The Finals is a free-to-play team-based FPS built around a fully destructible environment powered by Embark Studios' proprietary tech. Three body types — Light, Medium, and Heavy — offer distinct playstyles with unique abilities and weapon pools. The core game mode, Cashout, tasks teams with stealing vaults and depositing them at cashout stations while defending against other squads. What sets The Finals apart is that every wall, floor, and ceiling can be destroyed, meaning no position is truly safe and creative destruction is the meta.
Starting The Finals can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet.
What Kind of Game Is This?
The Finals is a fps game built around destruction system and cashout objectives. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Role
| Role | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Light Build | Excellent for beginners | Flank, steal cashouts, assassinate then disengage before the team collapses on you. |
| Medium Build | Good (but demanding) | Stay with the team, heal the Heavy, revive with Defib, control areas with gadgets. |
| Heavy Build | Good (but demanding) | Lead pushes into cashout sites, shield the team, C4 floors under enemy teams. |
| Support Medium | Good (but demanding) | Pocket-heal the Heavy, Defib downed teammates instantly, maintain safe positioning. |
| Aggressive Light | Situational | Close distance instantly with Dash, stun and melee kill, escape before retaliation. |
Our recommendation: Start with Medium Build. The most versatile class with access to the Healing Beam, Recon Senses, and the best all-around weapons. Every team needs at least one Medium. The AKM and FCAR are top-tier weapons that outperform most options at mid-range.
Avoid Aggressive Light as your first pick. High-risk Light build that uses Dash and Stun Gun to rush enemies directly.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn destruction system
Nearly every surface in The Finals can be destroyed using explosives, weapons fire, or abilities. Floors collapse under sustained damage, walls can be blown open for new sightlines, and entire buildings can be brought down. Smart destruction creates rotation paths, removes enemy cover, and denies cashout positions.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how destruction system works before worrying about anything else.
Step 2: Head to Monaco
Tight streets and multi-story buildings make this a destruction-heavy map. Collapsing buildings onto cashout stations is a viable strategy. Rooftop fights are common and the narrow alleys funnel fights into predictable chokepoints.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for AKM (Medium) — it's the most accessible early upgrade. The best all-around assault rifle with high damage per shot and manageable recoil. Kills Light in 5 body shots and Medium in 8. First-shot accuracy is excellent, making it dominant at mid-range. Slightly outperformed by FCAR at close range.
Step 4: Understand cashout objectives
Teams compete to grab vaults from the map, carry them to cashout stations, and defend them during a timed deposit. Other teams can steal the cashout by interacting with the station, creating chaotic multi-team fights. Winning requires both securing vaults and preventing steals.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early — it pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to Seoul
Modern cityscape with large open plazas connected by narrow alleyways. Long sightlines favor Medium and Heavy builds. The elevated train platforms provide strong cashout defense positions that require creative destruction to counter.
Essential Mechanics Explained
destruction system
Nearly every surface in The Finals can be destroyed using explosives, weapons fire, or abilities. Floors collapse under sustained damage, walls can be blown open for new sightlines, and entire buildings can be brought down. Smart destruction creates rotation paths, removes enemy cover, and denies cashout positions.
cashout objectives
Teams compete to grab vaults from the map, carry them to cashout stations, and defend them during a timed deposit. Other teams can steal the cashout by interacting with the station, creating chaotic multi-team fights. Winning requires both securing vaults and preventing steals.
class-based combat
Light builds are fast with stealth and mobility abilities but have 150 HP. Medium builds at 250 HP balance healing/support with solid DPS. Heavy builds tank at 350 HP with shields, C4, and suppressive fire. Team composition matters enormously.
gadget synergies
Each build carries specializations and gadgets that combo with teammates. Heavy's Dome Shield pairs with Medium's Turret for protected suppressive fire. Light's Grapple plus Cloaking Device enables flanking steals. Building around synergies wins more than raw aim.
environmental manipulation
Beyond destruction, you can use Goo Grenades to create temporary cover or block doors, Gas Mines to deny areas, and Jump Pads for vertical mobility. The environment is a weapon — redirecting fire through gas clouds ignites the area.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Playing Light without understanding its 150 HP limitation — you cannot trade shots with Medium or Heavy and win consistently
2. Ignoring destruction potential and treating the game like a standard FPS — the floor is always your best weapon
3. Running triple Light or triple Heavy compositions — team variety with at least one Medium healer is almost always stronger
4. Defending cashout from inside a building without reinforcing the floor — enemies will C4 it from below every time
5. Using the Defibrillator in the open — you're stationary for 2 seconds during the revive animation, making you an easy kill
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand destruction system and cashout objectives
- Choose Medium Build as starting role
- Clear Monaco main content
- Acquire AKM (Medium) or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Seoul
- C4 on a ceiling below a cashout station is the single most effective play in the game — the enemy team falls through and loses the position.
- Medium's Healing Beam heals 250 HP over 5 seconds. Keep it on your Heavy during fights — a healed Heavy with 350 HP is nearly unkillable.
Tips for New Players
- C4 on a ceiling below a cashout station is the single most effective play in the game — the enemy team falls through and loses the position.
- Medium's Healing Beam heals 250 HP over 5 seconds. Keep it on your Heavy during fights — a healed Heavy with 350 HP is nearly unkillable.
- Light's Cloaking Device has a visible shimmer when moving. Stand still to become truly invisible, then strike when enemies walk past.
- Goo Grenades create permanent platforms that block sightlines and doorways. Use them to seal off flanking routes during cashout defense.
- The Defibrillator revives teammates with 50% HP and has a 15-second cooldown. Position near downed allies but behind cover before reviving.
- RPG shots destroy any wall or floor in one hit. Use them to create instant rotation holes rather than wasting them on player damage.
- Gas Grenades deal 15 DPS in the cloud, but shooting through gas with a fire weapon ignites the area for 50+ DPS. Gas + fire combo is devastating.
- Jump Pads affect ALL players — place them for your team but be aware enemies can use them too. Destroy your own pads when repositioning.
- In Cashout mode, the vault carrier moves at 80% speed. Drop the vault to fight, then pick it up after clearing — don't fight while carrying.
- Dome Shield blocks all incoming damage for 15 seconds but enemies can walk through it. Pair with barricades to create a true fortress.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Finals pay-to-win?
No. All gameplay-affecting items (weapons, abilities, gadgets) are unlocked through progression or the free battle pass track. Premium purchases are cosmetic only. New weapons are sometimes temporarily strong but get balanced in patches.
What's the best team composition?
The meta is Heavy + Medium + Light or Heavy + Medium + Medium. You always want at least one Medium for healing and one Heavy for tanking. Light is flexible but not mandatory — double Medium provides more consistent results.
How does ranked work?
Ranked uses a points-based system where you gain or lose points based on placement and kills. Ranks go from Bronze through Diamond. Each season resets ranks partially. Solo queue and team queue share the same ladder.
Can you destroy the entire map?
Most of the map is destructible but not everything — ground floors and foundational structures usually remain. You can collapse upper floors, blow out walls, and create massive openings, but the map won't disappear entirely.
What to Read Next
- The Finals Builds — Optimize your role once you've learned the basics
- The Finals Walkthrough — Full progression path
- The Finals Tips — Advanced strategies for when you're ready
