Welcome to Manhattan Walkthrough in Control Resonant (Full Guide)

Control Resonant’s second main mission, Welcome to Manhattan, begins as soon as Orientation concludes. After Dylan finishes arranging matters with the FBC during his conversation with Zoe de Vera and Emily Pope in the Oldest House, you head into Downtown and encounter three new mechanics: Mapping Pylons, portable power-core charges, and security clearance.

Quick answer: Calibrate the Downtown Mapping Pylon, relay a single charge through five power cores to the Central Checkpoint, clear the Hiss ambush, meet Zoe at the Watchtower, then take the Level 1 Keycard from the FBC Field Office.

Welcome to Manhattan requirements and rewards

This mission belongs to the Contain the Crisis storyline, and Zoe takes over as Dylan’s handler for the crisis in Manhattan. The only prerequisite is finishing the prologue.

Detail	Value
Storyline	Contain the Crisis
Prerequisite	Complete Orientation
Starting area	Oldest House, into Downtown
Rewards	Living Shard x1, Level 1 Keycard x1, Talent Point x1

Leave the Oldest House and bring the Downtown Mapping Pylon online

After speaking with Zoe and Pope, you can leave the Oldest House without making a lengthy return trip. From Pope’s location, go west to the exit and enter Downtown. Zoe then radios you with directions to the FBC cartography team.

Leave Oldest House — The Welcome to Manhattan quest begins as Dylan wraps up the meeting inside the Oldest House. Shown at 00:05 in MetaGuide’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

After exiting, head north into the shop marked Urban Fresh Mart to loot a Health Upgrade Point before you continue.

Your Downtown map is nearly blank until the Mapping Pylon comes online. Cross the rooftops to the south, ride the freight elevator up, and climb to the main tower, which reads “Tower Offline: Calibration Required.” Speak with the maintenance worker standing beside it to start the job and open the Mapping the New New York questline.

Turn on all three sensor dishes around the tower: one northwest, another northeast, and the third southeast. The large pylon provides a visual guide if needed, because each dish faces its corresponding smaller transmitter.

Return to the central tower and activate it. The Downtown 2 map fills in, you earn a Talent Point, and mapping objectives open up across the city. There is also an active door on the rooftop basketball court next to the pylon; touching it unlocks the Outside the Oldest House fast travel point, which is worth grabbing now.

Find Baker’s note and the Power Core Servicing Diagram

Your next task is Find the Maintenance Worker, and the objective area lies southeast of the pylon. Travel across the rooftops to get there while avoiding the enemies below in the streets.

Quest Log: Find the Maintenance Worker — The Quest Log points you southeast of the pylon to search for the missing worker. Shown at 01:38 in Trophy Tom’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

The search area is occupied by Hiss, so eliminate them before doing anything else. When the area is safe, examine the chair and read A Note From Baker. Afterward, go east to the outdoor work table and inspect the Power Core Servicing Diagram. Its hand-drawn map numbers the five power cubes in charging order, and you need both collectibles to continue.

Inspect servicing diagram — The Power Core Servicing Diagram lays out the charging order for the five cores. Shown at 03:00 in MetaGuide’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

After reading both, a fresh wave of Hiss spawns to the west. Prioritize the larger enemies to clear the area quickly.

How the power core charge works

Manhattan’s electrical charge must be carried manually. Fire your primary weapon at a sparking orange Power Core, then the charge moves onto the Aberrant. It remains there for around 20 seconds before fading and returning to the core where you took it.

An empty core becomes a checkpoint once you reach it. Put the charge inside to secure it and refresh the timer, breaking the route into five brief sprints instead of one extended run. Before lifting the charge, locate the next core on your map; also eliminate Hiss along the path so they cannot interrupt the transfer.

Core	Location	What it does
1	Central pillar opposite the checkpoint	Resets the timer
2	Loading dock down the alley ramp	Opens Baker’s garage
3	Rooftop north, above the green awnings	Resets the timer
4	FBC outpost with green containers	Resets the timer
5	Station in front of the Central Checkpoint	Restores power

Relay the charge to the Central Checkpoint

At the servicing diagram, use your primary weapon on the charged Power Core to collect its charge. Then sprint west to the pillar and strike the second core, placing the charge there. This opening transfer is mainly a timer reset.

