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Dev Blog | Beast Riding Goes Live, Gardener Combat Improvements, and Animal Ranching System Optimizations

09/12/2026 Dev Blog | Beast Riding Goes Live, Gardener Combat Improvements, and Animal Ranching System Optimizations

Dear Metas,

In the September 16(PT) version update, we will roll out a major overhaul to the Class system: the Beastmaster class will be fully revamped with the new Beast Riding ability, and the animal ranching system will also see synchronized improvements to rules and info display. Additionally, we will make balance adjustments to the Gardeners' combat capabilities.

Here are the details of this update.

I. Beastmaster Comprehensive Revamp

1. New Core Ability: Beast Riding

After this update, Beastmasters will gain a new core ability: Beast Riding.

Beastmasters can directly summon animals and mount eligible ones. Centered around summoning, riding, commanding, evolving, and trading, this update will systematically expand the Beastmaster's abilities.

2. Changes to the Animal Summoning Rules

In this update, we will simplify the animal summoning rules: Metas can use animal items directly from their backpack or hotbar to summon the corresponding animal; using the animal item again will recall the animal (summoning animals has a 10-second shared cooldown).

Due to the overall revamp of Beastmaster abilities, each Beastmaster can now only have 1 animal summoned at one time after the update.

Note:

Only adult animals with sufficient Energy (>20%) can be summoned.

Summoned animals will default to an idle state, and Beastmasters can issue commands to them via Beast Whistle.

Each time an animal dies, it will lose a certain amount of Energy.

Non-Beastmaster classes can also summon animals with saddles equipped in the wild for riding, but cannot summon them inside dungeons or during combat.

3. Riding Rules

Bareback Riding

When encountering unoccupied wild animals in the wild, or summoning animals without saddles, Beastmasters can mount them directly through interactions.

Each bareback riding consumes a certain amount of character Stamina; Bareback riding is not possible when stamina is insufficient. Animals without saddles will resist the Beastmaster: while mounted, the animal's special abilities cannot be used, and the animal will attempt to break free.

Saddle Riding

After equipping an animal with a saddle, the beastmaster can ride it stably. Beastmasters can use saddle items from their backpack, drag the saddle onto the animal, modify the gear in the animal's details, or directly equip the saddle while the animal is anesthetized.

 

While riding, Metas can fire using weapons, perform melee attacks, and engage in gathering, interactions, using consumables, and using Deviation ability without special animations. Performing actions with special animations (such as opening weapon crates, teleporting, or switching worlds) will immediately dismount you.

4. Animal Mount Ability

For Beastmasters, the animal's special ability can be used while mounted with a saddle.

(Triggered with Ctrl key on PC; the dedicated button on mobile, and the R1+X/RB+A button combination on console)

Non-Beastmaster classes cannot use animal special abilities or benefit from their effects.

Table 1 Animal Special Abilities

Animal

Active Skill

Passive Skill

Deer

Enter a galloping state, greatly increasing Movement Speed

Based on current movement speed, proportionally increases the rider's Weapon DMG and Status DMG

Boar

Continuously consumes Stamina to charge forward, stacking DMG Reduction for yourself with each enemy hit

The animal has a certain degree of DMG Reduction and takes a portion of the rider's damage

Bear

Swing to release a shockwave at a certain distance and deal damage; each objective hit increases the rider's Weapon DMG and Status DMG

The animal has a certain degree of DMG Reduction and increases the rider's Weapon DMG and Status DMG

Wild Buffalo

Automatically search for edible crops within a nearby range, go to and consume them to directly recover Energy

When devouring crops, there is a probability of directly obtaining Milk

Animals currently supported for mounting in this version are Deer, Boar, Bear, and Wild Buffalo. We will continue to expand the variety of ridable animals in the future.

Wild animals do not possess active/passive abilities by default; only Beastmasters can utilize the above abilities when mounted with a saddle.

5. Class Trait Adjustments

Beast Partner

When a Beastmaster approaches an animal, the animal will not flee or attack, and the Beastmaster can directly listen to the animal's thoughts and check its Stats and Traits. The Beastmaster can also use the Beast Whistle to issue commands to summoned beast partners, directing them to perform specific actions such as combat and gathering.

A Beastmaster cannot issue commands to animals that are more than 10 levels above their own level. Animals summoned using animal items default to a waiting-to-mount state and will only enter an assisting state after the Beastmaster issues a command via the Beast Whistle. Non-Beastmaster classes can also summon combat animals, but the summoned animals do not possess combat abilities.

