RainbowSix: Siege

Dortmunder Jungs Rainbow Six Siege

 R6 SIEGE | Y9S1: Operation Deadly Omen

The highly anticipated Year 9 Season 1 of Rainbow Six Siege is finally here, and it is packed with thrilling updates and new features.

For the first time a villain Operator, Deimos, joins the roster. Track down your enemies with his DeathMARK flying probe which reveals both a designated target and Deimos’ locations for a set of time, or until one gets eliminated…

But that’s not all. With a focus on player protection and to ensure a fair and competitive gaming experience for all, this season brings improved anti-cheat measures, as well as ranked restrictions.


Attachments and ADS are receiving an upgrade to foster more tactical gameplay. Sights are being reorganized in four categories: iron sights, (x1), (x2.5) and (x3.5) with ADS bonuses to iron sights and (x1) sights. Other attachments are also receiving major updates, so get in the Shooting Range to try them all !


Shields have been revamped for a more balanced and immersive feel. Hip-fire is removed, and players will now be able to break through full-health barricades, melee pushback opponents, sprint, reload, trigger gadgets and free-look around, all while using their shield.

The long-awaited Inventory Management Menu is making its debut! Browse through your entire collection of cosmetics and customize operators with greater ease and efficiency. From cosmetics to loadouts, managing your gear has never been more seamless.

Furthermore, Year 9 Season 1 showcases a commitment to training and improvement. The Versus AI mode receives 5 additional maps, 6 more playable operators and AI updates, while the Training Playlist receives 4 more maps as well.

Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to the game, there’s something for everyone in this action-packed season.

Don’t forget to check out the new Premium Battle Pass for all the exclusive rewards this season! Get 6,000 R6 Credits in value that includes: Unlocking Deimos instantly, 18 Bravo Packs, 600 R6 credits back, 10% store discount and more!


Join us as we embark on a new chapter in Rainbow Six Siege history with Year 9 Season 1: Operation Deadly Omen.

Kompletter Artikel:  R6 SIEGE | Y9S1: Operation Deadly Omen

R6 SIEGE | YEAR 9 ROADMAP

Attention, Operators!

As the curtains rise on Year 9, we are thrilled to reveal an ambitious and action-packed roadmap for Rainbow Six Siege, including four new seasons, two new Operators, two Operator remasters, balancing changes, improved onboarding & training features, a cross-play update, a modern machine-learning Versus AI Playlist, further anti-cheat and anti-toxicity measures, and many more updates to reinforce the game as the ultimate tactical shooter experience.

Operation Deadly Omen launches the new year with the first villain Operator Deimos and his DeathMARK gadget. The season also introduces new Anti-Cheat measures, an upgrade to Attachments & ADS, revamped Shield Mechanics and a new Locker inventory system.

Season 2 will unveil the first Operator remaster with the Recruit. In addition, you will be able to explore the full release of the Reputation System, the launch of the Siege Marketplace, map filters in the Standard Playlist as well as new content in the Training Playlist.

Season 3 will introduce a new Greek Operator, as well as the badges and career system, access to the Shooting Range during matchmaking, the Siege Cup tournament, and a new versus AI mode allowing players to also play as Defenders.

To wrap up Year 9, Season 4 will launch the second remaster, this time of a fan-favorite American Operator. The season will also introduce an optional console to pc cross-play feature and further anti-cheat measures to automatically kick cheaters.

Throughout Year 9, we will continue to reinforce the foundations of Rainbow Six Siege and make sure all players get to enjoy the game at its best. We are doubling down on our efforts to combat cheating and toxicity, implementing further measures to safeguard the integrity and competitiveness of every match.

More player comfort-focused updates will also launch throughout the year to improve players’ quality of life and create a smoother experience, while meaningful balancing updates will continuously contribute to sharpen Rainbow Six Siege’s core tactical gameplay.

Watch the Year 9 Overview for more information and stay tuned for more  updates, more excitement, and more unforgettable moments. Siege Year 9 is just getting started, and the best is yet to come.

Kompletter Artikel: R6 SIEGE | YEAR 9 ROADMAP

Y9S1 Patch Notes Addendum

Y9S1 PATCH NOTES ADDENDUM

You can find here the updates and fixes for the Y9S1 patch.

Y9S1 Patch Size

Find the download sizes for each platform below.

  • Ubisoft Connect: 4.98 GB
  • Steam: 4.5 GB
  • Xbox One: 8 GB
  • Xbox Series X: 8.4 GB
  • PlayStation 4: 525 MB
  • PlayStation 5: 5.38GB
BUG FIXES

GAMEPLAY

FIXED – Aiming down sights while holding a shield and handgun is too fast.

FIXED – Damage for Bailiff 410 decreased when laser sight is equipped.

FIXED – Missing ACOG attachment for AK-74M.

FIXED – ACOG B and ACOG C attachments offset on the UZK50GI.

FIXED – Brava’s Kludge Drone is missing the loading bar when converting devices.

FIXED – Players stuck in loading after pick phase.

FIXED – Operator with shield isn’t protected when Operator and Opponent melee attack each other at the same time.

FIXED – AI Bots attempt defuse too late if defuser is planted on whiteboard in 2F Meeting Room on the Consulate map.

FIXED – AI bots continue shooting after end of round.

FIXED – Players can’t progress if drone is destroyed by Mute’s Signal Disruptor in the Attack Tutorial.

FIXED – Friendly Fire penalties are given out during Free For All matches.

FIXED – AI bots do not relocate after being scanned if in camping positions.

FIXED – High ping players spin in place when observed by other players.

FIXED – Points awarded when destroying a surface a device is being placed on during deploy animation.

FIXED – Players are soft locked if camera isn’t destroyed before rappelling in the Attack Tutorial.

FIXED – Missing muzzle VFX on semi-automatic weapons.

FIXED – Players can double vault with a deployable shield and Azami’s Kiba Barrier.

LEVEL DESIGN

FIXED – Bed is not recognized as part of 1F Bunks on the Lair map.

FIXED – Legs clip through walls while laying prone under desk at 2F Sewing Room of Herford Base map.

FIXED – C4 can’t be retrieved when thrown on to railings and not standing on stairs on various maps.

FIXED – AI bots fall through trap door when trying to counter-defuse at 2F Gym on the Clubhouse map.

FIXED – Unintended line of sight between gun cases at B Arsenal on the Clubhouse map.

FIXED – Unintended line of sigh through openings in the bike lift in 1F Garage on the Clubhouse map.

FIXED – Player can navigate onto the coffee machine located at 2F Waiting Room on the Theme Park map.

FIXED – Wrong compass location displayed at 1F White Stairs on the Kanal map.

FIXED – Players can navigate onto the doorway located at EXT Lift on the Lair map.

FIXED – Operator clips through the platform located at 1F Garage on the Clubhouse map.

FIXED – The bottom section of the shower isn’t bullet proof in 2F Bathroom on the Clubhouse map.

FIXED – Drone can spawn inside the wall when the player selects EXT Lift as spawn location on the Lair map.

FIXED – Map is too dark in Eastern corner of 1F Closet on the Consulate map.

FIXED – Players are able to gain access to an advantageous position in 1F Map Room on the Kanal map.

FIXED – Players are able to gain access to an advantageous position in 2F Upper Arcade on the Theme Park map.

FIXED – Players are able to gain access to an advantageous position in 3F Electrical on the Favelas map.

