THE FINALS: Complete Guide

Classes, specializations, Cashout fundamentals, the Season 11 meta, the reworked melee, and ranked tips for Embark's destructible-arena shooter.

Researched September 2026 — current as of Season 11: Galaxy Masters, Update 11.10.0 (Respec Order 3.0) and Store Update 11.11.0. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

Pick a class based on body size and HP. Light has 150 HP, Medium 250, and Heavy 350. Lights are fast and fragile, Heavies are slow and tanky, and Mediums support the team.
Play the objective, not the scoreboard. In Cashout, the team that banks the most cash wins. Kills only matter if they win you the cashout.
The whole map can be destroyed, so use that. Blow open floors and walls to drop onto a cashout station, cut off an attack path, or reach the vault from underneath.
Stick with your team. Three players together beat three players spread out. Revive downed teammates fast, and pick up teammate statues (or use a Defibrillator) to bring back the dead.
A team wipe costs you. When all three die, you wait on a longer respawn and the enemy gets free time on the objective.
Start with the recommended kits. FCAR plus Healing Beam on Medium is the easiest strong loadout for new players.
Learn the new melee. Every melee weapon uses Stamina (which powers the lunge) and Precision (hits in the sweet spot of the swing do critical damage).
Warm up with Bot Matches. As of Season 11, full Cashout matches against AI are available solo or in parties of up to three, with reduced progression.
Complete the Early Talent Program. It replaced Rookie Contracts and teaches Ranked Cashout, Quick Cash, and Point Break in the Academy screen.

What's Current

Item	Details
Season	Season 11: Galaxy Masters, launched July 9, 2026
New arena	Galaxy Estates: a space-habitat colony with suburban neighborhoods, mid-century modern homes, and a spaceport. Has speed tunnels, anti-gravity columns, destructible towers, trampolines, and sliding doors
Latest balance patches	11.6.0 (Aug 19–20): buffs to AKM, ARN-220, Dagger, Dual Blades and more, nerfs to KS-23 and M11. 11.7.0 (Aug 27): Shockwave now applies a 2-second glitch to enemies it hits
Limited mode	Respec Order 3.0 (Update 11.10.0, Sept 17, runs about two weeks). Light goes to 175 HP (from 150) but moves slower (sprint 7 to 6.6 m/s). Heavy drops to 325 HP (from 350) but moves faster (sprint 5.8 to 6 m/s). Some weapons are rebalanced
Latest store update	11.11.0 (Sept 24)
Next season	Season 12 arrives October 20, 2026 (per Embark's "A New Chapter" post, Sept 18). Promised: a new playstyle and mode, a full UI/HUD overhaul, a Sponsor system rework, arena lighting/material and level design updates, and a destruction overhaul (partial structural damage, chain reactions, dynamic smoke)

Embark said it hopes "to make a decision one way or another by the launch of Season 12" on whether Respec Order's movement and health changes become permanent. If Season 12 changes class HP, the numbers in this guide are out of date.

Game Modes

Mode	Format	Notes
Cashout	Multi-team teams of 3	Main casual mode. Take the cash from vaults to cashout stations and defend it
Ranked Cashout (World Tour / Ranked)	Tournament rounds where the bottom teams are eliminated	Where rank is earned
Quick Cash	Shorter, more chaotic Cashout variant	Good for warmups and quests
Point Break	Attack/defend objective mode	Playable on Las Vegas Stadium as of Season 11
Team Deathmatch	Kill-based	Aim practice. Monaco was added in Season 11
Bot Matches	Cashout vs AI	New in Season 11. Reduced progression
Head-2-Head / Final Round	Private matches	Scrims and custom games

How Cashout works

Vaults open around the arena. Open one to get a cash box.
Carry the box to an active cashout station and deposit it. The station then counts up while your team holds it.
Enemies can steal the station by interacting with it, which transfers the cashout to them.
When the timer ends, the cash goes to whoever owns the station.
Your team's cash is at risk when you die. Kills drop coins, and a team wipe hands momentum to your opponents.

The rule most new players miss: the team that makes the last steal usually wins. Don't overcommit early. Stay alive near the end of the timer, then steal or defend with all three players.

Classes and Specializations

Each class gets one specialization (its active ability), weapon options, and three gadgets.