The original three types of Beast Whistles will be merged into one. The whistle is no longer bound to a specific animal and only serves to command animals. Beastmasters will learn its crafting formula by default. The original red beast whistle will be directly renamed to "Beast Whistle" and retained; the other two types of whistles will not be uniformly recalled, and Beastmasters can actively use them to transform them into the new "Beast Whistle". This update will not uniformly recall old whistles, nor will it uniformly distribute new whistles.

Breeding Expert

Beastmasters can craft gene items to perform targeted modifications on animal genes, granting animals unique traits; they can also gradually improve the level of animal trait attributes through breeding and exploration.

This update will also adjust animal trait attributes, adding 7 new attribute groups and adjusting 2 existing attribute groups.

Table 2: Animal Attribute Additions and Adjustments

Attribute

Animal

Category

Effect

Nimble

Deer

New

While mounted, jump height increases by 10% / 20% / 30%.

Swift

Deer

New

While mounted, Movement Speed increases by 3% / 6% / 10%.

Thick Fur

Original animal types + Boar

Effect Adjustments

When attacked, gain DMG Reduction +3% / +4% / +5% for 10 seconds. Up to 4 stacks.

Healing Pelt

Boar

New

After leaving combat, HP recovery speed increases by 80% / 100% / 120%.

Aftermath

Bear

New

While mounted, the shockwave's attack range increases by 10% / 20% / 30%.

Adaptive Fur

Wild Buffalo

New

While mounted, gain an additional 10 / 20 / 30 Cold and Heat Resist.

Fertile Constitution

Wild Buffalo

New

While mounted, Wild Buffalo milk production probability increases to 5% / 7% (without Level III attribute).

Stamina

Deer, Boar, Bear, Wild Buffalo

New

While mounted, Max Stamina +15% / 25% / 40%.

Attack Boost

General

Effect Adjustments

Attack Boost 15% / 30% / 50%.

The movement speed bonus for animals while mounted is a separate stat from the movement speed bonus for animals in normal state. The default animal movement speed bonus does not apply to animals while mounted, but it still applies to animals summoned to assist in combat and exploration.

Wilderness Master

Beastmasters can craft and replace gear and saddles for animals, providing ability bonuses for animals in normal and mounted states respectively; they can also sell saddled animals to other Metas, allowing other classes to ride animals as well. When Beastmasters carry animals, they can also significantly reduce the animals' weight.

Table 3 Saddle Types and Effects

Saddle Name

Effect Description

Basic Saddle

No special effects. Once equipped, the animal can be mounted without restrictions.

Recovering Saddle

Supports mounting, and the animal continuously recovers Max HP after leaving combat.

Reinforced Saddle

Supports mounting, and increases the animal's Attack while mounted.

Stamina Saddle

Supports mounting, and increases the animal's Max Stamina while mounted.

Only Beastmasters can craft or replace animal gear and saddles.

Metas of non-Beastmaster classes can only view the gear and saddles currently worn by animals. They cannot replace or change them, but they can still enjoy the effects of existing saddles.

After a Beastmaster trades an animal with a saddle equipped to another Meta, the owner permissions for the animal and saddle will be synchronized accordingly.

6. Class Starting Items and Default Formula Adjustments

Beastmasters start with the following items:

Starting Partner: Choose one animal from Deer, Boar, or Bear.

Beast Whistle: Issue commands to summoned Beast Partners.

Basic Saddle: Equip it on an animal to unlock mounting ability.

Beastmasters start with mastery of saddle, animal husbandry, animal breeding, and tranquilizer throwing needle-related tech formulas without needing to unlock them separately. They also master the crafting formulas for tranquilizer throwing needles, animal troughs, and youngling huts .

7. Beastmaster Usability Optimization

Manual Feeding

To make it easier for Metas to ride animals in the wild, this update adds a manual feeding feature. After summoning an animal, Metas can interact with it to feed it manually. The feedable content matches the animal's preferred food.

Animals with insufficient Energy cannot be summoned. If a Meta attempts to summon such an animal through the backpack interface, the system will automatically open the feeding interface.

Please note: Animals in ranching state within a Territory do not support manual feeding.

II. Animal Ranching System Optimization

This update will also synchronize adjustments to the animal ranching system, with the core objective of reducing daily maintenance burden and making ranching rules clearer.

1. Simplified Ranching Maintenance Rules

In the current version, Metas need to simultaneously monitor multiple stats such as Tameness, Energy, and Hydration, which results in high maintenance costs and a lack of intuitiveness.

After this adjustment, the core judgment for animal ranching will focus on Energy:

(1) Animals will no longer have Tameness or Hydration stats.

(2) Rules for growth, breeding, byproduct production, and slaughter yields will all be governed by Energy.

(3) The "Docile" trait related to Tameness will lose its effect and be replaced with a new one—increasing the growth speed of younglings.

