THE FINALS: Essential Light Character Guide for Beginners – Pro Player Insights and Strategies for Season 1

It’s a term that echoes among the streets of THE FINALS. Light is arguably the most popular out of the three contestants currently playable in this game, and for great reasons too.

For an overview – light has a real nice variety of playstyles that really associate with players across many titles in FPS gaming. You want to fly through the air with a grapple? Well, that association with Apex Legends might pair well with you. Not your style? How about striking enemies when the time is right?

That’s the preferred style currently for Piggy – a former Twitch Rivals champion that ruled the skies of Hyperscape, now bringing his lightning-fast aim into THE FINALS, helping me create this guide series.

Now, this is going to be a real nice starter guide for you, I wanted to create an introduction to light, covering all the basics off first, before we dive into specific playstyles that we will cover down the line in my guides. Remember that I’m not forcing you to play this way, because, like the arenas, there are many variations as to how you can play this game.

With this guide, you will hit the ground running and pick the brains of proven players that have dominated in this game so far. You’re a new player trying to find your feet? You’re a seasoned player struggling? This guide is going to be the best light guide for THE FINALS – as an introduction.

So, starting off with this guide, Piggy mentions that light is the strongest when utilizing a “hit-n-run” playstyle. We’re going to be helping you understand how to be the sneaky flanker and sharpshooter looking for some picks. You will be the thorn in the enemies’ side.

“When teaming up, you’ll rarely catch me on the cashout”

Piggy actually opts to play around the cashout location, rather than inside it. This is because he can make his own plays and have a window of time where the opponents are not even getting close to the cashout. It’s about popping up when opponents may least expect it.

Assess your surroundings
– Is your opponent’s attention elsewhere?

We all know that light really struggles against heavy players thanks to the RPG, but that’s because most lights don’t think about what the opponents have on cooldown. If the opponent’s attention is elsewhere, wait for the heavy to use the RPG, then if the scenario presents the opportunity, strike with that deadly force.

-Can I sneak up without being spotted?

This is super important, again, if you’re just playing light blindly forcing the attacks into the enemies without any good exit abilities (such as dash or grapple) you’re not going to have the best of times. If you see an opportunity, be patient with it. Can you see anyone leading off on their own splitting up from the rest? That’s a perfect opportunity to hunt for an elimination.

-Is my move anticipated?

If you’re going into a fight, how predictable are you being? Think about it, most lights opt for that crazy outplay in your face scenario and really have no logic in their decision making. Lights tend to stick with their team-mates but split up when things get hectic. When I think back to all the fights I’ve had against a light as a heavy – it’s been super routine. Keep the RPG off CD for emergencies and wait for the light to show after we take the site.

Think about what’s going on around you, is there a low opponent that you can quickly snatch a kill from? Make them waste their defibrillator for example, there’s plenty of options for you to learn and develop skills to counter, and that’s the beauty of new games.

Piggy swears by the fact that light isn’t built for direct, fair fights. The secret trick is to ensure you’re in a favourable position to get in, deal damage and get out. Leverage lights mobility to the fullest you can, because if you come from VALORANT or Counterstrike, you’re mostly going to have old habits from that tactical FPS experience. This game is very forgiving with moving and shooting, even in-the-air fights can still give you way more accuracy than you think. You’re going to struggle in this part for some time – don’t feel bad about it, it’s part of the game.

As you head into the later stages of the matches, your role as the “hunter” changes up a bit to take on more of a “safeguarding” role. You want to make sure that those cashouts late game are prevented being stolen and enemy plans are disrupted.

If you can avoid scenarios such as being caught off-guard, in the open or in fights against multiple enemies and then pair that with being adaptable during the game? I think you’re going to be having a way better head-start against other players. The funny thing is that you’ll actually start to notice in fights the mistakes other players are making now after some time – not just yourself.

Above features the best content format that was inspired by this guide – essentially it covers over everything here with that visual touch and examples from some really awesome clips from Piggy, so feel free to watch it on YouTube and let me know!

Alright so, whenever I read guides, I like to reflect over everything. It might mean you’ll have to come back to this again in the future, but here’s a good take-away to summarise everything for you if you need a take-away;

– Early Game = Be the hunter, create a virtual “circle” in your head around the cashout and roam that area in places where you have an advantage or a quick escape route.

– Before fighting = Assess what’s actually happening, is the opponent distracted? What abilities might they have ready to counter you? Should you wait for a better time to strike?

– Whilst fighting = Can you get the surprise factor first? Will you have some backup to assist you in case things go south? Can you get out of the fight quickly?

– Late Game = Switch up your role to safeguard the team’s plans. Sometimes, you might have to sacrifice yourself to stop a steal, it’s part of the game. Think about what you can do to support your team in helping them secure cashouts. Become the menace of the other players.

What do you actually need to use to achieve this? Well, be sure to check out the BEST light build coming very soon to find out what one of the best light players in this game use to dominate the competition and actually assist in achieving everything that you’ve just read through.