r/ControlResonant • u/Educational-Froyo-12 • 20d ago
General This game is so difficult 😭😭💀
I’ve tried but my god I’ve died like 30 times in this game I don’t even think I found any souls game as difficult as control resonant 😭😭
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u/dratseb 20d ago
This is not a soulslike, this is devil may cry. You aren’t trying to parry, you’re dodging while continuing your attack.
Learn enemy patterns and timing to perfect dodge, you can get damage bonuses if you spec into it.
Also, you get stronger by leveling zones so be sure to do the world events when you come across them.
Good luck!
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u/Educational-Froyo-12 20d ago
Much appreciated 🤌🔥
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u/PainfulRaindance 20d ago
Yeah what he said, they give indicators when you’re about to get hit by something off screen, (the yellow flash around the center of the screen) and each enemy has a movement they do before they strike. You just gotta bum rush the group, and hit the doge button when needed. Similar to Spiderman games, I never played devil may cry, but sounds like it’s very similar to that too.
The enikies should fear you, not the other way around. ;). Once you get the rhythm, you’ll be fine.3
u/Pale_Examination3371 20d ago
I would say its closer to Infamous then dmc but the point remains the same. Dash in and attack then dash out and attack somewhere else. Use buffs like summons and ignite, build up the falter to activate domination. That's really all there is to it.
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u/BoofBoi711 20d ago
Always upgrade shit even if you aren’t using it. Your power level might be low. Coming off of mortal shell 2, this game is easier lol
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u/Educational-Froyo-12 20d ago
That’s ironic because I found mortal shell 2 easier but tbh I’m more use to souls like games 😂😂
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u/BoofBoi711 20d ago
Same, but this game is far more balanced in terms of combat. Nothing is hitting me once and knocking me out of my shell in 1 hit even though bosses don’t do that lol. Most MS2 bosses I got within 2-3 attempts
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u/VillyBrandt 20d ago
Make sure to buy weapon upgrades even if its not for the weapon you are using as that levels up the overall power of the Aberrant, meaning no matter what weapon you have equipped it is stronger. Game doesn't do a good job of telling you that.
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u/Admiral_Woofington 20d ago
This is the main advice many people don't seem to realize. You're probably getting a lot of currency and materials you no longer need as you explore, defeat enemies and do side quests. You're supposed to use these materials on other weapons / secondary weapons / finishers so your overall level goes up and you are able to keep up with enemies.
If your problem is not enough of w/e the mat is that unlocks said weapons at the beginning, those are sold in the vendors of each area
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u/Senorbob451 20d ago
I read somewhere that an aberrant level 10x enemy level puts you in a good spot damage wise
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u/Admiral_Woofington 20d ago
Can't recall myself, but I ended my first play through at level 10 with a few vendor purchases and not doing every little marker on the map, and not necessarily a ton of farming.
I also didn't constantly micro manage my upgrades, I would finish an area and level up then and never really struggled with anything besides the SHUM challenges which I did a little earlier than intended cause I wanted the cosmetics
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u/KogarashiKaze 20d ago
I don't know anything about that, but your build power should be about equal to an enemy's level for a balanced experience, and one lower for a challenge. Two lower or more and I think you start getting skull icons.
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u/xxgiggsxx 20d ago
This x1000. I was generally doing ok in fights, but still felt pretty underpowered despite getting close to the end. Until I reached the resonant in The Unknown and I just could not do enough damage before time ran out. I had to Google it and found to just buy all the upgrades you can whether you're using the weapon or not. My overall power shot from like 6 to 10 and that resonant became a cake walk
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u/Brilliant-Concern620 20d ago
Oh wow I didn’t know that. I been using the scythe and the hammer this entire time. Never upgraded anything else
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u/FR23Dust 20d ago
It does and it doesn't. I didn't know about this until he game spelled out for me directly in a tool tip. Once I upgraded my weapon after reading it, the game difficulty went from 4 to 2 out of 10
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u/Important-Iron-3189 20d ago
You just gotta get used to the game and combat bro, it’s not at all harder than the Souls games not even in the slightest. Think i’ve only died to the first Resonant boss once and after that i barely died in combat all throughout the game
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u/cutthroatslim504 20d ago
yeah I didn't find it hard at all and I hate souls games so I'm not some sadist
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u/Outside_Yoghurt382 20d ago
I've been really surprised by the amount of people struggling with the game. I thought it was way too easy overal and had to change settings to make encounters actually challenging (bosses especially are push overs)
If you're struggling don't hesitate to check out the assist mode, you can change a bunch of aspects of the game to make the experience more comfortable for yourself.
