Once Human: Best Shrapnel Build

Shrapnel is one of the strongest weapon-based effects in Once Human as of the game's first season. It basically causes bullets to splinter inside of targets, making them hit a different body part for another instance of damage. It can be a little confusing at first, but once you understand how it works, Shrapnel will completely destroy any enemy you're shooting.

While Shrapnel may not seem as flash as the Power Surge build in Once Human, it is just as strong or maybe even better in some regards. Here's a mid-late game Shrapnel build that'll let you tear your enemies apart with relative ease.

Artisan's Touch in a securement container in Once Human

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Updated September 15, 2024 by Marc Santos: As the second set of scenarios begins rolling out through Once Human's servers, players can expect to find a bunch of new Cradle Overrides to supplement their builds with. Some old favorites may have been removed, but new ones have taken their place. This guide has been updated to include new Cradle perks added to Once Human's Hard difficulty PVE servers with Void/Regen Deviants, including a new recommended secondary weapon for dealing with special enemies.

Once Human Shrapnel Build Weapons And Armor

The SOCR Last Valor in Once Human's wish machine — Once Human SOCR Last Valor wish machine

Once Human Shrapnel Build
	Item	Mod	Mod Source
Primary Weapon	SOCR - Last Valor	Shrapnel Souvenir	Shadow Hound - Hard+
Secondary Weapon	Recurve Crossbow	Spreading Marks	Arachsiam - Hard+
Melee Weapon	Long Axe	Final Territory	Shadow Hound Normal/Arachsiam Hard
Helmet	Beret	Fateful Strike	Silo Alpha
Chest Armor	Agent/Lonewolf	Any	Silo Theta
Gloves	Agent/Lonewolf	Crit Amplifier	Silo Sigma
Pants	Agent/Bastille	Deadshot	Silo Psi
Boots	Scout/Lonewolf	Covered Advance	Silo Phi
Mask	Scout/Lonewolf	Shrapnel Carnage	Silo EX1

Get as much critical hit chance and critical hit damage as you can from mod substats, food buffs, and other sources. Additionally, this build will also work (to a reasonable extent) with the MPS7 Div Evo.

This build focuses on increasing your critical hit stats and improving Shrapnel trigger rates and damage while automatically reloading your magazine for every successful Shrapnel proc. You'll be tearing bosses apart with a continuous stream of bullets that hit multiple times each.

However, this build prevents you from directly dealing weakspot damage with your bullets. This is due to the Fateful Strike mod, which trades weakspot damage for extra crit chance and crit damage. If you're fighting a Once Human boss like Shadow Hound or Treant, or if you don't like missing out on weakspot damage, you may want to replace this with Momentum Up instead. Also, Fateful Strike does not affect Shrapnel hits on weakspots, and you'll still be able to proc effects with weakspot hit conditions.

Secondary and Melee Weapons'

Description of the Long Axe in Once Human — Once Human Long Axe description

The Recurve Crossbow is a great support weapon for many builds simply because it can inflict The Bull's Eye on targets, increasing the damage they take by 8%. This weapon in particular also gives your other weapons a +30% Crit Rate buff on marked targets, making it perfect for a crit-based build like this. If you want to take advantage of Bull's Eye-related perks, DE.50 - Wildfire might be the better choice, as it can spread the Bull's Eye to multiple enemies at once.

The Long Axe, on the other hand, can deploy a Fortress Warfare field when you perform a heavy attack (by holding your Quick Melee button). You get free Super Armor and Weapon DMG while standing on the field, so there's no reason not to take this melee weapon. It's useful in any scenario that has tanky targets, such as Once Human's Securement Silos.

Armor

Stat summary of the Lonewolf Pants in Once Human — Once Human Lonewolf Pants stat summary

This set works best with the four-piece Lonewolf Set, one piece of the Bastille set, and the Beret hat. This is a very expensive setup that requires 15000 Starchrom to purchase. If you can't afford that just yet, then we highly recommend using a mix of the Agent and Scout sets for bonuses to Weapon and Weakspot DMG.

However, the Beret can be obtained for free by opening the mystic crate in the Mirage Monolith, the facility containing Once Human's Arachsiam boss. This piece increases the number of parts Shrapnel procs hit by one.

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Recommended Deviant

Lonewolf's Whisper in a securement unit in Once Human — Once Human Lonewolf's Whisper securement unit

Lonewolf's Whisper is the best combat Deviant for weapon-based builds as it increases your Weapon DMG when active. Also, the wolves will draw the attention of enemies, letting you focus on dealing damage to priority targets.

You can get Lonewolf's Whisper by beating Shadow Hound. It has a chance to appear once the boss is down, and you can get higher-leveled versions of this Deviant by beating the boss on Hard or Pro modes.

Cradle Setup (Season 2)

Cradle Overrides in Once Human Season 2 — Once Human Season 2 Cradle

Automatic Weapon Enhancement (or Anti-Void Rifle)
Long-Range Weapon Enhancement (or Anti-Regen Pistol)
Deviation Master
Tactical Combo
Deadly Combo

This setup boosts almost every part of the build. Deviation Master grants 50% extra damage against Deviants, Tactical Combo gives 25% Weapon DMG after swapping weapons, and Deadly Combo increases Shrapnel DMG, and Steady Hand buffs your Weakspot DMG by 40% while standing on a Fortress Warfare build. Use the rest of the vacant slots for QoL perks like Side by Side or Lone Walker in Once Human Season 2.

Consider using Anti-Void and Anti-Regen overrides if you're having trouble dealing with Void and Regen enemies respectively. These are very helpful early on when players don't have the DPS needed to take these enemies out quickly, especially Regen ones.

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