After the class system adjustment details were announced, we received a great deal of feedback and suggestions regarding changes to the Beastmaster, Gardener, and other classes. Over the past few days, the dev team has read through every comment from worldwide Metas. The discussion around how many animals a Beastmaster can summon was the most concentrated one and gave us the most to reflect on.
We realized that in our previous plan, we increased the strength of a single animal, but overlooked that having multiple animals fight alongside is the very reason many Metas chose and love Beastmasters. Whether it's teaming up with companions to explore, wandering the wilds with your animals taking photos, or spending hours breeding individuals with rare patterns and attributes, these are irreplaceable joys of the Beastmaster class.
After repeated discussion and evaluation, we have decided to adopt the Metas' feedback and revise this adjustment plan: the Beastmaster will retain the ability to summon 3 animals simultaneously.
At the same time, we need to be upfront with everyone about the timeline for this adjustment:
1) After the September 16(PT) version update: Due to version development and testing schedules, and to ensure version stability, when this iteration goes live, each Beastmaster will only be able to summon 1 animal at a time;
2) After the September 28(PT) version update: This will be adjusted so that the Beastmaster can summon 3 animals simultaneously (the simultaneous summon limit for non-Beastmaster classes is 1).
This means that from September 16(PT) to September 28(PT), Beastmasters will still briefly be subject to the summon count restriction. We know this arrangement will continue to cause inconvenience during this period, and this is the result of our previous plan's lack of foresight. We offer our sincere apologies to all Metas.
The newly added contents such as animal riding and animal active skills will also be rolled out gradually with version updates. We hope the Beastmaster class can retain its original gameplay fun while also having more stable and richer combat performances.
Below are the FAQ responses regarding this Class System adjustment.
Q1: How many animals can a Beastmaster summon at the same time? Why is it being split into two updates?
A: [Expected to be optimized with the September 28(PT) version update] The final plan is: Beastmasters can summon 3 animals simultaneously in battle, and the summon quantity limit remains unchanged; the simultaneous summon limit for non-Beastmaster classes is 1.
This cannot go live with the September 16(PT) version due to version development and testing schedules. We understand it would not be pleasant to keep waiting during this period for Metas, so we will complete the adjustment as soon as possible after the September 28(PT) update.
At the same time, the newly added summon method will also be retained: Metas can directly use animal items from the backpack or hotbar to summon the corresponding animal, and using the item again will recall the animal (summoning animals has a 10-second cooldown). In addition, Beastmasters will enjoy a load reduction effect when carrying animals (Load -70%), making it easier to travel with more animals.
The rules for each class are as follows:
|
Details |
Beastmaster |
Non-Beastmaster |
|
Simultaneous Summon Limit |
3 (after the September 28(PT) version update) |
1 |
|
Carrying Load |
Enjoys 70% load reduction when carrying animals |
Not available |
|
Riding |
Can craft saddles and ride animals equipped with saddles (only 1 animal at a time) |
Cannot craft saddles, but can ride animals equipped with saddles (only 1 animal at a time) |
|
Animal Active Skill |
Available |
Unavailable |
|
Animal Passive Skill |
Available |
Not Available |
Regarding existing cultivation and attributes: Since the setting of summoning up to 3 animals is retained, there will be no depreciation of previously cultivated animals, rare patterns, or attributes. Trait attributes that rely on multiple animals being present simultaneously (such as Pack Wolves, Alpha Wolf, Wrath of Nature, Tearer, etc.) will continue to function with their original effects; multiple animals previously bred by Metas will remain valid for deployment, production, or display purposes.
In the future, we will also make adaptive adjustments to related attribute effects based on combat balance conditions to ensure attributes remain usable and playable. If any adjustments involve numerical changes, we will synchronize with everyone in advance through dev blogs and announcements.
Q2: What exactly are an animal's active skill and passive skill?
A: Riding brings Beastmasters clear numerical enhancements. While riding with saddles on the animal, Beastmasters can not only use the animal's active skill, but also continuously receive the animal's passive skill bonuses — including increasing the rider's Weapon DMG and Status DMG, taking DMG in place of the rider, and increasing Movement Speed. For this reason, we highly recommend Beastmasters ride and fight in combat to fully leverage the benefits of animal abilities.
Animals currently supported for mounting in this version are Deer, Boar, Bear, and Wild Buffalo. Their specific abilities are as follows:
|
Animal |
Passive Skill |
Active Skill |
|
Deer |
Has faster riding Movement Speed. Based on current Movement Speed, proportionally increases the Weapon DMG and Status DMG (up to 37.5%). |
Enter a galloping state, greatly increasing Movement Speed for 12 seconds. |
|
Boar |
Takes 20% of DMG in place of the rider, and the animal itself also gains a certain amount of DMG Reduction. |
Continuously consumes Stamina to charge forward. Each enemy hit increases the boar's DMG Reduction by 5% (up to 20%), lasting for 10 seconds. This ability does not provide character bonuses. Cooldown: 8 seconds. |
|
Bear |
Increases the rider's Weapon DMG and Status DMG by 20%, and grants a certain amount of DMG Reduction to itself. |
Swing to release a shockwave over a distance. Hitting enemy units deals 200% of Attack as DMG. Each objective hit increases the rider's Weapons and Status DMG by 5% (up to 15%), lasting 5 seconds. |
|
Wild Buffalo |
When devouring crops, there is a probability of directly obtaining Milk. |
Navigate to the nearest edible crop within a certain range, devour it to directly recover Energy. |
It should be noted that wild animals do not possess active/passive abilities by default; only Beastmasters can utilize the above abilities when riding an animal with a saddle. We will also continue to expand the types of rideable animals in the future.
