Once Human: Best Mods For Shrapnel

Key Takeaways

• The Shrapnel mechanic in Once Human is a key gameplay feature that can be enhanced with specific mods for increased damage output.
• Mods like Explosive Shrapnel, Crit Amplifier, and Shrapnel Smash directly impact Shrapnel’s function and are essential for a Shrapnel build.
• Shrapnel Carnage and Obliterate are rare and powerful mods that significantly boost Shrapnel damage, making them valuable additions to any player’s arsenal.

Once Humansurvival gameplay takes place spread across multi-stage seasons. At the end of each season, the player is reset, and certain items such as blueprints are transferred to the new season. The player then progresses through the game once again, slowly improving their blueprints and becoming more powerful with each iteration.

The Shrapnel mechanic is a special ability that is baked into some weapons in this horror game. When a bullet hits a target, there is a chance that the bullet will split into fragments. These fragments then proceed to damage other parts of the target. There are some mods that can improve or impact this ability as well.

6 Explosive Shrapnel

• Tier: Epic
• Mod slot: Mask
• Bonuses: The 20th Shrapnel is explosive and deals +240% DMG as a critical hit.

The Explosive Shrapnel mod fits on the player’s mask in Once Human. It is one of the few mods that actually has an impact on the Shrapnel special ability directly. This mod isn’t so hot for general-purpose use against enemies, as it is rare that 20 iterations of Shrapnel will occur while killing a normal enemy.

Where this mod really shines, is for fighting elite enemies or bosses. While the player is laying down continuous fire, Shrapnel will trigger multiple times. A counter starts with the first Shrapnel hit, and when this counter reaches 20, that stack of Shrapnel will deal an additional 240% damage to the target, as a critical hit.

5 Crit Amplifier

More Crit Damage

• Tier: Legendary
• Mod slot: Gloves
• Bonuses: Crit Rate +10%, Crit DMG +15%

Although this mod does not directly impact the Shrapnel special ability (there are only a few mods that do), it is an excellent companion mod for a Shrapnel build. Due to the fact that Shrapnel already has a high critical hit chance, this mod boosts the chance of a critical hit to a level where crits are very common.

Add to this the fact that the mod adds an additional 15% critical damage, which really boosts the damage output of a Shrapnel build. Overall, this glove mod works perfectly in every scenario, from farming enemies for acid to dealing significant damage to bosses. Note though, that Shrapnel is not considered status damage.

4 Momentum Up

Faster Weapon Fire

• Tier: Legendary
• Mod slot: Helmet
• Bonuses: Increases fire rate by 10% for the first half of the magazine and boosts weapon damage by 30% for the rest of the magazine.

This is another mod that synergizes well with a Shrapnel build, even though it has no direct impact on the Shrapnel special ability itself. This helmet mod boosts the player’s damage output by making their weapon fire faster and also raises weapon damage as well.

This mod is a bit complicated, as the bonus applied depends on how full the weapon magazine is. For the first half of the magazine, the rate of fire is boosted. For the second half of the magazine, damage is boosted. So it pays to run a weapon dry before reloading when using this mod.

3 Shrapnel Smash

Higher Crit rate

• Tier: Legendary
• Mod slot: Weapon
• Bonuses: Increases Shrapnel Crit Rate by 1% for 2 seconds each time Shrapnel is triggered, stacking up to 20 times.

The Shrapnel Smash weapon mod is one of the few mods available in Once Human that has a direct impact on the function of the Shrapnel special ability. It should be considered a must-have mod for any player putting together a Shrapnel build. There is also an epic version of this mod which is easier to acquire.

The mechanics of this mod are a bit complex. Put simply, the more times Shrapnel triggers on a target, the greater the Shrapnel critical hit rate becomes. This is a fantastic mod to use when fighting bosses or elite bosses, as in a long fight, the bonus can stack up to 20 times.

2 Shrapnel Carnage

More Shrapnel Damage

• Tier: Legendary
• Mod slot: Mask
• Bonuses: The chance of Shrapnel hitting Weakspots is increased by 100.0%, with Weakspot DMG +25.0%

Due to the way that the Shrapnel special ability works, each bullet fragment has a random chance of hitting any part of the target. However, with this mod installed in the player’s mask in Once Human, the probability shifts so that Weakspots are more likely to be hit by a bullet fragment.

As one of the handful of mods that actually impact Shrapnel as a mechanic in the game, it is another no-brainer for anyone who is working towards an effective shrapnel build. It works for all enemies equally, so it has some real utility during all gunplay. This is quite a rare mod, so once it has been looted, players should be prepared to take it across to each new season.

1 Obliterate

Simply Devastating

• Tier: Legendary
• Mod slot: Weapon
• Bonuses: The more parts Shrapnel hits, the higher the Shrapnel DMG. Each part +15%

The Obliterate weapon mod is available as a legendary or an epic mod. It really is the best of all the Shrapnel-specific mods in Once Human. It plays to the strengths of the Shrapnel special ability perfectly.

When a bullet splits into fragments, a random number of them are produced. For each bullet fragment that is generated on a Shrapnel hit, the damage for all parts is increased by 15%. There is no maximum on this bonus either. This mod works for all combat in the game and is arguably the top Shrapnel mod that players will want to try and loot.