(4) Trait attributes will be unlocked sequentially when animals reach Lv. 20, 30, 40, and 50. Traits already unlocked before the update will not be affected.

(5) After this update, feeding Mixed Meat Feed, Mixed Grain Feed, or Mixed Herb Feed will only increase Energy.

After the adjustment, animal Energy will be divided into the following three tiers:

Energy

Byproduct Production

Slaughter Yields

Youngling Growth

Breeding Conditions

80% ~ 100%

Efficient byproduct production

Rewards large supplies

Normal growth

Breedable

20% ~ 80%

Normal byproduct production

Rewards Moderate supplies

Normal growth

Not ready to breed

0% – 20%

Pause byproduct production

Rewards small supplies

Pause growth

Not ready to breed

In simple terms, if you want animals to grow, produce, and breed steadily, maintaining a higher Energy level is more important.

2. Animal Status Display and Offline Feeding Optimization

To make farming status more intuitive, the animal list will now include icons for Energy status, Courtship status, and Breeding Cooldown status. Breeding-related statuses will also be more clearly displayed in animal info, making it easier for Metas to quickly assess an animal's current production, growth, and breeding state.

 

This update also optimizes offline feeding logic so that animal food consumption during offline periods behaves as expected:

(1) Offline feeding only consumes items from the animal trough; items discarded on the ground will not be consumed.

(2) Body Boost Feed will not be consumed during offline periods.

3. Animal Distribution Tracking

In response to popular demand from Metas, this update adds animal tracking to the World Map. All Metas can check the distribution of all animals in the current Scenario under the World Map's [Filter - Resource Tracking] Tab. The relevant rules are the same as those for crops and ores tracking.

 

III. Gardener Combat Optimization

1. Portable Planter Box and Biomechanical Crop Adjustments

This update will enhance the Gardeners' combat capabilities: the Portable Planter Box can now hold different types of biomechanical crops simultaneously, and the abilities of each biomechanical crop will also be strengthened, giving Gardeners stronger sustained damage and field control in combat. To ensure the enhanced strength remains within a reasonable range, we have simultaneously introduced a durability rule as a new usage cost.

Portable Planter Box Usage Rule Adjustment: Portable Planter Boxes loaded with different types of biomechanical crops can now be placed independently, with cooldowns calculated separately. This means Metas can deploy multiple biomechanical units on the field at the same time, enabling richer tactical combinations.

Portable Planter Box Durability Rule Adjustment: The Portable Planter Box will be adjusted to an item with durability, consuming a certain amount of durability with each use. This rule is a usage cost introduced alongside this ability enhancement, used to balance the strengthened biomechanical strength. When durability is depleted, the Portable Planter Box will be consumed along with the biomechanical crops inside.

Biomechanical Crop Grafting Rule Adjustment: After the update, the abilities of Balloon, Rainfall Reaper, Flare Bulbfly, Watcher, The Portal, and Agent biomechanical units will be strengthened and will no longer be differentiated based on grafted crops. Grafting different crops will only affect the cosmetic appearance of the biomechanical units, allowing Metas more freedom in cosmetic matching.

Biomechanical Crop Ability Adjustments (overall enhancements) are as follows:

Name

Ability after adjustments

Biomechanical Balloon

Upon placement, taunts nearby units. Explodes after a certain duration, dealing damage to targets within range based on the target's Max HP.

Rainfall Reaper Biomechanical

Upon placement, provides Status DMG bonus to Summoners within a certain range, and periodically grants additional Status DMG bonus.

Flare Bulbfly Biomechanical

Upon placement, provides Weapon DMG bonus to Summoners within a certain range, and periodically grants additional Weapon DMG bonus.

Watcher Biomechanical

Upon placement, selects an enemy target within range and petrifies it.

The Portal Biomechanical

Upon placement, firing at the Portal will teleport the user back to the Portal biomechanical unit.

Agent Biomechanical

Upon placement, continuously attacks the nearest enemy target, dealing DMG based on the Summoner's Psi Intensity, with DMG increased based on the number of existing Agent Biomechanical units.

2. Additional Notes on Usability Optimization

Portable Planter Box Display Optimization: Portable Planter Boxes loaded with different biomechanical crops will now be clearly distinguished on item pins.

Biomechanical Part and Facility Description Optimization: All Biomechanical Parts and Facilities will now have their functions and post-grafting ability effects detailed in their item descriptions.

 

The above is the main content of this Developer Blog. We will continue to monitor the actual experience of each class and the animal farming system, and keep optimizing related gameplay. If you have any feedback or suggestions, feel free to share them with us via the Feedback Platform (Once Human Feedback Platform).

 

Once Human Development Team

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