Once Human's September 16 (PT) update turns the Beastmaster from a niche pet class into the game's first real mounted-combat class. After the patch you can summon an animal straight from your backpack, saddle it, ride it into a fight, and use its special ability from the saddle — and the whole animal-ranching system is being rebuilt around a single stat: Energy.
This is a preview built entirely from the official dev blog ("Beast Riding Goes Live, Gardener Combat Improvements, and Animal Ranching System Optimizations"), published September 12, 2026 on oncehuman.game and mirrored to Steam. The update goes live September 16 (PT); the studio has not published an exact deployment time, so treat everything below as "confirmed by the patch preview," not "already in your game" until the servers update.
Quick answer: what the Beast Riding update actually does
- New core ability — Beast Riding. Beastmasters can summon an animal from the backpack or hotbar and mount eligible ones. Four species are rideable at launch: Deer, Boar, Bear and Wild Buffalo.
- One summon at a time. After the rework a Beastmaster can only have one animal summoned at once, and it must be an adult with more than 20% Energy. Summoning shares a 10-second cooldown.
- Saddled riding is the good version. With a saddle you can shoot, melee, gather, use consumables and fire your Deviation abilities while mounted, and use the animal's special mount ability. Bareback riding burns Stamina and the animal fights you.
- Non-Beastmasters can ride too — any class can mount a saddled animal in the wild, but not in dungeons or during combat, and they get no special abilities.
- Ranching is rebuilt around Energy. Tameness and Hydration are being removed. Growth, breeding, byproducts and slaughter yields are now governed by an animal's Energy tier.
- Beastmasters start stronger. New Beastmasters begin with an animal (Deer, Boar or Bear), a Beast Whistle, a Basic Saddle, and default mastery of the saddle, husbandry, breeding and tranquilizer formulas.
When does the Beast Riding update go live?
The Beastmaster rework ships in the September 16 (PT) version update. The official dev blog announcing it was posted September 12, 2026, and the studio's own summary opens plainly:
"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."
Two things to keep straight. First, the post gives the date but not a clock time, so the exact hour it reaches your server isn't published — watch the in-client update prompt. Second, this is a standalone version update to the current 3.0.5 build (which shipped September 2, 2026); the studio did not attach a marketing version number like "3.1" to it, so don't repeat one you may see on aggregator sites.
How Beast Riding works
The system is built around five verbs the studio uses itself: summoning, riding, commanding, evolving and trading. Here's what each means in practice.
Summoning: one animal, from your bag
Summoning is being simplified. You use an animal item directly from your backpack or hotbar to call the corresponding animal; use the item again to recall it. There's a 10-second shared cooldown on summons, so you can't spam swap. The big change for veterans: after the rework each Beastmaster can have only one animal summoned at a time — the old multi-pet swarm playstyle is gone in favor of one strong, ridable partner.
Two gates apply. The animal must be an adult, and it must have more than 20% Energy to be summoned. If you try to summon an animal that's too low, the game opens the feeding interface instead of failing silently — a new usability touch. A summoned animal defaults to an idle state; you issue orders to it with the Beast Whistle.
Riding: bareback vs saddled
There are two ways to get on an animal, and they are not equal.
- Bareback riding. Walk up to an unoccupied wild animal, or summon one without a saddle, and mount it via interaction. Each bareback mount consumes character Stamina, and you can't do it when Stamina is too low. Crucially, an animal without a saddle resists you: you can't use its special ability while mounted, and it will actively try to buck you off. Bareback is a "get across the map in a pinch" tool, not a combat platform.
- Saddle riding. Equip a saddle and the animal carries you stably. From the saddle you can fire weapons, melee, gather, interact, use consumables and use your Deviation abilities — all without special animations. The catch: any action that does have a special animation (opening a weapon crate, teleporting, switching worlds) immediately dismounts you.
Commanding and the merged Beast Whistle
The three old Beast Whistles are being merged into a single "Beast Whistle." It's no longer bound to a specific animal — it just issues commands. Beastmasters learn its crafting formula by default. Your old red whistle is simply renamed to "Beast Whistle" and kept; the other two aren't force-recalled, but you can actively convert them into the new whistle. The studio is not mass-distributing new whistles or wiping old ones, so nobody logs in to an empty toolbar.
