10. Seize Extended

Lets light it up!

Seize Extended does the job for you. Despite having few build options, it simply functions for you. By letting the adversaries handle their own fighting, you'll save time, energy, and ammunition. The rationale is that Seize increases the number of foes you can subdue by 1. Although it might not seem like much, you can just take control of some of the more powerful opponents and stand by. Additionally, it enables you to seize them earlier and at a higher health threshold, so you just need to bring them down to half health before doing so.

What Seize extended excels at:

• Making battles easy by making enemies turn on their own. 
• Reducing the amount of work you have to do by saving resources. 
• Reducing time. The less time you have to worry about dispatching enemies the more you can focus on story and objectives.

Seize extended description:

Seize extended adds the number and power of enemies that can be brought under the control of the player.

9. Launch Extended

I knew I should've turned off the office television.

One of the best late-game skills is Launch Extended, which lets you launch items other than just rocks and concrete fragments. You can launch larger objects and even enemy strikes back at them. Once you reach a certain level, Launch Extended allows you to control enemy rockets, grenades, various explosives, and even the enemies themselves. By throwing grenades into mobs, other adversaries, or even off ledges, you can quickly clear out the enemy population. 

What Launch extended excels at:

• Giving you more items to launch. This opens up the options of what to launch and can make for some interesting strategic decisions.
• Clearing enemies quickly. It can’t be understated that launching enemy rockets and grenades back at them can be doubly damaging in tandem with your own weapons.
• Causing even more damage. The chaos gives you even more options to throw items. 

Launch extended description:

Launch extended adds more items to the list of things you can throw along with even adding multiple objects to throw.

8. Levitate

What a nice view!

Levitate is a fantastic utility skill that mostly gives you platforming abilities, though you may also utilize it in combat to get an advantage in elevation and distance for easier enemy targeting. Since it gives you a vantage point, this ability is typically employed in conjunction with something like Launch. However, it does make you somewhat vulnerable to some Hiss weapons and abilities.

What Levitate excels at:

• Platforming capabilities. This ability lets you get to places you are otherwise unable to reach by foot. 
• Vantage points. Give you a clear shot by giving you a birdseye view of the fight. 
• Safety. You can escape some abilities and weapon attacks with levitate. 

Levitate Description:

Levitate allows the player to jump and flow in the air. This can be used in tandem with other abilities like Seize, Evade, and Launch for more complicated maneuvers.

7. Seize

Ohp, let me just squeeze right past you.

You eventually get the extremely potent ability "Seize," but despite its effectiveness, I found that I didn't use it nearly as much as the other skills. If you feel overwhelmed and want to change the course of a conflict, Seize is a good tool to use. The drawbacks include the fact that it takes time to convert adversaries, which leaves you more exposed. Therefore, it is advised that you utilize it toward the end of a battle, or if you can get an advantage, that would be excellent.

What Seize excels in: 

• Turning the tides of battle. If you can get one of the heavier enemies in a mob on your side, it’s beneficial.
• Decreasing the amount of enemies to fight. The good thing about Seize is that the enemies health decreases after a certain amount of time so you don’t have to deal with them afterward.
• Dealing with other telekinetic enemies. Some of them launch debris at you, so reducing the amount of incoming items is helpful. 

Seize Description:

Seize enables Jesse to take control (no pun intended) of an enemy and force them to fight one another.

6. Shield

Jesse using shield to block damage from an enemy.

Shield is a fantastic ability that, as the name implies, allows you to shield damage. Before the enemies reach your actual health meter, it offers a small buffer. Shield has both protective and offensive benefits, including barrage, which lets you launch shield debris at foes, and rush, which enables you charge at enemies while inflicting damage. These give Shield a variety of damage and utility options.

What Shield excels in:

• Reducing damage. Initial Shield ability reduces damage by 10%, but later upgrades reduce damage by 30% at max level. 
• Aggressive options. Lets you choose between rush and barrage to make your defensive game offensive. 
• Using the debris that you create from fights to your advantage as the shield is made from the pieces from firefights. 

