Our final say on The Finals builds.
Much like the buildings in The Finals, we’ll be breaking down each of the classes to find the best builds for the Heavy, Medium and Light class.
Developed by Embark Studios comprised of former Battlefield devs, The Finals has fast become one of this year’s best shooters and players are already discovering metas – and that includes us.
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You can absolutely feel some of the Battlefield magic as buildings come crashing down Bad Company 2 style. It almost brings a tear to our eye.
Also bringing tears to eyes will be our strats as you wipe out other squads who were foolish enough not to subscribe to the Radio Times Gaming newsletter or listen to our One More Life podcast.
But that’s quite enough from us. Read on to find out what we think are the best builds for each class in The Finals so that you come out on top!
The Finals builds: Best choices for Heavy, Medium and Light class
Below are what we think to be the best builds for the Heavy, medium and Light classes in The Finals after many a sweaty session destroying the map (and other teams).
Heavy
Here’s a quick overview of the best build for the Heavy in The Finals.
- Specialization – Mesh Shield
- Weapon – SA1216
- Gadgets – Explosive Mine, RPG, Dome Shield
Our reasoning is that the Mesh Shield acts as protection for your team– they can sit behind you and shoot (like Reinhardt in Overwatch). It has had its health debuffed a little but it still provides vital cover.
The SA1216 shotgun was one of the most overpowered weapons in the game and still is since it got nerfed in the 1.4.0 patch. It’s ideal for close-quarters combat in buildings as they crumble down around you and will make short work of enemies.
The RPG is great for longer-range engagements – especially countering snipers as it will destroy the room they are in or the wall they are behind forcing them to move but it too has seen a slight nerf.
The explosive mine will help keep the Cash Out station in your squad’s grasp for as long as possible. C4’s lethality has been increased by the 1.4.0 patch too so you can swap out to this to experiment.
The Dome Shield has also had its health slightly lowered but it will still go a long way to make sure you squad stays in the game and makes as much cash as possible.
Medium
If you’re wanting a quick glance at the best build for the Medium class, take a gander at our recommendations below:
- Specialization – Healing Beam (or Guardian Turret if already have a healer)
- Weapon – AKM
- Gadgets – Gas Mine, Defibrillator, Jump Pad
The Healing Beam will keep you and your teammates’ health topped up to keep you in the fight for as long as possible and the defibrillator will revive downed teammates.
If you already have a healer, the Guardian Turret will offer up some extra firepower and act as a distraction as it bogs down other squads.
The Gas Mine can be placed at the Cash Out Station when you’re defending it to keep other players away from it.
The AKM has low recoil compared to other Assault Rifles such as the FCAR which is great for shooting at longer ranges and controlling your shots in the fast-paced and hectic destructable map.
Jump Pads are a reliable way to move around and are much faster than taking the stairs. Rubble can be hard and slow to traverse so simply yeeting yourself over a destroyed building is far more efficient.
Light
If you like to run light, below is what think will serve you best in The Finals.
- Specialization – Cloaking Device
- Weapon – XP-54
- Gadgets – Frag Grenade, Stun Gun, Glitch Grenade
As you have less health, the Cloaking Device will offer you an extra layer of protection as you dip out of view to avoid incoming fire and make a clean escape. It will also allow you to get the drop on other players for ambushes.
The XP-54 has a very short time-to-kill (TTK) and comes with a scope to help keep a bit of distance between you and people trying to run down your small health pool. If you’re a dab hand with accuracy, the V9S pistol is also a great choice.
The Stun grenade and Glitch grande also help even the odds by confusing enemy players and making them easier to kill as you dance around them. The good o’ Frag grenade is great for room clearing and destruction too.
What’s the best team composition in The Finals?
We think the best team composition in The Finals is Medium (Healer), Medium (Guardian Turret) and Heavy (shield).
This will make for a well-balanced team that can dish out the hurt and prevent it as it has a huge amount of firepower all while being able to take cover and heal.
Currently, the Light class isn’t very well-balanced and frequently gets stomped by other players and we can’t recommend it until it receives a proper buff.
When the Light class is revamped, we’ll take another look at it and see if it is a worthy addition to your team or still falls short of reaching The Finals.
What are the best settings in The Finals?
Below are our recommended settings for running in The Finals for both gameplay and graphics.
- Vsync – Off
- FOV – 100
- Crossplay – On
- Motion blur – Off
- Nvidia Reflex – On
- DLSS setting – Quality (If you have an Nvidia GPU)
- RTX Global Illumination – Low (Dynamic)
- Shadows – Medium
- Post-Processing – Medium
- View distance – High
- Anti-Aliasing – Medium
- Lens distortion – Off
- Foliage – Low
- Textures – Medium
If you do use a controller, we would recommend you use the Direction Equipping setting.
This equips gadgets to the DPAD buttons individually (eg Left on DPAD is one gadget, Right is another, Down is another) and is much quicker to use than other ones.
Additional reporting by Oliver Barsby.
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