The Finals Update 1.5 Adds the Shooter’s First Limited-Time Game Mode

The Finals gets its big update 1.5 today, January 17, and it makes some significant changes.

The update, out now, makes balance changes, bug fixes, adds a bigger store, better security, new outfits, and Solo Bank It, The Finals’ first limited-time game mode. Developer Embark Studios described Solo Bank It as an “experimental” game mode, where you play against 11 other players in a race to earn the most cash.

In patch notes published to Steam, Embark Studios said update 1.5 introduces The Finals’ fair play guidelines, with revamped and improved detection methods for unfair play. “From now on, we’ll restrict cheaters with more confidence and will be able to stand firmly behind our bans,” Embark said. “Our goal, as always, is to make the game safe, fair, and fun.”

Here are The Finals update 1.5 patch notes in full:

Balance Changes
Abilities
Charge N’ Slam

• Fixed an issue where players could charge while stationary and stealing an extraction

Cloaking Device

• Increased activation cost from 1s to 2s
• Increased minimum required charge time to activate from 1.5s to 2.5s

Grapple Hook

• Will no longer attach to objects that are attached to carriables

Guardian Turret

• Will now shoot target dummies in the practice range

Mesh Shield

• Decreased health from 1100 to 1000

Recon Senses

• Increased activation cost from 1s to 1.5s
• Decreased minimum charge time to activate from 2.5s to 2s

Gadgets

C4

• Player damage decreased from 210 to 155
• Player min damage decreased from 120 to 100

Flashbang

• Cooldown decreased from 20s to 18s

Gas Mine

• Cooldown increased from 25s to 27s

Incendiary Mine

• Cooldown decreased from 30s to 27s

Vanishing Bomb

• Cooldown decreased from 20s to 18s

RPG

• Player damage decreased from 150 to 140

Stun Gun

• Decreased duration of stun effect from 5s to 3.75s

Tracking Dart

• Cooldown decreased from 15s to 13s
• Added new Scoped Zoom Sensitivity Multiplier to the settings screen that affects the Tracking Dart

Game Modes

Bank It

• Game show event start time reduced from minute six to minute four

Quick Cash

• Game show event start time reduced from minute six to minute four
• Team wipe respawn time increased from 17 to 18 seconds

Ranked Tournament

• Team wipe respawn time increased from 25 to 26 seconds

Tournament

• Team wipe respawn time increased from 25 to 26 seconds
• Tournaments will now unlock after players have completed one round, reduced from 12

Maps

Las Vegas

• Updated destruction behavior to get more realistic destruction
• Updated strain system to get more realistic destruction
• Updated various ziplines in the level

Throwables

• Depoyable explosives such as C4, Breach Charges and Explosive Mines will now add mass to throwable objects, causing them to travel less far when thrown

Weapons
Flamethrower

• Damage increased from 28 to 30

LH1

• Damage increased from 47 to 49

M11

• Recoil pattern updated, to make the weapon easier to control

SH1900 Shotgun

• Damage decreased from 12 to 10 damage per pellet

M60

• Damage increased from 21 to 22

Riot Shield

• Updated attack animations and hit sweeps, to make the weapon feel more responsive
• Fixed issues where the Riot Shield could be invisible and still block bullets
• Fixed an issue where the Riot Shield could block bullets while the player climbed a ladder

SA1216

• Fixed an issue that allowed the weapon to be fired faster than intended

SR-84 Sniper Rifle

• Added new Scoped Zoom Sensitivity Multiplier to the settings screen that affects the SR-84

Throwing Knives

• Added new trail effects to make the projectiles easier to see
• Shortened the lifetime of Knives stuck in metal surfaces

V9S

• Damage increased from 35 to 36

Content And Bug Fixes
Animation
Updated some main menu weapon animations
Left-side inspection animations added to the following items:

• AKM
• CL-40
• FCAR
• Flamethrower
• Goo Gun
• Lewis Gun
• LH1
• M11
• M60
• MGL32
• Model 1887
• R.357
• SA1216
• SH1900
• SR-84
• Stun Gun
• Tracking Dart
• V9S
• XP-54

