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Control - Upgrading Abilities explained, including Milestone Rewards and Ability Points

How to upgrade your various Abilities in Control, including Launch and Seize, and our in-progress Ability Skill Tree.

Abilities in Control refers to both your supernatural powers, like Seize, and important stats, such as Health. You can upgrade your Abilities by spending Ability Points, which you receive from completing Missions.

As you spend Ability Points, you'll be able to unlock Milestone Rewards, such as additional Personal Mods Slots, and new features for certain Abilities.

On this page you'll find our in-progress lists of the various skill trees and Milestone Rewards unlocks in Control.

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Need more help in your quest through the Oldest House? Then check out our Control walkthrough hub, with links to all our Control guides.

How to get Ability Points in Control

You earn Ability Points by completing missions.

You receive Ability Points in Control by completing both storyline missions and side missions.

From Unknown Caller onwards, you'll receive 4 Ability Points for every storyline mission you complete.

In the terms of the side missions, the amount of Ability Points you'll receive differs depending on the mission.

Here are the various side missions, including the ones from The Foundation and AWE DLCs, and the Ability Points you receive from completing them:

How to upgrade your Abilities in Control

Once you've got yourself some Ability Points, it's time to cash them in at the nearest Control Point.

Select the Abilities option from the Control Point list and you'll be taken to the skill tree menu. Here you can spend your Ability Points to upgrade your abilities.

What your Abilities screen will come to look like.

At first, you'll only be able to upgrade your Health, Energy, Melee and Launch attack. As you journey through the Bureau of Control, you'll be able to unlock new Abilities for you to unlock.

Completing the A Good Defence mission will allow you upgrade the Shield ability, while completing A Captive Audience unlocks the Seize ability.

Abilities Skill Trees in Control

Here are the various skill trees in Control, including the boosts and how much each improvement costs:

Health - increases health

  • Health 1 - +10% - 1 Ability Point
  • Health 2 - +20% - 3 Ability Points
  • Health 3 - +20% - 3 Ability Points
  • Health 4 - +20% - 3 Ability Points
  • Health 5 - +30% - 4 Ability Points
  • Health 6 - +15% - 2 Ability Points

Energy - increases energy

  • Energy 1 - +10% - 1 Ability Point
  • Energy 2 - +20% - 3 Ability Points
  • Energy 3 - +20% - 3 Ability Points
  • Energy 4 - +20% - 3 Ability Points
  • Energy 5 - +30% - 4 Ability Points
  • Energy 6 - +15% - 2 Ability Points

Melee - increases melee damage

  • Melee 1 - +10% - 1 Ability Point
  • Melee 2 - +30% - 3 Ability Points
  • Melee 3 - +30% - 3 Ability Points
  • Melee 4 - +30% - 3 Ability Points
  • Melee 5 - +50% - 4 Ability Points
  • Melee 6 - +50% - 4 Ability Points

Launch - increase Launch damage

  • Launch 1 - +25% - 1 Ability Point
  • Launch 2 - +50% - 2 Ability Points
  • Launch 3 - +50% - 2 Ability Points
  • Launch 4 - +50% - 2 Ability Points
  • Launch 5 - +75% - 3 Ability Points
  • Launch 6 - +75% - 3 Ability Points

Reaching Launch 2 will allow you to unlock Launch Explosives for 2 Ability Points. This will allow you to launch grenades and rockets back to the enemy.

After unlocking Launch Explosives, you'll be able to unlock Launch Enemies for 2 Ability Points. This does exactly what it says it does and will allow you to launch enemies at one and another.

After unlocking Launch Enemies, you'll be able to unlock Launch Enemies 2 for 2 Ability Points. This will allow you to launch large enemies when their health is low.

Next you'll be able to unlock Launch Strength for 1 Ability Point, which allows you to launch large objects.

The final addition for Launch is Multi=Launch. For 8 Ability Points, unlocking this Ability will allow you to pick up a maximum of three objects using Launch and then send them towards your enemy.

Shield - increases Shield strength

  • Shield 1 - +10% - 1 Ability Point
  • Shield 2 - +20% - 2 Ability Points
  • Shield 3 - +20% - 2 Ability Points
  • Shield 4 - +20% - 2 Ability Points
  • Shield 5 - +30% - 3 Ability Points
  • Shield 6 - +30% - 3 Ability Points

Reaching Shield 2 will allow you to unlock Shield Barrage for 3 Ability Points. This throws your shield at the enemy when you release it.

You then increase the amount of damage Shield Barrage does by 100% for 2 Ability Points.

Doing so will allow you to learn the ability, Shield Rush, which allows you to use Evade, while wielding your Shield, to knock enemies done. It will cost you 4 Ability Points to learn this ability and then 2 Ability Points to increase the damage dealt by Shield Rush by 100%.

Finally, after boosting Shield Rush, you'll be given the chance to learn Shield Energy Recovery for 4 Ability Points. This skill allows you to recover energy while using the shield.

Seize - increases Seize duration

  • Seize 1 - +5% - 1 Ability Point
  • Seize 2 - +10% - 2 Ability Points
  • Seize 3 - +10% - 2 Ability Points
  • Seize 4 - +10% - 2 Ability Points
  • Seize 5 - +15% - 3 Ability Points
  • Seize 6 - +15% - 3 Ability Points

Reaching Seize 3 will allow you to unlock the ability to seize an additional enemy. This costs 3 Ability Points.

Reaching Seize 5 will allow you to unlock the ability to size large enemies when their health is low. This costs 2 Ability Points.

Levitate - increases Levitation Duration

  • Levitate 1 - +10% - 1 Ability Point
  • Levitate 2 - +10% - 2 Ability Points
  • Levitate 3 - +10% - 2 Ability Points
  • Levitate 4 - +10% - 2 Ability Points
  • Levitate 5 - +10% - 3 Ability Points
  • Levitate 6 - +10% - 3 Ability Points

Reaching Levitate 2 will allow you to unlock Ground Slam for 3 Ability Points, which you can then invest Ability Points in. This allows you to slam into the ground while levitating and damage nearby enemies.

Ground Slam - increases Ground Slam damage

  • Ground Slam 1 - +20% - 1 Ability Point
  • Ground Slam 2 - +30% - 2 Ability Points
  • Ground Slam 3 - +40% - 2 Ability Points
  • Ground Slam 4 - +50% - 3 Ability Points

It’s time to journey into the mysterious Federal Bureau of Control. Our Control walkthrough can help you through the storyline missions, including Welcome to the Oldest House, Unknown Caller, Directorial Override, Old Boy’s Club, Threshold, My Brother's Keeper, The Face of the Enemy, Finnish Tango, Polaris and Take Control. You can also learn new supernatural powers by completing A Merry Chase, A Good Defence and A Captive Audience. We also have guides on upgrading the Service Weapon, your Abilities, how to use Weapon and Personal Mods, how to unlock every outfit and the solution to the Roulette Wheel puzzle.


Milestone Rewards in Control

Spending Ability Points will also allow you to unlock additional rewards, such as new Personal Mod Slots. These are called Milestone rewards and are unlocked after you spend a certain amount of Ability Points.

Here are the Milestone Rewards we have currently unlocked:

  • 3 Ability Points - Additional Weapon Form Slot
  • 15 - Additional Personal Mod Slot
  • 30 - Additional Personal Mod Slot

For more information about Control, check out our Control walkthrough.

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