DMA setup for The Finals: three anti-cheats and a fourth in testing
The Finals layers Easy Anti-Cheat, Denuvo Anti-Cheat and behavioural AI, and Embark began testing its in-house Elytra anti-cheat in August 2026. What that stack means for a DMA build.
Short answer
The Finals layers Easy Anti-Cheat, Denuvo Anti-Cheat and behavioural AI, and Embark began testing its own Elytra anti-cheat in August 2026. A DMA card goes in the game PC and the reader on a second PC, but this target moves faster than most. For The Finals, this store sells an external cheat (/products/the-finals) and a DMA cheat with a Direct build (/products/the-finals-dma).
On this page9
- Which anti-cheat does The Finals use?
- What each anti-cheat layer does
- Why Elytra makes long-term plans risky
- What hardware does a build for The Finals need?
- In what order should you start everything?
- Pre-match checklist for The Finals
- Common problems in The Finals and how to fix them
- Common questions about builds for The Finals
- Is a build for The Finals working this week?
Which anti-cheat does The Finals use?
The Finals runs a stack rather than a single anti-cheat. Easy Anti-Cheat provides one kernel layer, Denuvo Anti-Cheat has operated as a second kernel layer alongside it, and Anybrain's behavioural analysis sits on top. In August 2026 Embark began testing Elytra, its own in-house anti-cheat. The test is passive and involves a small group of players, with platform partners brought in for compatibility. A wider, gradually activated rollout is planned around update 11.6. With four moving parts in one title, this setup is rated Advanced.
What each anti-cheat layer does
Verified September 2026. The last row, Elytra, is the one that will date fastest.
| Layer | Type | Status as of September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Easy Anti-Cheat | Kernel-mode driver on the game PC | In use. The familiar layer, and the one the second-PC architecture is built around |
| Denuvo Anti-Cheat | A second kernel-mode layer | Reported in use as a secondary kernel layer alongside EAC |
| Anybrain behavioural AI | Server-side analysis of input and match telemetry | In use. Judges how you play, not where your software runs |
| Elytra | Embark's own in-house anti-cheat | Testing since August 2026, passive and not enforcing during the test, with a wider activation planned around update 11.6 |
Running two kernel anti-cheats on one machine is unusual, and it matters for diagnosis. A launch failure on this title has more possible causes than on a game with a single anti-cheat.
Warning
Why Elytra makes long-term plans risky
An anti-cheat that is passive during a test does not stay passive. Embark has said Elytra will be activated gradually for more players with a later update, so the enforcement environment here is scheduled to change. Embark controls that timeline and does not publish it in detail. A build that works the week before an activation wave is no evidence about the week after. If you buy anything for The Finals, buy it for the short term and read the live status board every session.
What hardware does a build for The Finals need?
The Finals is fast, vertical and full of destructible cover, so information goes out of date quickly. A radar is useful, but it is not the whole picture the way it is in an extraction shooter. That pushes people toward an overlay on the main monitor, which means a fuser in the video path. It also pushes them toward aim assistance, which means an input device the game PC treats as an ordinary mouse. Both are real parts of the architecture, but both add latency and parts on a title where time-to-kill is short. Measure the video path rather than assuming it.
In what order should you start everything?
- Confirm the game launches on its own on the game PC, with both kernel layers satisfied and no reader attached
- Check the status board and note the game's last build date next to it
- Boot the second PC and confirm the card enumerates
- Start the reader and attach to the card
- Launch The Finals and let the anti-cheat layers finish starting
- Attach to the game process once you are in a match
- If a fuser is in the path, run borderless windowed and match refresh rates on both machines. Check your end-to-end latency before you trust it in a fight
Pre-match checklist for The Finals
- The game launches cleanly on its own, with no reader and no input device attached
- You checked the status board row for this title today
- You know whether the current update is the one that widens the Elytra rollout
- The card is in its data port and the reader attached before the game launched
- You have measured the fuser path's latency rather than assuming it, because time-to-kill on this title is short
- The input device, if any, is recognised by the game PC as a standard mouse
- You are buying for the short term, because the enforcement environment is scheduled to change
Common problems in The Finals and how to fix them
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Game will not launch and the error names an anti-cheat you did not expect | Two kernel layers are present, and a Denuvo Anti-Cheat failure reads differently from an EAC failure | Read the error text literally and troubleshoot the layer it names, rather than applying EAC advice to a Denuvo message |
| Build stopped working with no patch notes | Any of four layers can change independently of the game's own version | Compare the status date with the game's build date on the board, and if the game has not moved, assume an anti-cheat-side change |
| Overlay is visible but aim feels behind the fight | Video path latency through the fuser, plus a short time-to-kill making it obvious | Match refresh rates, shorten the video chain and measure the result. If the latency is structural, a second screen may serve you better than a fuser here |
| Everything worked yesterday and today the account is restricted | Behavioural layers act on play, and enforcement waves do not announce themselves | No configuration change fixes this, because behavioural enforcement is a risk that architecture does not remove |
Common questions about builds for The Finals
Which anti-cheat does The Finals use?
Easy Anti-Cheat is the primary kernel layer, and Denuvo Anti-Cheat is reported as a second kernel layer, with Anybrain behavioural AI above both. Embark began testing its own Elytra anti-cheat in August 2026.
Is Elytra enforcing yet?
It began in August 2026 as a passive test with a small group of players and platform partners. A wider gradual activation is planned around update 11.6. This changes faster than any other detail here, so check the current patch notes.
Do two kernel anti-cheats change the architecture?
Not the principle, because the reader is still on a second PC and the game PC still holds only a card. It does change diagnosis, since a launch failure has more candidate causes, so read error text literally instead of applying generic EAC advice.
Should I use a radar or an overlay on the main monitor?
On a fast title with destructible cover, information goes out of date quickly, which is the argument for an overlay and therefore for a fuser. It is also the argument for measuring latency, because in a fight with short time-to-kill a slow video path is worse than no overlay.
Is The Finals a good title to start on?
No. Four anti-cheat layers change independently and a scheduled enforcement change is coming, which makes it one of the least predictable titles in this catalogue. If you are building your first stack, start on a slower-moving title and come back later.
Info
Is a build for The Finals working this week?
Whether a build works this week, and what Elytra will enforce once it is fully active, are live questions that only the live status board answers. The board shows when a status was published next to when the game last shipped a build. On this title, an anti-cheat change that appears in neither date can overtake both.
Sources
The four layers come from running the build rather than from a listed source, and a new anti-cheat is still in testing on this title.
Read next
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- What are DMA cheats and how do they work
- Fuser and capture display path
- How to read the build status board
- DMA setup for Valorant: Vanguard and the game PC
- Dota 2: why there is no DMA setup for it
- DMA setup for Apex Legends: EAC and the season cycle
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