One command rule worth knowing: a Beastmaster can't issue commands to animals more than 10 levels above their own level. Summoned animals wait to be mounted until you give a Beast Whistle order, at which point they enter an assisting state for combat or gathering.
The four rideable animals and their mount abilities
Only Beastmasters get the special active/passive abilities below, and only while mounted with a saddle — wild animals have none by default. The studio says more rideable species are coming later.
- Deer — the speedster. Active: enter a galloping state that greatly increases Movement Speed. Passive: based on current movement speed, proportionally increases the rider's Weapon DMG and Status DMG. A Deer build literally makes you hit harder the faster you go.
- Boar — the bruiser. Active: continuously consume Stamina to charge forward, stacking DMG Reduction on yourself with each enemy hit. Passive: the Boar itself has DMG Reduction and soaks a portion of the rider's damage.
- Bear — the frontline. Active: swing to release a ranged shockwave that deals damage; each target hit increases the rider's Weapon DMG and Status DMG. Passive: the Bear has DMG Reduction and buffs the rider's Weapon and Status DMG.
- Wild Buffalo — the rancher's workhorse. Active: automatically seek out and consume nearby edible crops to directly recover its own Energy. Passive: a chance to produce Milk when devouring crops. This is the animal you ride to keep a ranch fed, not to fight.
A stat note that matters for min-maxers: the movement-speed bonus an animal has while mounted is a separate stat from its normal-state movement bonus. The default animal movement bonus does not apply while you're riding it — but it still applies to animals summoned to assist you in combat or exploration.
Saddles, gear and selling mounts to other players
Saddles aren't just an on/off switch for riding — there are four types, and only Beastmasters can craft or swap them.
- Basic Saddle — no special effect; unlocks mounting.
- Recovering Saddle — the animal continuously recovers Max HP after leaving combat.
- Reinforced Saddle — increases the animal's Attack while mounted.
- Stamina Saddle — increases the animal's Max Stamina while mounted.
Under the new Wilderness Master trait, Beastmasters can craft and replace gear and saddles that buff animals in both normal and mounted states, and — this is the trading hook — sell saddled animals to other players. Once you buy a saddled animal, you can ride it even as a non-Beastmaster class, benefiting from the saddle's existing effect (you just can't change the gear). Ownership permissions for the animal and saddle transfer with the trade. Beastmasters can also carry animals at a heavily reduced weight.
Breeding and the new trait attributes
The Breeding Expert trait lets Beastmasters craft gene items to make targeted modifications to an animal's genes, granting unique traits, and to raise trait-attribute levels through breeding and exploration. The update adds 7 new attribute groups and adjusts 2 existing ones. A few of the new ones show where the design is pointing:
- Nimble (Deer): while mounted, jump height +10% / 20% / 30%.
- Swift (Deer): while mounted, Movement Speed +3% / 6% / 10%.
- Healing Pelt (Boar): after leaving combat, HP recovery speed +80% / 100% / 120%.
- Aftermath (Bear): while mounted, the shockwave's attack range +10% / 20% / 30%.
- Adaptive Fur (Wild Buffalo): while mounted, +10 / 20 / 30 Cold and Heat Resist.
- Stamina (all four): while mounted, Max Stamina +15% / 25% / 40%.
Existing adjustments include Thick Fur (now: on hit, +3% / 4% / 5% DMG Reduction for 10s, up to 4 stacks) and a general Attack Boost rescaled to 15% / 30% / 50%.
Animal ranching: Energy replaces everything
If you keep a ranch, this is the half of the patch that changes your daily routine most. Today you juggle Tameness, Energy and Hydration. After the update, Tameness and Hydration are removed entirely, and ranching is judged on Energy alone:
- Growth, breeding, byproduct production and slaughter yields are all governed by Energy.
- The old "Docile" trait (tied to Tameness) loses its effect and is replaced by a new one that increases youngling growth speed.
- Feeding Mixed Meat / Grain / Herb Feed now only increases Energy.
- Trait attributes unlock in sequence as animals hit Lv. 20, 30, 40 and 50 (already-unlocked traits are unaffected).
