There are three totally optional abilities you can unlock in Control. Let’s make sure you don’t miss any of them.
These powers seriously are optional, and earning them requires a little extra exploration outside the main story missions. They’re surprisingly easy to miss, and without them, your abilities will be a lot more limited. You don’t want to miss these paranormal abilities. The more powers you have to fight with, the more fun this game becomes.
Evade is the simplest of these three powers — getting it is simple and straightforward, but getting the other two abilities is a little trickier. One of them involves solving a puzzle, while another sends you through a half-finished training course.
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How To Get All Optional Abilities | Evade, Shield & Seize Guide
There are three optional abilities you can unlock for Jesse — Evade, Shield, and Seize. Each one requires completing a small side-quest that takes you to an Object of Power. Below, I’ll explain how to find these side-quests and how to complete the trickier parts of each.
How To Unlock Evade
To unlock the Evade ability, travel to the Maintenance Sector and reach the Janitor’s Office. Opposite the first door to the Janitor’s Room, there’s a hallway that leads to a small break room. Going this way will start the quest ‘A Merry Chase‘.
Enter the break room and you’ll fall through the floor, entering an Astral Plane. Complete the challenge to earn the ‘Evade’ ability — this ability can’t be upgraded. Press [B / Circle] to launch, avoiding attacks with a quick-dodge.
How To Unlock Shield
To unlock the Shield ability, travel to the Maintenance Sector and enter Central Maintenance. The path to the Field Training Course is blocked by a red barrier. To clear it, aim and shoot all three red spots to make the barrier disappear. When you enter, you’ll begin the ‘A Good Defense‘ quest.
Press the button and you’ll have 60 seconds to complete the training course. To speed through, make sure you run and shoot all the targets — your auto-aim will be enough. Use the standard Grip or Spin. Run and evade to speed over gaps. After one trial run, your second run can be quick.
At the end, use Launch to blast the shield around the Object of Power and touch it to enter the Astral Plane. You’ll learn the Shield ability, which generates a rocky shield that protects you from damage.
How To Unlock Seize
To unlock the Seize ability, travel to the Research Sector and enter the Hypnosis Lab, connected to the Parapsychology area. Entering will start the ‘A Captive Audience‘ quest. To access the floating Object of Power, you need to unlock the doors by entering a code in the computer terminal.
Go to the computer terminal and, if you look very carefully, you’ll be able to see the combination hanging on the glass wall in the background. It’s right next to the door into the office area.
Touching the X-Ray will send you into the Astral Plane. “Seize’ gives you the ability to mind-control enemies — complete the challenge to get the ability permanently. Unlock Evade, you can upgrade Seize, making your control duration longer.
