Bureau Alerts are special randomly-occurring timed side missions in Control. They are unlocked after the main story mission Directorial Override and are repeatable. When they start, an acoustic alarm will be heard and a notification will inform Jesse Faden about the specific objective and location of the Bureau Alert.
Overview[]
At the time of a Bureau Alert, a countdown is initiated, leaving 20 minutes for Jesse to reach the Alert's location and complete the mission – failing to do so will result in a failed mission. The mission will also fail if Jesse dies between the initial alert and the completion of the last of the mission's objectives, no matter if the death happens during completion, on the way to it, or while still being on another mission. A once failed Bureau Alert will be failed forever, the mission cannot be restarted; however, the next Alert will come inevitably. Failing a such mission, as well as not accepting it, does not have any negative consequences except for not being rewarded.
Objectives[]
There are three main objectives, or types of Bureau Alerts: Hiss Nodes, Major Targets, and Personnel Protection. Each Alert will inform Jesse about the sector where the incident is happening and its specific type, while its first objective will show which exact location she has to go to. Bureau Alerts can occur in any sector of the Oldest House; with the relevant expansions installed, they will also occur in the Foundation and/or the Investigations Sector, but only after the main story of the relevant expansion has been completed.
Each type of Alert is bound to the same location across each sector (when the mission repeats, it will occur in the same place.) For example, Hiss Nodes in Executive will always be found at the Communications Department while Hiss Nodes in Maintenance always accumulate at the NSC Power Plant.
Second, and for one type of Alert third, objectives will be given when Jesse has reached the target location; these differ from type to type of Alert. The mission does not have to be 'tracked' to receive updates – reaching the location and starting to fulfill objectives, even if by accident, will still count towards the goals. After all objectives have been successfully completed, the reward will be given even if there are still enemies around or if Jesse or any allied Bureau personnel nearby are dying.
Rewards[]
In addition to the usual loot dropped by killed enemies, every completed Bureau Alert yields a reward of at least three random uncommon Materials. After the Jukebox becomes available by completing My Brother's Keeper, one Jukebox Token is part of the Alert's reward.
Hiss Nodes[]
| “ | Destroy Hiss Nodes | ” |
— Bureau Alert | ||
One of the three types of Bureau Alerts is Sector: Hiss Nodes. To complete it, Jesse Faden has to go to the location specified in the first mission objective and, once there, eliminate four to five nodes, aggregations of Hiss resonance – usually there are more – while being harassed by Hiss-corrupted entities.
| Sector | Location objective | Control Points | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nearest | Alternative | |||
| Containment | Go to Transit Corridor North | Transit Corridor | Ordinary AWE | Taking the "Transit Corridor" Control Point may require fighting unrelated Hiss around the Turntable |
| Executive | Go to the Communications Department | Dead Letters/Mail Room | Nodes in both offices across from Pneumatics | |
| Investigations | Go to the AWE Loading Bay | AWE Loading Bay | ||
| Maintenance | Go to the NSC Power Plant | NSC Power Plant Upper Level | It is possible to complete the Alert from the railing at the Control Point without crossing the bridge to the actual power plant where all nodes are located | |
| Research | Go to Central Research | Central Research | Parapsychology | Nodes are scattered over the whole atrium; using the entrance from "Parapsychology" does not require Levitating while the "Central Research" Control Point sits on a balcony not connected via halls and staircases |
Major Targets[]
| “ | Eliminate key Hiss targets | ” |
— Bureau Alert | ||
Another type of the three different Bureau Alerts is Sector: Major Targets. Jesse Faden has to kill two to three high-level and named Hiss-corrupted enemies at the location specified in the first mission objective; at most times, these get support by several other entities.
| Sector | Location objective | Control Points | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nearest | Alternative | |||
| Containment | Go to the Panopticon | Upper Panopticon | Panopticon | If the major targets are on the bridge of the 1st floor, Jesse can Levitate down from the 4th-floor to reach them |
| Executive | Go to Pneumatics | Dead Letters | Mail Room | |
| Foundation | Go to the Warehouse | Warehouse | Warehouse Rise | |
| Investigations | Go to the AWE Transit Bay | AWE Transit Bay | Eagle Limited AWE Entrance | |
| Maintenance | Go to the NSC Energy Converters | NSC Energy Converters Entrance | ||
| Research | Go to the Ritual Division | Ritual Division | Central Research | |
Personnel Protection[]
| “ | Secure the area Protect remaining FBC agents |
” |
— Bureau Alert | ||
Sector: Personnel Protection is the only one of the three types of a Bureau Alert that requires Jesse Faden to complete two objectives simultaneously: When she reaches the target location and the objectives update, she has to protect three to four FBC agents from being killed by hordes of all sorts of Hiss-corrupted enemies – via eliminating those. She is supported by the FBC agents in doing so, however. During the battle, Jesse would do well to use explosive weaponry and items launched with caution as these will not only decimate enemies, but can also hurt her protégés. The mission is complete when the area is secured, i.e. a huge number of Hiss entities has been killed, and at least one FBC agent is still alive at that point of time, no matter their condition or what will happen afterwards.
| Sector | Location objective | Control Points | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nearest | Alternative | |||
| Containment | Go to the Ordinary Town Model | Ordinary AWE | ||
| Executive | Go to the Mail Room | Mail Room | ||
| Foundation | Go to the Collapsed Department | Collapsed Department | Actually, the personnel is stationed inside the Foundation's Fractured Cavern, through the Firebreak and then north of the Collapsed Department | |
| Investigations | Go to the Eagle Limited AWE | Eagle Limited AWE | ||
| Maintenance | Go to the Black Rock Quarry | Black Rock Quarry | Quarry Entrance | Though the quarry can be accessed earlier, this Alert is only unlocked after completing Finnish Tango; using the Control Point "Black Rock Quarry" requires to descend from the upper ledges for the personnel and Hiss to appear; for the duration of the Alert, no Astral Spikes will be present in the area, but return immediately when all Hiss have been neutralized |
| Research | Go to Parapsychology | Parapsychology | ||
Achievements and trophies[]
The following achievements and trophies can be gained by taking care of this sort of mission.
| Icon | Achievement/trophy | Score | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
First On the Scene Complete 1 Bureau Alert
|
15 | Bronze |
 |
Crisis Management Complete 5 Bureau Alerts
|
30 | Silver |