The Finals update 1.4.0 patch notes: Weapon and gadget balancing, winter theme, more

Complete breakdown of The Finals 1.4.0 patch with strategic insights and gameplay optimization tips

Update Overview and Key Changes

The Finals patch 1.4.0 represents the second major seasonal update, delivering comprehensive balancing adjustments alongside festive winter content. This substantial patch introduces critical changes to core gameplay mechanics that will significantly impact competitive strategies.

Embark Studios has deployed extensive weapon tuning, gadget rebalancing, and quality-of-life enhancements alongside their ongoing battle against cheating systems. The development team indicates they’re closing in on solutions for ban evasion exploits that have plagued the anti-cheat system.

While Christmas remains weeks away, Season 1’s winter celebration arrives early with snow-covered environments and exclusive seasonal rewards. The developers have focused on creating fairer engagement opportunities through systematic adjustments to overpowered equipment.

Beyond the mechanical changes, players can claim the free Tactical Tidings Set cosmetic collection, providing festive visual customization without affecting gameplay balance. The Vegas battlefield undergoes a seasonal transformation with snow accumulation altering visual aesthetics while maintaining competitive integrity.

Strategic Insight: The comprehensive nature of these changes suggests Embark is addressing community feedback about certain dominant strategies while encouraging diverse loadout experimentation.

Ability Balancing Changes

Class abilities receive targeted adjustments to address balance concerns that emerged during the early season meta. These changes specifically target abilities that were either overperforming or underutilized in competitive play.

The Mesh Shield undergoes a significant durability reduction, dropping from 1250 to 1100 health points. This 12% reduction in protective capacity forces Heavy class players to employ more strategic shield deployment rather than relying on raw durability.

Conversely, Recon Senses receives a substantial buff with activation cost reduced from 2 to 1 resource point. This 50% reduction in cost makes the ability more accessible for tactical information gathering throughout matches.

The Goo Gun and Goo Grenade both receive fixes addressing problematic interactions where goo formations could accidentally block the user’s movement path. This quality-of-life improvement prevents self-sabotage during intense firefights.

Pro Tip: With the Mesh Shield nerf, consider combining it with Dome Shield for layered protection rather than relying solely on the primary barrier. The Recon Senses buff makes it more viable for aggressive playstyles seeking enemy positions.

Gadget Adjustments and Meta Impact

Explosive gadgets undergo comprehensive rebalancing to reduce their dominance in area denial and instant elimination scenarios. These changes promote more strategic deployment rather than spam usage.

C4 receives multiple significant nerfs: maximum player damage drops from 240 to 210 (12.5% reduction), damage radius decreases from 2.4m to 1.6m (33% reduction), and self-damage multiplier increases from 1 to 1.3. These changes make C4 less effective for guaranteed kills while increasing risk for careless users.

All mine-type gadgets (Gas Mine, Glitch Mine, Mine, Pyro Mine) now feature a 1.6-second arming time, preventing instant detonation upon placement. This creates counterplay opportunities for alert opponents to destroy mines before they become active threats.

The RPG-7 undergoes extensive adjustments with reduced damage at both minimum (90 to 80) and maximum (165 to 150) ranges, smaller damage radii, and increased dispersion during aiming. These changes position the RPG as a utility tool rather than a primary elimination weapon.

Stun Gun receives a range increase from 10m to 12m, making it more effective for initiating engagements against fleeing opponents or controlling space in close-quarters combat.

Common Mistake: Avoid placing mines directly in combat zones during active firefights. The arming delay makes them vulnerable to destruction before activation. Instead, position them in chokepoints or objective areas where enemies are likely to approach cautiously.

Weapon Balance Updates

Weapon adjustments target both underperforming and overperforming firearms to create more diverse combat scenarios. Several weapons receive buffs to increase their viability in the current meta.

The Flamethrower sees a fire rate increase from 160 to 170 (6.25% improvement), enhancing its damage output in close-quarters engagements. This buff makes it more competitive against shotgun alternatives for Heavy class players.

The LH1 marksman rifle receives a damage boost from 45 to 47 per shot, improving its time-to-kill potential and making it more effective at medium ranges where it specializes.

The M11 submachine gun damage increases from 15 to 16, a subtle but meaningful buff that enhances its close-range dominance against lighter targets.

The SA1216 shotgun undergoes balancing with increased pellet dispersion and reduced damage per pellet (8 to 7), making it less consistent at extreme ranges while maintaining close-quarters effectiveness.

The AKM assault rifle receives slight recoil pattern adjustments to improve controllability during sustained fire, though specific pattern changes require in-game testing to fully understand.

Optimization Tip: The Flamethrower buff makes it particularly effective in objective-based modes where controlling enclosed spaces is crucial. Combine it with gas-based gadgets for area denial combinations.

Map and Game Mode Improvements

Environmental and gameplay updates enhance both visual presentation and technical functionality across various game modes and locations.

The Vegas map receives structural updates with improved destruction mechanics through updated strain systems in multiple buildings. This creates more predictable and satisfying environmental destruction during combat.

A critical bug fix addresses cashout stations becoming invisible before transfer completion, resolving a frustrating visual issue that impacted objective gameplay clarity.

The Alien Invasion game show event now features repulsors on flying saucers, potentially altering movement dynamics and strategic positioning during this random event.

BankIt mode specifically disables Deathmatch game show events, preventing incompatible gameplay interactions that could disrupt the core bank collection mechanics.

Strategic Insight: The Vegas destruction improvements may create new sightlines and attack routes. Experiment with environmental demolition to create unexpected angles on objective positions.

Quality of Life and UI Updates

Technical improvements and interface enhancements address player experience issues while providing better gameplay feedback and social features.

Vaulting mechanics receive optimization to reduce accidental climbing on objects outside the player’s field of view. This improves movement fluidity and prevents frustrating environmental interactions.

A critical fix addresses situations where players could become stuck without input capability, resolving game-breaking softlock scenarios that could occur during complex environmental interactions.

Zipline placement restrictions now prevent attachment to pickupable objects, eliminating potential exploitation and inconsistent movement options.

Social screen improvements hide the “Invite to party” button when the player isn’t the party leader, reducing confusion and unnecessary interface elements.

AFK kick warnings now display clearer UI indicators when players risk removal due to inactivity, providing better awareness of gameplay requirements.

Health bar customization expands with squad color options when enabled in settings, enhancing team identification during chaotic combat situations.

The ranking interface now displays “unranked” status for players outside the top 500 leaderboard positions, providing clearer competitive positioning information.

Pro Tip: Enable squad-colored health bars in settings for quicker team identification during intense objective fights where visual clarity is crucial for coordinated play.

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