Once Human Critical Pulse Power Surge best build

If you are looking for the best Power Surge build for the Critical Pulse crossbow in Once Human, I’ve got you covered with my detailed guide.

Critical Pulse is one of the new weapons in Once Human that got added to the game with version 1.4 update which also debuted the Lunar Oracle Scenarios.

It is a Power Surge based weapon whose damage mainly scales with Elemental DMG% and Shock DMG%.

It also comes with powerful, unique weapon skills, such as Charged State, which we didn’t see in other Power Surge weapons.

In short, Critical Pulse is a powerful Crossbow!

But let’s be honest. There are some limitations to it.

The biggest one is that the weapon only holds one bolt—duh! It is a crossbow, after all.

The reload speed on the weapon is also slow.

But with the right build, you can overcome Critical Pulse’s shortcomings and make it a beast of a weapon that you can use as your primary.

So, without any further ado, let us check out my Once Human Critical Pulse Power Surge build.

The best Power Surge build for Critical Pulse Crossbow

To attain the best Power Surge build with the Critical Pulse crossbow in Once Human, I have focused on improving the weapon’s fire rate, reload speed, Power Surge, and Elemental DMG.

Reload speed is a straightforward stat you can improve via Calibration, Armor, and other means.

For Elemental DMG, there are multiple things to focus on.

• Improving the raw Power Surge DMG
• Improving the Shock DMG (via Elemental DMG boosts)
• Improving Status DMG
• Damage on target inflicted with Power Surge
• Damage the Power Surge status deals to bosses (aka Great Ones and Elites)

The goal is to make Critical Pulse the primary weapon, not support like the Recurve Crossbow.

So what else can we do other than improve the above things?

Well! We can increase the Power Surge count at the cost of a slight DMG reduction.

Other than that, we can benefit from the Mods like Thunderclap to summon Celestial Thunder.

That said, improving CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG will not do much for Critical Pulse. So forget about it.

With all that being out of the way, here are the armor, weapon calibration, mods, and Cradle upgrades for the best Critical Pulse Power Surge build.

Critical Pulse’s best calibration

When it comes to the best Calibration type for the Critical Pulse crossbow, you must go with Portable Style instead of Precision.

Precision Calibration boosts CRIT Rate and CRIT DMG stats, ATK%, and raw DMG stats but at the expense of reload speed.

For Critical Pulse, we don’t need those stats.

Moreover, we are entirely avoiding anything that reduces reload speed.

That said, when choosing the Portable Style, ensure the higher Calibration tier boost is Elemental DMG%.

Best armor set and unique armor pieces

The Blackstone set is the best armor for a Power Surge Critical Pulse build, which greatly improves the Elemental DMG.

When you pair it with the Unique Armor, Mayfly Goggles, and one piece from the Renegade armor set, you can get a massive boost in:

• Elemental DMG
• Increase Power Surge Count
• Improve Critical Pulse’s reload speed

I tried different armors, and the above is the best combination that you can opt for.

For example, I tried Mayflies Goggle with four pieces of the new Treacherous Tides set with one piece of the Renegade Set.

The results were good, but when you compare the DMG numbers, going with the Blackstone is a far better option.

Besides the new set, almost every other armor set is not meant for the Critical Pulse crossbow.

I mean, yeah! We do have one more, the Shelterer Set.

But what is the point of using it on a crossbow when you are going to reload and lose the Deviant Energy Stacks?

In fact, if you ask me, apart from the Blackstone set, the second-best armor set for the Critical Pulse build is Treacherous Tides.

On that note, if you are going for Treacherous Tides, just equip three pieces and use two pieces of the Blackstone set with the Mayfly Goggles.

Best weapon and armor mods

Here are the best in-slot weapon and armor mods for the Once Human Critical Pulse Power Surge build:

Weapon mod

Here are the best in-slot mods for the Critical Pulse crossbow:

Static Shock <Power Surge>

Alternative: Shock Diffusion <Talents>

Armor mods

Here are the different armor mods that I recommend using for the Critical Pulse build:

Mayfly Goggles

Deviation Expert <Talents>

Alternate: Elemental Havoc <Talents>

Mask

Thunderclap <Power Surge>

Alternative: Thunderclap <Talents>

Top

Flame Resonance <Talents>

Pants

Abnormal Increase <Talents>

Gloves

Elemental Overload <Talents>

Shoes

Covered Advance <Talents>

Best Cradle Override for Critical Pulse Power Surge build

Here are the best Cradle upgrades that you should equip for this build

Anti-Phase

Resilience or Rapid Aid

Status Enhancement

Deviant Energy Defense

Elemental Sense

Which Deviation is best for the Critical Pulse Power Surge build?

ZapCam is the best Deviation that works pretty well with the Critical Pulse crossbow.

For other options, you can use Mini Feaster or a Support Deviation like the Festering Gel.

That concludes my Once Human Critical Pulse Power Surge best build guide. If the article helped, please consider buying me a Coffee to help me create more content. You can also share the guide with your friends or leave a comment.