FIXED – Players are able to gain access to the area under the purple tarp on EXT Rooftop on the Coastline map.

FIXED – Players remains stuck when entering prone between the boxes located at EXT Roof on the Lair map.

FIXED – Players remains stuck between the chair and the box located at EXT Terrace on the Villa map.

FIXED – Players remains stuck between stairway rail and the container located in EXT Lift on the Lair map.

FIXED – Defenders aren’t detected outside when exiting from Second floor balcony near 2F East Stairs on the Border map.

FIXED -Two Reinforcements are needed for the wall between 2F Fountain and 2F Main Hallway on the Border map.

FIXED – Players can get stuck on a washing machine in 1F Luggage Hold on the Plane map.

FIXED – Unintended line of sight below the railings in 2F Mezzanine on the Outback map.

FIXED – Unintended line of sight between the fridge doors in EXT Motel Balcony on the Outback map.

FIXED – Unintended line of sight between the storage door and fence in 1F Warehouse on the Nighthaven Labs map.

FIXED – Unintended line of sight between the wall and the door frame in 2F Operational on the Lair map.

FIXED – Unintended line of sight between the crates in 1F Briefing on the Lair map.

FIXED – Unintended line of sight towards 2F Pillar room on the Kafe Dostoyevsky map by vaulting on top of a shelf in 2F Reading Room.

FIXED – Unintended line of sight between the wall and bracket in 2F Statue Gallery on the Emerald plains map.

FIXED – Unintended line of sight towards EXT Parking on the Consulate map by running out from B Yellow Stairs to EXT Courtyard.

FIXED – Players can navigate on top of the kiosk in EXT Christmas Market on the Kafe Dostoyevsky map.

FIXED – Players stuck when exiting rappel next to a metal box in EXT Lobby Side on the Nighthaven Labs map.

FIXED – Players can vault inside a double bunkbed in 2F Dorms on the Outback map.

FIXED – Players can navigate to the top of a suspended cabinet in 1f Coat Check on the Kafe Dostoyevsky map.

FIXED – Players can navigate to the top of a bake tray rack in 1F Kitchen Cooking on the Kafe Dostoyevsky map.

FIXED – Fire VFX is still present on Pillars of the Tower Map after changing to being undamaged.

FIXED – Defuser can’t be picked up if it’s dropped during vault over a palm tree in EXT Unloading Zone on the Fortress map.

FIXED – Bird flock has unintended behavior on the Villa map.

FIXED – Various collision, asset, and texture issues on maps.

FIXED – Various planting and pick-up defuser issues.

FIXED – Players are unable to pickup deployable and throwable devices in various spots on various maps.

OPERATORS

FIXED – Players can self-revive instantly if Doc has previously shot them while they are wearing Rook’s Armor Pack.

FIXED – Missing detonation timer on Flores’s RCE-Ratero Charge drone HUD.

FIXED – Previous ping still visible after scanning another set of footprints with Jackal’s Eyenox Model III.

FIXED – Missing connection status screens in match replay for Valkyrie’s Black Eye.

FIXED – Remove prompt for Lesion’s Gu Mine does not function as described while standing near a dropped defuser.

FIXED – Unusual behavior, movement and looping SFX for Flores’ RCE-Ratero Charge drone after deploying on various spots of various maps.

FIXED – Missing knife object during Caveira’s interrogation ability.

FIXED – Oryx’s Remah dash doesn’t protect him from melee attacks with a shield.

FIXED – Deimos’ DeathMARK Tracker selects a random target after initial target is eliminated.

FIXED – Deimos’ DeathMARK Tracker ping isn’t visible when Deimos is downed.

FIXED – Deimos’ DeathMARK Tracker pops in and out rapidly when Deimos cancels the marker on a Defender immediately after it’s applied.

FIXED – Deimos’ DeathMARK Tracker still applies to the target when Deimos is eliminated during the gadget’s activation.

FIXED – Tracker Intro plays for the affected target by Demos’ DeathMARK Tracker if Deimos is eliminated during the countdown phase of the round.

FIXED – Incorrect warning message displays if Deimos’ DeathMARK Tracker is activated on an Operator in an area that deactivates electronic devices.

FIXED – HUD feedback is unavailable for Deimos’ DeathMARK when no drones are available.

FIXED – Operator is visible by Deimos’ DeathMARK Tracker if Deimos is in an area that deactivates electronic devices during the countdown phase of the round.

FIXED – Missing VFX for Deimos’ DeathMARK Tracker in kill cam when Deimos is eliminated by a Defender Operator affected by his ability.

FIXED – Defender Icon missing after scanning with Jackal’s Eyenox Model III.

FIXED – Various animation issues.

USER EXPERIENCE

FIXED – Messages aren’t converted in speech to text and text to speech.

FIXED – Windows display scale impacts in-game resolution on the Vulkan API.

FIXED – L3 behavior automatically set to sprint when modifying lean left while aiming setting to any other key and then back to default in customize controls window.

FIXED – Controller layout order for PC is different compared to other platforms.

FIXED – Chat background opacity has no effect on chat background during pick and ban phases.

FIXED – Operators hold the default weapon instead of the equipped weapon in the Operator preview.

FIXED – Text on Diegetic Panel is hard to read when close to the countertop.

FIXED – Item source sorting causes items to appear in the wrong categories under the latest category of the inventory tab.

FIXED – Headshot count and hits tracker disappear when target HP bar in the second lane disappears.

FIXED – Multiple operators’ uniforms can’t be added to favorites in the inventory tab.

FIXED – Scroll bar is missing from the headgear and uniform sections of the appearance menu.

FIXED – The recoil pattern for shotguns is broken in the shooting records of the Shooting Range.

FIXED – Missing button indicators to navigate the Shooting Range Lane 3 Options menu tabs while using a controller.

FIXED – Wrong description for laser barrel attachment.

FIXED – Language specific characters are not shown when sorting by name on multiple localizations.

FIXED – Various Match Replay issues.

FIXED – Various UI issues.

AUDIO

FIXED – Countdown SFX can be heard at the end of a Free for All match.

FIXED – Incorrect voice line plays when Thermite’s Exothermic Charge if affected by Mute’s Signal Disruptor.

FIXED – Incorrect voice line plays when Fuze’s Cluster Charge is affected by Mute’s Signal Disruptor.

FIXED – Incorrect voice line plays when Hibana’s X-Kairos is affected by Mute’s Signal Disruptor.

FIXED – SFX from Bandit’s Shock Wire and Kaid’s "RTILA" Electroclaw is only heard from one side of the wall.

FIXED – Missing SFX for drone entering Mute’s Signal Disruptor.

FIXED – Various audio issues.

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Kompletter Artikel: Y9S1 Patch Notes Addendum

Y9S1 Designer's Notes

In this latest edition of Designer’s Notes, we’ll go into detail about the balancing changes that’ll come with the Y8S4.2 Update and give you some insight into the reasons behind them.

BALANCING MATRIX AND TOP OPERATOR BANS
WIN DELTA VS. PRESENCE




Please note that we are using presence to gauge the popularity of an Operator. This notion had to be introduced to reflect the implementation of the pick & ban.

Presence definition: pick rate of an Operator when not banned. Win Delta: The Win Delta is aggregated from Operator’s Win Deltas per Bomb Site.

OPERATOR BAN RATE




OPERATOR BALANCING

AZAMI

KIBA BARRIER

  • Barriers have 999hp.
  • Barriers are vulnerable to bullet damage.
  • The damage dealt to the barriers depends on the weapons’ caliber or destruction output.

