The Finals update 3.0.0 patch notes detail buffs and nerfs for Season 3

The Finals community no longer has to impatiently wait as Season 3 is now here for everyone to enjoy. It was revealed at Summer Game Fest, and since then fans have become massively excited thanks to the new Japanese-theme. To mark the arrival of the game’s third chapter, here you will find The Finals update 3.0.0 patch notes detailing all of the buffs, nerfs, and fixes for Season 3.

In addition to a new map set in Japan, The Finals is introducing some brilliant new weapons and gadgets for each of the classes: light, medium, and heavy. Cashout has been removed from Ranked, and the battle pass has 96 rewards with many of them free. In our hands-on preview, we praised the new map as well as the fresh assortment of weapons and gadgets.

Season 3 is out right now, and Embark has shared the full patch notes for update 3.0.0.

The Finals update 3.0.0 patch notes for Season 3

Below are the full update 3.0.0 patch notes for The Finals Season 3:

Join the world tour:

Fame, fortune, and glory. This is where all the contestants gather to reach for stardom. In the World Tour, you’ll compete to climb the ladder from Bronze to Gold and beyond. Season 3 will focus on Cashout Tournaments of 24 players in 2-3 week Tournament cycles. The top five players will be on the front page of the World Tour, so check the leaderboard often!

We’ll kick off the Season with the ENGIMO Open, the first stop on the World Tour. This event features traditional Cashout across three maps, including the new Kyoto 1568 Arena!

The World Tour is your oyster, contestants! How will you open it?

Explore Kyoto 1568:

The new Kyoto 1568 Arena features a network of interwoven 16th-century temples, gardens, and dense bamboo forests. Intense terrain height variation and layered buildings with hidden traversal options underneath await you in our newest and perhaps more picturesque map location. Traditional Japanese Shoji paper walls that players can shoot and tall, intricate structures ramp up the destruction!

Rank up in Terminal Attack:

The new Rank Mode for Season 3 is Terminal Attack!  Players attack and defend a terminal in this robust and exciting ranked mode by delivering a decryption key. The 5v5 mode creates close, competitive, head-to-head matches. On top of that, we’ve revamped the ranked system to better measure skill and have introduced Rank Score points so you can track your progress much more easily! 

Unlock the battle pass:

The Battle Pass is packed with 96 rewards, 26 for free, with 1575 Multibucks to be unlocked in total. There are 10 extra rewards for the overachievers, spanning two bonus pages, which can only be earned through XP! This Season’s Battle Pass features prizes inspired by the history and pop culture of Japan!

New weapons:

• Recurve bow:
  • A new weapon for the LIGHT Build: a high-skill, medium- to long-ranged bow that shoots arrows in a curved arc. Its range and damage increase the further back the bowstring has been drawn.
• Dual blades:
  • A new melee weapon for the MEDIUM Build: its primary attack is a fast, multi-strike combo with a wide reach. It can also block and deflect incoming bullets in a defensive stance.
• Spear:
  • A new melee weapon for HEAVY b: its primary attack is a fast long-range stab. It can also be spun up to cover a wider area. It deals less damage than the Heavy’s Sledge Hammer but is decidedly more nimble.

New tools:

• Thermal bore:
  • A new gadget for LIGHTS: a long-range, high-cooldown, tactical breaching gadget, that’s best used to breach walls, buildings, and other obstacles from a distance, to open up pathways or sightlines for you and your team. Perfect in combination with a long-range weapon!
• Winch claw:
  • A new specialization for HEAVIES: launches a chain that pulls objects or enemies toward you, briefly stunning them, making it a perfect companion to the new Spear. Requires tactical use, accuracy, and skill!

Complete the career circuit:

This season, a whole new Career Circuit is available, with challenges that unlock over time and through fulfilling contracts. With these advanced challenges, you can earn XP toward the Battle Pass throughout the whole season!

We have an action-packed season full of fun rewards, amazing cosmetics, and so much more! We’re introducing Text Chat so you can chat with your team. It’s in the early stages, but give it a try! We have also added a dedicated spectator spot to Private Matches for better matches and private tournaments.

There’s plenty more to discover in this season!

Balance Changes

Builds

Light

• Decreased health regeneration delay from 10 seconds to 7 seconds, meaning health starts regenerating sooner. Does not apply in the Terminal Attack game mode
  Dev Note: The dynamics of Terminal Attack mode, with its limited health regen up to 100 HP, means that the Light archetype with their precise and high DPS weapons, can be very effective later in rounds. For that reason, we’ve chosen not to extend these new health regen rules to Terminal Attack for now. We’ll monitor these changes closely, as the season develops and adjust where needed. 