Take the charge again and run north. Take the first left, then left again down the ramp into the courtyard, and hit the core to raise the garage shutter. Step inside and inspect Baker’s body on the floor to trigger a required radio exchange with Zoe. Grab the loot crate in the garage too, since it feeds the Aberrant’s weapon form upgrades.

Pick up the charge and travel north once more. Leap onto the platform on the left, cross via the platform attached to the opposite building, and climb to the rooftop. Continue north to the core above the green awnings and deposit the charge. Deal with the Hiss on the roof before bringing it up.

Collect the charge, then cross the rooftops toward the FBC outpost containing green shipping containers. On the platform with yellow tape, place the charge in that core.

Collect the charge for the final time and leave through the northwest opening. Reach the main road, turn right, and run without stopping to the station before the checkpoint. Put the charge into it to restore power to the Central Checkpoint.

Survive the Hiss ambush at the checkpoint

The checkpoint gates immediately attract waves of Hiss when power returns. This creates a notable difficulty spike so early in the mission, while the exposed road provides useful space but also leaves you vulnerable.

Prioritize the two Hiss Colliders. The grunts continue returning until both Colliders have been defeated.
Collider strikes deal heavy damage despite their slow pace, so evade them instead of exchanging blows.
The next arrivals are two Hiss Focused, each capable of maintaining an energy beam. Use the concrete slabs on either side of the road to break their line of sight.
Use the Secondary Aberrant to raise Falter, then trigger Executions. They recover health and provide a temporary increase to damage.

After the final enemy is defeated, use either glowing green control panel to bring the elevator down into the checkpoint.

Meet Zoe at the Watchtower

On the north side, press the green call button to bring over the lift. Ride it upward and use the button inside to enter Zone Access. Turn right through the door, then follow the Central Checkpoint Watchtower signs along the corridors. At the end, wait until the door indicator is green before proceeding; drop down on the right and continue north into Central, where the Watchtower is located.

Zoe is waiting in her upper-floor observation office. Speak with her and inspect the buildings and districts visible from the tower to learn about them. This conversation opens the Defeating Resonants questline and unlocks the following missions:

Evacuation Procedures (main quest)
The West Incursion Zone Resonant
The Central Resonant
The Park Resonant

Activate the fast travel door next to the office before going downstairs, giving yourself a quick return route later.

Clear the underground supply route

Leave the office and head right to the lower floor. Loot the area and use the Wardrobe to customize Dylan’s appearance if you like, then open the door to the east and take the elevator down into the tunnels.

Travel east into the tall chamber arranged around several power cores. Descend to the bottom level, collect the charge, and place it in the core one floor higher. A side room then opens, revealing a crate with a Power Upgrade Point.

Carry the charge to the core in the north to raise the blue blast gate. Go through it, examine the ranger’s body ahead, and proceed east while defeating the Hiss and a larger enemy.

Continue until you enter the chamber containing three floating dead rangers, which can be reported to Zoe. Go right and clear that area, concentrating on the large enemies. One is a named miniboss with substantially more health and altered attacks. You can also move a charged core here back to the core beside the floating bodies, opening a shortcut to the Watchtower.

Follow the northwest tunnel into the subway. Use the southern stairs first for additional loot, then come back and take the northern stairs. In the southern ticket booth room, break the jukebox display case to obtain a Health Upgrade Point.

Stand at the blue door and wait for its red indicator to change to green. Open it, leave the subway, and travel northwest toward the FBC Field Office.

Get the Level 1 Keycard at the FBC Field Office

Once outside in daylight, follow the boulevard northeast to the barricaded Field Office in the VERCONN building. At the security booth, a gate ranger stops Dylan and asks him to explain himself, but the response you select has no effect. Zoe then intervenes over comms and guides him through the turnstiles whatever your choice was.

Take the northern door, go up the stairs, and enter the circular Field Command lobby through the sliding doors. The Security Keycard is on the central desk; pick it up. Welcome to Manhattan ends immediately, and the Quest Completed screen appears.

Mission completion awards a Living Shard, the Level 1 Keycard, and a Talent Point for the Central Zone. The keycard provides Level 1 Security Clearance, allowing access through any door fitted with a Level 1 clearance panel. Evacuation Procedures is already queued afterward, beginning the search for the Resonants.