Azami has reinvented the way to defend some sites and have made others viable or at least more comfortable for defenders. Her ability to reshape the map is something that has changed Siege forever. But in a lot of situations, her ability requires too much from attackers or creates unfair situations.

They can be placed in locations that are impossible to reach with melees or extremely risky to approach. Additionally, explosives as the only reliable way to counter them makes her very taxing for Attackers and limits their flexibility to pick operators with non-explosive utility. Repeatedly destroying placed barriers is tedious and frustrating for attackers, even more so if you have used explosives to deal with them.

To try and solve those problems, we tested several options that were later discarded:

– Soft: The idea was to allow bullets to go through the barrier. This turned the barriers into an indestructible soft wall, which was interesting, and fixed some nasty pixel peeks that are unchallengeable for attackers. It also mitigated the urgency to destroy them, therefore the resources required, as you could pre-fire through them to inhibit the defender from using them. But we considered that this took away too much of the Kiba Barrier’s identity.

– Lifespan: In this prototype, the barriers would only last for a specific time and then they would auto-destroy. The main problem with this version was that Attackers didn’t have any authority or a new way to deal with them besides waiting, and it wasn’t a fun interaction.

Finally, we decided that adding a new way to destroy them from a distance was the best approach, so the barriers keep their essence, and Attackers have more options. Kiba Barriers will now be vulnerable to bullets. They will take damage and get destroyed when their life is down to 0. As they are similar to walls, the damage received will be affected by the weapon caliber, so high caliber weapons, such as DMRs or LMGs, will destroy the barriers faster, while lower caliber weapons, such as Handguns or SMGs, will require more bullets.

All the other ways to destroy the barriers will remain the same, so a single explosion or 3 melee hits will also do the job. However, you can combine them, so hitting them twice and then shooting at them from a safer location is possible.

FINKA
ADRENAL SURGE
Weapon reload speed increase bonus removed.
Clears the shields’ Suppressive Fire debuff. Reduces its effect by 50% if applied while affected by Adrenal Surge.
We have removed the weapon reload bonus from the Adrenal Surge to make the bonus on the new Angled Grip more appealing. Without speeding-up the animations and with the possibility of both effects stacking, the new attachment wasn’t as impactful as we wanted.

WEAPON BALANCING
WEAPON CLASSES

GENERAL

  • New classes: Revolver, Sniper Rifle, Slug Shotgun.

LIGHT MACHINE GUNS

  • Movement speed reduced by 10%.

ADS TRANSITION

  • Normalized and simplified ADS curve transitions:
  • Fast: Handguns, Revolvers, Shotguns.
  • Medium: Marksman Rifles, Sniper Rifles.
  • Slow: Machine Pistols, Submachine Guns, Assault Rifles, Light Machine Guns, Slug Shotguns.

ADS SPEED

  • Reduced ADS speed from idle/walk stances:
  • Handgun: 240ms (from 200).
  • Revolver: 240ms (from 200).
  • Machine Pistol: 380ms (from 280).
  • Submachine Gun: 460ms (from 300).
  • Assault Rifle: 520ms (from 400).
  • Light Machine Gun: 560ms (from 450).
  • Marksman Rifle: 520ms (from 400).
  • Sniper Rifle: 520ms (from 400).
  • Shotgun: 340ms (from 250).
  • Slug Shotgun: 520ms (from 400).
  • Hand Cannon: 240ms (from 200).
  • Reduced ADS speed from sprint (same proportion).
  • Launchers are also affected. The ADS Speed depends on their type of sight.

With the goal of increasing players’ options, weapon customization, and accessibility, we have taken a look at all the weapons in the game and normalized their configuration according to their class. We have cleared all the exceptions and strange mixes, such as the Commando 9 that was a mix of AR-SMG and is now 100% an AR, so everyone will know what to expect from a weapon just by checking its class but while the classes are new the gameplay hasn’t changed.

We have also taken a deeper look at the LMG class. We nerfed them significantly last year to address the LMG-meta, but now we can bring them back. Along with tweaks to specific weapons that are listed below, we are going to add a movement penalty to the whole class to compensate for their magazine capacity.

Clearing all the fundamentals has allowed us to expand on the Weapon Attachments System by adding new attachments and new types of bonuses, as you will see below.

The current speed makes peeking a corner too advantageous, entering danger should be properly judged and have risks. Therefore, we have reduced the ADS speed across all weapons. The new timings aim to reduce the strength of fast-peeking and return some advantage to holding an angle or repositioning. Additionally, we have simplified what determines the precision from hip fire to aiming down sights, leaving only 3 typologies:

-Fast: Most of the precision is gained during the initial part of the transition (antilogarithmic). You can shoot with relatively good precision during the aiming animation.
-Medium: The precision is increased at a constant pace (linear).
-Slow: Most of the precision is gained during the final part of the transition (logarithmic). During the animation, it is more likely to still miss some shots on the target because it takes longer to transition from hip fire accuracy to ADS

SIGHTS
IRON SIGHT

Category: No sight.

  • Magnification: 1.0x.
  • Added +10% ADS speed bonus.
SIGHT

Category: Non-magnifying.

  • Magnification: 1.0x.
  • Added +5% ADS speed bonus.
MAGNIFIED

Category: Magnifying.

  • Magnification: ~2.5x.
  • Attackers’ distribution:
  • Available on every weapon.
  • Defenders’ distribution:
  • 9mm C1: Frost.
  • P10 Roni: Mozzie.
  • 9x19SVN: Tachanka.
  • ACS12: Alibi, Maestro, Azami.
  • AR-15.50: Tubarao.
  • BOSG.12.2: Vigil.
  • Mk 14 ERB: Aruni.
  • MP5K: Wamai.
  • MP5: Doc, Melusi, Rook.
  • P90: Doc, Rook.
  • TCSG12: Goyo, Kaid.
  • UMP45: Castle.
  • UZK50GI: Thorn.
  • Vector .45 ACP: Goyo.
TELESCOPIC

Category: Magnifying.

  • Magnification: ~3.5x.
  • Available only on Attacking DMRs.
RETICLES
  • Increased middle dot size:
  • Holo A.
  • Holo C.
  • Red Dot C.
  • Magnified A.
  • Reduced middle dot size:
  • Holo B.
  • Magnified C.

A few years ago, using the sight with the highest magnification was the way to go, now the 1.5x is the default. We want sight selection to be an important decision based on your strategy for the round. So, we have reworked the entire attachment category.

First off, we have made an existing option more meaningful. The "None" sight option is now Iron Sight and has a category, No Sight. You will aim faster if you choose Iron Sights, its shape will depend on the weapon, so there is a wide variety of options to explore and test if they fit your play style.

Secondly, we have the Non-Magnifying category, which includes all the attachable sights without magnification. This is a category you already know and is where you can find the Red Dot, Holographic, and Reflex sights. This category will also have an ability, and similarly No Sight, they will increase your ADS speed but with a lower percentage as they are generally more comfortable to use. We have also detected a couple of reticles that were slightly better than the rest, so we have re-balanced them.

Finally, we have reorganized all the Magnifying scopes. There are fewer magnifications, making the choice and differences between each one more meaningful. We have kept only two, now called Magnified and Telescopic. For each scope type, you will have a few options to choose depending on which one is more comfortable for you. We have also tweaked the Magnified A and C reticles, so the options are balanced.

