional encounter players report?

The Dancer is the most-cited wall, especially its second phase, with The Deserter generating the most frustration for different reasons: a long health bar, arena-wide fire, and awkward hit angles rather than demanding execution.

To convert the Living Shards and Slivers you earn into extra weapon capabilities, consult our Aberrant Weapons Guide. To plan Talent spending across the content you clear, explore the Endgame Builds Guide.