The Finals Season 9 preview — Introducing, Break Point!

The Finals isn’t just celebrating its ninth season, Dragon Rising, but its second year as a successful live service. Dragon Rising will include a new map, a new mode, a new battle pass, as well as changes to the sponsor system, world tour, and more. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to play in Fangwai City, but we did get to play the new mode and glance over the new cosmetics, so those will be the main focus here.

Point Break 

Firstly, let’s go over the new mode, Point Break. Basically, it’s Rush from Battlefield. There are two teams of eight, one group of attackers, and one group of defenders. The defenders’ goal is to protect three box-shaped terminals, not too dissimilar to cashout stations, if not decently larger. There are three sectors, and attackers need to clear out all three terminals in one sector before they can move onto the next. Attackers have 30 lives to burn through, and defenders have unlimited lives. It takes a few seconds to arm or disarm objectives, so teamplay is vital in this mode. 

I’ve got to say, eight vs eight in The Finals is insanely chaotic, and I’m not quite sure how to feel about it. I only got a few rounds in, which is nowhere near sufficient to properly judge a gamemode. On one hand, there’s a certain novelty to 16 players fighting around 3 objectives, forming plans, executing on them, tearing the arena apart, and moving to counter; all in two (hopefully) cohesive units. Simply put, it's a lot more action condensed into smaller zones of play than the other modes. On the other hand, it felt a bit awkward and imbalanced. It’s like all of the classes' advantages and weaknesses have been cranked up to 11. 

Let’s go over the classes and how they perform in this mode. The light class thrives on chaos, taking advantage of misplays, and is known for its sink-or-swim nature. Now, it goes beyond sink or swim—it’s banishment or ascension. If you’re a mediocre or average light player, you’re straight up a non-factor in Break Point. If you’re a great light player, there's more opportunity than ever before. The keyword there is opportunity. More players means more chances to get caught out while setting up some premium shenanigans. 

Medium feels like a rock-solid pick. Their jack-of-all-trades, supportive nature means they’ve got plenty of options for making plays to arm an objective or helping their teammates do so. All of the defensive plays you can make in the other game modes apply here, so feel free to lock a window down with the jump pad or lay mines to your heart's content. 

Heavy is still the god-like entity it usually is. I played mostly heavy for the handful of rounds I played, and the value it brings to the team puts light to shame. Running dome shield, healing orb, and winch claw were incredibly powerful for defending and making picks on the point. I’m not sure if they’ve made updates to the TTK since I last played, or if something was nerfed, or if there are damage and health changes for this mode, but I swear bullets were merely tickling me at times. It’s no surprise that the defensive class is best at guarding in a game mode with three active objectives. Though, you will really feel your slow movement speed when rotating to defend other objectives.

Overall, Point Break is a welcome addition to the game. Watching an entire team of eight lob explosives and utilities at the same building is pretty fun. 

Cosmetics 

With a new season comes a new battle pass, and thus new rewards to grind for. The skins in the pass are pretty stunning. As usual, the various rewards include emotes, weapon charms, little pieces of apparel, and the showstopping ultimate rewards. The ultimate rewards, in order, include: the Eclipstress mythic outfit, the Sovereign Seal AKM skin, the Imperial Balance watch cosmetic, the Lanternrush Shak-50 skin, the Black Koi Drifter mythic outfit, the Glazeborn Strike ARN-220 skin, the Maw of Many Multi-device skin, the Baihu Blackguard mythic outfit, the Roaring Chamber MGL32 skin, the Bamboozler mythic mask, the Muzzle Wyrm Flame Thrower skin, and the Dynasty Breaker mythic outfit. The capstones for the final two levels of the battle pass are the legendary High Zest Vest and No Rest Rig. These items aren’t only on theme, they’re incredibly stylish. Alongside a new battle pass, there’s been a change to the functionality of sponsorships! Players can now move between sponsorships, unlocking everything they have to offer. 

The Finals Season 9, Dragon Rising, will launch on December 10th at 8:00 am PT and 11:00 am ET.