The Magnifying scopes’ distribution has also changed. We believe that now every sight has its pros and cons, so we can be less restrictive with their distribution:

– The Magnified will be available on every Assault Rifle, Submachine Gun, Light Machine Gun, Marksman Rifle, and Slug Shotgun in Attack.
– The Magnified will be available on every Slug Shotgun, Marksman Rifle, and in some designated Submachine Gun in Defense (listed above).
– The Telescopic will be available on every Marksman Rifle in Attack.
All the changes listed here, will create a lot of possibilities and many new scenarios. This is a new beginning for the weapon attachments system. We are happy with the current proposal, but we will monitor everything closely and continue making adjustments if needed in future patches.

UNDER BARRELS
LASER
  • Removed Hip Fire bonus.
  • Added +10% ADS speed bonus.
  • The Laser bonus has changed to ADS speed.

Now that we are tweaking the ADS speed across all the weapons, we didn’t want to have this bonus limited to only those with access to grips. The laser has been available on almost every weapon since Y6S3.0, so everyone can use it and benefit from its ability.

Additionally, the Laser has the downside of revealing your presence, so it made sense to pair it with one of the most aggressive bonuses.

GRIPS
ANGLED GRIP
  • Removed ADS speed bonus.
  • Added +20% weapon reload speed.
HORIZONTAL GRIP
  • The "None" option is now called "Horizontal Grip".
  • Added +5% movement speed bonus.
VERTICAL GRIP
  • Bonus reduced to +20% vertical recoil control (from +25%).

We have added a new option, the Horizontal Grip. Just as with the Iron Sight, it is a rework of the "None" grip option into a viable and meaningful choice. It will grant you extra mobility. Bear in mind that we are not making any operator move faster than they currently can, this attachment only allows you to move at the "handgun" speed but with your primary weapon, at the cost of sacrificing the other grip bonuses.

The Angled Grip has also been reworked, and now grants Weapon Reload speed, an exciting bonus for those weapons that need to reload often or have long animations.

Silencers and Extended Barrels have been more popular since their respective reworks, so we have also reduced the recoil control bonus of the Vertical Grip, making equipping them a tougher decision.

Only weapons with access to the Grips section can make use of these options. By default, they are unavailable, and you must equip the attachment to get the ability. As an example, the MP5K doesn’t have the Vertical Grip bonus, and the F2 doesn’t have the Horizontal Grip bonus.

BALLISTIC SHIELD
BASE

Movement:

  • Every operator equipped with a Ballistic Shield will keep it in front while sprinting.
  • An operator equipped with a Ballistic Shield can push through a barricade without having to hit them twice. Does not work from rappel.

Weapon handling:

  • The ability to hip fire has been removed.
  • Reduced accuracy during the shield unequip animation.
  • During the ADS animation with a shield, the weapon will not shoot until it is pointing forward.
  • Reduced ADS time to 0.5 seconds walking and 0.55 seconds sprinting (from 0.6 both).
  • The reload animation is performed behind the shield.
  • The reload will now be triggered automatically when the weapon runs out of bullets.

Melee:

  • New defensive melee animation.
  • The melee now deals pushback and 65hp damage (from 100% DBNO).
  • New gadget throw animation from behind the shield (the animation will arrive in a later update).
  • New gadget trigger animation from behind the shield.
  • The Ballistic Shield remains equipped while escorting the Hostage.
  • Touching fire will trigger the guard break with 40% intensity (same as electricity).

FREE LOOK

*Please note: The "Freelook Throw" animation has been disabled temporarily and will be fixed in a later update. *

  • Can hold the FREE LOOK button to check your surroundings while keeping the Ballistic Shield aiming forward.
  • Can throw gadgets towards the direction you are looking.
SUPPRESSIVE FIRE
  • The operator will be suppressed if the Ballistic Shield receives too many bullet impacts.
  • Trigger: 10 bullets.
  • Maximum intensity: 40 bullets.
  • Fall off: 7 seconds.
  • While suppressed, the operator cannot sprint.
  • While suppressed, the visibility is reduced according to the effect’s intensity.
OPERATORS AFFECTED
  • Blitz
  • Fuze
  • Montagne
  • Clash (only suppressive fire)

We have reimagined the mechanics around the ballistic shields in the game. Focusing on the shield being safer to use and support orientated at range as well as more threatening in close quarters. This will allow shield ops to take ground, provide more intel and control combat engagements with greater efficiency.

This update also helps realign our ballistic shields to follow two core Siege design principles:

  1. To be lethal with a gun, you need to be vulnerable.
  2. Actions from Player’s direct input are not to be randomized. They are to be deliberate, consistent and reliable.

Removing the hip fire feature from the ballistic shields serves these principles.

Like all other weapons and equipment, it is our goal to make sure every item in our operator’s armories has a role and is viable when deployed with creative strategies and teamplay. We will be monitoring these changes and bringing more updates to our shields in the future.

LMG-E
WEAPON RECOIL

PC & Console

  • Reduced first kick.
  • Reduced vertical recoil.
  • The recoil will remain stable for longer during a sustained fire burst.
OPERATORS AFFECTED
  • Ram
  • Zofia

The LMG-E’s recoil is one of the hardest to control in R6, especially if the player tries to empty its magazine without releasing the trigger. We’ve seen how this weapon’s popularity and performance has decreased during the last few seasons, and that is why we want to make the recoil less challenging for players. The new Movement Speed Reduction for the LMG Class allows us to employ meaningful changes. That said, due to its huge magazine and high rate of fire, the LMG-E recoil will still be one of the hardest to control within the LMG Class.

6P41
WEAPON RECOIL

PC & Console

  • Reduced first kick.
  • Reduced vertical recoil.
  • Reduced lateral recoil.
  • The recoil will remain stable for longer during a sustained fire burst.
OPERATORS AFFECTED[/h]

  • Finka
  • Fuze

The 6P41 was one of the highest performance weapons in the game during Y7, due to the combination of great fire power and a strong operator like Finka behind it. In the last few years, we’ve released several changes that have made the weapon one of the hardest to control which consequently makes it perform below average. The addition of the Movement Speed Reduction for LMGs allows us to restore some of its former glory by setting an easier to control recoil, this should make this weapon a more balanced and appealing option for players.

M249
WEAPON RECOIL

PC & Console

  • Reduced first kick.
  • Reduced vertical recoil.
  • Reduced lateral recoil.
  • The recoil will remain stable for longer during a sustained fire burst.
OPERATORS AFFECTED
  • Capitao
  • Attacker Recruit

Capitao’s M249 has maintained very similar performance when compared with its loadout alternative the PARA-308, but its popularity has been way lower. The inclusion of the new Movement Speed Reduction paired with updated recoil should make it easier to control, this change aims to increase the popularity of the M249, which should invite Capitao players to spend more time with his LMG.

M249 SAW
WEAPON RECOIL

PC & Console

  • Reduced first kick.
  • Reduced lateral recoil.

The recoil will remain stable for longer during a sustained fire burst.

OPERATORS AFFECTED
  • Gridlock

Gridlock’s LMG is currently in a good spot in terms of performance and pick rate when compared to its alternative the F90. The new LMG Class Movement Speed reduction could disrupt this loadout equilibrium, to avoid this we are making the M249 SAW recoil easier to control.

