How to Beat The Artist Boss in Control Resonant

The Artist is the first Resonant boss in Control Resonant, fought at the end of the Orientation prologue. The fight is short once you know its loop: stay near the giant face, respect its poles, use the two healing markers, and chase it up the platforms when it takes to the air.

Where you fight The Artist

The fight is the final objective of Orientation, the prologue mission, and takes place in Downtown. As you approach, the objective reads Reach the Source of the Patterning. The Artist's name and health bar then appear over a giant face at the end of the street, and the objective changes to Defeat the Artist.

There is nothing to prepare. Barrage, Volatile Anomaly and Shield, the three abilities tied to this boss, are rewards for beating it, so you fight with your prologue kit: melee, dodging and movement.

The Artist's attacks and how to respond

The Artist fights as a giant face surrounded by floating debris, with two long poles in front of it. Your damage comes from melee attacks landed directly in front of that face, so the whole fight is about staying there without eating too many hits.

Thrown debris on the approach

The fight opens with large objects hurled in front of the boss, followed by explosions and burning wreckage on the ground. Run in at an angle instead of straight at the face. A diagonal approach lets throws sail past you while you keep closing the distance. Never back away: retreating keeps you in the impact zone and gives the boss more time to throw again. The goal is to reach the face, and every second spent at range is wasted.

Pole sweep

Up close, both poles swing sideways across the front of the face. This is where most hits land, because it is tempting to keep attacking through it.

Stop your combo the moment the poles start to swing, then jump up to the forehead. Stay in the air near the top of the face and keep attacking while the poles pass underneath. Once the sweep is over, drop back down and continue. A few extra hits on the ground are never worth a full sweep.

Double pole slam

This is the clearest warning in the fight: the pole tips rise and brighten, then both crash down in front of the face. Move out to the side as soon as the poles lift, because standing in front of the face is what gets you hit. When they hit the ground, the face is open, so step back in and attack.

Closing the gap when it retreats

Between close-range exchanges, The Artist pulls back to the far side of the arena and sends low attacks along the ground. Don't fight it from range, because it keeps attacking while you stand off. Run, jump and dodge your way back to the face straight away. Getting close again is what restarts your damage.

Use the blue markers to recover health

This is the most useful thing to know about The Artist. The two blue markers on its health bar heal you, not the boss. They sit at roughly three-quarters and one-quarter of its health.

When your damage brings the boss down to a marker, the marker lights up and disappears, and your own health bar (bottom left) refills to full about a second later. It works even if you are taking a hit at that moment.

That changes how you should play when you are low:

• Push damage instead of backing off. The next marker may be only a few hits away, and reaching it refills you.
• Play carefully after the second marker. There are no more heals, so the final quarter is where to stop trading hits.

When it rises, climb the platforms

At around two-thirds health, The Artist lifts into the air and slabs of the street rise around you as platforms. Stop chasing it along the ground and look for the nearest raised slab.

From here:

1. Climb the raised platforms toward the airborne face.
2. Jump from a platform and attack the face in mid-air.
3. Follow it down as it descends and keep attacking when you land.

Keep attacking until it drops. Once it is back on the ground, the fight returns to the close-range loop.

The final stretch and the finisher

After the second marker, The Artist moves around more, and rubble and dust bands trail along its path. They hurt, so don't run straight through them. Approach from the side and keep your combos short.

When its health empties, cracks of light cover the face and a finisher prompt appears (L3 on PlayStation). Press it to start the finishing sequence. This is a prompt, not a normal hit, so stop mashing attack.

After the finisher you receive 2,000 Source and complete Orientation. Interact with the face to open the Combat Ability Selection screen.

Barrage, Volatile Anomaly or Shield

You choose one of three Combat Abilities, and choosing one adds 1 Ability Strength. Here are the starting figures from the selection screen:

Our recommendation:

• Shield if this fight gave you trouble. It is the only defensive option and the cheapest to activate, and dodging while it is up turns into a Shield Bash with strong Falter.
• Barrage if you want straightforward damage. One button, ranged, no setup. It is the most expensive at 400 Power, so pair it with steady melee to refill.
• Volatile Anomaly if you like setting up big hits. The explosion has the highest damage and Falter of the three, but you pay twice (summon, then throw) and get the most out of it by timing the throw.

The numbers grow as your build improves, so treat the table as a starting point. If you change your mind, a vendor sells a Reset Item for 5,000 Source that resets Combat Abilities in the Gap; see what a Resonant victory changes. All three spend Power, and melee attacks recover it, so keep hitting things between casts.

With The Artist down, Manhattan opens up. Our first-steps checklist covers what to do next, from revealing the map to your first visit to the Gap.

For locations, requirements and rewards across the game, see all bosses.