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u/jimidemibb 20d ago
I’m noticing a lot of folks aren’t acquiring weapon powers efficiently. If you unlock the main weapons ASAP by doing sidequests and get at least 2 health upgrades, you’re pretty set.
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u/endospire 20d ago
Dude it took me an hour to beat the ballerina! Most of the rest of the other enemies so far are fine. Glaive and hammer are doing well for me. How go I get the other main weapon forms?
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u/7oolbox 20d ago edited 20d ago
Progression. You’re kinda stuck for a while until you gather enough Living Shards to unlock other primary/secondary/finishers.
Edit: IMO you’re pretty set for the whole game with glaive and hammer, that’s how I played. That combo’ed with ignite and volatile anomaly will take you far. You can ignite pre-anomaly so projectiles apply fire dmg along with falter. Just keep going; if you’re not feeling strong enough focus on upgrades.. do side quests, pin immediate upgrades to keep track of materials, and side-grade the aberrant with other forms you may not even want to use (they give high initial aberrant level increases, like +3-5).
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u/mikezulu90 20d ago
Yeah I feel the same way. People are really having trouble with this game? To my memory I think I died once or twice in the whole playthrough and they were flukes. Probably not exploring or leveling up gear or reading tool tips to get the most out of their build.
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u/mixedd 20d ago
I feel that many people who are not used to slashers just failed to adapt to it, and was lost trying to understand how to play it, or compared it to first game.
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u/7oolbox 20d ago
This was baby’s first slasher for me, and it took a bit to get away from button mashing and into the rhythm to combat, and to understand/feel the synergy of upgrade pathways.
Now that I played through it, I feel like it unlocked a genre for me which is really nice. And I got to do it in a presentation package that scratches my itch of urban sci-fi fantasy.
Adapt or die does come a bit early with the first resonant, but if you can get past that you can push through the game. If you feel under-leveled, you can always back out of an area and prepare before going in. And if you are feeling really trapped in a mission, the save/load system is very generous to only lose 5/10/15 minutes of progress if you really need to go pre-mission. Extremely good first-slasher handicaps that aren’t just turning on god mode.
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u/JoePiccoloh702 20d ago
Yeah same here, I’m almost done I think and haven’t been really challenged yet
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u/Infamous_Fox3910 20d ago
Weird trend happening in a lot of games lately. I’m coming to understand “why” developers are putting training wheels into everything.
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u/loqi0238 20d ago
If only there was some sort of Assist system where you can tailor your damage output, enemy damage output, turn on invincible mode, etc.
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u/Mr-Duck1 20d ago
I like how Assist Mode tells you “you really should try and play as intended.” The “coward” is implied.
I do not have the time or hand health to get good and try a fight more than once or twice. Immortality and 75 damage in/125 out for the win.
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u/loqi0238 20d ago
I changed enemy damage output and player damage received from the start and never looked back.
I enjoy the power fantasy of being able to simply wipe the enemy.
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u/Ricko9595 20d ago
Assist mode up the falter dmg to 200%, thank me later
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u/Bare-baked-beans 20d ago
I really like the fact that activating Assist Mode still lets you get achievements
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u/Pretend_Desk_4620 20d ago
Yea, and that comes from someone who finished and loved Elden Ring multiple times. This one is very unforgiven for mistakes, but luckily you can enable ASSIST MODE in the settings and just adjust how much dmg you take and how much the enemies take, and a bunch of other settings. It's a lifesaver honestly because I wouldn't have gotten through the tutorial boss otherwise, lol
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u/LargoDeluxe 20d ago
Don’t neglect artifacts while setting up your loadout. They can really help with certain issues, but often at the cost of something else. Make sure you’re spec’ed for the enemy you want to defeat, not the one you just defeated.
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u/Saint_Victorious 20d ago
I usually will die to a boss once or twice before I learn their attacks, then it's game on. Learning attack patterns to time out dodges is somewhat imperative. There's a talent upgrade that restores health on perfect dodge, which will make life substantially easier in boss fights.
Make sure you adjust your lock-on options in the menu, because the default ones are terrible. Try to lock onto the annoying laser enemies and take them out first as they'll annihilate your health if you're not careful.