G8A1
WEAPON RECOIL

PC & Console

  • Reduced vertical recoil.
  • The recoil will remain stable for longer during a sustained fire burst.
OPERATORS AFFECTED
  • Amaru
  • IQ

The G8A1 is the most picked and best performing weapon in Amaru’s loadout but it has remained as an under performing and under picked weapon for IQ for a long time.

The inclusion of the Speed Reduction for LMGs gives us more space to make the G8A1 recoil a little easier to control, this should ensure that this weapon retains and potentially improves its performance and appeal to players.

Follow us and share your feedback on Twitter and Reddit.

Kompletter Artikel: Y9S1 Designer's Notes

Your guide to the Six Invitational 2024

With the Six Invitational 2024 fast approaching we’re excited to welcome the Rainbow Six esports community to São Paulo from February 13 to 25, where we’ll crown this season’s World Champions and reveal the new updates for Year 9 of Siege.

Here’s all you need to know about the event.

DATES & LOCATION 

  • Groups: February 13th – 17th – not open to public
  • Playoffs – Part 1: February 19th – 21st – not open to public
  • Playoffs – Part 2: February 23rd – 25th – open to the public at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera
  • Venue: Ginásio do Ibirapuera

PARTICIPATING TEAMS

Here are the 20 teams qualified for the Six Invitational 2024. The following teams have secured their spot in the competition by earning points in the Global Standings through the Regional Leagues and the two Rainbow Six Majors during the season.

w7m esports (Brazil) Wolves Esports (Europe) DarkZero (North America) Team Liquid (Brazil) M80 (North America) G2 Esports (Europe) FaZe Clan (Brazil) Soniqs (North America) Spacestation Gaming (North America) Virtus.Pro (Europe) LOS (Brazil) SCARZ (Japan) BLEED ESPORTS (Asia) FURY (Asia) Geekay Esports (MENA) DPLUS KIA (South Korea) Ninjas in Pyjamas (Brazil) Team Bliss (Oceania) Team Falcons (MENA) FearX (South Korea)

The 20 teams were seeded based on their ranking in the Global Standings as follows:

Seed 1: teams ranked 1st to 4th. Seed 2: teams ranked 5th to 8th. Seed 3: teams ranked 9th to 12th. Seed 4: teams ranked 13th to 16th. Seed 5: teams ranked 17th to 20th.

For the Group Stage, teams were divided into groups of 5 teams based on this seeding. With the exception of Brazil due to having 5 representatives, teams from the same region were not allowed to be drawn into the same group as each other.

SCHEDULE

Here is the schedule of the Group Stage:

Here is the schedule for the Playoffs:

YEAR 9 AND YEAR 9S1 REVEALS:

Tune in on our channels and online watch parties to see everything coming in Year 9!

Watch LIVE:

  • February 24 at 12:30 EST / 2:30 PM BRT / 6:30 PM CET for the Year 9 Season 1 reveal. Tune in on our channels for the new season reveal to redeem an exclusive charm.
  • February 25 at 01:00 PM EST / 3:00 PM BRT / 7:00 PM CET for more details on the Y9 of Rainbow Six Siege and the Blast R6 esports Season 2024.

WHERE TO WATCH

All Twitch channels below will have Twitch Drops enabled for the Six Invitational 2024.
Please note that Stream B channels won’t be streaming the final 3 days of the event, which will be streamed on the Stream A channels.

List of channels that will stream both Group Stage and Playoffs:

English (stream A): Twitch.tv/Rainbow6 English (stream B): Twitch.tv/Rainbow6Bravo English: YouTube English: TikTok Portuguese (stream A): Twitch.tv/R6esportsBR Portuguese (stream B): Twitch.tv/R6esportsBR2 Portuguese: YouTube Portuguese: TikTok German: Twitch.tv/Rainbow6DE German: YouTube Spanish: Twitch.tv/Rainbow6ES Spanish: YouTube Spanish (LATAM): Twitch.tv/rainbow6latam Spanish (LATAM): YouTube Japanese: Twitch.tv/Rainbow6JP Japanese: YouTube French: Twitch.tv/Rainbow6FR French: YouTube Italian: Twitch.tv/Rainbow6IT Italian: YouTube Korean: Twitch.tv/Rainbow6KR Korean: YouTube Korean: CHZZK Korean: AfreecaTV

BROADCAST TALENT

Here is the broadcast talent line-up for the event:

Ghassan "Milosh" Finge
Keltoum "Giniro" Baddaje
Robert "Manic" Munday
Iain Chambers
Jesse Chick
Jack "Fresh" Allen
Fabian "Fabian" Hällsten
Anne "FastAnne" Janssen
Ollie "XRTROIKA" Hatton
Gabriel "LaXInG" Mirelez
Davide "FoxA" Bucci
Niclas "Pengu" Mouritzen
Parker "Interro" Mackay
Tim "AceOfPyrite" Leaver
Derry "Dezachu" Holt
Emi "Fluke" Donaldson
Stijn "Hap" Hapers
Samuel "Stoax" Stewart
Michael "Guzz" Gurrie
Carter "Lynnx" Hanefeld
Jake "Zenox" Venditti
Léo "Alphama" Robine
Camille Salazar-Hadaway

COMPETITIVE FORMAT

GROUP STAGE – FEBRUARY 13-17

The top 20 teams in the Global Standings at the end of the season will qualify for the Group Stage of the Six Invitational and be placed into four groups of five. Within each group, all teams will play each other once. The four first teams in each group will advance to the Playoffs while the last placed teams will be knocked out of the tournament.

The point attribution system is as follows:

4 points for a 2:0 win 3 points for a 2:1 win 1 point for a 1:2 loss 0 points for a 0:2 loss

PLAYOFFS – FEBRUARY 19-21

16 teams will qualify for the Playoffs from the Group Stage and will face each other in a double elimination bracket. All matches will be BO3 and each team will get a second shot at redemption after their first loss. Teams qualifying for the Playoffs will be placed in the bracket based on their seeding in the Group Stage as follows:

1st placed team in each group qualifies to the 2nd round of the Playoff Upper Bracket.

The teams that will rank 2nd in each group, will qualify to the 1st round of the Playoff Upper Bracket. They will get to pick their opponent amongst the 3rd place finishers from any group other than their own. The pick order will be determined by comparing the scores of all 2nd place finishers. Among the 2nd place finishers, the team that ranks the highest chooses first, and so on. If two 2nd placed finishers are tied in number of points, they will be seeded following the tiebreaker rules outlined in the competition’s rulebook. 4th placed teams will be in the 1st round of the Playoff Lower Bracket.

The winners of each match will advance within their bracket, with the loser of a match in the Lower Bracket being eliminated from the competition.

GRAND FINAL – FEBRUARY 23-25

The last six teams remaining will play in front of an audience at the Arena Ibirapuera in hopes of lifting the famous hammer. All matches will be BO3, except the Grand Final, which will be a BO5 to decide this season’s World Champions!

PRO TEAM BUNDLES AND WEAPON SKINS SALE

For the duration of Six Invitational 2023, from February 13 to 25, we are offering you a 40% discount on Pro Team Bundles and Weapon Skins purchasable directly on the Esports page of the in-game store.

TWITCH DROPS

Get ready for some thrilling Twitch Drops on the official R6 channels throughout the entire event! Here’s a quick breakdown of what to expect:

Group Stage: Enjoy up to 7 esports packs. Playoffs Phase 1: Grab 5 esports packs to enhance your collection. Playoffs Phase 2: Brace yourself for a generous drop of 6 esports packs.

