The Finals Update 2.0 Makes Major Changes to The Game

Highlights

• Update 2.0 for The Finals brings new abilities, weapons, and a game show event, aiming to revitalize the player base and gameplay experience.
• Season 2 introduces a new map SYS$HORIZON and game mode Power Shift, where teams fight to control a demolishing moving platform.
• Embark Studios has listened to player feedback, adding Private Matches and revamping League ranking to enhance the overall gaming experience.

Embark Studios releases Update 2.0 for The Finals, making sweeping changes to the game by introducing unique new abilities, weapons, and game show event for players to check out. The complete refresh in content should go a long way to bringing lapsed players back after the game experienced a major population drop nearly a month after The Finals shadow dropped during The Game Awards.

While the first month mainly involved a lot of bug fixing and balancing to create a stable experience for all players, Embark Studios shifted focus over the past month or so to keep the game feeling fresh. Part of that involved adding new limited time events and game modes, including a specific Valentine’s Day-inspired Finals mode and rewards to collect. However, it seems the studio was saving a lot of creativity for Season 2, as the update has overhauled and added tons of new content for players, many of which aim to completely freshen up the experience.

While Embark Studios teased The Finals Season 2 content earlier in the week, players finally got the full rundown thanks to a new blog post and full patch notes. In terms of content, players have a brand-new map called SYS$HORIZON, which adds a unique visual style when compared to the others as it features a colorful, yet glitchy cityscape to run around in. To go along with that, a new game mode called Power Shift is also available, where two teams of 5 fight to control a moving platform that is capable of demolishing anything in its path. Respawn times are reduced, so Embark is hoping this new mode adds a frantic element to the game.

What Else is New In Season 2 of The Finals?

Season 2 also adds three new weapons options, including the burst fire FAMAS, a heavy slug KS-23 shotgun, and the 3-round burst handgun known as the 93R for light loadouts. For many players, the most exciting update to Season 2 is the new specialization for Medium builds in The Finals known as the Destabilizaer, which temporarily erases surfaces, giving players a new way to approach combat-related situations or even create new pathways to traverse the world. In addition, Light builds can deploy portals which can transport players and objects between two points, Heavy’s get access to Anti-gravity cubes, and Mediums can use a Data Reshaper to transform objects into other things entirely.

Embark has also shown that it takes player feedback into account, making notable changes to The Finals in the past based on community issues and Season 2 continues that trend. With this update, players now have access to Private Matches, which Embark has promised to continue to expand upon throughout the season with more options and features. In addition, League ranking has been overhauled in Season 2, giving players a starting rank after 8 matches, which performances thereafter moving it up or down. Overall, the changes to League play in Season 2 is Embark’s attempt to provide a higher quality experience.

The Finals Update 2.0 Patch Notes

NEW ABILITIES & EQUIPMENT

NEW MAP

• Added the standard issue of the new SYS$HORIZON map

NEW GAME SHOW EVENT

• Added the Retro Invasion 82 event to every map

NEW SPECIALIZATION

• Dematerializer
  • Enables the user to create temporary holes in the arena construction

NEW GADGETS

• Gateway
  • Throw out two Gateways to create a spatial link between them, enabling quick traversing through the arena

• Data Reshaper
  • A “prop-swap” executable that lets players transform objects and deployed equipment from other contestants into canisters or decor

• Reverse Gravity Cube
  • A throwable Cube that creates a limited-area gravity field where anything not nailed to the ground will elevate toward the sky

NEW WEAPONS

• FAMAS – Burst Rifle – Medium

• 93R – Burst Pistol – Light

• KS-23 – Slug Shotgun – Heavy

BALANCE CHANGES

• Throwables, Explosives & “Nukes”
  • Added diminishing returns on damage from ‘nukes’ i.e. throwable objects that carry C4s, Breach Charges, or mines
    • For each source of explosive damage, including the throwable and starting with the highest, a damage modifier is applied to each instance in the sequence of 60% / 40% / 30% / 20%
  • Gas Canisters now immediately start to steer off their direct trajectory (aka “wobble”) when they have attachments
  • When picking up throwable objects with explosive gadgets attached (i.e. ‘nukes’ and ‘snukes’), said explosives will become un-armed
    • When the player lets go of the carried object, a re-arming timer for the explosives starts
  • The explosions from C4, Breaching Charges, and all mines that detonate while unprimed now deal 20% of their original damage
  • Decreased the health value of Propane Gas Tanks from 250 to 120
  • Fixed a bug with Fuel Barrels where they sometimes wouldn’t ignite when taking damage, for example from explosions or bullets
    • Dev Comment: Nukes were a hot-button issue in Season 1. The previous tuning made nukes exceed the intended time to kill by a large margin. Since our initial changes weren’t substantial enough to alter this tactic, we’ve added more ways to balance nukes moving forward.