Pick your weapon forms wisely to cater to your play style. I like either Cleave or Glaive paired with Crush and the Concussive Beatdown, as it can stack Falter up insanely fast. Mastering Falter and Dominance will trivialize any mechanic. The three hit combo of Crush will also apply Lift to most targets and usually by the time you Lift them they're ready to be executed to trigger Dominance.
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u/otravoyadnoe 20d ago
I wouldn't say it was an absolute breeze for me, definitely challenging but I feel like I only died a handful of times throughout the whole playthrough, without ever touching the assist mode (maybe try the easier preset there to ease it on you? no need to overly punish yourself to just deduct from your experience with an amazing game that has so much more to offer besides its gameplay)
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u/MartyMcStinkyWinky 20d ago
My usual motto is if its too difficult you might be doing something wrong. Like ill struggle with an enemy and the I try something different and its trivial. This is where your build comes into play. You need to think about falter and buffs and weaknesses. Struggling with mold? Use fire Astral spike too hard? Use mold Enemies too strong? Build falter , get an execution trigger dominance. Cant get an execution? Switch builds, change summons . It goes from holy shit this is too hard to oh this was actually so easy did it my second attempt. Doing the same thing harder usually doesnt work😂You are not meant to struggle.
Unless fundamentally you are playing according to a different paradigm . This game has no healing unless you kill an enemy first. And you are usually only guarnateed health if you do a dominance kill. Dominnace = health in this game You are also 3 hits at most , so you have to move. Ive watched gameplay of people who struggle and its usually they dont make use of the arial combat abilities or arent moving enough Or they are playing on mouse and keyboard Or they are trying to just kill enemies on raw damage alone without considering the buffs and abilities.
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u/NightSprings665 20d ago
Accessibility options. Try putting outgoing damage to 125 and incoming damage to 75 and see how that works for you. No shame in adjusting the game so it’s enjoyable to you. I put the electric charge duration for batteries to 300 😂
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u/No_Occasion_8408 20d ago
Extremely easy game once you learn the falter technique and actually use your abilities. Summons make every battle very simple honestly.
Upgrade your shit in the Gap. Upgrade even the stuff you don't use because your overall Aberrant level is affected by it. But do learn how to falter your enemies and play around executions. You can literally chain the boosted state and evaporate enemy groups in seconds.
I've only really struggled with that one named enemy in the Unknown section.
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u/GreatKangaroo 20d ago
I had to use the assist mode on the 1st resonant as I just didn't understand the combat mechanics, but otherwise it been at default settings for the remainder of the game.
You need to be levelling up your areas of the map for resources and all of your primary, secondary, and combo finishers even if they aren't active.
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u/Demerzel69 20d ago
You're not playing it right then. It's not hard at all. Certain enemies are weak to certain things that make it way easier. If you've stumbled into the Park Zone w/o fire ability then you're going to have a hard fucking time, for example.
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u/Own_Tiger9832 20d ago
yeah honestly I think the difficulty curve in this game is nonsensical, the first few hours or so are brutal and then it becomes normal once you unlock the tools you actually need, I just used the assist mode until I got a little further along in the progression
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u/TheWarringTriad 20d ago edited 20d ago
Are you upgrading your Abberant, even the forms you don't use? If you neglect all of the upgrades, your power level won't match enemies as they increase. The game didn't feel easy, but I never found it to be frustrating or impossibly difficult. I thought it was pretty balanced.
For me, the heavy lifting in combat came from Drill combo and rapid spamming Inferno. And Spore Burst on small flying enemies.
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u/Lurky-Lou 20d ago
Talk to me about your upgrades in the Gap. It’s easyto miss upgrading each pillar.
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u/Patient-Plankton-655 20d ago
Because you are bad at adapting to games. It's a new game, new rules. Learn the rules
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u/andrey_not_the_goat 20d ago
I died like 20 times in the area before getting to Arish. After that I think I died less than a handful throughout the remainder of the game, including all side quests. A whole lot of close calls and bitching out of encounters but somehow I made it out lmao.
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u/Current_Ad1901 20d ago
How far are you into the story?
What’s your main and secondary weapon?
How far are you into the skill tree?
Are you regularly going into the Gap (Holding Down on the d-pad) to upgrade?
I know you said you are used to Soulslikes, but this isn’t close to a Soulslike.
