Once Human is a thrilling open-world survival RPG set in a post-apocalyptic world infested by an alien creature called the Stardust. The game begins with you waking up as a Meta-Human in the middle of nowhere, disoriented and alone, but with a primal instinct for survival taking hold.
While Once Human’s tutorial teaches you the basic survival mechanics and gives you a handful of items to get started, it can get increasingly overwhelming as you explore the vast open world, leaving you feeling a little lost. This beginner guide covers the best survival tips and advanced strategies to help you thrive in the corrupted world of Once Human.
Once Human: How To Change Ammo Types
Changing ammo types is an easy way to get a quick damage boost in Once Human, and it's pretty handy if you run out of bullets in a fight too.
Pay Attention To The Fitness Scale
When you’re first creating your character in Once Human, be sure to pay attention to the Fitness scale in the Body tab. Your character’s weight is not just about aesthetics; it directly affects your character's stats and abilities.
There are three weight tiers in Once Human, each impacting your gameplay differently:
- Underweight characters (
- Moderate Weight characters (65–85kg) have a decent base load, increased torso damage reduction, and a high stamina recovery speed.
- Overweight characters (>85 kg) can carry more loot and resources, and even deal more melee damage, but have an overall reduction in melee attack speed and rolling speed.
It’s recommended to keep your character’s weight in the middle of the spectrum, as it offers a balance between the agility of a lighter character and the strength of a heavier one. Click on the body icon at the bottom right of the screen to see how your weight impacts the buffs applied to you.
While you start with a chosen weight, you can change your weight later in the game by eating certain foods. ‘Fried to Crispy’ foods, like 
French Fries, can help you put on weight, whereas eating rotten food will make you puke and lose weight. You will need to take an Antibiotic after eating rotten food to stop vomiting.
Frequently Relocate Your Base
Like most survival games, base building is an integral part of Once Human. Your base is essentially your safe haven – it's a place to store your belongings, craft gear, rest and heal, and plan your next adventure.
While choosing a decent location for your first base is important, it doesn't have to be the perfect spot. Since you’ll be exploring a lot early on and will often find better spots as you progress, it’s important to frequently relocate your base closer to more of the late-game locations.
A unique quality-of-life mechanic in Once Human is that you can effortlessly move your entire base and place it in another area without having to manually disassemble it.
Join Or Create A Hive
In Once Human, Hives are a core social feature that allows you to team up with other players to tackle challenging events, explore dangerous zones, and share resources more effectively. Hive members can collaborate to build a powerful and secure base of operations. Simply place your Territory Core in another Hive member’s Territory to start building structures together.
If you're looking to join a Hive, consider finding one that aligns with your playstyle and goals. Some Hives are more focused on hardcore combat, while others prioritize resource gathering and crafting.
Take Care Of Your Body And Sanity
Even though you’re a Meta-Human, you’ll still experience hunger, thirst, and exhaustion, and can even lose your sanity in Once Human. As such, you need to properly take care of your body and sanity to survive in this harsh world.
Hunger and dehydration will deplete your health and stamina, ultimately slowing you down and leaving you vulnerable. Make sure to always have food and purified water on hand whenever you go out exploring.
Certain foods in the game expire and become ‘Spoiled food’ after 24 hours. Consuming these items will make you sick and can even lead to weight loss. As such, it’s recommended to get a refrigerator for storing extra food.
Once Human also features a Sanity meter that depletes when you're exposed to corrupted areas, face a tough enemy, or enter contaminated water. Losing your sanity affects your health and stamina, making you weaker and more susceptible to environmental hazards.
To boost your Sanity, you need to take Sanity Gummies. If you don’t have these pills on hand, you can simply sleep in your bed to restore your sanity.
Once Human: Explore Sunbury Middle School Guide (Mystical, Weapon, and Armor Crate Locations)
Players who are working on the Explore Sunbury Middle School quest in Once Human can find the locations of the relevant crates detailed here.
Catch Deviants
Deviants are not criminals, but rather unique creatures found scattered throughout the world that you can capture and befriend. They act as loyal companions with various abilities that can help you survive in the unforgiving world of Once Human. There are a few different types of Deviations, namely Combat, Territory, Gadget, and Furniture.
- Combat Deviations fight alongside you in battle and offer offensive or defensive support depending on their abilities.
- Territory Deviations help manage your base by gathering resources for you or speeding up productions.
- Gadget Deviants grant you special abilities when you use them.
- Furniture Deviants are purely decorative and can be placed anywhere on your base.
Deviations are stored in a special Independent Secure Unit on your base. Just like any creature, Deviants have preferences that affect their mood and effectiveness. By providing them with things they like, such as Music, Flowers, Bright Lights, etc, you can keep them happy and efficient.
Craft The Crossbow Early
The Crossbow is one of the best early-game weapons in Once Human. While you get a basic crossbow in the intro mission, you should craft a Tier II Crossbow (or higher) as soon as you have established your base and built the Gear Workbench.
Interestingly, Once Human features a unique mechanic where you can retrieve crossbow ammo from fallen enemies or the environment every single time, making it a reliable weapon for beginners.
Besides this, Crossbows deal decent damage and can take down enemies from a safer distance, minimizing the risk of getting close to their attacks. This makes hunting wildlife and killing monsters a lot easier. As you progress, you can upgrade the Crossbow to make it even stronger.
Keep Track Of The Seasonal Reset
Once Human also features a rather controversial mechanic: a seasonal server reset. After every season, the world will reset, and a new story will begin, allowing you to experience fresh challenges and objectives.
Unfortunately, this also means that some of your character’s progress will be wiped, including your character level, unlocked skills, tactical items, and inventory. Essentially, your character will reset to its starting state.
When choosing a server (PvE or PvP) at the beginning of the game, it’s important to focus on the Day or Phase the server is currently in. This would give you a rough idea of how much time you have to progress with your character.
Certain progress and items will be directly inherited to the new seasons, like your Gear Blueprints and Tiers, Blueprint Fragments, Weapon Accessories, Gear Mods, and any Cosmetic items you find. Everything else will be moved to Eternaland -- a personal world for every player that persists between seasons.
Once Human
- Released
- July 9, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Starry Studio
- Publisher(s)
- Starry Studio, NetEase, Inc.
- Genre(s)
- Survival, Shooter, Open-World