Open these esports packs to discover cool items from the Kaid S.I.24 bundle, Amaru S.I.24 bundle, and the new S.I.24 charm. During Playoffs Phase 2, individual daily drops will include items from Frost S.I.24 bundle, along with the S.I. charms, the Y9S1 reveal Charm will drop during the Grand Final.

Chosen R6 Streamer channels will also feature Esports packs as Twitch Drops during Playoffs Phase 2. The sought-after Amaru S.I.24 Weapon skin will be available on all R6 Streamer channels on Feb 10, 11, and 12, as well as during break days on Feb 18 & 22.

Furthermore, selected R6 Streamer channels will continue to offer Esports packs as Twitch Drops after the SI. Dive into exclusive drops available on these channels for an extra layer of fun, with the Frost S.I.24 weapon skin that will be available from Feb 28th to Mar 3rd on R6 Streamer channels that co-streamed the Six Invitational 2024.

How Drops Work

Register your account by visiting https://drops-register.ubi.com and linking your Twitch account with your Ubisoft account. You will then be prompted to activate the Drops feature. Please make sure your accounts are linked before starting the stream.

Join us for the Twitch Drops excitement as R6 Siege brings you an amazing Esports experience!

STAY IN TOUCH

Don’t miss anything about Rainbow Six Esports and the upcoming Six Invitational 2024 by following us on Twitter at @R6esports and @Rainbow6Game, Instagram, TikTok, and on our website.

Use the hashtag #SixInvitational to follow or take part in the conversation.

Kompletter Artikel: Your guide to the Six Invitational 2024

Six Invitational 2024

For the first time in Rainbow Six Esports’ history, the Six Invitational takes place in São Paulo, Brazil, at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera from February 13 to 25.

This is our most iconic and renowned event of the year, providing the Siege community with an opportunity to come together and celebrate the game, discover details for the upcoming Year 9 and get the opportunity to watch the World Champions crowned in front of a packed-out arena.

Tune in at https://www.twitch.tv/rainbow6 or watch the streams on the Rainbow Six Siege product page on Steam.

  • Group stage February 13-17, 2024 // 09:30 local time (BRT) / 07:30 EST / 13:30 CET / 21:30 JST-KST
  • Playoffs Phase 1 February 18-21, 2024 // 09:30 local time (BRT) / 07:30 EST / 13:30 CET / 21:30 JST-KST
  • Playoffs Phase 2 Day 1 February 23, 2024 // 10:30 local time (BRT) / 08:30 EST / 14:30 CET / 22:30 JST-KST
  • Playoffs Phase 2 Day 2 February 24, 2024 // 10:30 local time (BRT) / 08:30 EST / 14:30 CET / 22:30 JST-KST
  • Playoffs Phase 2 Day 3 February 25, 2024 // 12:30 local time (BRT) / 09:30 EST / 15:30 CET / 23:30 JST-KST

Kompletter Artikel: Six Invitational 2024

ANTI-CHEAT STATUS UPDATE – FEBRUARY 2024

ANTI-CHEAT STATUS UPDATE – FEBRUARY 2024

CURRENT CHEATING LANDSCAPE

Today, we’ll share what our Player Protection team is doing to reinforce our anti-cheat and security systems, in order to protect the player experience.

We recently {LINK REMOVED}acknowledged the increased frustration that players have felt lately regarding cheating. It is clear that the landscape of cheating in Siege is evolving. For example, the QB System on PC is directly impacting cheat creation by making new cheats more difficult to create. It has been extremely successful in shaking up the cheating ecosystem with some cheat providers leaving or shutting down. However, new solutions and additional security measures can often act as double-edged swords; we deter less experienced cheat makers, but those that are well implanted will work harder to release new functional and undetectable cheats. This is why fighting cheats is a continuous endeavor.

We’ve now made a concentrated push to guarantee the necessary resources that Siege needs, and as part of this, we have created a special task force. We call this task force our Strike Team, supporting Player Protection with anti-cheat and security in Siege. This strike team has brought experts from multiple fields together in order to accelerate our ability to fine tune our anti-cheat solutions and target the most prolific cheats head-on.

PREVENTING CHEAT FEATURES AND EXPLOITS

We know that there are undetected cheats and gameplay exploits currently live in the game which are leading to a deteriorated gameplay experience. This is why we’ve implemented a strike team to tackle some of the most problematic cheats and exploits currently working in the game. It’s crucial however that we not only react to cheats but also work to make cheat creation more difficult, and to this end our strike team has also been working on adding further encryptions throughout the game.

CHEATS ADDRESSED

We’ve addressed a number of cheats over the recent months with updates going live with Y8S4.3.

ADDRESSED CHEATS & EXPLOITS

  • Various navigation cheats.
  • Various shooting-related cheats.
  • Various griefing cheats.
  • Various drone-related cheats.

As well as this, we’ve identified a prevalent cheat provider which led to a large ban wave and contributed to over 9,000 cheaters banned in January 2024, and 10,000 bans within a rolling 30-day period.

ANTI-CHEAT & BAN SYSTEMS

Let’s take a look at some of our anti-cheat and security systems, how they’re working for us now, and what we’re doing moving forward.

To start with, we want to assure you that our anti-cheat solutions are always active and are only ever temporarily disabled to resolve issues which could affect our ability to protect legitimate players. Once resolved the affected system is then reactivated.

We do not deactivate our security or anti-cheat measures such as the QB System or MouseTrap for any prolonged amount of time, with BattlEye always remaining active.

MOUSETRAP

WORKAROUNDS
In Year 8, we fixed a number of workarounds that were enabling spoofers to avoid or reduce their chances of detection, though we are aware that some players are still able to avoid the full effects of our system. We are working hard to counter these remaining workarounds and we are confident that you’ll see further reductions in spoofing soon.

EFFECTIVENESS
MouseTrap continues to find, track, and penalize players who use mouse and keyboard on console through the use of spoofing devices and has remained active and effective throughout Year 8. The usage of spoofing devices which saw a drop on the release of MouseTrap has continued to trend at this lower rate since its release. Our data also shows that players do swap to controller if viable MouseTrap workarounds are not available, making a better experience for everyone.

MOUSETRAP UPDATES
We are currently investigating new solutions to detect more types of spoofing adapters, and we’ve recently pushed an update to MouseTrap to further increase its effectiveness while ramping up its effects.

In this update we have:

  • Optimized our detection thresholds to identify more mouse and keyboard players on console.
  • Fined-tuned maximum latency penalties setting for the remainder of the season.

These changes will allow MouseTrap to detect even more players who are using mouse and keyboard on console, while adding high latency sooner.

As well as this, we are currently implementing additional in-game warning feedback for detected players and are developing an additional MouseTrap feature which will help to further level out the playing field. This feature will have a further positive impact on the match-to-match experience of console players. We will share more information on this important update during the Six Invitational.

QB SYSTEM

At its core, the purpose of the QB System is to make cheat creation more tedious, difficult, and costly, creating an unfavorable environment for cheat creators and sellers. QB is also beneficial when it comes to bans, having the ability to detect those who attempt to bypass it. We’ve already seen cheat creators giving up on Siege due to the increased effort that is now required for basic cheat development. It’s made waves in the cheat market while having a great impact on Siege.

After the successful launch of the QB System however, it became clear that we did not have the right long-term support in place that was required to ensure the system’s continued effectiveness. We’ve now changed our approach and have committed to regular updates for the QB System going forward.