Q3: Will more animals be rideable in the future?
A: Yes. We will continue to expand the types of rideable animals in the future. The first batch to be released are aquatic animals, which will support movement on water surfaces, providing a new way to explore waters and islands. We are also evaluating other animals that Metas have highly requested. Please refer to future official announcements, and we will continue to synchronize development progress.
Q4: In which scenes is riding gameplay available, and what are the benefits and restrictions?
A:
1) Riding is not restricted by scene. Metas can ride summoned animals for exploration and combat in all dungeons and public crisis events (non-Beastmaster classes still cannot summon inside dungeons or during combat);
2) While riding, all classes can use weapons to fire and can also use melee weapons for close-range attacks. Note that non-Beastmaster players cannot use animal active skills while riding, nor will they receive animal passive skills bonuses;
3) While riding, Metas can use certain Deviation skills that do not have special full-body animations (e.g., Zapamander's "Lightning Dash"). However, Deviation skills that require full-body animation performances for the character (e.g., Mitsuko's "Mitsuko's Guidance") cannot be used while riding for now;
4) When performing actions with special animations (e.g., opening a weapon crate) or certain special actions (e.g., teleporting, switching world), you will leave the riding state. After completing the action, you can still summon and continue to ride.
Q5: After the Tameness adjustment, is Director Fox still useful?
A: Yes. We will adapt and adjust Director Fox's effect: the original effect "Increases the Securement Progress of all bred animals in the territory by up to 20%" will be changed to "Reduces Energy consumption of all bred animals in the territory by up to 20%. Effects of the same type do not stack." Other effects remain unchanged. This adjustment is expected to go live with the September 16(PT) version update.
Q6: Why Gardener's Nature Affinity remains unchanged?
A: Our initial design mainly considered the Gardener's sustainability experience in pollution zones, wilderness gathering, and survival environments, but we indeed did not fully consider the impact of this effect on certain special builds, especially HP-control builds. Going forward, we will adjust Nature Affinity into a special item craftable by the Gardener. After use, it can provide controllable adjustment to sanity recovery or reduction based on the Metas' environment. This way, we can address the Gardener's survival needs in pollution zones while also accommodating certain Metas' needs for HP and sanity control under special builds.
Q7: Now that Biomechanicals have become consumables, is the Biomechanical grafting probability still this low?
A: In this adjustment, we have simultaneously increased the grafting success rate of some combat Biomechanical parts to reduce the usage cost for Gardeners. The specific adjustments are as follows:
|
Name |
Grafting Success Rate Before |
Grafting Success Rate After |
|
Biomechanical Balloon |
80% |
Not Adjusted |
|
Watcher Biomechanical |
80% |
Not Adjusted |
|
The Portal Biomechanical |
50% |
80% |
|
Flare Bulbfly Biomechanical |
80% |
Not Adjusted |
|
Rainfall Reaper Biomechanical |
20% |
80% |
|
Agent Biomechanical |
80% |
Not Adjusted |
We will continue to monitor the usage cost, strength performance, and maintenance experience of Biomechanicals in actual combat, and make further adjustments based on live server data and Metas' feedback.
Q8: When multiple animals are deployed simultaneously, will issues such as blocking shots, body blocking, and navigation error be resolved?
A: These issues are quite complex, involving underlying logic and extensive scene adaptation. We are working hard on these and once we have a clear timeline, we will share it with everyone as soon as possible.
We'd also like to share a tip with Metas: Some animals are quite large, and when multiple animals are deployed at once, they can block your view or affect your positioning. Therefore, we suggest Metas decide which and how many animals to summon based on the actual terrain and combat scene — for example, in narrower terrain, choosing smaller animals will make the overall experience smoother.
If you encounter specific problem scenarios, you're also welcome to submit a description through the Feedback Platform (screenshots or recordings are even better) to help us locate and reproduce the issue faster.
After the related features go live, we will continue to track the combat performance and usage data of classes like Beastmaster and Gardener, and keep optimizing based on feedback. That's all for this Dev Blog. If you have any suggestions or questions about these Class System adjustments, please feel free to reach out to us via the Feedback Platform (Once Human Feedback Platform) or in-game Customer Service.
Thank you all for your companionship, feedback, and support along the way.
Once Human Development Team
