The Finals 1.2.0 update patch notes: Weapon buffs & nerfs, new map, more

The Finals was stealth launched during The Game Awards 2023 and the devs have marked the long-awaited release with update 1.2.0. Here are the full The Finals 1.2.0 launch patch notes, including a new map and a host of weapon balance changes.

Following a successful beta earlier in 2023, The Finals was finally released in a surprise announcement during The Game Awards. The ambitious FPS from Embark Studios has received plenty of hype and players can now experience the chaotic matches, deadly weapons, and unique builds for themselves.

Alongside the long-awaited launch, the devs released the 1.2.0 update, bringing a ton of new content as well as tweaks to the game’s controller settings, maps, and much more.

Here are the complete patch notes for The Finals 1.2.0 launch update.

The Finals 1.2.0 update patch notes

Check out The Finals 1.2.0 update patch notes below, as shared by the developers in their official blog post:

WELCOME TO SEASON 1

After years of development, multiple community Alpha and Beta tests, and many months of “soon,” we are so excited to launch THE FINALS! We could not have done it without all the time, energy, feedback, and love heaped onto us by our community of players. As we welcome you to live service, you will see below that we have been very very busy.

But we’re not done. Live service games take continuous work, a lot of listening, iteration, patching, fixing, and balancing. Rest assured, we’re up for the challenge and ready to support this game and its players (that includes us!) through thick and thin. Thank you for being on this journey with us – it means the world.

Suit up, contestants. Cameras are rolling. The arena is open.

New Content

Content Updates

• New ways to express yourself in the arena! Such as:
  • Reload and Inspect animations
  • Emoticons
  • Gestures
  • Pets (!!!)
  • Sounds
  • Watches
  • More? Yes, more!
• The Store is open and you’ll have access to an ever-changing selection of content to make your contestants pop in the arena.
• The Season 1 BattlePass contains 12 pages of unlockable rewards.
  • That amounts to 96 exclusive rewards
  • 29 rewards can be earned for free!
  • Unlock the whole BattlePass to receive a total of 1575 Multibucks!
• Play and progress, master your loadout with:
  • 6 Mastery Levels per weapon
  • 6 Mastery Levels per gadget
  • 5 levels per ability

New Features

• New Map Las Vegas
  • Test your luck and reach for the stars in the glitz, glam, and tight-knit gameplay of this glittering arena
• New Map variants:
  • Don’t get lost in stinging sands! Seek shelter and glory in this Las Vegas map variant: Sandstorm.
  • Tripwires & turrets: The environment can work for or against you. Traverse Vegas but watch your step, around every corner could be a trap.
• New event: Alien invasion
  • You’ll have to see this one to believe it. It’s outta this world!

Gameplay Changes & balance

Movement & Animation

• Movement
  • Made multiple updates to vaulting responsiveness and general smoothness when traversing
  • Updated various first-person animations to better sync with footsteps
  • Improvements to syncing and stability when players are on moving surfaces such as elevators, sky-lifts, cranes, and moving platforms
  • Improved speed-matching and added in-air animations when coining other contestants
  • General polish updates to third-person locomotion
• Combat Animations
  • Stabilized the camera for aim down sight reloads and bolt actions, for easier tracking of targets
  • Updated jumping and zipline animations when aiming down sights
  • Added third-person reaction animations for Flashbangs, Gas, and Fire.
  • Reworked the animations for the Charge’N’Slam specialization

Controller

• General
  • Added sensitivity scaling based on zoom FOV
• Aim Assistance
  • Added better support and various improvements for sensitivity dampening on targets
  • Updated default aim down sights sensitivity reduction
  • Reduced zoom snapping active duration
• Controller Vibration
  • Settings added
• Controller Settings
  • Added setting to allow players to further customize their controller experience
  • Added separate dead zones for the different analog sticks

Maps

• All
  • Finally, the wrecking ball is back! Check the cranes.
• Monaco
  • Improved readability of map border
• Skyway Stadium
  • Added ‘Evening’ environment condition

Specializations

• Charge’N’Slam
  • Updated damage of the ground slam so that it will break floors in buildings more consistently
• Cloaking Device
  • Rebalanced fade-in/out durations to make it harder to vanish mid-combat
  • Added fade-in/out visual effect
• Grapple Hook
  • Fixed a bug where players could become stuck when grappling during a vault
• Recon Senses
  • Reduced the total fuel, shortening the max duration
  • Fixed an issue where Recon Senses would trigger on enemy statues

Weapons

• General
  • Updated bullet dispersion system on all weapons when aiming down sights
  • Fixed various issues where weapons could fire infinitely or not at all
  • Fixed an issue where Gadgets could become stuck in an infinite cooldown
  • Added a new hitmarker to crosshairs for damage over time effects
• AKM
  • Updated recoil pattern, making it slightly less easy to control
• FCAR
  • Updated recoil pattern, making it slightly easier to control
• Flamethrower
  • Fixed a bug where the Flamethrower could be fired without consuming ammo
  • Max range reduced by 60 cm
  • Fire rate reduced to 160 RPM from 180 RPM
  • Adjusted Flamethrower impact effects to make them less blinding for the target player
  • Reduced damage to 28 from 31
• Lewis Gun
  • Updated recoil pattern, making it slightly easier to control
• LH1
  • Increased bullet dispersion when firing from the hip
  • Updated recoil pattern, making the weapon easier to control
  • Fire rate reduced to 300 RPM from 400 RPM
  • Increased LH1 damage from 41 to 45
• M60
  • Updated recoil pattern, making it slightly less easy to control
• Riot Shield
  • Fixed an issue where the Riot Shield could block bullets while the player was emoting
• Throwing Knives
  • Introduced Throwing Knives to the Light archetype
• V9S
  • Magazine size reduced to 20 from 24
  • Updated recoil pattern, making the weapon less easy to control
  • Increased damage fall-off to make the weapon less effective at long-range

Gadgets

• General
  • Fixed an issue where Gadgets could become stuck in an infinite cooldown
• C4
  • Increased health from 5 to 25
• Defibrillators
  • Added ability for defibrillators to damage enemy players. They will do 50 damage and will enter cooldown if they land a successful hit
• Gas Mine
  • Added trigger audio effect
• Glitch Grenade
  • Fuse time increased from 1.1s to 1.8s, giving it more range
• Night Vision
  • Removed Night Vision from the game, to be reworked in a future update
• Sonar Grenade
  • Radius reduced from 17.5m to 10m
  • Updated the crosshair hit marker that appears when the Sonar Grenade detects targets
• Stun Gun
  • Removed sensitivity reduction from stunned players
  • Added glitch effect to stunned players, rendering their Specialization and Gadgets unusable for a short time
• Tactical Breach
  • Increased health from 5 to 25
• Vanishing Bomb
  • Introduced Vanishing Bomb gadget to the Light archetype
• Zipline
  • Added line break effect to Ziplines

That was everything included in The Finals update 1.2.0, and players can expect even more major updates throughout Season 1. For more on The Finals, be sure to check out some of our guides:

The Finals Contestants: All builds explained | How to change your name in The Finals | Is The Finals on PlayStation 4 & Xbox One? | Is The Finals on PlayStation 4 & Xbox One? | The Finals Ranked Tournament explained | Best build in The Finals: Contestant type, weapon, Gadgets & Specialization | Best Heavy build in The Finals: Weapon, Specialization & Gadgets | Best Light build in The Finals: Weapons, Gadgets & Specialization