CONTROL Resonant Aberrant Forms Guide
Compare Strike, Glaive, Cleave, Extend, Drill and Crush, learn how combo finishers and Living Shards work, and avoid confusing preview shapes with menu names.
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The Aberrant uses a primary form, a secondary form and a separately chosen combo finisher. The September 23 Epic Games Store guide names three choices in each attack slot and says maneuvers can be unlocked with Living Shards. The player-facing question is what each slot contributes to a fight, not whether every marketing image represents a separate menu entry.
| Slot | Named choice | Reported behavior | A reason to consider it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | Strike | Fast attacks with a higher critical chance | Frequent contact against a single moving target |
| Primary | Glaive | Broad sweeps | Hitting several nearby enemies |
| Primary | Cleave | Extra damage when striking from behind | Punishing a target whose attention is elsewhere |
| Secondary | Extend | Long-range flail attack | Reaching an enemy just outside normal melee range |
| Secondary | Drill | Piercing attack with repeated hits | Maintaining contact against a durable target |
| Secondary | Crush | Hammer-like impact attack | A heavy hit when there is time to commit |
These are roles from a published guide, not a tested damage ranking. It describes these three primary options at the start of the campaign and says a secondary slot unlocks later. It does not specify the exact mission or Living Shard cost for every option. The weapons hub explains how the Aberrant fits the full combat loop.
How do combo finishers work?
A finisher activates at the end of the primary attack sequence and is selected separately from either form. The Epic guide says there are six to choose from, but names only two: Concussive Beatdown, a series of empowered fist blows, and Split Orbit, which sends a spinning blade around enemies. Do not mistake those two examples for the full six-item list. The earlier Gamescom preview showed a spinning-blade ender, but without a final UI confirmation it is safer to describe the resemblance than assert the preview's move was Split Orbit.
Living Shards unlock different maneuvers, and the loadout menu lets players change their setup afterwards. The published article does not show the complete costs, upgrade order or refund rules. Before spending a scarce material, decide whether you need a different regular attack or only a different end to your combo. The Gap is Remedy's confirmed place to test builds.
How should you pair two forms?
Give the primary slot the job you perform most often. Strike is a reasonable starting point if you need reliable short strings; Glaive covers clustered enemies; Cleave asks you to create rear access. Add a secondary to cover what is missing: Extend for range, Drill for repeated contact or Crush for impact. For example, a player struggling to reach a shooter might test Strike plus Extend before investing further. A player overwhelmed by groups might test Glaive and a finisher that affects space. These are testable starting hypotheses, not claims that a pairing wins against every boss.
Aberrant hits restore the resource spent on Combat Abilities. Ability use can help create a stun, and executions temporarily boost melee damage according to Remedy's combat explanation. A form's practical value therefore includes how safely it makes contact and rebuilds that resource, as well as raw hit damage.
Does Drill also increase Falter damage?
An earlier Gamescom combat report described the demonstrated Drill attack as applying an effect that increased damage and Falter damage taken by its target. That is a potentially valuable setup for an execution-focused build, beyond the repeated hits described by Epic. The report covered a preview build: the final effect name, strength, duration and whether it belongs to every Drill upgrade are still unverified. Test the status display and Falter meter in the public game before planning a rotation around it.
Why older previews used different form names
Remedy's early material called out Hammer, Blades, Scythe and Fists; Xbox Wire described a whip-like shape; Gamescom reporting described Dual Blades and Drill. Epic's later guide instead gives selectable primary and secondary labels. Crush's hammer description and Extend's flail description may resemble earlier footage, but the available sources do not prove a one-to-one rename for every preview shape. Treat the six menu choices above as the current reported loadout options, and the older names as descriptions of earlier demonstrations until the public game's UI settles the mapping.
What remains to test
No sourced comparison yet establishes final damage, critical chance, Power gain per hit, recovery time, upgrade costs or boss-specific advantages. Those values need a stated patch, difficulty, upgrades and target. Aberrant upgrades carry into New Game Plus, while traversal powers reset; see the NG+ guide before planning a second-run loadout.
Sources and verification
Updated September 24, 2026 using Jason Rodriguez's Epic Games Store guide for slot names, effects, finishers and Living Shards; Remedy's official combat article for the resource loop; and Remedy's New Game Plus article for carry-over. The Gamescom combat report is separately attributed for Drill's preview-build Falter effect. No hands-on measurements are claimed here.
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