Class	HP	Specializations
Light	150	Evasive Dash (short dashes, now 2 charges), Cloaking Device (temporary cloak. Season 11 cut its minimum duration to about 11s and ties energy drain to movement speed), Grappling Hook
Medium	250	Healing Beam (heal teammates directly), Dematerializer (temporarily makes surfaces disappear), Shockwave (thrown orb that knocks back and, since 11.7.0, glitches), Guardian Turret
Heavy	350	Winch Claw (pull enemies or objects), Mesh Shield (front-facing shield), Charge 'N' Slam (charge through walls), Goo Gun (build or block with goo)

HP values are the standard ones. Respec Order 3.0 temporarily changes them to Light 175 and Heavy 325.

Current meta specializations

Tier	Light	Medium	Heavy
Top	Evasive Dash	Healing Beam	Winch Claw
Strong	Cloaking Device, Grappling Hook	Dematerializer, Shockwave	Mesh Shield
Niche	—	Guardian Turret	Charge 'N' Slam, Goo Gun

Meta Loadouts (Season 11)

Based on community tier lists from Season 11. Balance patches move these around, so check the latest patch notes.

Class	Loadout	Why it works
Light: Cloak Recon	XP-54 or LH1 · Cloaking Device · Gateway, Glitch Grenade, H+ Infuser	Scouting and picking off stragglers. The Gateway lets the team rotate out
Light: Dash aggro	M11 or XP-54 · Evasive Dash · H+ Infuser, Glitch Grenade, Vanishing Bomb	Fast in and out. The M11 took a nerf in 11.6.0 but is still good
Medium: FCAR Aggro	FCAR · Healing Beam · Defibrillator, Jump Pad, Goo Grenade	Most reliable all-rounder. Heals keep the team alive and the Defib saves you from wipes
Medium: Repeater	CB-01 Repeater · Healing Beam or Dematerializer · Defibrillator, Jump Pad, Frag	High damage per shot from mid range
Heavy: Winch Aggro	ShAK-50 or SA1216 · Winch Claw · RPG-7, Dome Shield, C4	Pull a target into your gun or team. Dome Shield wins cashout fights
Heavy: Anchor	KS-23 or M134 Minigun · Mesh Shield · Dome Shield, RPG-7, Goo Grenade	Holding a cashout. The KS-23 was buffed at the start of the season, then nerfed in 11.6.0

Gadgets that show up in most builds: H+ Infuser, Gateway, Glitch Grenade, Vanishing Bomb, Defibrillator, Jump Pad, Dome Shield, RPG-7, Frag Grenade.

Team comp: Double Heavy plus one Medium (a Heal Beam Medium keeping two Heavies alive) has been the dominant Season 11 ranked setup. Light plus Medium plus Heavy is still the most forgiving comp for pick-up groups.

The Season 11 Melee Rework

Every melee weapon now uses two systems:

Stamina. Your attack lunges only while you have Stamina. It regenerates over time and when you land Precise hits.
Precision. Hits inside the sweet spot of the swing do critical damage. Hits outside it do reduced damage.

Launch values from the Season 11 notes, before later tuning:

Weapon	Precise / base damage	Notes
Dagger	60 / 42	Lunge increased to 4.5m. Buffed again in 11.6.0
Dual Blades	57×2 / 39×2	Cross-swipe replaced by Cross Slash (140 precise). Buffed in 11.6.0
Sword	110 / 71	Lunge 4.25m
Spear	74 / 55	Lunge cut from 7.5m to 5m
Sledgehammer	120 / 90	Lunge increased to 5m
Riot Shield	82 / 57	New Shield Bash attack
Quick melee (all)	25 (down from 40)	Now includes a contextual Kick

Tip: don't open a fight with a lunge. Keep some Stamina so you can close distance after the enemy wastes an ability or reloads.

Settings and Aim

Field of view: most players go high (around 90–100+) for awareness in the chaos. Very high FOV makes distant targets small.
Performance first: lower destruction-heavy effects and shadows if your FPS drops during big collapses. Update 11.1.0 restored FSR3 performance on AMD.
Crosshair placement: keep it at head height and pre-aim doorways. With vertical arenas, check above and below you.
Audio: play with headphones. Vault openings, cashout steals, and gadget sounds tell you where the fight is.