Audio

• Replaced an old unattenuated sound on the Glitch Trap
• Fix a zip wire attachment sound that could play on the main menu

Characters

• Fixed some issues where hair could clip visually with various headwear
• Fixed some skinning issues that occurred on wrists
• Fixed some skinning issues that occurred on gloves

Controller

• Added an option that allows controller players to pick the priority order of Reload/Pick Up button actions

Console

• Fixed an issue that allowed Mouse and Keyboard to be enabled on some consoles

Crashes

• Fixed a server crash where players could attach to ziplines and disconnect at the same time
• Fixed a client crash that could be caused by certain outfits in the Battle Pass and Store screens
• Disconnects
• Fixed an issue where game servers could very rarely shut down early due to how players connected

Maps

General

• Improved the floor number display in elevators
• Fixed lingering smoke clouds that could appear during the end of round sequence
• Fixed team logos not always streaming in during the end of round sequence

Monaco

• Fixed an awning that partially clipped through the path of a zipline
• Optimised lighting for the Fog and Storm weather types

Seoul

• Fixed an initial spawn in Hospital that ran into a small dead end
• Fixed some railings that could block bullets

Vegas

• Fixed an issue where the map border blocked bullets and grenades
• Fixed a ladder that sometimes caused players to get stuck
• Fixed some issues with intersecting and floating assets
• Fixed an issue where Las Vegas spotlights would sometimes be culled unexpectedly

Movement

• Fixed an issue where players could slingshot themselves (aka ‘superglide’) by grinding against obstacles during vault interactions.

Vaulting

• Fixed an issue where players could gain extreme speed by picking up objects that were being vaulted on
• Updated vaulting to feel snappier and be more aligned to ledges

Quick Melee

• Fixed an issue where players could use Quick Melee on ladders

UI

• Fixed an issue where scoreboard text could be cut short
• Fixed a ‘New’ label that could clip with the Play button in the main menu
• Fixed an issue where ‘Tournament Winners’ text could be partially visible on both sides of the screen
• Fixed an issue where player’s names could appear over their face in the end of round screens
• Fixed an issue where the Career screen could jump during the first frame
• Fixed an issue where hover VFX would not play on video thumbnails
• Fixed an issue where some Weapon Charms and Stickers would become unequippable
• Fixed an issue where total playtime would reset to 0 on the Career screen after 24 hours
• Fixed an issue where the current gamepad bindings were lost when resetting the keyboard bindings
• Fixed an issue with the crosshair that caused headshot hit indicators to show based on damage done, rather than hit location
• Fixed an issue where player names above the health bar could sometimes get cut off
• Fixed an issue where the subtitle preview would not hide correctly when exiting settings
• Fixed team member names sometimes staying transparent after respawn
• Fixed an issue that prevented player outlines on enemies appearing when looking through metal fences
• Fixed an issue where some settings in the settings screen would not be affected by restoring default

Settings

VoIP

• Set VoIP to be enabled by default on PC, with Push To Talk set as the default input (new installs only)
• Set VoIP to be enabled by default on console, with Voice Activated set as the default input (new installs only)

Weapons

• Fixed an issue where bullet dispersion/spread would not update if the player switched between items
• Throwing Knives will now have the correct skin when thrown
• Fixed cheat exploit with melee weapons

The Finals is a free-to-play competitive first-person shooter made by former Battlefield developers. It launched with a huge concurrent player count on Steam, where it’s still going strong and wowing fans with its impressive destruction tech.

IGN’s The Finals review returned an 8/10. We said: “The Finals is a fresh and exciting take on team based PVP shooters, featuring some of the best environmental destruction in any FPS.”

Not everything has gone down well with fans though, as Embark was criticised for using AI voiceovers in The Finals by myriad voice actors and even other developers. Embark told IGN that “making games without actors isn’t an end goal” and claimed it uses a mix of both recorded audio voices and audio generated via AI text to speech tools for its games.

The Finals also endured a torrid time with cheating, although Embark declared the problem over last month.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].