Once Human Beast Riding — Beastmaster Overhaul

Beast Riding arrives with the 16 September 2026 PT update as the biggest Beastmaster overhaul since the class launched. Summon eligible animals directly from your inventory, mount them with or without a saddle, and use special mount abilities on PC (Ctrl), PlayStation (R1+X), or Xbox (RB+A). This page is the pre-patch briefing on what changes, what stays the same, and how the new ranching system works. Pair it with the Beastmaster build and the Deviants guide before you respec.

What is Beast Riding

Beast Riding replaces the old taming-and-summoning flow with a direct mount system. After the update:

• Use an animal item from your backpack or hotbar to summon it. Use the same item again to recall it. Both actions share a 10-second cooldown.
• Only adult animals with more than 20% Energy can be summoned. Below that threshold the game opens the feeding interface instead.
• Each animal death costs a portion of its Energy.
• Only one animal can be summoned at a time — down from several simultaneously in the old system.
• A summoned animal defaults to standby. Use the Beast Whistle to command it into an active assist state.
• A Beastmaster cannot summon an animal that is more than 10 levels above their own character level.

The studio has explicitly called this an addition to the Beastmaster’s existing abilities, not a replacement.

Beast Riding guide — Beastmaster overhaul September 16 2026

Bareback versus saddled riding

Bareback (wild animal or summoned animal without a saddle):

• Each mount action costs Stamina from your character.
• The animal resists — its special abilities are locked and it tries to break free.
• Other classes cannot mount in combat or dungeons.

With a saddle (any adult animal with equipment):

• Mounting is stable. You can shoot, melee, gather, interact, use consumables, and use your Anomaly ability without special animations.
• Actions that trigger a special animation — opening a weapon crate, teleporting, or switching worlds — immediately dismount you.
• Only Beastmasters can fire the animal’s special abilities (PC: Ctrl; console: R1+X / RB+A).
• Other classes can summon and ride a saddled animal outdoors but not in dungeons or combat, and never unlock its active abilities.

Four rideable animals at launch

Animal	Mount active ability	Mount passive ability
Deer	Gallop — greatly increases movement speed	Based on current speed, proportionally increases rider weapon and status damage
Boar	Charge — continuously consumes Stamina, stacking damage reduction for the rider per enemy hit	Animal absorbs part of damage aimed at the rider
Bear	Shockwave at range — each target hit increases rider weapon and status damage	Reduces animal damage taken; increases rider weapon and status damage
Wild Buffalo	Auto-searches for nearby edible crops, eats them to recover Energy directly	When eating crops, chance to directly obtain Milk

Starry Studio has stated the rideable animal roster will expand in future updates.

Beast Whistle redesign

The three previous Beast Whistle types (red, blue, and others) merge into a single item. It is no longer tied to a specific animal species and is used solely to give commands. Beastmasters learn the crafting recipe by default. The old red Beast Whistle is directly renamed to “Beast Whistle” and is kept. Other whistle types can be converted into the new Beast Whistle by Beastmasters — no forced reclamation, no free handouts.

Saddle types and progression

Saddle	Effect
Basic Saddle	Enables riding only
Recovering Saddle	Regenerates animal max HP outside of combat
Reinforced Saddle	Increases attack while mounted
Stamina Saddle	Increases animal max Stamina while mounted

Only a Beastmaster can craft or replace saddles. Other classes benefit from already-fitted saddles without being able to modify them. A Beastmaster starts with a choice of Deer, Boar, or Bear, one Beast Whistle, and a Basic Saddle.

Ranching overhaul — Energy replaces Tameness and Hydration

Before the update, every ranched animal tracked three gauges: Tameness, Energy, and Hydration. The 16 September patch removes Tameness and Hydration entirely. All production, growth, breeding, and slaughter yield now depend solely on Energy, divided into three tiers:

Energy	Production	Slaughter	Growth	Breeding
80–100%	Efficient	Large quantities	Normal	Possible
20–80%	Normal	Moderate quantities	Normal	Not available
0–20%	Paused	Small quantities	Paused	Not available

Mixed feeds (meat, grains, or herbs) now only restore Energy. Feeding mechanics are simplified.

New and adjusted animal attributes (September 2026)

Attribute	Animal	Effect
Nimble (new)	Deer	While mounted, jump height +10% / 20% / 30%
Swift (new)	Deer	While mounted, movement speed +3% / 6% / 10%
Healing Pelt (new)	Boar	Out of combat, HP recovery +80% / 100% / 120%
Aftermath (new)	Bear	While mounted, shockwave range +10% / 20% / 30%
Adaptive Fur (new)	Wild Buffalo	While mounted, cold and heat resistance +10 / 20 / 30
Fertile Constitution (new)	Wild Buffalo	While mounted, milk production chance 5% / 7%
Stamina (new)	All four	While mounted, max Stamina +15% / 25% / 40%
Thick Fur (adjusted)	Boar	On each hit taken, damage reduction +3% / 4% / 5% for 10s, up to 4 stacks
Attack Boost (adjusted)	General	Attack bonus 15% / 30% / 50%

Traits already unlocked before the update are not affected. New traits unlock progressively at animal levels 20, 30, 40, and 50.

World map animal tracking

The update adds animal distribution tracking to the world map, accessible through the “Filter — Resource Tracking” tab. This follows the same logic as crop and ore tracking — useful for locating specific animal spawns without manual searching.

What to do on patch day

1. Read the patch notes before you respec.
2. Beastmaster players: check your current animal Energy levels. Feed adults above 20% before you try to summon.
3. The old whistles can be converted — do not panic-disassemble them before checking the new recipe.
4. Choose your starter mount (Deer, Boar, or Bear) based on your preferred play style before the queue forms.
5. Run the new Beast Whistle crafting recipe once to learn it.

Beastmaster build pairing

Beast Riding pairs with any combat build as a mobility and aggro tool. The Bear shockwave synergy is particularly effective with Frost Vortex loadouts — each shockwave hit stacks rider weapon damage. Deer is the default for Shrapnel players who want speed over burst. Check the Beastmaster build page for the full loadout after the patch goes live.

FAQ

Can non-Beastmaster classes use Beast Riding? They can summon and ride a saddled animal outdoors, but not in dungeons or combat, and they never unlock the animal’s special abilities.

What happens to my old Beast Whistles? The red whistle is automatically renamed and kept. Other types can be converted into the new unified Beast Whistle. Nothing is forcibly reclaimed.

Can I summon multiple animals at once after the patch? No. Only one adult animal above 20% Energy can be summoned at a time.

Will the shockwave from a mounted Bear trigger status effects on enemies? Yes. Each shockwave hit increases the rider’s weapon and status damage, including Frost Vortex and Burn tags.

Is Beast Riding available on console? Yes. The update ships simultaneously on PC, iOS, Android, PS5, and Xbox on 16 September 2026 PT.