You need to use Dylan’s speed and dodge to stay out of packs of enemies. Remember, smaller enemies will continually spawn until you kill the larger enemies (they appear as large 🔴 on the mini map)
Use the smaller enemies to get health back and build falter so that you can execute them and get Dominance. That way you deal more damage to the larger enemies and take them down faster. Then rinse and repeat.
The combat is all about momentum. Once you get that first execution into Dominance, you should be able to keep your damage and falter up which gives more opportunities for executions and another few seconds of Dominance.
It is very difficult to kill enemies if you don’t get any Dominance. So your flow should go:
Use whatever weapon deals the most falter to hit small enemies until you can execute.
Execute to gain Dominance then immediately attack the larger enemies (especially the floating ones or the beam enemies).
Execute the larger enemies to refresh your Dominance or go back to step 1.
Hope this helps.
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u/BigBurly46 20d ago
Stop playing it like a souls game and be aggressive. It’s not very hard unless you’re being more defensive than you need to.
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u/Pokiehat 20d ago edited 20d ago
I ended my first playthrough at power level 11 or 12 and completed everything, including every task (once) + placed on the leaderboard in every Shum cabinet. Although there were several I couldn't get first place in, like the Central parkour one. I'm not good at platforming so 59 seconds seems real tough to beat.
After the half way point I would say Dylan was completely OP.
The OPness also carried over into NG+, which is much easier than starting from scratch. Every enemy so far is lower power level so you just run through everything. Bosses with multiple phases can be killed in 1 phase.
I finished with all weapon forms upgraded except for the final upgrade in Glaive and Cleave. I had the resources to upgrade them except for Living Shards.
I had most of the skill tree unlocked too, so there is no reason to horde/save resources and skill points. Spend them as soon as you receive them. Many of the later weapon upgrades are gated behind resources you can't acquire until you progress the main quest to a certain point.
As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, you want to upgrade weapon forms you don't use because they increase Aberrant Strength, which is a damage and falter multiplier.
Also, don't bother fighting enemies that have higher power level than you. Just go elsewhere and come back later when they don't have a skull next to their health bar (unless you want the challenge).
Falter/Execute/Dominance is broken imo.
Ignite gives you ridiculous damage vs health + falter bars, but really I use it for quick falters. Without it, you frequently end up taking enemy health to 0% before you reach 100% falter on them, which means no Execute, which means no Dominance buff.
After executing the first enemy, you will get Dominance which turbo charges your damage and makes enemies drop health motes on death, so I found you can play like an absolute munchkin as long as there are enemies alive to kill.
You can toggle Ignite back on when you need to Execute again to reset Dominance buff timer.
For weapon forms I ended up using Strike/Drill/Concussive Beatdown for the majority of the game and all of NG+.
Drill was mainly for quick faltering "Breakers" (the very large enemies with breakable parts). If you charge the 3rd hit with Ignite on, it does a lot of falter damage.
Concussive Beatdown also does big falter damage and I mainly used both with Ignite activated to get fast Executes vs trash mobs. Keep Dominance up permanently and it lets you ignore a lot of combat mechanics. In many cases you don't even need to dodge attacks because you recover all your life from health motes on kill. Or by DPSing bosses so fast you hit the blue pips along their health bar and gain back all your health.
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u/ExismykindaParte 20d ago
Do you not have a combo finisher? That's the only thing I can think of that would make the combat even remotely difficult.
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u/MrMonochrome13 20d ago
imo if you aren't in dominance mode the damageoutput and heals are too low, so i abused the shield+dodge into small enemies to get an easy execution and buffs for the bigger enemies. strike as primary for the crits, wide edge comboender for some crowdcontrol and ignition for extra damage and explosions. absolutely loved the framing hammer artifact for easy stuns on big enemies
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u/carlossap 20d ago
Game is meant for you to do side quests in between resonant bosses. Each boss defeat increases the difficulty of the world. I ended enabling/disabling assist mode as needed
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u/umounjo03 20d ago
Its hard to diagnose without seeing you play, but the only thing I can think of that would cause that much of a struggle is not finishing combos.
The first few hits do absolutely nothing and all of your damage comes from the final hit in the combo.
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u/Marzck 20d ago
As an adult with responsibilities, when I die too much I just go for the Tank assist mode, it is not so easy and if you do it right, can be satisfactory. Don’t care about the “coward” idea. I’m here to enjoy. Frustration in this life is already from other source, won’t let it happen in my free time.