• Toxic Gas
  • Added a delay to the application of damage. Damage will now start to tick 0.5s after the player enters the gas cloud
  • Added new functionality that causes damage to ramp up gradually over time, from 30hp/s to 60 hp/s over 2s.
  • Increased damage tick interval from 0.1s per tick to 0.3s per tick
    • Dev Comment: We’ve always intended for Toxic Gas to act as an area denial tool. However, because of its immediate high damage and quick dispersal, it has been too potent. We’ve made changes to make Toxic Gas better fit the original intention.

• Gadgets
  • C4
    • Decreased ammo count from 2 to 1
    • Decreased cooldown from 45s to 30s
    • Decreased minimum damage at the edge of the explosion from 93 to 75
  • Defibrillator
    • Added functionality that causes revived players to gradually re-materialize into the level over a period of 3s before fully loading back into the arena
    • Increased charge-up time from 0.6s to 0.8s
    • Increased starting health from a defibrillator revive from 40% to 50%
  • Dome Shield
    • Decreased maximum duration from 20s to 12s
  • Jump Pad
    • Increased cooldown from 25s to 30s
  • Motion Sensor
    • Moved from the Light archetype to the Heavy
  • RPG
    • Fixed an issue that made dispersion almost identical regardless of what state the player was in
    • Increased projectile dispersion in all non-aiming states
    • Reduced projectile dispersion when aiming down sights
    • Increased zoom-in time from 0.2s to 0.4s
    • Increased equip time from 0.45s to 0.5s
    • Increased unequip time from 0.35s to 0.4s
  • Sonar Grenade
    • Moved from the Medium archetype to the Light
  • Tracking dart
    • Moved from the Medium archetype to the Light
    • Decreased dispersion in most movement states by 50%
    • Increased accuracy by decreasing dart dispersion while aiming down sights from 30% to 10%
    • Added force feedback for controllers
  • Vanishing Bomb
    • Increased grace period on teammates from 0.75s to 1.25s
    • Increased total cloaked duration on teammates from 6s to 7.5s
    • Increased total cloaked duration on the user from 5s to 6s

• Specializations
  • Recon Senses
    • Removed for assessment
      • Dev Note: we’ve concluded that Recon Senses have been detrimental to the game at large, and have decided to put it out of play for now. The specialization may return in some new form down the line, but only after a major rework.
  • Mesh Shield
    • Increased cooldown on a fully depleted shield from 12s to 15s
    • Increased starting health after full depletion from 200 to 250

• Weapons
  • AKM
    • Decreased damage falloff minimum range from 35m to 30m
    • Decreased damage falloff max range from 40m to 37.5m
    • Decreased damage falloff modifier at max range from 67% to 55%
  • FCAR
    • Decreased damage falloff modifier at max range from 67% to 55%
  • Lewis Gun
    • Updated weapon recoil pattern to be slightly less accurate over time during sustained firing
  • M11
    • Increased accuracy by decreasing bullet dispersion when firing from the hip
  • M60
    • Updated weapon recoil pattern to be slightly more accurate over time during sustained firing
    • Increased accuracy by decreasing bullet dispersion while moving when firing from the hip
    • Increased accuracy by decreasing bullet dispersion while moving when firing while aiming down sights
    • Decreased accuracy slightly by increasing bullet dispersion while standing still when firing while aiming down sights
  • R .357
    • Increased damage falloff modifier at max range from 33% to 45%
  • Throwing Knives
    • Increased projectile speed from 120m/s to 138m/s
  • XP-54
    • Decreased accuracy by increasing bullet dispersion when firing from the hip in most movement states

EQUIPMENT MASTERY

Added new levels with rewards to the following equipment items:

• WEAPONS
  • M11
  • SR-84
  • V9S
  • XP-54
  • DAGGER
  • LH1
  • SH1900
  • SWORD
  • 93R
  • AKM
  • R.357
  • CL-40
  • FCAR
  • MODEL 1887
  • RIOT SHIELD
  • FAMAS
  • FLAMETHROWER
  • LEWIS GUN
  • M60
  • SLEDGEHAMMER
  • MGL32
  • SA1216

