Once Human Guide: The Ultimate Shrapnel Build

In Once Human, Shrapnel stands out as one of the most formidable weapon effects available in the game’s inaugural season. This effect causes bullets to fragment upon impact, allowing them to inflict additional damage on various body parts of your target. Although it might seem a bit complex initially, mastering Shrapnel can turn you into a formidable force on the battlefield.

While it may not have the flashy appeal of the Power Surge build, Shrapnel is equally, if not more, powerful in certain aspects. Below, we outline an effective mid-to-late game Shrapnel build designed to help you dismantle your enemies with ease.

Weapons and Armor for Shrapnel Build

Weapon and Armor Recommendations:

To optimize this build, focus on maximizing your critical hit chance and damage through mod substats, food buffs, and other enhancements. This setup is also compatible, to a reasonable extent, with the MPS7 Div Evo.

The core of this build is enhancing your critical hit stats and boosting Shrapnel’s trigger rate and damage, all while enabling automatic magazine reloads with each successful Shrapnel hit. This ensures a relentless barrage of bullets, each hitting multiple times.

Note that this build doesn’t capitalize on weakspot damage due to the Fateful Strike mod, which substitutes weakspot damage for additional crit chance and crit damage. If you’re up against bosses like Shadow Hound or Treant in Once Human, or if you prefer not to forego weakspot damage, consider swapping Fateful Strike for Momentum Up. Despite this, Fateful Strike still allows Shrapnel to trigger weakspot effects and proc additional effects based on weakspot hits.

Secondary and Melee Weapons:

- Recurve Crossbow: This support weapon is excellent for this build due to its ability to inflict The Bull’s Eye, increasing damage taken by marked targets by 8%. It also provides a +30% Crit Rate buff to your other weapons on marked targets. For broader application of Bull’s Eye, consider the DE.50 - Wildfire, which can spread the effect to multiple enemies.

- Long Axe: This melee weapon deploys a Fortress Warfare field with a heavy attack (by holding the Quick Melee button), granting you Super Armor and increased Weapon DMG while within the field. It's particularly useful against tanky enemies, such as those encountered in the Securement Silos.

Armor:

The ideal setup includes the four-piece Lonewolf Set, one piece of the Bastille Set, and the Beret hat. This configuration requires a significant investment of 15,000 Starchrom. If this isn’t feasible yet, opt for a combination of the Agent and Scout sets to enhance Weapon and Weakspot DMG.

The Beret can be obtained for free from the mystic crate in the Mirage Monolith, home to the Arachsiam boss. This item increases the number of Shrapnel hits by one.

Recommended Deviant:

Lonewolf's Whisper: This Deviant is perfect for weapon-focused builds as it boosts Weapon DMG when active. Additionally, the wolves it summons will divert enemy attention, allowing you to focus on high-priority targets. You can acquire Lonewolf's Whisper by defeating Shadow Hound. Higher-level versions of this Deviant can be obtained by defeating the boss on Hard or Pro modes.

Cradle Setup (Season 2)

Optimal Configuration:

- Automatic Weapon Enhancement (or Anti-Void Rifle)

- Long-Range Weapon Enhancement (or Anti-Regen Pistol)

- Deviation Master

- Tactical Combo

- Deadly Combo

This setup enhances nearly every aspect of your build. Deviation Master provides a 50% damage boost against Deviants, Tactical Combo adds 25% Weapon DMG after weapon swaps, and Deadly Combo increases Shrapnel damage. Steady Hand boosts Weakspot DMG by 40% while standing on a Fortress Warfare build. Fill remaining slots with QoL perks like Side by Side or Lone Walker in Season 2.

For dealing with Void and Regen enemies, consider using Anti-Void and Anti-Regen overrides. These are especially useful early in the game when your DPS may not be sufficient to quickly eliminate these enemies.

This comprehensive Shrapnel build guide should equip you with the knowledge to dominate in Once Human. Enjoy wreaking havoc on your enemies!