Medium

• Decreased health regeneration delay from 10 seconds to 9 seconds, meaning health starts regenerating sooner. Does not apply in Terminal Attack game mode
• Healing Beam has been replaced with Guardian Turret as the default Medium Specialization
• Defibrillator has been replaced with Glitch Trap as one of the default Medium Gadgets
  Dev note: As Terminal Attack becomes the Ranked mode, we want to make sure new players have a loadout that works in all modes. Healing-focused items are still available.

Specializations

Goo Gun 

• Getting hit by goo will now block movement Specializations such as Evasive Dash, except Charge ‘n Slam 

Winch Claw

• Decreased max range from 20m to 17m

• Increased cooldown when missing targets from 6 seconds to 7 seconds 
• Increased cooldown when hitting carriables or teammate’s statues from 6 seconds to 7 seconds 
• Increased cooldown when hitting players, Cashout Stations or Terminals from 12 seconds to 14 seconds 

Gadgets 

Breach Charge

• Increased ammo count from 1 to 2
• Increased cooldown from 15s to 26s
• Decreased player damage from 200 to 80

Data Reshaper

• Increased ammo count from 1 to 2
• Increased cooldown from 15s to 26s

Gas Grenade

• Increased radius from 4.5m to 5m

Glitch Trap – ITEM REWORK

• Glitch trap is no longer a proximity detonation device
• Glitch trap now has a line-of-sight application. If an enemy player stands within range and in line-of-sight to the trap it will attach a tether to them. Tethered players have the Glitch effect applied to them, preventing them from using Specializations and Gadgets, and disrupting their HUD. Players will need to break the line of sight to the trap, destroy it, or get out of range of it, to remove the effect.

Goo Grenade

• Increased the size of the goo wall created by the Goo Grenade from 2×4 to 2×6
• Getting hit by goo will now block Evasive Dash and Grapple Hook

Guardian Turret

• The cooldown regeneration on the Guardian Turret now starts when the turret is destroyed, not when it is deployed. 
• Added the ability for players to remotely destroy their Guardian Turret, allowing them to trigger the cooldown if their turret is not nearby. This is done by equipping the Specialization again and holding an interaction for a brief duration.

Motion Sensor – ITEM REWORK

• Motion Sensor no longer sends out impulses at regular intervals for detection
• Motion Sensor now has line-of-sight application. If an enemy player stands within range and in line-of-sight to the device, the sensor will attach a tether to them. Tethered players will be scanned by the Motion Sensor, allowing friendly players to see them through walls. Players will need to break the line of sight to the sensor or destroy it, to remove the scanning effect.

Smoke Grenade

• Increased ammo count from 2 to 3
• Increased cooldown from 45s to 50s

Sonar Grenade

• Increased detection radius from 10m to 15m

Stun Gun

• Players are now unable to use Specializations while the Glitch status is applied

Weapons 

93R

• Updated recoil pattern, making the weapon much easier to control and hopefully making headshots easier to achieveDev Note: To increase viability for the 93R, we’ve made it considerably more precise but lowered the DPS slightly to offset that. Our aim is to make the weapon more effective when using precise aim and going for headshots, and we’ll continue to monitor its performance following these changes.
• Decreased fire rate from 260 RPM to 210 RPM
• Decreased automatic recoil recovery duration from 0.72s to 0.7s, making the weapon easier to control
• Increased the damage fall-off start distance from 15m to 23m, meaning the weapon will do max damage at longer ranges now
• Increased the damage fall-off max distance from 22m to 35m, increasing the range before damage fall-off is fully applied
• Decreased the damage fall-off multiplier at max range from 65% to 45%, meaning the weapon will do less damage at longer ranges now

CL-40

• Decreased damage from 110 to 93
• Increased fire rate from 250 RPM to 275 RPM
• Decreased pump-action duration from 0.7s to 0.65s
• Decreased self-damage multiplier from 1 to 0.75, reducing how much damage the grenades do to the player using them

FAMAS

• Decreased automatic recoil recovery duration from 1s to 0.8s, making the weapon easier to control
• Decreased the delay before recoil recovery begins from 0.8s to 0.7s, making the weapon easier to control
• Increased damage from 23 to 24

KS-23

• Decreased pump-action duration from 0.7s to 0.575s

Lewis Gun

• Further updated recoil pattern, making the weapon easier to control for the first few bullets in the sequence, but making the weapon recoil more the longer the trigger is held
• Decreased damage from 25 to 22

