Once Human Lunacy Mechanic, explained

Modified Jan 16, 2025 18:16 IST

Once Human Lunacy — Lunacy is a new after-effect of the new Lunar Oracle event. Here's what that means for you in Once Human (Image via NetEase Games)

Once Human has introduced a new Lunar Oracle Visional Scenario, and with it, the Lunacy mechanic. While the red moon is high in the sky over Nalcott, the world around you becomes so much more dangerous and rewarding at the same time. It’s a very high-risk, high-reward scenario, since the lower your HP, the greater amounts of resources you’ll collect at the end.

The Lunar Oracle event, and its Lunacy mechanic are, according to the developers, part of their goal to focus on “replayability and variety” in 2025. If you’re curious about what it means for you, the player, we’re here to help.

What is the Lunacy mechanic in Once Human?

Lunacy is a Once Human mechanic that comes with the Lunar Oracle event, which is active from 21:00 to 3:00 in-game time on Lunar Oracle servers. This equates to about 15 minutes or so of real-world time. During this period, a Red Moon rises, and all players become inflicted with the Lunacy effect. It causes your eyes to glow red, and plunges you into a “frenzy of desire”, according to the developer’s description.

The red moon brings danger, but also incredible rewards (Image via NetEase Games)

One of the primary effects of Lunacy is that you continually lose Sanity, down to a minimum of 20%. This only takes place outside of your territory, so do keep that in mind. It also reduces your Sanity recovery rate by a great deal. If you want to get Sanity back, kill enemies.

The lower your HP during a Lunar Oracle event, the greater amounts of resources you’ll receive. Lunacy also affects your collection of Moon Whispers in Once Human. Defeating enemies grants you these, alongside other in-game activities. But if you have Lunacy, the lower your HP is, the more Moon Whispers you attain. They’re time limited too, so use them while you can.

You will also be able to see hidden Oracle Crates in settlements and more deviated plants out in the wilderness. If you do gather resources out in the wild, beware, as this could trigger Deviant attacks.

Finally, if you die with Lunacy, the red moon grants a blessing that protects you from Lunacy in this current Lunar Oracle. You’ll also lose a percentage of Moon Whispers, based on your Sanity level when you die. The lower your Sanity, the more you lose — so it’s very much high risk, high reward.

Check out our other Once Human guides and features

Edited by Abhishek Manikandan