We are now developing new iterations which will be coming in Year 9, and in the meantime, we continue to fine-tune and further strengthen this innovative security system. QB is a solid system for Siege, and we’re making sure that it’s receiving the resources needed in order to maximize its performance.

We’re excited to share more information on our advancements with the QB System later this year.

BANS – DATA BANS + BATTLEYE

BANS NUMBERS

Here we have our latest ban data, covering the last 3 months. We can see that while we had over 9,000 bans in January, the previous month of December was less successful in terms of detections and bans. This was due to new blatant cheats becoming available, most of which were not detectable during December, resulting in fewer bans and increased frustration for players. With our team focused on the cheats that are being used right now, we aim to see similar results to January in the near future.

DATA BANS
Since their introduction, Data Bans have been a great success for Siege, finding illegitimate players that weren’t already being found by our systems working at the forefront. However, we fully recognize that there is room for improvement, with some high stat cheaters remaining undetected.

Our goal with Data Bans is to ensure that we can find as many cheaters as possible while continuing to protect our honest players. At the moment, we are working to refine our data models by making use of additional player data points. This process will result in a more granular player overview, allowing us to increase the precision of the underlying system and in return boost its potency. As we continue to optimize we’ll be able to adjust our thresholds, casting a wider net with full confidence, and finding and banning more cheaters that may have been going undetected.

There’s more to come on Data Bans. We’re also currently developing a machine learning solution which will aim to broaden our ability to detect cheaters in Siege.

We’ll be sharing more on this in a future update.

BATTLEYE
BattlEye is the system that makes up for most of our cheater bans. Like our other forms of anti-cheat, BattlEye is never turned off, remaining active at all times, finding and banning thousands of cheaters each month.

As some of you may have noticed, in-game mentions of BattlEye have been removed. This change is to make sure that cheaters aren’t getting information on how or what they were detected by; even minor details such as the mention of a ban system can play a role in the creation of new and undetectable cheats. This small change will help in reducing the chances of our anti-cheat systems being bypassed by cheaters and cheat makers.

CONCLUDING OUR PLANS & VISION

We know that cheaters have a big impact on Siege and everyone’s enjoyment of the game, which is why we’re boosting our anti-cheat resources. We already have results to show for this in January, and we have much more to come.

We are focused on strengthening our anti-cheat tools, tackling current high impact cheats, and ultimately giving players the experience that they log on for.

Make sure to watch the Six Invitational for the Year 9 Season 1 and Year 9 reveals on Saturday February 24th and Sunday February 25th, for further information on our Player Protection plans!

Kompletter Artikel: ANTI-CHEAT STATUS UPDATE – FEBRUARY 2024

Y8S4.2 Patch Notes

You can find here the updates and fixes for the Y8S4.2 patch.

Y8S4.2 Patch Size

Find the download sizes for each platform below.

  • Ubisoft Connect: 1.11 GB
  • Steam: 647 MB
  • Xbox One: 0.95 GB
  • Xbox Series X: 1.2 GB
  • PlayStation 4: 1.55 GB
  • PlayStation 5: 1.14 GB
OPERATOR BALANCING
ACE

  • S.E.L.M.A.’s fuse time increased to 4 seconds (from 3.2 seconds)
MAVERICK

  • Added Smoke Grenades
THUNDERBIRD

  • Added Deployable Shield
KAPKAN

  • Added Bulletproof Camera
  • Removed Impact Grenades
TUBARÃO

  • Zoto Canisters decreased to 3 from 4.
  • Zoto Canisters no longer affect Maverick’s D.I.Y. Blowtorch.
  • The electrical insulation effect from Zoto Canisters on metallic objects (reinforcements, deployable shield, etc.) will remain for an additional 1.5 seconds after the gadget ends or is destroyed.
WEAPON BALANCING
G-36C

  • Increased Vertical and Horizontal Recoil.
SMG-11

  • Damage reduced to 32 (from 35).
SPAS-15

  • Reduced first shot kick.
  • Increased lateral recoil.
BUG FIXES
GAMEPLAY

FIXED – Player spins in place when having connectivity issues.

FIXED – Blur VFX from damage is not properly applied.

FIXED – Player passes through barricades without breaking them when using ballistic shield to break the barricade and switching to a weapon at the same time.

LEVEL DESIGN

FIXED – Breach charges and deployable gadgets can’t be placed on the window located at EXT Stable Yard on the Villa map.

OPERATORS

FIXED – Tubarão’s Zoto Canister speed reduction isn’t applied if Tubarão is eliminated while holding the canister.

FIXED – Flash VFX doesn’t apply when hiding behind Osa’s Talon-8 Clear Shield.

FIXED – Electricity VFX continues to play after moving away from an electrified wall affected by Tubarão’s Zoto Canister and hit with an EMP grenade.

FIXED – Iana’s Gemini Replicator gauge stays red when affected by an electronics interfering device.

FIXED – Azami’s Kiba Barrier occasionally doesn’t stop bullets.

USER EXPERIENCE

FIXED – Tubarão’s unlock cinematic plays when reaching the main menu after viewing it the first time.

FIXED – Greyed out settings in Options tab don’t default to intended states when status is set to private in Ubisoft Connect.

FIXED – Caveira’s Luison Silencer missing skin in the loadout menu when the Mata-Leao legendary uniform is applied.

FIXED – View Menu button doesn’t redirect to the Playlist menu from the News menu.

FIXED – Lair playlist uses the wrong image.

FIXED – Yellow dot from Play Section is not removed after Tutorials tab is viewed.

FIXED – M590A1 shotgun clips through walls with specific skins.

FIXED – Animated tag is missing from item preivew in the shop menu when viewed in full screen.

FIXED – Brightness is lower in the main menu while in offline mode.

FIXED – Compass on drone doesn’t work when viewed in spectator mode.

FIXED – Leave Squad and See Ubisoft Connect Invite buttons do not function properly when leaving a squad.

FIXED – Settings are not retained when using play again option in the home tab after playing a versus AI game.

FIXED – In-game inventory UI does not update when transactions are completed.

FIXED – Osa’s idle animation plays for other operators in the Operators tab.

FIXED – Mute buttons aren’t functional when joining a game in progress or reconnecting.

Follow us and share your feedback on X, Reddit, and {LINK REMOVED}Facebook.

Kompletter Artikel: Y8S4.2 Patch Notes

Y8S4.2 Designer's Notes

In this latest edition of Designer’s Notes, we’ll go into detail about the balancing changes that’ll come with the Y8S4.2 Update and give you some insight into the reasons behind them.

BALANCING MATRIX AND TOP OPERATOR BANS
WIN DELTA VS. PRESENCE




Please note that we are using presence to gauge the popularity of an Operator. This notion had to be introduced to reflect the implementation of the pick & ban.

Presence definition: pick rate of an Operator when not banned. Win Delta: The Win Delta is aggregated from Operator’s Win Deltas per Bomb Site.

OPERATOR BAN RATE




OPERATOR BALANCING

TUBARÃO

ZOTO CANISTERS

  • Decreased to 3 from 4.
  • No longer affect Maverick’s D.I.Y. Blowtorch.
  • Electrical Insulation effect extended by 1.5 seconds after Canister destruction.

