CONTROL - HOW TO - DEFEAT HARTMAN

[Games on the Rocks]

Ok, I really suffered with this one, even after reading a couple of tips online, but I finally cracked it and it is still fresh on my mind, so here is an actual strategy that actually works.

(This also means you probably can crack it on your own too, so be sure to try it some more before reading on.  It's more rewarding.)

STRATEGY:

(The strength level of your shield may be an issue here. Be advised.)

Jack up your weapon damage.  At least 2 good boosts. (I used SPIN, which is not the strongest weapon).

I also jacked up my health.  It might be a good idea too.

This fight has light and darkness cycles.  In each light cycle, after taking some damage, Hartman will raise one hand and will slam it onto the ground, knocking down power cells and initiating a darkness cycle.

You really should try to get rid of him after the first one or two darkness cycles.  Otherwise he will regain enough shield and health to quickly wear you down.

Apparently, you can prolong a light cycle by inflicting damage when Hartman is about to raise his hand.

To maximize damage, try to fire as close to him as possible, just far enough so that he won't be able to grab you.

Hartman will glow red before attacking and before teleporting.  When he teleports he might reappear in a spot near you, in which case you have to quickly evade and restore your ideal distance.

To avoid being damaged, simply raise your shields, timing it with Hartman's glow.  You will probably still get hit a couple of times.

And that is all you need to know to win this brilliant boss fight.  Once I cracked it, I beat it on the 2nd attempt.

[Holo]

better idea, keep chucking stuff at him after the first darkness cycle

[Trakais]

Surge is the easy mode (and also watch his attack patterns).
Slap 2 good damage mods and 1 armor damage mod (or vice versa for 2nd phase) on weapon. You can quickly spam all 3 nades (in zoom mode) on him and them activate them in one single explosion .
I can't remember if I had no blackout cycle or just 1 because I died on phase 2 a few times before, due to trash mobs and wrongly using Unique quality blast mod at first lol, so its all blurred. It seems spamming the Surge interrupts him, but you can always throw stuff at him, too.
I previously tried it when I was much weaker and with wrong weapon. Aerobics mod (health from evade) also helped in addition to absolute quality health and health from collecting source mods.

[DerfK]

Thanks for letting me know you can interrupt his darkness attack because it certainly couldn't be interrupted in the first phases of the battle so I had no idea I should suddenly start doing that. Maybe now I can win instead of fighting for 15 minutes against his recharging shield until I slip up and die (after a dozen losses I basically only die to hiss swarms and running out of energy in the dark trying to turn the lights back on)

Best bet I've found is to stand on the power units, hartmann can't melee you there and 50/50 chance you'll be right there to fix the light when he knocks down the core. Just have to shield every time he flashes in case he attacks instead of teleports, and deal with the hiss shooting you down. I keep dying on the ground because he'll wedge me against a wall so I can't evade away (I also noticed he moves during his melee, even if it doesn't look like it should connect it absolutely will).

[peter.tron]

really good advice ranieri3oficio, and clear to understand.

when you first start, raise your shield and run (+ dash) over to the top left corner of the arena.

you will see a pillar where you can circle/dash around and block his attacks.

be warned: after the pillar takes significant damage, the interior mesh of the pillar will be revealed, and when he performs his mid range "vomit' attack, the interior pillar mesh will no longer block the attack.

additionally, concerning his "glowing" phase:

when he crouches over and begins glowing, that is the attack that you most benefit from raising your shield to.

if you remain quite close to him, it prevents his long range projectile attack.

when close, he now only uses two attacks:

1) close range (when he teleports directly in front of you and grabs you. this takes a great deal of your health and gives it to him).

as the op said, use dash to the left/right or back to avoid this.

2) medium range (this vomit attack has a wide range, and is best blocked by your shield, as mentioned above).

launching when running out of ammo is good too, but make sure you are not fully depleted of energy just as he initiates a dark cycle, as you will have no energy to dash across the arena to launch the power core(s) into the respective receptacles.

[Nerverean]

Killed boss with Spin weapon (2 mods + 38% damage and 1 mod + 51% damage) and personal mods 2 with energy regen and 1 with health restore on pickup.
Ran around him and shot, when he glowed I put the barrier. When the weapon reloaded I threw stuff at him. He is dead in two phases.