The Finals’ Riot Shield problem makes me want to hurl my ROG Ally in the trash

The Finals has always had a balancing problem. In a shooter where there are so many variables to consider, from destroying the map to your benefit or changing your loadout on the fly to counter your foes, Embark Studios faces a daunting task to keep it all in check. The ever-changing nature of The Finals is why I love it dearly, but a recent balancing pass to melee weapons is creating a monster, and that’s taking the form of Riot Shield users.

Like many The Finals players, I lock into World Tour every day to improve my chances of reaching Emerald tier. As of today, 25 days remain until the end of Season 7, and I’m aiming for Emerald Two, which unlocks that shiny player background card. I’ll be taking my Asus ROG Ally to Cologne for Gamescom, chipping away at win points during free time in my hotel. If I skip playing during the trip, that still leaves me at least 21 days to climb.

With a hypothetical win rate of 40%, and assuming I play around two World Tour matches per day, the chances of hitting Emerald Two over those 21 days are about 72%. That translates to roughly 15 total victories, which still sounds promising, which sounds good, doesn’t it? I thought so before Embark Studios’ recent patch notes. In the FPS game’s midseason update, design director Matt Lowe speaks about the huge balancing tweaks made to melee combat.

Lowe says that “in order to make melee weapons viable, they should be able to compete with fairly similar odds to guns, but that doesn’t mean they should always be as good as the best gun or other weapons.”

Despite addressing the extremes of niche weapons like bows, shotguns, and melee weapons, Lowe adds that Embark’s goal is “To keep them viable, we want to make sure players have a chance to win without making them overly frustrating or too niche for regular play.” Combined with efforts to explore how players exploit these weapons and use the Steam Deck game’s imperfections to beat other players, there’s a mission to completely overhaul what is expected of melee combat in The Finals.

It’s a noble quest, but it’s also the root of the issue, because this is where the Riot Shield buff infected the game. Not only is the Riot Shield’s sweep more agile and effective at range, its attack duration is slightly shorter, increasing the Riot Shield’s attack speed by 10%. It sounds like nothing on paper, but a good Medium class player can demolish a Light player in seconds and a Heavy in a few solid hits. The latter isn’t right.

The Heavy class sports a hefty 350 point health pool, the largest in the game. It should be enough to withstand most melee weapons if you’re able to counter them quickly. Unlike the Sword or Dagger, the Riot Shield’s counters are few and far between. You can stall them with the Goo Gun or Goo Grenades, but it only prolongs the inevitable. Pyro Grenades and Mines can inflict harm if they’re foolish enough to step into them. But it still feels redundant.

As the Riot Shield is completely bulletproof, aiming for the player’s feet, back, or exposed sides is the way to bury them. Except that the weapon’s length makes foot shots awkward. You might get lucky if your teammates can pick them off from a distance, and I’ll always thank anyone who’s got me covered from the perches of a building. Now, I know what some of you might be thinking: get good.

I can admit I’m not a top-percent player in The Finals. I’ve faced my fair share of Ranked players who are Ruby tier, playing World Tour because they’re surely bored with the easy wins and have nothing left to earn in that mode. Most of the time, I can’t even be mad at them because their skill level is genuinely impressive to see unfold. Stopping a Cashout that I pulled over with the Winch Claw from falling off a rooftop with a Gravity Vortex? That’s an excellent play.

Across my nearly 600 hours of The Finals matches, I can confidently say that I’ve never seen a more annoying meta change. Even the carnage of the CL-40 buff from five months ago isn’t as frustrating. Melee weapons in The Finals should be about risk versus reward, not just straight-up reward. But how can Embark Studios fix it?

Nerfing the Riot Shield isn’t exactly straightforward, as it needs to factor into the studio’s focus on “melee tech” and redefining what this type of fighting is in the game. But it can be changed in other ways. Just by making the shield itself slightly shorter and forcing Medium players to use crouching as a method of protection seems like a more strategic decision. The Finals’ matches are all about strategy, changing up your tactics, and evolving with the map as it gives way to destruction.

It’s why I adore this game and believe it’s the greatest shooter in the FPS scene right now. Nothing comes close to what it offers, and no shooter can replicate The Finals’ unpredictable chaos. Choices like supporting the Steam Deck against all odds prove Embark Studios listens to its players. That does come at a cost, though, and that’s often in decisions that make me want to throw my ROG Ally into the trash. I could rant about the choice to leave players without a full magazine or the delayed ability countdown upon revival for hours.

Season 8 is fast approaching, and a new chapter for The Finals is coming with an eSports tournament later this year. A new map might even go to space. It may not have a multi-million player count like Call of Duty, but in my chat with Embark Studios earlier this year, it assured me that The Finals isn’t dying anytime soon. If Embark doesn’t address the Riot Shield, though, my Emerald Two dreams are already buried six feet under.