The Finals March 17 update patch notes: Buffs & nerfs, Diamond rank added, more

Joseph Pascoulis
the finals character with logo in the back

The Finals has received a new update on March 17, bringing a variety of fixes and balance changes for players. Here are The Finals 0.4 patch notes.

The Finals beta has taken the FPS community by storm, as lucky players continue to enjoy the closed beta until March 21.

The devs at Embark Studio have been hard at work, getting patches out extremely often to make sure The Finals is in tip-top condition for the players to have fun. Now, March 17 has brought yet another update for the free-to-play game, bringing a bunch of balance changes and fixes.

For those interested, here are the full patch notes for The Finals March 17 update.

New Diamond League in The Finals ranked

As of the March 17 patch, The Finals players can now progress into a new max rank, Diamond League. This means that those who were Gold rank in the Tournament mode can now progress into the Diamond League rank, giving players another step to the grind.

The Finals March 17 0.4 patch notes

Fixes and Updates

Animations

  • Fixed an issue where manual action reloads would sometimes not trigger

Audio

  • Tweaked ranges for various Foley sound effects
  • Tweaked relevancy of indoor ambience
  • Updated various clothing sounds
  • Added progress sound for getting revived by a teammate

Characters

  • Fixed an issue where some characters would appear without clothing
  • Fixed an issue where characters would become permanently invisible

Gravity Glove

  • Improved response time when picking up items

Levels

  • Improved interactions with vertical ziplines to make them easier to use
  • Removed camera shake from Cashout Stations
  • Made crane ziplines indestructible

Ranked Mode

  • Added Diamond League to the ranking system

UI

  • Fixed an issue with teams not highlighting correctly on the tournament pyramid
  • Fixed an issue where squad loadouts would not change during drafting
  • Fixed an issue where the ‘Invite to Party’ button would show for the party leader even when the party was full
  • Fixed an issue hindering Report a Player from recent players screen

Visual effects

  • Tuned various muzzle flash effects

Balance Changes

Cashout Mode

  • Reduced team wipe respawn times from 25 seconds to 20 seconds

Abilities

Cloak

  • Added new audio when in use, including volume adjustments based on movement speed and new exit and entry audio
  • Increased the max duration from 10 seconds to 12 seconds

Dash

  • Fixed an issue where dash sound effects would not play

Body Types

  • Reduced Heavy health from 350 to 325

Gadgets

Dome Shield

  • Reduced radius by 25%
  • Increased friction and reduced bounce to make Dome Shields easier to place
  • Removed the ability to pick them up
  • Fixed an issue where theys could knock over or push Cashout Stations and Vaults

Defibrillators

  • Reduced the health given by 50%

Explosive Mines

  • Fixed an issue where spectator cameras could detonate mines
  • Increased Mine environmental damage from 550 to 1025

Liftables

  • Increased Oil Barrel environmental damage from 550 to 2050

Weapons

.30-06 Sniper

  • Fixed an issue where the crosshair of the sniper scope could twitch

AKM

  • Increased AKM magazine size from 30 to 36

Flamethrower

  • Reduced Flamethrower reload time from 4 seconds to 3.5 seconds

LH1

  • Increased LH1 magazine size from 10 to 20

M32 Grenade Launcher

  • Reduced M32 reload time from 3.5 seconds to 3.1 seconds

M60

  • Reduced M60 reload time from 4 seconds to 3.5 seconds

M11

  • Increased magazine size from 32 to 40

Pump-action Grenade Launcher

  • Reduced Pump-action manual action reload duration by 20%

Repeater Shotgun

  • Decreased bullet dispersion size

Riot Shield

  • Increased Riot Shield damage from 60 to 68

SA1216 Shotgun

  • Decreased bullet dispersion size

Sledgehammer

  • Increased Sledgehammer damage from 130 to 145
  • Increased Sledgehammer environmental damage from 550 to 685

Sword

  • Increased Sword damage from 45 to 74

V9S

  • Increased V9S magazine size from 18 to 24

For more, make sure you also check out what Dr Disrespect believes the game needs for it to be successful and if The Finals is crossplay.

Image credit: Embark Studios

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About The Author

Joseph is a Senior Writer at CharlieIntel, specializing in shooters such as Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Fortnite, and Overwatch. He also enjoys Souls-likes, the Resident Evil franchise, and Tekken. After writing for KeenGamer, he joined CharlieIntel in 2021. If Joseph isn't writing about games, he's most likely playing them. You can contact him at [email protected].