Control Resonant: How to Move the Charge to the Central Checkpoint

Early in Control Resonant, the Welcome to Manhattan mission drops you into a warped version of Downtown Manhattan and asks you to restore power to the Central Checkpoint. The catch is that you cannot carry the charge straight there. It behaves like a relay that you have to run through a fixed chain of power core stations before a timer empties.

Quick answer: Strike each power core with your melee weapon to grab the charge, then move it through all five cores in order (alley start, garage cables, rooftop watchtower, FBC checkpoint, Central Checkpoint) before the roughly 20‑second timer runs out.

How the charge relay works

The charge is tied to Dylan’s Aberrant technique. To pick it up or drop it off, you hit the sparking power core unit with a melee attack. Doing this transfers the electricity to your weapon and starts a countdown of around 20 seconds.

If you take too long between cores, the timer expires and the charge snaps back to the last power core you activated. That means you never lose all your progress, but you do have to re-run the failed leg. Each core sits inside a yellow square outline on the ground, so aim for those markers as you move.

Before you start, read the note and diagram left behind by Baker, the maintenance worker who abandoned the job. The “Power Core Servicing Diagram” lays out the exact order you need to follow, from “Baker, start here” through to “Critical: checkpoint power out.”

Reading Baker's Note — Baker's note confirms the route you are about to run and points you to the servicing diagram. Shown at 00:09 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

The full power core route

There are five power cores to activate in numerical order. Work through them without stopping to fight unless you have to, since the timer keeps running the whole time.

Head to the first core in the maintenance alleyway near your spawn, marked “1: Baker, start here.” Hit it with your melee weapon to pull the charge into your Aberrant.

Step 1: Picking up Initial Charge — Grabbing the charge from the first core starts the countdown, so keep moving. Shown at 00:33 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

Sprint down the street and into the open ground-level garage in the alley. Strike the second core (“2: Stabilize the cables”) to deposit the charge. This also opens the garage, where you can grab a chest with upgrade materials and find Baker’s body.

Step 2: Running to Cables Core — The second core sits inside the alley garage; loot the chest here before continuing. Shown at 00:41 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

Pick the charge back up from core 2, then climb the scaffolding, stairs, and ladders to reach the rooftop watchtower. Jump onto the green awnings on the left to help reach the roof on the right. Deposit the charge at core 3 (“3: Wrong location, work with it”).

Step 3: Carrying Charge to Rooftop Watchtower — The third core is on the rooftop marked Watchtower, ringed by yellow boundary lines. Shown at 00:55 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

Take the charge from core 3 and jump across the rooftops toward the FBC outpost between the buildings, the area with concrete walls, green shipping containers, and armed guards. Drop into the interior checkpoint and hit core 4 (“4: Alarms out, fix this too”). Charging it sets off local sirens.

Step 4: Moving Charge to FBC Ranger Outpost — The fourth core sits inside the FBC outpost and triggers the alarms when charged. Shown at 01:08 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

Grab the charge from core 4, head out to the main road, and sprint toward the large central building. The final core (“5: Critical: checkpoint power out”) sits in the entrance courtyard. You need to run flat out here or the timer will empty before you arrive. Strike it to restore power.

Step 5: Powering Central Security Checkpoint — The last core powers the Central Security Checkpoint and immediately spawns enemies. Shown at 01:21 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

The rooftop stretch around core 3 often has Hiss floating nearby. If they keep interrupting your run, go up ahead of time and clear them out before you carry the charge through.

Confirming the checkpoint is powered

You know the puzzle worked when power returns to the Central Checkpoint and the objective updates to Defeat the Hiss. Activating the fifth core instantly spawns hostile forces in red distortion, so be ready for a fight the moment the charge lands.

The battle runs across three waves. Focus the Hiss Colliders first, since the smaller grunts keep respawning until the two heavy enemies are down. Their attacks are slow but hit hard, so lean on your dodge. After that, two ranged Hiss Focused appear and fire a continuous beam. Use the large concrete slabs on either side of the road as cover to block the beam and separate enemies.

Building the Falter meter with your Secondary Aberrant opens an Execution prompt, which restores health and grants a temporary damage boost. Chaining Executions is the fastest way through this fight. Once every enemy is cleared, interact with one of the glowing green control panels on the left or right to lower the elevator and reach the Watchtower, completing the objective.