Energy is split into tiers (the top band is 80%–100%) that determine byproduct output, slaughter yield, growth and whether an animal meets breeding conditions. The studio's stated goal is to cut daily maintenance and make the rules readable — one gauge to watch instead of three. There's also a new manual feeding option in the wild: interact with a summoned animal to feed it its preferred food (this doesn't work on animals in a Territory's ranching state).
What about Gardeners?
The same update makes balance adjustments to the Gardeners' combat capabilities. The dev blog flags the change but, as of the preview, does not publish a detailed number list for it. If you main a Gardener, treat the specifics as "coming with the patch notes on the 16th" rather than known — and check the in-client notes before rebuilding around any rumor.
Does Beast Riding work on PS5 and Xbox?
| Yes. Once Human has full cross-platform play and shared updates, so the September 16 build reaches **PS5, PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X | S, PC and mobile together. The dev blog even specifies the console input for an animal's mount ability: R1+X on PlayStation / RB+A on Xbox** (Ctrl on PC; a dedicated button on mobile). The studio notes the control coverage spans PC, mobile and console but doesn't publish a full per-device matrix, so expect minor remapping options once you're in. If you're brand new on console, our Once Human console beginner guide covers scenarios, servers and your first hours, and the best controller settings guide is the place to tune sensitivity before you start mounting up. |
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FAQ
When does Once Human's Beast Riding update come out? It ships in the September 16 (PT) version update. The official dev blog announcing it went live September 12, 2026. No exact clock time was published, so watch for the in-client update prompt on the 16th.
Which animals can you ride in Once Human? Four at launch: Deer, Boar, Bear and Wild Buffalo. Each has a unique mount ability that only Beastmasters can use, and only while the animal has a saddle equipped. The studio says more rideable species will be added later.
Can non-Beastmasters ride animals? Yes, but only saddled animals, only in the open world (not in dungeons or during combat), and without any of the special active/passive abilities. Beastmasters can craft saddles and even sell saddled animals to other classes so they can ride them.
How many animals can a Beastmaster summon at once after the update? Just one. The rework replaces the old multi-pet approach with a single summoned partner that must be an adult with over 20% Energy. Summoning shares a 10-second cooldown.
What happens to my old Beast Whistles? The three old whistles merge into one "Beast Whistle." Your red whistle is renamed and kept; the other two aren't force-recalled — you can actively convert them into the new whistle. Nothing is wiped and no new whistles are mass-distributed.
What changes for animal ranching? Tameness and Hydration are removed. Growth, breeding, byproducts and slaughter yields are now decided by Energy tiers alone, the old "Docile" trait becomes a youngling-growth-speed boost, and mixed feeds only add Energy. It's designed to reduce daily upkeep to a single stat.
| Is Beast Riding on console? Yes — it launches on **PS5, PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X | S, PC and mobile at the same time, since Once Human ships updates across all platforms. The console button for an animal's mount ability is R1+X (PlayStation) / RB+A (Xbox)**. |
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The bottom line
The September 16 update is the biggest change to how a Once Human class plays since first-person mode. Beast Riding gives the Beastmaster a genuine mounted-combat identity — a Deer that turns speed into damage, a Bear that opens fights with a shockwave, a Boar built to eat hits — while the ranching rebuild trades three fiddly gauges for one clean Energy stat. Save your Beast Whistles, keep an adult animal fed above 20% Energy, and pick your first saddle around how you actually fight, not just how you travel. Once the patch lands on the 16th, the Beastmaster stops being the pet class nobody picked and becomes one of the few ways to shoot, gather and outrun a horde all from the same saddle.
Want more Once Human guides for PS5, Xbox and PC?
- Once Human console beginner guide (PS5 & Xbox)
- Once Human best controller settings on PS5 & Xbox
- Once Human: what carries over and what resets when a scenario ends
- Starchrom & Energy Links farming guide
Sources: Once Human official dev blog "Beast Riding Goes Live, Gardener Combat Improvements, and Animal Ranching System Optimizations" (oncehuman.game, published 2026-09-12; mirrored on Steam, AppID 2139460); corroborated against jeu.video and MMOHuts coverage of the same preview (2026-09-12). Update ships September 16 (PT). Facts are from the official patch preview; no unpublished drop rates or figures are quoted, and the update is not yet live at time of writing.