Positioning and Destruction

Attack from the side you create. When the enemy holds a room, blow a new entrance instead of pushing through the doorway they're watching.
Floors are doors. C4, RPG-7, and Heavy specializations can drop an enemy team through the floor, or drop you onto their cashout.
Defend with walls. Goo Grenades, the Goo Gun, Barricades, and the Dome Shield turn open rooms into bunkers.
Watch the timer. Rotate to the cashout you plan to steal with 30 to 45 seconds left, not 5.
Use Galaxy Estates' movement. Speed tunnels and anti-gravity columns make rotations much faster than on older arenas. Learn them early.

Ranked Tips (Season 11)

Personal performance bonuses now add Ranked Score based on how you play, scaling with your tier, so doing well in a losing game helps a little.
World Tour rewards unlock when you reach a league (for example, reaching Diamond 4 guarantees Diamond rewards) rather than as you climb within it.
Diamond tokens exist separately for Diamond 4 and Diamond 1.
Queue with a fixed trio if you can. Coordinated comps (Heal Beam Medium, Winch Heavy) do far better than solo queuers on random classes.
Round one goal is survival. You only need to not be eliminated. Avoid the first big fight and take the last cashout.

Progression and Currencies

Currency	Earned by	Spend on
VRs	Playing matches, contracts	Unlocking weapons, gadgets, and specializations, plus some cosmetics
Multibucks	Purchased, or earned through the Premium Battle Pass	Store cosmetics, Battle Passes
Sponsor / Fan progress	Sponsor contracts	Sponsor rewards. Total Fans needed were cut about 50% in Season 11, ahead of the Season 12 Sponsor rework

Battle Pass (Season 11): Premium has 106 rewards and gives back 1,575 Multibucks. Ultimate adds 12 extra rewards, unlocks 20 levels, and gives 2,575 Multibucks (1,000 immediately). Older passes (including Season 8) rotate in as legacy passes.

F2P priority: spend VRs on meta essentials first (FCAR, Defibrillator, Healing Beam, Winch Claw, Dome Shield, H+ Infuser) before experimenting.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Fighting in the open. Everything can hit you from everywhere. Fight around cover you control.
Solo-pushing a cashout. One player on a steal just feeds coins. Wait for the team.
Stealing too early. Taking the cashout at 2:00 invites every team in. Steal late.
Ignoring statues. Picking up teammate statues is often worth more than chasing a kill.
Staying on a collapsing floor. Watch for C4 and cracks and move before the floor goes.
Using old melee habits. Spamming swings drains Stamina, so you lose the lunge, and off-timing swings miss the Precision window and do reduced damage.
Leaving Sponsor progress for Season 12. The Sponsor system is being overhauled in Season 12, so finish the rewards you want now.

Advanced Tips

Deny the plant. Goo or a Dome Shield on a cashout station makes steals slow and loud.
Third-party timing. When two teams fight over a station, wait for one to wipe, then clean up with full HP.
Winch plus team focus. Pulling a Heavy into two teammates is an instant kill. Call it before you throw.
Dematerializer lines. Open sightlines through walls for your Heavy or for a surprise peek, and close them before the enemy uses them.
Shockwave glitch (11.7.0) turns off Cloaking Device, Mesh Shield, and Evasive Dash for 2 seconds. Throw it before your push.
Let the tankiest player carry the box. The carrier can't shoot back, so a Heavy with 350 HP is the safest choice. You can also throw the box ahead to a teammate or onto the station.
Play Respec Order 3.0 while it's live. It's a preview of changes that may become permanent in Season 12.

FAQ

Is THE FINALS free to play? Yes. It's free on PC (Steam), PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Cosmetics and Battle Passes are optional purchases.

What is the best class for beginners? Medium with FCAR and Healing Beam. It's forgiving, useful to the team, and teaches you positioning.

What changed with melee in Season 11? All melee now uses Stamina (for lunges) and Precision (critical damage in the sweet spot of the swing). Quick melee went from 40 to 25 damage and gained a contextual Kick.

What is Respec Order 3.0? A limited-time test in Update 11.10.0 (from September 17, for about two weeks) that gives Lights more HP (175) but less speed, gives Heavies less HP (325) but more speed, and adjusts some weapons. Embark may make parts of it permanent.

When does Season 12 start? October 20, 2026, per Embark's official "A New Chapter" post (September 18).

Can I practice against bots? Yes. Since Season 11, Bot Matches offer full Cashout games against AI for solo players or parties of up to three, with reduced progression.

Is there cross-play? Yes. PC and console players share matchmaking, and cross-progression works through an Embark ID.