THE FINALS Steal the Spotlight LTM, free cosmetic bundle, new Career Level rewards & more

Mid-Season Update 1.6.0 for THE FINALS includes a brand-new LTM, a bunch of free cosmetics, and some much-needed balance changes and bug fixes. There's not much to criticise about this patch, as it undoubtedly breathes new life into THE FINALS. Let's review the game's latest update and what's new in THE FINALS.

New LTM: Steal the Spotlight

The highlight of THE FINALS' Mid-Season Update 1.6.0 is the brand-new Steal the Spotlight Limited-time Mode (LTM). Steal the Spotlight is a solo event in which contestants are restricted to premade loadouts, and all the action takes place at night in Las Vegas. Furthermore, you'll find turrets and tripwires surrounding Cashout Stations in Steal the Spotlight, so depositing cash is as challenging as ever.

Unfortunately for fans of Solo Bank It, the experimental mode is no longer available. On the bright side, Steal the Spotlight uses the same rules, only with a twist.

Free cosmetic bundle

To encourage contestants to check out Steal the Spotlight, the LTM features a series of contracts and event-exclusive rewards you can unlock for free! Here's a list of all the contracts and which cosmetics they're tied to:

• Play one round of Steal the Spotlight
• Reward: Combat Boots
  
  
• Earn 5,000 cash in Steal the Spotlight
• Reward: Getaway Duffle
  
  
• Eliminate five opponents with the Lewis Gun
• Reward: Spotlighter Pants
  
  
• Eliminate five opponents with the SA1216
• Reward: Wheelspin Gloves
  
  
• Eliminate three opponents using Charge ‘N’ Slam
• Reward: Spotlighter Garb
  
  
• Play 12 rounds of Steal the Spotlight
• Reward: Spotlighter Stealer

You can play Steal the Spotlight and work toward unlocking the free bundle up until February 14, 2024.

New Career Level rewards

Mid-Season Update 1.6.0 introduces ten brand-new Career Level Rewards to THE FINALS. Now, players can climb to Level 50 and unlock new cosmetics along the way for free!

Gyro controls

Fans of gyro controls will be happy to hear that, as of Mid-Season Update 1.6.0, there are now gyro aiming options for PS5 DualSense and PS4 DualShock controllers.

Balance changes

Mid-Season Update 1.6.0 brings balance to THE FINALS, most notably with nerfs to Recon Senses. Below are all the balance changes, as relayed in the patch notes:

Gadgets

• Dome Shield
  
  
• Dome Shields will now use squad colours 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 use
• Replaced the zipline between Eastwood and Decora with a jump pad
• Moved various cover pieces to avoid gaps in cover
• Moved various chairs to make traversal easier
• Removed 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 see
• Added an extra door to make traversal easier
• Updated 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 visible
• Rearranged the aircon units to create more cover on the roof
• Adjusted the position of some cashout locations
  
  
• Glamora Casino
  
  
• Removed some chairs so it's easier to jump in and out of cashier booths
• Removed some chairs and railings in the theatre to make traversal easier
• Various other small fixes and balance tweaks

Specialisations

• Mesh Shield
  
  
• The Mesh Shield will now use squad colours 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 detected
• Players detected by Recon Senses will now see ‘Detected’ warning text on their HUD

Dev 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 Specialisations.

Content & bug fixes

Below is a list of some of the more minor additions to THE FINALS, plus all the bug fixes, courtesy of Mid-Season Update 1.6.0:

Animation

• Fixed some small issues with the LH1 reload and Goo Gun inspect animations
• Updated 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 footsteps
  
  
• Fixed an issue where the spawn sound effect could be cut off when respawning
• Updated various VO lines
• Various VO bug fixes

Characters

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

Controller

• Fixed an issue with aim assistance sensitivity reduction that caused almost no sensitivity reduction to be applied to targets closer to the player than 20m
• Reduced 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 foliage
• Fixed an issue where player statues could not be targeted for revives when carried
  
  
• Fixed various issues with placement distances on deployable Gadgets
• Fixed an issue where turret parts could collide with each other, causing strange behaviour when placed on barrels

Game Modes

• General
• Added the ability for players to customise 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.

Maps

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

Movement

• Fixed an issue where players could become stuck in encroached spaces
• Fixed an issue where players would fail wall jumps if they pressed and held jump too early in a vault sequence
• Fixed 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 rank
• Added new tournament overview screen to tournament modes
• Added additional item tutorial videos for the following items:
• APS Turret
• Gas Grenade
• Glitch Grenade
• Glitch Trap
• Goo Gun
• Motion Sensor
• Pyro Grenade
• Smoke Grenade
• Sonar Grenade
• Thermal Vision

• Added new Event Contracts to the Contracts screen
• Updated the size of ranked icons
• Fixed wrapping issues on Contracts during the end-of-round sequence
• Decreased duration of Vault objective markers on round start
• Made various improvements to contextual ping accuracy, making them more accurate
• Various 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 players
• Updated collision on coin death effects to reduce the number of coins that can fall through floors
• Various polish improvements to coin death effects
• Optimization pass on the gas canister explosion effects

Weapons

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

That's Mid-Season Update 1.6.0 for THE FINALS! The update is live in-game now, so what are you waiting for? Play Steal the Spotlight and start earning all the new free cosmetics!

Spot something in the in-game Store you want? Keep reading GGRecon to learn how to get Multibucks and other useful tips and tricks relating to THE FINALS.