• GADGETS:
  • FRAG GRENADE
  • FLASHBANG
  • GAS GRENADE
  • GOO GRENADE
  • PYRO GRENADE
  • GLITCH GRENADE
  • SONAR GRENADE
  • SMOKE GRENADE
  • VANISHING BOMB
  • BREACH CHARGE
  • STUN GUN
  • TRACKING DART
  • DEFIBRILLATOR
  • EXPLOSIVE MINE
  • PYRO MINE
  • GAS MINE
  • GLITCH TRAP
  • JUMP PAD
  • APS TURRET
  • ZIPLINE
  • BARRICADE
  • C4
  • DOME SHIELD
  • MOTION SENSOR
  • RPG-7

• SPECIALIZATIONS
  • GOO GUN
  • HEALING BEAM
  • GUARDIAN TURRET

GAMEPLAY

• Added an option for auto-sprint in the gameplay section in settings
  • Dev comment: You can turn on auto-sprint in the settings menu and select the time it takes for your contestant to begin sprinting. THE FINALS has a unique “omnidirectional sprinting system,” which means characters can sprint in all directions instead of the more common forward-only sprint. As such, we’d love to get your feedback on auto-sprint, and what additional settings would help you better customize your sprinting experience!
• The preview arc for grenades now shows where they will detonate in their trajectory
• Improved an issue where controller players would unintentionally drop carried objects when trying to interact. Now carried objects won’t be dropped when pressing the “Interact and Equip Weapon” button if the weapon is already equipped.

BUGFIXES

General

• Fixed an issue where the scoreboard would not show the potential score for transfers in progress
• Fixed an issue with flamethrower kills sometimes being attributed as self-elimination due to the flamethrower user being eliminated
• Fixed dome and mesh shield not blocking projectiles and explosions correctly
• Fixed broken interactions on the crane
• Fixed an issue that allowed players to steal objectives through floors and walls
• Fixed an issue where flashbang effects were not shown for a spectating player
• Fixed an issue where explosive objects attached to another object would fall off if the primary object was destroyed. The explosive object attached will now also take appropriate damage in this situation
• Fixed an issue where melee swings could damage occluded structures, for example: destroying the outside walls from inside an elevator
• Fixed an issue on controllers where you would drop your held item if you pressed the primary weapon button while the primary weapon was equipped
• Fixed an issue where minor props like chairs and tables sometimes did not get affected by explosives
• Fixed a bug where the Mesh Shield regen would fail to start correctly
• Fixed bug where radial damage falloff was incorrectly calculated for carriables and props
• Fixed a bug where Oil barrels would not start burning from specific damage events

Animation

• Fixed an issue where melee animations would look wrong when affected by status effects
• Fixed an issue where dagger animations wouldn’t play correctly

• Added new frontend idle animation for squad members equipped with LH1
• Fixed the T-pose bug when players would use the sword lunge and swap items at the same time
• Fixed a bug for the 1887 Dough Wrangler skin where the left hand would pop up on the screen when shooting while crouching
• Fixed a bug that caused floating items to appear when riding ziplines
• Fixed a bug where melee swings happening at the end of mantling would skip the animation
• Fixed a bug where the character’s arms would clip each other when wielding throwing knives
• Fixed bug where ADS-specific weapon handling would play outside of ADS

Gamemodes

• Improved spawn selection around active objectives
• Fixed issue where players could push opposing teams to spawn unfavorable by not inserting the Cashbox
• Fix for case where two squads spawning at the same frame could use the same spawn point

Levels

• New & improved algorithm for map selection to ensure you rarely see the same map multiple times in a row — leaving matches will not affect the outcome of the selection
• Improved lighting on nighttime Monaco
• Reduced wind movement on vegetation in Las Vegas
• Fixed issue where multiple level objects were overlapping each other
• Fixed issue with some materials in the End of Round Celebration being drawn behind the team logo

• Improved debris handling, letting it settle before being removed.
• Improved lighting on Seoul Fog and Storm settings

Art

• Fixed bug with Glint Tint skin not looking correct

Audio

• Added voice lines for reloading
• Improved footstep audio for players using pistols
• Fixed a bug where objective pings would not play the correct audio
• Fixed bug where match commentary would play in the practice range
• Added sounds for squadmate down and the last player standing

UI/UX

• Player cards are introduced in THE FINALS, these will be generated from your character customization and your chosen intro animation.
• Added THE FINALS spinner to previously black screens when loading
• Added new item gadget tutorial videos
• Improved camera placement and framing for charms
• Fixed so that your squad is centered in the tournament lineup intros and outros
• Improved respawn timer feedback on teammate icons
• Improved feedback on the “Press Start” respawn mechanic