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Specializations in Once Human can dictate your playstyle or even how comfortable your survival situation can be. There are dozens of these Memetic Specializations and the sad part is that you can only take 10 of them. That’s why you must choose wisely, and that’s also why our Once Human Specialization tier list ought to help.
You can only get one Memetic Specialization every five levels (max level is 50). Hence, S-Tier would be where I placed what I recommend– the 10 must-have Specializations. Others are backups since the Specialization system depends on RNG– what you get every five levels is a random selection of four Specializations.
You also need to be careful as you can only reset or respec individual Specializations a few times. Without further ado, here’s the tier list.
S-Tier – The Best Specializations in Once Human
If you can only have 10, then I hope your luck is good enough for the following Specializations in Once Human.
| Specialization | Effect |
|---|---|
| Pickaxe: Forest Foe (easier gathering) | Improved Formula: Pickaxe. Pickaxe Durability is doubled. Enjoy +30% yield when logging with the Pickaxe, and gain 150% of the resources when you completely destroy a tree. |
| Sulfur Alchemy (for Acid production) | New Formula: Sulfur Alchemy. Slowly turn Sulfur into Acid using the Synthesis Bench. |
| Sulfur Chemist (for even more Acid production) | Unlock New Formula: Sulfur Chemist. Can use Sulfur and Energy Link at the Synthesis Bench to slowly produce acid. |
| Disassembly Bench: Careful Disassembly (Disassembly Bench boost) | Facility Boost: Disassembly Bench. Yield +30% when disassembling Parts, Fabrics and Plastic. |
| Electronic Recycling (Disassembly Bench boost) | Facility Boost: Disassembly Bench. Yield +50% for Metal Scrap and Electronic Parts. |
| Solar Generator: Photon Power (for more electricity) | Facility Boost: Solar Generator. Solar Generator Power Output +10w. |
| Generator: Electrical Expert (more power for your base) | Facility Boost: Generator. Maximum Number of Generators +1 and +2w Power Output. |
| Furnace: Precision Refining (more efficient ingot crafting) | Facility Boost: Resource Consumption -30%, and Smelting Speed -30% when smelting Copper, Bronze, Steel, Aluminum, and Tungsten Ingots using an Electric Furnace. |
| Electric Drill: Treasure Hunt (more efficient mining) | Improved Formula: Electric Drill. Enjoy +100% yield when mining for Gold Ore, Silver Ore and Startrace Ore with an Electric Drill. |
| Precious Metal Refining (for ingot selling for Energy Links) | New Formula: Gold Ingot, Silver Ingot. Smelt Gold and Silver Ores into Ingots using the Electric Furnace. The Ingots can be sold for a large number of Energy Links using this One Human Memetic Specialization. |
Our focus is thus either becoming rich with Energy Link, Acid, or materials and/or minimizing crafting expenses. Others are for efficiency and convenience. The issue is that you probably won’t get all of these since the Memetic Specialization selection is random every five levels.
So in case none of these present themselves, we have a backup, namely the A-Tier below (though they’re not as good, of course).
A-Tier – Backup Specializations in Case S-Tier Ones Don’t Appear
Again, we’re going to follow the same idea here. These are either for getting rich in Once Human so you have limitless possibilities (using Energy Link, Acid, and other materials) or for maximum convenience.
Again, not that these might not all appear. It depends on your luck.
