Month: January 2024

Embark Studios has released another update for The Finals which introduces a mid-season event for Season One.

Embark Studios has released the mid-season update for The Finals which introduces a limited-time seasonal event.

The free-to-play squad-based shooter got a surprise launch back in December and has been receiving steady updates ever since, like addressing balance issues while also adding new content, like the Solo Bank It mode. 

Now, with update 1.6.0, Embark has added another solo event called Steal the Spotlight, which puts the in-game arena into a nighttime setting with more risks.

“In this solo event, you enter the arena at night with a set build and loadout. Lights are out and cashout stations are guarded by turrets and tripwires, and the best path might just be the one you make yourself – so keep that RPG handy,” Embark Studios says in the latest patch notes.

In addition, playing Steal the Spotlight this week will unlock a brand-new “dazzling” cosmetic bundle for players to enjoy. However, as Steal the Spotlight gets added, this means that the temporary Solo Bank It mode has been removed and it’s unclear when it will be added back.

“Thank you so much to everyone who played this experimental mode and provided feedback!” the studio said. “We learned so much and we look forward to bringing you more experimental modes in the future.” 

Another significant update addresses Recon Senses, which now no longer have infinite sight and instead have “limited reach” and will also notify the player if they’re spotted. You can read the full patch notes below.

The Finals version 1.6.0 patch notes:

Balance Changes

Gadgets

Dome Shield

Dome Shields will now use squad colors if the ‘Use Enemy Squad Colors’ setting is enabled 

Vanishing Bomb

Increased the invisibility interrupt grace period for teammates from 0.65s to 0.8s (+)Increased the invisibility interrupt grace period for the player from 0s to 0.35s (+)Increased the duration of Vanishing Bomb invisibility on teammates from 5s to 6s (+)

Zipline

Improved placement validation for ziplines, making them easier to deploy 

Maps

Las Vegas – General 

Added some cover to the side of kitchen trolleys to make them easier to useReplaced the zipline between Eastwood and Decora with a jump padMoved various cover pieces to avoid gaps in coverMoved various chairs to make traversal easierRemoved Turrets & Tripwires map variant in Quick Cash, Bank It, Tournament, and Ranked Tournament modes while we fix various bugs and re-evaluate the gameplay design

Argon Casino

Removed some of the monitors in the casino so some doors are easier to seeAdded an extra door to make traversal easierUpdated some Vault spawn locations and added cover to some of them

Eastwood Casino

Updated exit points on various ziplines to make it easier to access rooftops Added decals to some windows to make the glass more visibleRearranged the aircon units to create more cover on the roofAdjusted the position of some cashout locations

Glamora Casino

Removed some chairs so it’s easier to jump in and out of cashier boothsRemoved some chairs and railings in the theatre to make traversal easierVarious other small fixes and balance tweaks

Specializations

Mesh Shield

The Mesh Shield will now use squad colors if the ‘Use Enemy Squad Colors’ setting is enabled 

Recon Senses

Added a range limit to Recon Senses set to 30m. Players outside of this range will not be detectedPlayers detected by Recon Senses will now see ‘Detected’ warning text on their HUDDev Note: Recon Senses have become much more common in the meta than we intended and can cause confusion for some newer players. The reduction in range and the warning given to detected players will bring the ability’s power back in line with other Specializations

Content And Bug Fixes

Animation

Fixed some small issues with the LH1 reload and Goo Gun inspect animationsUpdated reload animations when aiming down sights to add slightly more movement to them

Audio

Updated footstep audio and mix for the player, teammates, and enemies – Dev note: It should now be clearer for players to tell friendly players apart from enemies and their own footstepsFixed an issue where the spawn sound effect could be cut off when respawningUpdated various VO linesVarious VO bug fixes

Career Rank

Added 10 more levels to the Career Rank along with additional rewards. Max rank is now 50.

Characters

Fixed an issue where characters could have their legs bent backward on some screens

Controller

Added Gyro aiming options for PS5 DualSense and PS4 DualShock controllersFixed an issue with aim assistance sensitivity reduction that caused almost no sensitivity reduction to be applied to targets closer to the player than 20mReduced input latency on PS5

Emotes

Fixed an issue that prevented the player emoting while crouched

Gadgets

Defibrillators

Fixed an issue where player statues could not be targeted for revives when lying in foliageFixed an issue where player statues could not be targeted for revives when carriedFixed various issues with placement distances on deployable GadgetsFixed an issue where turret parts could collide with each other, causing strange behavior when placed on barrels

Game Modes

General

Added ‘Steal the Spotlight’ event modeAdded the ability for players to customize their contestant Loadout for all Weapons, Gadgets, and Specializations during the match lobby at the start of each match in all game modes

Ranked Tournament

Lowered the number of rounds required to play Ranked Tournament from 60 to 45 (-)Dev note: With the improvements we’ve made to fair play and banning, the threshold required to enter Ranked Tournaments doesn’t need to be quite so high.

Solo Bank It 

Disabled the experimental Solo Bank It mode

Maps

Monaco

Made night and night storm weather conditions slightly less dark on Monaco for OLEDsTweaked LOD settings on some trees in Monaco to reduce popping on low settings

Movement

Fixed an issue where players could become stuck in encroached spacesFixed an issue where players would fail wall jumps if they pressed and held jump too early in a vault sequenceFixed an issue where the player would cancel a slide if aiming down sights was triggered from toggled crouch

Security

Made various improvements to security and cheat detection

Settings

Increased default FOV from 71 to 81 (new installations only)

UI

Added Career Rank screen where players can see rewards earned by gaining rankAdded new tournament overview screen to tournament modesAdded additional item tutorial videos for the following items:APS TurretGas GrenadeGlitch GrenadeGlitch TrapGoo GunMotion SensorPyro GrenadeSmoke GrenadeSonar GrenadeThermal Vision
Added new Event Contracts to the Contracts screenUpdated the size of ranked iconsFixed wrapping issues on Contracts during the end-of-round sequenceDecreased duration of Vault objective markers on round startMade various improvements to contextual ping accuracy, making them more accurateVarious bug fixes to the UI

VFX

Added new impact effects when friendly players shoot each other, instead of the coin effects, as this could cause confusion for playersUpdated collision on coin death effects to reduce the number of coins that can fall through floorsVarious polish improvements to coin death effectsOptimization pass on the gas canister explosion effects

Weapons

Increased the size of various grenade projectiles, to make them easier to see in combatFixed some issues where AoE damage could be wrongly invalidated, causing no damage to be doneFixed an exploit where melee weapons could be swung faster than intendedFixed an issue that prevented C4 and Mines from being picked up when placed on a throwable object that had been picked up

For more, here’s our list of the best FPS games as well as the best co-op games available right now.

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