The post-apocalyptic world of Nalcott is about to get a lot more intimate with its monsters.
NetEase Games has announced that the Visional Wheel Season 3 update for Once Human launches on January 21, 2026, bringing a radical shift to how players survive: by becoming the very thing they hunt.
The desolate ruins of Nalcott have long been a brutal proving ground for the unprepared, but the survival rules are about to be rewritten in chaos and aberration.
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In this update, Meta-Humans won’t just scavenge and fight to keep the madness at bay — they’ll harness the very mutations that once hunted them.
New Fusion mechanic in Visional Wheel Season 3
The headline feature of Season 3 is the Fusion mechanic. For the first time, Meta-Humans can merge their bodies with the remains of special Deviants.
By literally “wearing” the head of a slain foe, players enter a symbiotic relationship that grants faction-specific powers and unique traits.
This isn’t just a cosmetic change; Fusion is a survival necessity. These new abilities are essential for navigating the expanded Deviant Zones, allowing players to adapt to toxic atmospheres that would otherwise be fatal.
New frontiers: The three Deviant Zones
The update introduces three distinct, high-risk environments where traditional tactics may fail:
- Wild Deviant Zone: Primal lands where technology falters. Guns are weakened here, forcing players into brutal melee combat against giant animals.
- Mirror Deviant Zone: A labyrinth of deceptive reflections. Enemies use the illusory landscape to snipe from the shadows.
- Phantasmal Deviant Zone: A realm where reality and illusion blur, allowing monsters to hide in plain sight and forcing players to question their own senses.
Apex Predators: Meet the New Deviants
Three terrifying new entities are arriving to stalk the wasteland:
- The Devourer: A subterranean behemoth lurking in mines. It punishes greedy resource hunters by bursting from the earth to give chase.
- The Sonivore: An invincible stalker that hunts by sound. Since it cannot be killed by conventional weapons, players must use noise to lure it away—though its offspring, the Infant Sonivore, can be defeated for loot.
- The Hoarder Bug: A thief that steals from overburdened players. If you reclaim your gear from its nest, be warned: the loot is permanently marked, and the bug will relentlessly pursue you for your “theft.”
Visional Wheel Season 3 qualify of life updates
Beyond the monsters, the January 21 update introduces several community-requested features:
- Cross-server combat for the “Survive, Capture, Preserve” scenario.
- Blueprint Sharing: Players can now share Territory designs via codes.
- RaidZone Updates: A suite of character class and gameplay balancing updates.
Whether you’re looking to hoard loot or fuse with a nightmare, the Visional Wheel update ensures that survival in Once Human is about to become a lot more complicated.
What is Once Human?
Once Human is a free-to-play open-world survival game developed by Starry Studio and published by NetEase Games, first released on PC in July 2024.
Set in a haunting post-apocalyptic landscape, the game drops players into a world reshaped by a catastrophic event, where society has collapsed and humanity struggles to endure amid constant supernatural threats.
Blending third-person shooter combat with crafting, base-building, and survival systems, Once Human stands out for its unsettling atmosphere and emphasis on cooperative and solo play.
