Control Resonant The Artist Boss: How To Find & Beat Her

TL;DR

The Artist is the first and only mandatory Resonant boss in Control Resonant — you cannot skip it.
She is found at the end of the Orientation prologue in Downtown.
She has three attacks: thrown debris, pole sweeps, and a double pole slam.
Two blue markers on her health bar heal YOU — not her. Use them to stay aggressive.
At around two-thirds health, she flies up — climb the platforms and jump at her face.
After beating her, you choose one of three Combat Abilities: Barrage, Volatile Anomaly, or Shield.
Best pick for beginners: Shield. Best for damage: Barrage.

The Artist catches a lot of players off guard. She is huge, fast, and hits hard for a first boss. But once you understand her three core attacks and know what those blue health markers actually do, the fight becomes very manageable. This guide covers every phase of the fight, all her attacks, tips for the aerial phase, and a breakdown of which Combat Ability reward is worth taking.

Want to see how The Artist fits into the full boss roster? Check our Control Resonant All Bosses guide for the complete picture.

Table of Contents

Control Resonant The Artist: Quick Facts

Mission: Orientation (Prologue)
Zone: Downtown
Mandatory? Yes — you cannot skip or delay this fight
Health Recovery: Two blue markers at roughly 75% and 25% boss health
Aerial Phase Triggers At: Around two-thirds boss health
Reward: 2,000 Source + choice of Barrage, Volatile Anomaly, or Shield

Where To Find The Artist in Control Resonant

The Artist is at the end of the Orientation prologue in Downtown. You cannot miss her — there is no side content to do, no ability to unlock, and no alternate route. The game walks you straight to her.

After the Jesse ritual at the start of Orientation, follow the objective marker across the rooftops toward the Patterned area. Your objective will read “Reach the Source of the Patterning.” Keep following it. When you reach the end of the street, The Artist’s name and health bar appear over a giant face. The objective then changes to “Defeat the Artist” and the fight begins.

You go into this fight with just your prologue kit — melee, dodging, and movement. Barrage, Volatile Anomaly, and Shield are all rewards for beating her, so there is nothing to prepare beforehand.

Control Resonant Boss 1 The Artist

The Artist: All Attacks and How To Respond

The Artist fights as a giant face surrounded by floating debris, with two long poles in front of her. Your damage window is the area directly in front of her face. Every mechanic in this fight is about staying close to that face without eating too many hits.

She has three core attacks throughout the fight:

Attack 1: Thrown Debris

The fight opens with large objects hurled in front of the boss, followed by explosions and burning wreckage on the ground. Do not run straight at her face — run in at a diagonal angle so the thrown objects pass beside you instead of hitting you head-on. Every second spent at range is wasted. The goal is to get close and stay close.

Attack 2: Pole Sweep

When you are up close, both poles swing sideways across the front of the face. This is where most hits land, because it is tempting to keep attacking through it. Stop your combo the moment the poles start to swing, then jump up to her forehead and hover there while the poles pass underneath you. Once the sweep ends, drop back down and continue. A few extra hits are never worth eating a full pole sweep.

Attack 3: Double Pole Slam

This one has a very clear tell: her pole tips rise and glow brighter before both poles crash down in front of the face. As soon as you see the poles lift, move to the side. Standing in front of her face when they land is what gets you hit. After the slam, step back in and punish — she is wide open for a moment after impact.

When She Retreats: Keep Closing In

Between close-range exchanges, The Artist pulls back to the far side of the arena and sends low-level attacks along the ground. Do not hang back. Run, jump, and dodge back to her face straight away. Getting close again is what restarts your damage. Playing at range just prolongs the fight.

The Blue Health Markers: They Heal You, Not Her

This is the most important thing to understand about the fight. The two blue markers on The Artist’s health bar restore your health — not hers. They sit at roughly three-quarters and one-quarter of her total health.

When your damage brings her down to a marker, the marker lights up and disappears, and your own health bar refills to full about a second later. It works even if you are taking a hit at that moment.

