Once Human: Scenarios and Seasons

Once Human is a seasonal game, where each season lasts for 6 weeks. After this, players can sign up for a new season (server) or stay on the current server for 4 more weeks.

When migrating to another server, a significant part of the progress will be saved. Some items (such as mods, mod parts, Starchrom, formulas, etc.) will stay in your inventory, while others (such as Deviants, resources, etc.) will be transferred to the Spacetime Backpack. In a new season, you will be able to access them for Material Points, 20,000 of which you will receive for free. There is a separate Cross-Server Transfer Guide, where these mechanics are explained in detail.

What is a Scenario?

Seasonal Scenarios are gameplay themes on a server that offer unique rules. Some scenarios have a unique world map (e.g., “The Way of Winter”). Scenarios can also be PVE- or PVP-oriented. This ensures that every player can play Once Human in a way they enjoy the most.

Each scenario has different seasonal objectives, unique mechanics, and content. Some scenarios also feature completely different storylines. The list of available Deviants to secure varies from scenario to scenario, and you can check it out in the “Scenario & Seasonal Details” section in the server list.

Server Difficulty

The same scenario can have different levels of difficulty on different servers. At the moment, there are two difficulty levels in Once Human: normal and hard. Here’s the difference between them:

• In hard mode, Polluted Zones are larger, and Contamination is significantly increased. This means you will lose much more Sanity within such zones.
• Your character loses Energy and Hydration twice as fast compared to normal mode. The effects of full Energy and Hydration last for a shorter period.
• Deviants are more aggressive in hard mode. Their awareness, stats, movement speed, and attack frequency are significantly increased. During Territory Purification, new types of enemies will join the attack.
• Asterism Rewards for completing Season Goals are increased by 20% in hard mode.
• The amount of Asterism obtained for purifying Eclipse Cortexes and Chaotic Cortexes is also increased.
• In hard mode, it’s easier to obtain Deviants with a high Skill Rating, but the chance to secure them is much lower.

Will I Lose My Progress at the End of the Season?

Not entirely. Here is a list of items that will stay with you no matter what:

• Important Currency: Starchroms, Crystgins, Mitsuko’s Marks, Stellar Planula, and Sproutlets.
• Gear Blueprints (and their stars), Blueprint Fragments, Weapon Accessories, and Mods.
• Furniture Formulas (except those gained through your Memetics).
• Cosmetics, Expressions and Poses, Namecards, and more.
• House Blueprints. After a House Blueprint is saved, you can reconstruct the building at any time (if advanced materials are not available, basic materials will be used instead).
• Main story and side story task progress. For tasks you’ve already completed, you can accept more streamlined versions of them in the new season but still get all the rewards.
• Your friend list will fully carry over. Furthermore, you can check which players joined your Warband in previous seasons and add them to your friend list.

How It Works

For many players, content in Once Human seems repetitive, despite the differences between scenarios. Due to this, the online player base decreased by more than seven times during the first half-year after release. However, scenarios are a useful feature.

Since you save a significant part of your progress when migrating to a new server, you gain a huge advantage starting from day one. You can easily obtain the best tools, weapons, rare seeds, unique Deviants, and other useful items in just a few clicks by transferring them from the Spacetime Backpack. Thus, the more you play, the bigger advantage you have, and the easier it becomes to start on a new server.

Also, pay attention to the fact that not all scenarios are available for novices. For example, scenarios with the “Visional Wheel – Lunar Oracle” tag (which are going to be launched on January 16, 2025) are only accessible via the sign-up system. This ensures that players are experienced enough to encounter new challenges.

How to Exit the Current Scenario

To exit the current scenario, use a Scenario Exit Card, which you can buy in the Season Shop (Esc → Scenario → Season Goals → Season Shop) for 100 Mitsuko’s Marks.

Sometimes, you can receive this card for free from the developers. For example, on January 16, 2025, all players received one Scenario Exit Card to join new servers with the “Lunar Oracle” anomaly.

Scenarios Available

Currently, there are four Seasonal Scenarios available:

• Manibus (PVE): Classic map. Featured game mode: Prime War. Exclusive world boss: Manibus.
• The Way of Winter (PVE): Exclusive map. Featured game mode: Thermal Tower building. Exclusive world boss: Chaosweaver. Extreme temperatures make gameplay more difficult.
• Evolution’s Call (PVP): Featured game mode: Stronghold Conquest. Warbands fight for control over strongholds. Some Deviants may gain special abilities and change color when acquired.
• Prismverse’s Clash (PVP): Featured game mode: Battle for Prism Deviations. Unlimited faction PVP in combat zones. Players fight and capture Prism Energy for their faction.

For beginners in Once Human, the Manibus and Evolution’s Call scenarios are the most suitable.

Scenario Tags

Scenario Tags modify existing scenarios, changing their rules and/or adding new features. At the moment, there is only one Scenario Tag – “Visional Wheel – Lunar Oracle,” which launches on January 16, 2025.

This tag adds the “Lunar Oracle” phase, which occurs from 21:00 to 03:00 in-game time. During this time, Deviants in the open world go berserk, and all players are infected by Lunacy. Their Sanity significantly decreases, and the less HP the character has, the stronger the bonus to resources obtained.

The “Lunar Oracle” tag offers exclusive rewards. You can read more about them in the separate Lunar Oracle guide.

Upcoming Scenarios

The developers published a roadmap for 2025. According to it, three new scenarios will be added to Once Human this year:

• CODE: Broken (PVP): This scenario will last for 10 days. Players will engage in free PVP, participate in random events, and earn valuable rewards.
• CODE: Purification (PVE): The major goal of this scenario is to purify and protect the environment. The outcome will depend on players’ actions.
• CODE: Deviation (PVE): Players will capture and train Deviants, build strong teams, and compete with each other.

Early access to these scenarios will open in May-June 2025, and they will be officially released in July-September 2025.

Additionally, in 2025, players will experience five different Visional Wheel anomalies (server tags). The first, “Lunar Oracle,” is released on January 16. The second will appear in April, the third and fourth in July-September, and the fifth is planned for October-December.