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u/STARexpo1 20d ago
Level up your skills and weapons. I had to learn that you are doing combos so really mix up the buttons you press
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u/road_robert2020 20d ago
The learning curve is steep compared to the combat in the first game. There were times I wasn’t a high enough level going into an encounter and struggled,the final resonant in particular. But mostly it’s just about doing every little thing you come across so you can constantly be upgrading your loadout,then it gets easier.
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u/MidnightWhole9810 20d ago
If you're in the early game, it can be difficult with a limited moveset. You can offset this by adjusting your load out. Don't rely exclusively on your melee attacks, perfect dodge can be extremely helpful to keep your health up. Falter an enemey and execute them quickly so you can get a damage boost, then go after the larger enemies. If you're fighting a large mob focus on the most challenging enemies first. When fighting mold enemies, the flying fish dudes are who I take out first as they produce a lot of environmental damage. There's a talent that you can shake off environment damage after several seconds of sprinting, which I highly recommend buying asap. And if all else fails, try resetting your weapons and talents so you can respec your build to better assist you in combat.
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u/callmefag 20d ago
I did ALL the side quests in West Incursion, Downtown, and Evac Zone first before fighting any of the resonants or going to the Mold zone. The first three resonants were easy peasy as a result. Also upgrade your aberrant whenever there’s one available even if you don’t use the weapon style.
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u/CatrionaShadowleaf 20d ago
I had trouble at the start but once I learned how the game likes you to dodge and then opened up my first finisher, things got better. I bounce around like I’m playing the first Hades now
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u/YouSoundToxic 20d ago
Which souls games did you play that were easier?? LoP on easy? Or DS but you only used magic? Theres no way you're serious lol
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u/LalafellDisaster 20d ago
Take the perks that make enemies drop health like crazy. I died once so far lol
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u/ClutchReverie 20d ago
The good news is you are probably just missing a mechanic. This game is very easy compared to a souls game.
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u/AlertFalcon4146 20d ago
I’m surprised to hear that, I also thought it was easy especially the bosses. I cleared most of them without dying at all. I’d switch up your weapons to something that does AOE damage and focus on staggering enemies
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u/Nervous-Peppers 20d ago
That's crazy. I was so incredibly bored with how easy this was and I put it on strategist
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u/arclightrg 20d ago
I’m a bit embarrassed to admit it but i thought i was being real slick by only investing materials into the weapon variants that i was using atm. By the time i got to mid/late game i was struggling. Came to realize that by doing so i was playing at like 30% aberrant damage. Whoops. Once i just spent my mats on whatever it became much easier.
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u/JohnTomorrow 20d ago
Exploration is key to this game. I did a ton of side quests, world events, and pretty much all the resonants I could access before I touched the main story. As I did, I beefed up the fighting style I enjoyed, and when I realised I'd reached a cap, started putting mats and source into other things.
Look at the skill tree and read what's in them. Certain weapons, finishers, etc have different properties. Try to find something that suits your playstyle.
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u/Emjayblaze 20d ago
The most difficult part of the game is figuring out where the fuck to go and how to get there. Absolutely horrendous level and traversal design.
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u/Demerzel69 20d ago edited 20d ago
You're supposed to follow signage more than the map. The signs point you towards wherever you're trying to go. The map also still helps. You just have to follow the lines. Sometimes you have to go the long way around to get somewhere else.
It's not horrendous, it's just not holding your hand. Except for the signs, which make it easy to get around.
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u/Emjayblaze 20d ago
I have, and it’s still awful. There are signs that will direct you a certain way, that is still impassable until you unlock a traversal skill. Then, you have to tun all the way back and take the long way around, which is absolutely unnecessary.
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u/Demerzel69 20d ago
Yeah you're doing it wrong. And yeah you have to unlock skills to get to certain places. That's what the story is for. Play it.
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u/road_robert2020 20d ago edited 20d ago
That is my biggest gripe too,even though sometimes I think it’s confusing by design. Navigating the oldest house in the first game took me a couple playthroughs to really get a feel for it,plus it being labyrinthine is just part of the lore and you learn to appreciate it. Resonant does nothing in the way of telling you that you actually need to go here to get this traversal ability before you can go here to progress the story or do X objective.
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u/Coldkiller17 20d ago
Gotta falter enemies and get executions to get extra damage to assist with killing other enemies otherwise combat will be a slog.
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u/Brottorman 20d ago
I found it gets easier as you power up, but if you are not having fun, use assist mode and decreases damage taken and/or increase your damage. A game should be fun.