| Specialization | Effect |
|---|---|
| Solar Drill (easier mining) | New Formula: Solar Drill. The Solar Drill charges itself on sunny days. Enjoy +15-40% yield of Copper Ore, Tin Ore, Iron Ore, Aluminum Ore and Tungsten Ore. |
| Spectral Cloak (invisibility and stealth) | New Formula: Spectral Cloak. Activate to become Cloaked for 120s. Upon leaving combat, you’ll become Steathy. Use up to 10 times. |
| Portable Rainwater Collector (random chance for water or acid during rains) | New Formula: Portable Rainwater Collector. When this item is in your Backpack, you will continually restore Hydration on rainy days and also enjoy a 30-60% chance of obtaining 1 portion of Dirty Water, Pure Water, or Acid every minute. |
| Supplies Workbench: Ammo Factory (more ammunition when crafting) | Facility Boost: Supplies Workbench. Crafting Output +50% when crafting regular Ammunition while using this Once Human Memetic Specialization. |
| Stardust Byproducts (alternate recipe for Acid production) | New Formula: Acid. Consume Stardust Source to craft Acid using the Electric Furnace. |
| Stardust Water Pumps (for extracting Stardust Source) | New Facility: Stardust Water Pump. A special Water Pump that, when supplied with enough power can extract Stardust Source from polluted soil. |
| Backpack Expansion (to haul more scrap) | Unlock New Formula: Backpack Expansion. When in your Backpack, increase Max Load by 40 – 80. The effect cannot stack. |
| Custom Storage Crate (more storage for your base) | New Facility: Deluxe Storage Crate A large Storage Crate with 64 item slots. |
| Bed: A Place to Call Home (free medicine and Stamina buff) | Facility Boost: Bed Sleep for more than 10s to cure all diseases and reduce Stamina depletion for the next 10 minutes. |
| Electric Furnace: Efficiency Lover (faster smelting) | Facility Boost: Electric Furnace. Power Consumption -50%, and Crafting Duration -60% |
On the off chance that you still don’t get any of those, you’re left with some of our borderline decent picks for the Once Human Specializations or the B-Tier below. These won’t help you become comfy or rich, but hey, any port in a storm, right?
B-Tier – If You’re Unlucky with RNG
There are too many Memetic Specializations and there’s a chance you could get unlucky and end up with only a few of the S-Tier or A-Tier options. In that case, I recommend the following below.
They’re not bad, it’s just that there are much better options that elude you.
| Specialization | Effect |
|---|---|
| Pickaxe: Moonlight Mining (Pickaxe upgrade, obsolete with drills) | Improved Formula: Pickaxe Enjoy +25% yield when mining Copper Ore, Tin Ore, Iron Are, Aluminium Ore, and Tungsten with the Pickaxe during the day. Doubles to +50% yield at night. |
| Electronics Grabber (for Electronics farming) | New Formula: Electronics Grabber When this item is in your Backpack, enjoy a small to medium chance of getting extra Electronic Parts when opening Storage Crates. |
| Stove: Long-Term Storage (your cooked food spoils slower) | Facility Boost: Stove. Doubles the shelf life of Dishes you cook yourself. |
| Portable Diving Gear (easier swimming) | New Formula: Portable Diving Gear When this item is in your backpack, +40-100% max oxygen, +20% swim speed when diving. |
| Stardust Delicacy (cheaper way of healing Sanity) | Improved Formula: Stardust Delicacy Dishes infected with Stardust no longer reduce Sanity. Instead, they will instantly restore full Sanity and also grant two random Whims. |
| Electric Furnace: Electrolysis (more ingots) | Facility Boost: Electric Furnace. Doubles Yield when smelting Aluminum and Tungsten Ingots using the Electric Furnace. |
| Explosive On-the-Go (grenadier playstyle) | New Formula: Explosive On-the-Go. When this item is in your Backpack, -30-60% Weight for all Grenades, Molotov Cocktails, High Explosive and Rocket Warheads. After you use any throwable, your Sprint Speed +20% for 2s. |
| Gravel and Log On-the-Go (lighter building materials) | New Formula: Gravel and Log On-the-Go. When this Memetic Specialization is in your Once Human backpack, -30-60% weight on all Logs, Gravel, and Ores also currently stored in your Backpack. |
| Portable Fridge (reduced food spoilage) | New Formula: Portable Fridge When this memetic specialization is in your Once Human backpack, food Spoilage Speed is -70-90%. |
| Activated Carbon Filter (for potable water on the move) | New Formula: Activated Carbon Filter. When this item is in your Backpack, enjoy a 30% chance of obtaining a portion of Boiled Water or Pure Water when collecting water with a Flask. |
Now, there are actually more of them, but they’re mostly gimmicks like turrets, Gatling guns, or AP ammunition yield and are overall not worth your 10 Specialization slots in Once Human. Thus, I wouldn’t pick anything that isn’t here, unless you want to take risks or don’t care too much about comfort in this game.
In any case, what you get depends on your luck, as always. Some players actually delete their characters and reset if they don’t see the Sulfur Alchemy or Sulfur Chemist early on, so you might want to follow that Acid-crafting meta.