LH1

• Updated firing animation, which should make the weapon easier to use
• Decreased fire rate from 300 RPM to 280 RPM
• Decreased bullet dispersion when crouching and standing still, making the weapon more precise
• Increased player damage from 49 to 52
  Dev Note: Overall the effective damage of the LH1 should remain roughly the same, but it should now be easier to use, less nauseating, and more precise when standing still, as well as incentivizing headshots. The lower RPM should help make it feel distinct and make it easier to maintain targets in sights

M60

• Updated recoil pattern, making the weapon recoil more during the first few bullets, but making it easier to control for the rest of the sequence
• Decreased damage from 22 to 19

SH1900

• Increased damage from 10 to 13 per pellet
• Decreased fire rate from 100 RPM to 80 RPM
• Increased the size of the pellet dispersion pattern, making the weapon less accurate at range
  Dev Note: We’ve wanted for a while to make the SH1900 more effective against Heavies without making it oppressive for Lights. With higher pellet dispersion the SH1900 is now optimized for very close range only, which has allowed us to buff the damage, hopefully making Heavies easier to kill. This is a change we will be monitoring closely to measure its impact

Sledgehammer 

• Updated camera animation when sprinting, which should reduce motion sickness for some players

Throwing Knives

• Decreased projectile speed of primary attacks from 16.5 m/s to 14.75 m/s 
• Decreased projectile air drag of primary attacks from 7.5 to 7, allowing the projectile to travel farther 
• Increased projectile speed of secondary attacks from 13.8 m/s to 18.5 m/s
• Increased projectile air drag of secondary attacks from 4 to 5.5, increasing the speed at which the projectile slows down
  Dev note: Our last balance changes on the Throwing Knives pushed them in the right direction but ultimately felt too powerful, changing the weapon’s character too much. We have here dialed down the velocity of the regular projectiles so that leading your throws becomes a requirement again, but not to the same extent as before the last changes. Similarly we sped up the secondary projectiles so that they become a more long-range option with a focus on timing rather than leading.

V9S

• Increased damage from 36 to 37

Carriables

Glitch Barrel

• Decreased radius from 6m to 3.5m

Goo Barrel

• Decreased the size of the goo wall created by the Goo Barrel from 2×6 to 2×4

Toxic Gas Barrel

• Decreased radius from 5m to 3.5m
  Dev note: Overall, we’ve seen a low use of certain gadgets when there are overlapping items available in the arena. Therefore, we are swapping some values around on arena items and gadgets to ensure the latter have a stronger effect while still ensuring players can adapt to different situations even when out of gadget charges.

Game Modes

Terminal Attack

• Players must now interact with the terminal in order to deliver the decryption key, rather than throwing it into the terminal
  Dev Note: It was too easy for attacking teams to rush a terminal and throw in the key to start a decryption, without needing to secure the objective first. This change should force attacking teams to seize the area around the terminal to start decrypting. 

• Increased the throw distance of the decryption key now that it cannot be thrown into the terminal, allowing for more passing of the key
• Added ‘warm-up zones’ to Terminal Attack, limiting where players can move to for the first 25 seconds of the match. This provides more time for the defending team to prepare 
• Carriable canisters now respawn at the start of each round in Terminal Attack, making sure each team gets access to the same amount each round
• The specific combinations of team and objective spawn locations in Ranked Terminal Attack now occur in the same sequence in both halves of the match, making matches fairer. 
• Added unique names to all terminal locations in the arenas, these are displayed when looking at the terminals and in the lobby screen
• Added a player count notification when contestants are eliminated
• Added icons in the arena and to the HUD to highlight eliminated teammates and their location
• Added Ranked Terminal Attack mode with a best of 13, first to 7 format
• In Ranked Terminal Attack, if the match starts without full teams, the game will be automatically abandoned early and players will return to the queue. This is done to ensure games start in a good condition
• Added a half-time reset of destruction to Ranked Terminal Attack mode, so that both teams have the same starting conditions as their opponents when defending or attacking

Maps

Las Vegas

• Updated Terminal Attack spawn scenarios 

Monaco

• Updated Terminal Attack spawn scenarios

Skyway Stadium

• Added to the Terminal Attack map pool
• Tweaked the Power Shift related spawn points inside the Construction area so that players are better oriented toward the platform’s path

SYS$Horizon

• Updated Terminal Attack spawn scenarios

Content and Bug Fixes

Animation 

• Added inspect animation for carriables 
• Blocked left arm gestures in third-person when riding ziplines
• Fixed an issue where bullets clipped with the mesh when reloading XP-54
• Fixed an issue where the first throw animation on Gateway sometimes didn’t play properly
• Fixed an issue where an immediate melee attack was not properly displayed after using a Mesh Shield
• Fixed an issue where your contestant was not centered during the “tunnel run” match intro
• Fixed an issue where melee animations were sometimes not shown when exiting the emote camera.
  Dev Note: This was a purely visual error, melee timings were not affected by this bug. 