This changes how you should play when your health gets low:

Push damage instead of backing off. The next marker might only be a few hits away. Reaching it refills you completely.
Play carefully after the second marker. There are no more heals from this point. The final quarter of her health is where you stop trading hits and play more carefully.

The Aerial Phase: How To Handle It

At around two-thirds of her health, The Artist lifts off the ground and slabs of the street rise around you, forming platforms. This is not the time to keep chasing her along the ground — look for the nearest raised slab and start climbing.

Here is the exact loop for this phase:

Step 1: Climb the raised street slabs as they lift around you.
Step 2: Jump from a high platform toward her airborne face and attack her in mid-air.
Step 3: Follow her down as she descends and continue attacking when you land.

Keep dealing damage and she will drop back to the ground. Once she is back down, the fight returns to the close-range loop from before.

The Final Stretch

After the second blue marker heals you, The Artist moves around more and leaves trails of rubble and dust along her path. Running straight through them deals damage. Approach from the side, not through the trail, and keep your combos short in this section.

When her health bar empties, cracks of light appear across her face and a finisher prompt shows on screen (L3 on PlayStation / Left Stick press on Xbox / Left Shift on PC). Press it to trigger the finishing sequence. This is a prompt — not a normal attack — so stop mashing the attack button and wait for it.

After the finisher, you receive 2,000 Source and complete Orientation. Interact with the face to open the Combat Ability Selection screen.

The Artist Rewards: Which Combat Ability Should You Pick?

After beating The Artist, you choose one of three Combat Abilities. Your choice is bound to the L2/LT button. Here is what each one does and the starting numbers from the selection screen:

Barrage

Barrage sends a burst of projectiles at a target. It costs 400 Power to use and deals 60–180 Blunt damage at base, with 12–36 Falter buildup. It is the most straightforward offensive option — one button, ranged, no setup required. The downside is the high Power cost, so pair it with consistent melee combat to keep your Power meter refilling between casts.

Volatile Anomaly

Volatile Anomaly summons an ally you can pick up and throw. It explodes harder when it is low on health. The explosion deals 150–350 damage and 25–180 Falter, making it the highest-damage option of the three. You pay Power twice though — 300 to summon and 120 to throw. It takes more setup than the other two but pays off with big burst windows against tougher enemies.

Shield

Shield absorbs incoming damage, with durability tied to your Power meter. It costs 150 Power to activate and 180 for a Shield Bash. Dodging while it is active triggers a Shield Bash, which deals 100 damage and 60 Falter. It is the only defensive Combat Ability in this set and the easiest to use if the fight itself was already giving you trouble.

Which One Should You Pick?

Barrage — Best if you want simple, reliable damage output from the start.
Volatile Anomaly — Best if you like burst damage and do not mind the two-step setup.
Shield — Best for beginners or anyone who struggled with dodging in this fight.

All three scale as your build improves, so no choice is a permanent mistake. If you change your mind later, a Reset Item (available from vendors for 5,000 Source) lets you reassign Combat Abilities in The Gap. For more on managing your build and character options, see our guide on how to respec in Control Resonant.

What Happens After You Beat The Artist?

Beating The Artist ends the Orientation prologue and opens Manhattan. The Resonant Cycle advances, which means enemy encounters across the city respond to the kill — new enemy types and tougher variants start appearing.

A few things worth doing immediately after:

Check your Talent Points in The Gap and spend any you have. Unused points do nothing in combat.
Look for Health Upgrade Points near vendor trucks — every three raises Dylan’s max health.
Upgrade your Aberrant weapon as soon as you can. Aberrant Strength boosts both damage and Falter speed.

For power-up locations, see our guide on all Power Upgrade Chest locations. You can also look up Assist Mode settings if you want to tune the difficulty — there is no trophy or achievement penalty for using it.

More Control Resonant Guides

With The Artist down and Manhattan open, here are some useful guides for what comes next: