Once Human Critical Pulse build guide

Critical Pulse is one of the two Legendary crossbows in Once Human, and it's a great AoE weapon if you don’t want to attract attention. It is mainly focused on taking down a group of enemies, but it can work well against a single target, depending on the mods and gear equipped.

This build guide will show you how to acquire Critical Pulse, along with the best gear and mods to maximize your DPS.

How to acquire Critical Pulse in Once Human

Get the BP from Wish Machine (Image via Starry Studio)

Gaining the ability to craft Critical Pulse will take a little work if you don’t have the blueprint. To unlock the BP for the weapon, build a Wish Machine. It lets you either gamble for weapon blueprints or purchase them at a flat rate of 8,000 Starchrom.

Alternatively, a fully Critical Pulse can drop as a reward from the boss's loot cache. However, looted weapons cannot be repaired, meaning once durability reaches 0, the only option you’ll have is to salvage the weapon blueprint.

Gambling can give you blueprint fragments for other weapons and armor, so don’t take this route if you're short on Starchroms. Furthermore, the direct purchase will guarantee the BP instead of fragments.

Critical Pulse build guide in Once Human

Craft Critical Pulse using the Gear Workbench (Image via Starry Studio)

The Critical Pulse features one of the special weapon effects called Power Surge, which activates on every hit. This effect deals status damage up to 50% of your Psi intensity and reduces enemy accuracy for six seconds.

Critical Pulse special features:

Triggers continuous Power Surge on hit, with a 70% chance to generate deviated particles near the player (pick them up to enter a charged state).
Continuous Power Surge can trigger every 0.5s within 3s on the current target. Higher stacks shorten the interval (minimum 0.26s), stacking up to 5 times (40% DMG against meta-humans).
While in a charged state, hitting a target consumes one charge to create an orb of lightning that deals Shock Elemental Status DMG of 75% Psi intensity to targets within 5m every 0.5s. This damage benefits from Power Surge DMG bonuses and has a 5% chance to generate deviated particles lasting for 3s.
Shock Elemental DMG bonus +30%.

Psi intensity is another status that can be found in your gear section. The higher number you have for it, the better it will be for your weapon while Power Surge is active. It is an important aspect of this build and can help clear large hordes of enemies quickly.

Each armor piece you equip will improve the base stat, with higher-tier armor having more Psi intensity. The enhancement, tier, and calibration of armor also play an important role in increasing the Psi intensity.

Gear choice for Critical Pulse

Once human gear BP section (Image via Starry Studio)

The armor you equip can provide additional passive buffs, either to your character or weapons and Once Human contains two types. The first is the set bonus armor, which adds more passive bonuses with each piece from the set you have equipped.

Second is the key armor, which provides a conditional benefit from triggering a certain effect. For Power Surge, you have two options: Gas Mask Hood and Overloaded Pants.

For key armor, go with the Gas Mask Hood, which increases the crit rate by 35% on triggering a Power Surge. As for the set, there are many enticing bonuses you’ll come across, but we suggest you go with the Shelter set. The passives include

Status Damage Reduction 15%.
Elemental Damage +8%.
Each weapon hit grants 1 stack of Deviant Energy. Every stack of Deviant Energy grants 1% Elemental Damage and can stack up to 20 times.
Increase max Deviant Energy stack by 10. Grants 2 additional stacks when hitting a weak point.

Note: To combat survivability issues, go with the Saviour set.

Mod choices for Critical Pulse

Once Human mod section (Image via Starry Studio)

Mods come with a Core Effect and up to 4 Attribute Effects. The core remains the same for any particular mod, but the attributes can change according to mod affix, with some containing god rolls.

You can also equip one mod on each of your armor and weapons in Once Human. The process isn’t too complicated and provides more damage bonus, which is always welcome. Here are the best ones for your Critical Pulse build.

Weapon mods:

Mod	Core Effect
Surge Amplifier (Power Surge)	Inflicting Power Surge grants Power Surge DMG +5% for 3 seconds, up to 4 stacks.

Armor mods:

Gear	Mod	Core Effect
Helmet	Work of Proficiency (Talents)	When reloading with an empty magazine, Reload Speed +10% and Elemental DMG +20%, lasting for 5 seconds. Resets with the next Reload.
Top	Lifeforce Boost	HP +10%.
Bottoms	Elemental Resonance	For each instance of Elemental DMG dealt from the previous magazine, the next magazine gains Elemental DMG +1%, up to +24%.
Shoes	Secluded Strike	Having no enemies within 7 meters around you grants +15% weapon and status DMG.
Gloves	Elemental Overload	Elemental DMG (Blaze, Frost, Shock, Blast) by +18%.
Mask	Thunderclap (Power Surge)	After triggering Power Surge 20 times, the next hit summons Celestial Thunder (Shock DMG of 200% Psi Intensity).

Also Read: Once Human: All Nightmare State effects and modifiers, explained

Cradle Override for Critical Pulse

Cradel Override in Once Human( Image via Starry Studio)

The last thing you can do to add more damage is activate Cradle Override. To unlock every node, reach Level 35. Once you do, here are the best options for your build:

Anti-Phase: When using sniper rifles, SMGs, or crossbows, DMG 15%, with an additional 100% DMG against Super Anomaly.
Tactical Combo: Weapon DMG +15% for 4 seconds after switching weapons or reloading.
Status Enhancement: Status DMG +15% for 3 seconds after hitting a weak spot.
Elemental Sense: After dealing Elemental DMG, the corresponding Element’s DMG +25% for 4 seconds.
Transient Impact: Dealing Power Surge DMG grants Power Surge DMG +2.5% for 6 seconds, up to 10 stacks.

The remaining Cradle Override can be the ones relevant to your secondary weapon or something related to defense. Pick up Rapid Aid to lower the cooldown for using medicines.

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About the author

Mayank Singh Rathour is an MMO writer at Sportskeeda. He graduated from college with a degree in Business Administration and has over two years of experience as an esports journalist.

Mayank was introduced to gaming at an early age and played Contra, Double Dragon, Castlevania, etc., on his Nintendo DS. When he was a little older, Counter-Strike — a title that majorly helped develop his passion for gaming — became his favorite pastime. Though he's played a bunch of games since then, his love of CS has remained strong. Shroud, a former Counter-Strike: Global Offensive pro, is an inspiration to him. He's also a fan of series' esports scene, following teams like Vitality, NAVI, and The Mongols closely.

When Mayank has some free time, he plays basketball and helps people build PCs.

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Edited by Angad Sharma