Audio  

• The audience has been reworked and will now be more responsive to various events in the arena and cheer for the contestants

Career Rank 

• Added 10 new Career ranks with associated rewards

Fire Propagation

• Added a distance limit to all fire sources, to prevent fire from spreading infinitely

Gameplay

• Made it possible to skip the elimination camera after a short while and go directly to spectating teammates

Game Modes 

• Added a dedicated Spectator slot to Private Matches 
• Updated available game modes
  • “Terminal Attack” remains as a base mode
  • Added “Terminal Attack – Ranked”
  • Added “Terminal Attack – Tutorial”
  • Added “World Tour” mode
  • Removed “Single Round Cashout”
• Added more info to the game summary screen
  • Team name
  • Game mode
• Disabled the Deathmatch game show event as it was not working as intended

Maps 

New map: Kyoto

• Available in Quick Cash, Tournaments, Bank It, Power Shift and Terminal Attack game modes
• Features shallow water that will slow the player’s movement speed, making it risky to cross large open bodies of water
• Shoji paper walls that allow bullets to pass through easily 

Settings 

• New volume slider in settings for changing the commentator dialogue volume separately from the in-world dialogue

Store 

• Enabled single-item purchases for bundles from previous seasons

UI

• Text chat added to the PC version
• Player cards
  • Added background customization
  • Added badges that display your rank in World Tour and Ranked Mode
• Updated the end-of-round screen to include player cards and to highlight stats
• Added a shortcut button to the Play menu from the Career screen
• Added a cooldown for the event log when spamming pings and voice lines
• Updated event log messages for various types of pings
  • Updated event log messages related to Cashouts and Terminals to be consistent and always include information about which objective was pinged
  • Added missing event log messages for certain pings on various objectives, like Cashboxes and Decryption Keys
  • “Attacking here” ping wheel action was renamed to “Attack here”
  • “Defending here” ping wheel action was renamed to “Defend here”
  • Updated “Attack Here” and “Defend Here” event log messages to match the character voice lines
  • Added event log message when pinging ziplines
• It’s now possible to zoom in on pets in the Battle Pass and Store screens
• Temporarily disabled the re-rolling of Daily Contracts
  Dev Note: We currently have a very small pool of Daily Contracts and felt it was unfair for players to spend VRs to re-roll a contract to only keep getting limited options in return. We hope to introduce more Contracts during the season and then re-enable re-rolls at some point when they offer more value. 

Weapons 

• Added Season 3 items
  • Dual Blades – Medium Weapon
  • Recurve Bow – Light Weapon
  • Spear – Heavy Weapon
  • Winch Claw – Heavy Specialization
  • Thermal Bore – Light Gadget 
• Updated several Equipment HUD Icons:
  • All Grenades
  • All Mines
  • C4
  • Breach Charge
  • APS Turret
  • Barricade
  • Motion Sensor
  • Thermal Vision
  • Riot Shield
• Added 1 more progression level, with associated reward, for all weapons and gadgets. All item-based Specializations (e.g., Guardian Turret or Goo Gun) also received this.
• Fixed an issue where equipped charms would disappear when standing close to walls
• Fixed an emote animation exploit with the Sword
  Dev note: While these moves discovered by players increase the effectiveness of some melee weapons, they are ultimately exploits and ones that most players find hard to use or unintuitive, adding confusion to the game (especially for those on the receiving end). Since there’s been many changes to melee recently, we believe the viability of melee has been increased and that exploits shouldn’t be needed to compete, but we’ll continue to monitor how the meta develops during Season 3 and will be listening closely to your feedback!

Security

• Updates to our Aimbot detection system
• In-game reporting feedback – We’ll inform players who report unfair gameplay when appropriate actions have been taken.

For more The Finals, check out our guide to the best weapons in the game ranked, and we also have a guide to the best gadgets. In addition, we have a guide to the best FPS settings to help you win matches along with a ranking of the best classes in the game.