Shield Description:

Shield is an ability that allows Jesse to create a shield from the environment with telekinesis. This shield reduces incoming damage at various percentages based on level starting at 10.

5. Melee

Jesse using the Seize ability on an enemy.

Melee is a good early game ability, even if I didn't find myself using it frequently. This is due to the fact that your options are constrained early on, and Melee can be helpful in many tight spaces because it offers a strong physical push. Outside of that, though, I tend to ignore it after acquiring abilities like Shield and Evade. Your best bet is definitely to level up melee to level 2.

What Melee excels in:

• Strong in close quarters environments as it provides a way to deter any of those pesky Hiss flanking you.
• Good “get off me” tactic if you feel overwhelmed. The kinetic shove gives you breaking room.
• Good damage if you need it for short range builds. Getting this to level 2 increases damage by 30%, max rank is 50%. 

Melee description:

Melee causes a kinetic shove that pushes away enemies and deals damage to anyone in its range.

 4. Launch

Jesse fights an airborne enemy.

Your mainstay outside of gunplay is Launch. You can launch things from the environment with devastating results. Launch gives you more alternatives besides shooting, which is why it's a fantastic early-game telekinetic ability in addition to being the first one you gain. On slow-moving targets, this power is incredibly effective. Additionally, you are able to exploit the harm you inflict on the adversary to turn the environment against them. Simply take the environment from the person hiding beneath it and launch it.

What Launch Excels in:

• Long range combat. Particularly in the open areas like the Panopticon. 
• Destroying cover from the enemies. This makes them have less safe spaces to fire from. 
• Using the environment against the enemies. You cause a lot of chaos during firefights so using that debris and provide some extra damage in between reloads.

Launch Description:

Launch lets Jesse use different elements from the environment by picking them up telepathically and launching them at her foes.

3. Evade

Jesse floats above the battlefield with Levitate.

After improving both your health and energy, evade is unquestionably the finest ability in the game. The thing about Evade is that it has applications outside of combat situations in addition to being helpful for swiftly navigating the map. When you combine this with energy improvements, you can move through the Oldest House quite quickly. Another piece of advice is to use a weapon or personal mod that returns health or ammo upon evading.

What Evade excels in:

• Dodging enemy abilities and gunfire, this is especially helpful against Hiss who also have telekinetic powers.
• Mobility. Not only will you have movement around the battlefield, you’ll also get through the environment faster.
• Refunding lost resources with mods that do so.

Evade Description:

Evade allows the players to dash in the target direction. This dash takes energy so management prior to upgrading the energy meters is crucial.

2. Energy

Combat with airborne Hiss enemies.

Energy is the other resource that Jesse frequently uses in addition to health. You can use your other skills, such as Levitate, Shield, Seize, etc., thanks to energy. As a result, after health, this should generally be the second "ability" you max out. Not only that, but you'll be doing a lot of evading, so having more energy to spam is always beneficial.

What Energy excels at:

• Giving the player more options to use abilities. 
• Early game abilities take more energy, so increasing this is a priority.
• It just simply gives you more energy which is a very important resource.

Choose Energy if you want to use more abilities more often.

Energy description:

Energy determines how much energy Jesse needs to use her other abilities. This increases to about 30% additional energy at level 5, then back to 15% additional at level 6.

1. Health

Jesse finishes off the last enemy.

The most crucial skill in this game, as well as any game, is health. The first ability you should max out is health, because it is the base that you should be improving. Your health enables you to withstand more blows and endure more time. Anything else you add is merely the cherry on top. Many games don't really see health as an ability in and of itself, but this one does.

What Health excels at:

• Giving you more health. A healthy Jesse is a good Jesse.
• Having a backup resource to survive longer. Control gives you other abilities that you can use to cover your health like Evade and Shield, so you can actually think of health as a secondary resource.
• It just simply gives you more health.

Choose Health if you simply want to last longer in battle. There’s no reason not to upgrade this first. 

Health description:

Health provides the player with a longer life span so they can last longer against the Hiss.

You may also be interested in:

• Control Best Weapons (And How to Get Them)
• Control Best Settings for a Great Experience
• Control Best Abilities from Early to Late Game