RaidZone 2.3.1: Ladders, Vaults, and a 72-Hour Race for Echoite

I've spent the last few weeks digging through the Once Human dev blog for Version 2.3.1, and I have to say: the January 21 (PT) patch reads less like a balance pass and more like someone finally listened to every argument my squad has had since RaidZone launched. Since day one, the mode has followed a steady one-major-patch-per-month rhythm, but this one is being billed as a massive update — and after reading the notes twice, I believe it.

The headline, though, isn't a weapon or a wall. It's an event. To pull more Metas into RaidZone, the team is launching RaidZone: 72-Hour, a special server type that runs for exactly three days. Resource acquisition efficiency is doubled for key materials, daily bulk supply drops rain down to accelerate progress, and Echoite drops land every single hour. Securing those drops, I suspect, will be the whole game.

Two New Weapons Walk Into the Loot Pool

First up is the FP-9, a low Fire Rate full-auto Submachine Gun built for the early game. It unlocks via Tech and is crafted at the Intermediate Gear Workbench, with its unlock node sitting below Shotguns. The TEC9 is stepping in as a replacement for the MPS5, since their roles overlap almost entirely — which means the MPS5's role is being adjusted in turn.

Then there's the EBR-14, a semi-automatic rifle that's more stable and more powerful than the SKS. It unlocks through Tech, crafts at the Advanced Gear Workbench, and sits below the AKM on the tree.

Two Gentle Hands Reaching Into the Fire

The devs clearly heard the loudest complaint in RaidZone: losing everything the moment you go down. Their fix comes in two parts, and honestly, the Safe Backpack feels like a pocket of vacuum sealed inside a collapsing star — the collapse still happens all around it, but what's inside simply doesn't care.

Safe Backpack

• Absolute Protection: Items in Safe Backpack slots never drop when your character is knocked down or dispersed.

• Slot Acquisition: Every Meta starts with 2 safe slots. Merchant quests in Neutral Settlements unlock up to 2 more.

• Access Restrictions: Explosive items and their crafting materials can't go in, keeping competition honest.

Territory Vault

• Asset Retention: The Territory Terminal now has a Vault. Even if the Terminal is destroyed, stored items survive and reappear when you build the next one.

• Categorized Storage: Three tabs — General Items, Weapons, and Armor.

• Capacity Upgrade: Complete merchant quests in Neutral Settlements to upgrade the Vault up to 2 times, adding slots to each tab.

• Access Restrictions: Explosives and related crafting materials are excluded here too.

The Sky Gets Teeth

The update also adds a Knockdown Replay system. You can now watch exactly how you were defeated by clicking "Knockdown Replay" on the knockdown screen, and a "Report" entry sits right there in the replay interface. Mobile Metas will need to download the latest version from the app store for any of it to work.

Then there's the part that genuinely worries me: Airspace Threat. Rosetta armed patrol aircraft will periodically cruise between wilderness settlements. When they appear, special pins mark them on the main map and a server-wide alert fires off. They'll actively attack Metas above a certain gear level, their attacks can damage structures, and shooting one down drops special Echoite — a brand-new route to rare supplies.

And then the change that will rewrite every base defense I've ever built: Straight Ladder has been added to the open world. Unlike Basic structures, it can be built on other Metas' Territory structures, even if you have zero building or friend permissions there. Straight Ladders are termites for fortress walls — they don't break the wood, they just quietly turn it into a staircase. Attackers can climb straight to your high floors and hit from angles you never bothered to defend. Welcome to three-dimensional combat.

Other additions round out the tactical kit:

• Tactical Storage Box — stores a set of weapons, armor, and Hotbar items for fast gear swaps.

• Sleeping Bag — a deployable wilderness respawn facility for temporary forward spawn points.

• Respawn cooldown rework — each respawn point now has its own fixed cooldown, with shorter timers inside Territories.

Cheating, and the Long Arm of the Ledger

On the enforcement side, the message is blunt. If the system detects cheating, or if a Meta reports and the report is verified, the offender is banned swiftly. More interesting to me: the system traces back data to calculate the actual material losses compliant Metas suffered because of that cheating. Penalties against cheaters are being intensified, which is the only way any of this loot math means anything.

RaidZone 72-Hour: Three Days, One Crown

The event runs from the Version 2.3.1 update on January 21, 2026, until February 24 (PT). The first batch of servers opens at 19:00 on January 22 (Server Time). Registration begins after the update, at least one server per region will be available, and more will open based on participation. Event servers appear under a separate scenario category labeled Event Server.

You can read the full rules in-game via the event menu — F3 on PC, or Menu Button > Event Button on mobile.

The rules, condensed:

1. 72-Hour Fast-Paced Server — the event server lasts only three days, but resource acquisition efficiency is significantly increased, and you can claim abundant daily supplies to fuel rapid combat.

1. Echoite Drops and RaidZone Badges — Echoite drops occur every hour, containing RaidZone Badges. Badges cannot be stored outside your backpack and drop entirely on death. Each server ranks players by the number of Badges in their backpack: top 50 get leaderboard rewards, top 3 earn exclusive event trophies. Leaderboard rewards are distributed after the Event Server ends, and leaving early clears all Badges, disqualifying you.

1. Colorful Fragments — during the event, both RaidZone and event servers drop Colorful Fragments from Echoite. These craft event-exclusive skins and Dyes. They also cannot be stored outside your backpack, drop entirely on death, and are cleared when you leave the server.

Hourly Echoite drops are a metronome for greed — every sixty minutes, the whole server hears the same tick and decides how much it's willing to lose.

Ore, Stone, and the Long Walk Home

Version 2.2.5 cut ore in the eastern map to create a low-resource zone. The intent was regional identity and a slower pace that gave lone wolves room. Instead, iron ore — the most basic resource in RaidZone — became so scarce in the east that new Metas suffered. The team admits the reduction overshot. Version 2.3.1 responds:

• Eastern Region: ore density significantly increased, fixing the iron shortage.

• Global Increase: ore reserves raised proportionally everywhere to preserve the regional gradient, with a substantial rise in total map ore.

• Mining vs. Non-Mining Areas: the distinction remains, so exploration still matters.

• Stone Gathering Efficiency Tripled.

• Wild Scavenging Rewards Increased: abandoned vehicles and roadside junk boxes yield more, giving lone wolves and newcomers a real path to gear without raiding big strongholds.

Quality of Life I Actually Want

• Pre-built Straight Ladders can now be scavenged in the wild and used inside enemy Territory.

• Starting houses now include default walls and roofs, making the first night survivable.

• New Preset House Designs tuned for high-threat RaidZone environments.

• Battle Report Summary generated after your Territory is attacked or successfully defended, so you can spot defensive holes and read enemy firepower configurations.

• Intermediate Supplies and Intermediate Gear Workbenches no longer need tungsten ingots; steel ingot cost rises from 300 to 400.

• Large Storage Box now costs Wood ×300 and Steel Ingot ×10.

• Low-level Shield Generator now costs 3 Glass and 1 Metal Scrap.

• Glass, Crafting Parts, and Military Gears removed from reinforcement and repair costs for all door, window, and balcony levels — basic materials only.

• Reverse engineering now supports learning Explosives Compound and Molotov Cocktail formulas from enemy drops or wild finds.

Three days. Doubled efficiency. One crown. I'll see you on an Event Server — just don't expect me to be the one standing still when the hourly Echoite pin drops.