We’ve seen how Tubarão’s Zoto Canisters can be used with great success during his time on the live server. Although we’re still monitoring his position within the meta as the season progresses and players learn to play and counter play him, we did want to quickly readjust an aspect of his ability following feedback we’ve received. Reducing the amount Zoto Canisters to 3 will mean players will need to use them more strategically throughout the round. The freezing effect will no longer cause any delay to Maverick’s D.I.Y. blowtorch to better position him as a counter to Tubarão. The powerful synergy between Tubarão and Ops like Bandit, or Kaid is something we strongly believe in as it’s an integral part of what makes Siege and its operators so interesting. That being said, we did observe that in his current state, those synergies left little room for counter play from attackers. The electrical insulation on metal objects affected by the Zoto Canisters previously lasted only as long as the Canister was active on a surface. The added 1.5 seconds of electrical insulation allow attacking teams with strong coordination a chance to respond and forces the defense to be much more precise in the execution of their strategy if they want to succeed in denying the breach.

ACE

S.E.L.M.A. AQUA BREACHER

  • Fuse time: Increase to 4 seconds (from 3.2)

Ace doesn’t have many downsides. The S.E.L.M.A. is safe to use, quick to explode, fast to use in succession, opens a relatively big hole, and can destroy bulletproof utility. Its main downside is that it can be destroyed during the breaching process to prevent it from creating a navigable hole. But when compared with the downsides of other Hard Breach Operators, this is clearly not enough:

  • Thermite: Only 1 at a time, must be close to the wall, is exposed while using the charge, but creates a bigger hole.
  • Hibana: Slow deployment, slow triggering, but can be used from very far and has a lot of flexibility.
  • Maverick: Requires quite a bit of time, must be close to the wall, is incredibly exposed while using it, but he doesn’t have counters.

By increasing the fuse time, we want to give defenders a better chance to prevent the breach when a lot of resources are dedicated to protecting the wall. The extra time will increase the synchronization required between the breacher enabler (Thatcher, Impact EMP, etc.) and Ace to open an actively defended wall successfully.

KAPKAN

LOADOUT

  • Added Bulletproof Camera.
  • Removed Impact Grenades.

Kapkan has a huge impact on every round regardless of the number of traps triggered. The way attackers must approach the map changes after spotting him or triggering one of his traps. They have to slow down and start paying attention to every window and door frame to ensure they won’t blow up. The last buff to the EDDs made this psychological effect even stronger because you may not get a second chance.

We considered that he already has enough tools to make attackers lose time and the Impact Grenades are helping him be more elusive, allowing him to create rotations on the fly and make attackers invest even more time hunting him through a minefield.

MAVERICK

LOADOUT

  • Added Smoke Grenades.

We are aware that Maverick is a bit situational without Frag Grenades, and despite not having hard counters, there are not too many situations that justify bringing him over other Hard Breachers and an EMP source. It is dangerous to rely on him as the main breacher because of the time and danger he is in while doing the job. And as a secondary breacher, someone more flexible, such as Ace or Hibana (even the Hard Breach Charge), is usually a less limiting choice for the team.

We hope that the Smoke Grenades can help him be more appealing as a secondary breacher and increase his flexibility, so he can also help with site execution, or even cover himself while breaching through reinforcements.

THUNDERBIRD

LOADOUT

  • Added Deployable Shield.

We finished her transition to a more supportive role with the latest tweaks to the Kona Station and loadout changes back in S2.0 but it seems like her utility is not appealing enough.

The addition of the Deployable Shield will allow her to create genuine strongholds for defenders by herself. The protection from the shield and the backup from the Kona Stations can make any defender in these positions a hard target to deal with. You can add a few Active Defense Systems or Mag-Net Systems to prevent the shield from getting destroyed too easily and attackers will have a tough time trying to move you out of position.

Additionally, the SPAS-15 is also improved to encourage her to contribute to site setup.

We believe that these changes can make her more appealing to players who like to experiment with different setups and help their teammates from the backline.

WEAPON BALANCING

SPAS-15

RECOIL (PC & CONSOLE)

  • First shot kick reduced.
  • Lateral recoil increased.
  • Elastic time increased.

OPERATORS AFFECTED

  • Caveira
  • Thunderbird

Automatic Shotguns were left on the sidelines during the Shotgun rework. We were aware that some of the changes introduced could be a bit scary at first sight, so we wanted to be sure that we didn’t enter a new Shotgun meta era by buffing the automatic ones too much.

Despite this, we don’t have plans to touch them again in the near future (we want to see how everything settles), As we wanted to buff Thunderbird, we found it a good opportunity to make a slight tweak to the SPAS-15. Depending on the effect of these changes, we might give similar treatment to the other automatic shotguns.

We are reducing the first shot kick, which eases landing consecutive shots on the target and taking full advantage of the automatic mode. On the other hand, we are increasing the lateral recoil and adding a clear tendency to the left, which also reduces its tendency upwards.

G36C

RECOIL (PC & CONSOLE)

  • Vertical recoil increased.
  • Horizontal recoil increased.

OPERATORS AFFECTED

  • Ash
  • Iana

Both the R4C and ARX-200 have received balancing changes to reduce their power level in the last few years, this has made players gravitate towards the G36C. That combined with Ash and Iana being two of the strongest fraggers on Attack have made the G36C the weapon with the highest Kill Death Ratio on Attack. This alone isn’t an issue; it is a strong weapon in the hands of Operators dedicated to "kills", but the difference between this weapon and other high KDR weapons in the game is too high. Access to the 1.5x sight is an element that strongly affects this weapon’s power level, but also differentiates it from its Loadout competitors the R4-C and ARX-200.

With all of that in mind we’ve decided to modify its recoil. It will be harder to control on every axis which will require players to use more "recoil control" attachments and increase the difficulty of long-range engagements while using the 1.5x.

SMG-11

BASE STATS

  • Damage: Reduced to 32hp (from 35).

OPERATORS AFFECTED

  • Amaru
  • Mute
  • Smoke
  • Solis

For a very long time, the SMG-11 has been the weapon with the lowest Time to Kill among all automatic weapons by far. The change in damage will put it more in line with all the other weapons, while remaining among the fastest. The change will increase the bullets required to kill 1-armor operators by 1, rewarding precision and punishing spraying and praying.

We could have reduced the damage even more without affecting the TTKs, but we want it to remain appealing enough to pair with primary shotguns.

Follow us and share your feedback on Twitter and Reddit.

Kompletter Artikel: Y8S4.2 Designer's Notes

Welcome a new Operator to your squad with the free Holiday Pack!

Happy Holidays from the Rainbow Six Siege team! We have got a surprise for you!

The free Holiday Pack is available from December 22nd 2023 through January 3rd 2024!

The Holiday Pack contains 1 random unowned Operator or a Bravo Pack if all Operators are already owned. To get your pack go to the shop and claim the “free gift” item. The in-game news bulletin should also direct you there.

We hope you enjoy and have a great time heading into your new year.

Enjoy the Holiday Season with the Limited-Time Freeze For All Event!

The festivities continue until Jan 5th and winter descends upon Siege as Attack and Defense sides cease to exist with only a Free For All in the cold.

Prepare to survive the thrills of the Holiday season in a brand-new limited-time Event as we ship Team Rainbow members to the fresh Arctic Workshop map. You will be able to stalk your fellow Operators in a Free(ze) for All where even death won’t be the end as you respawn on the rooftops to rain down snowballs on your enemies!

Join Jäger, Ace, Flores, Valkyrie and Ying with their new Freeze for All bundles along with returning Snow brawl collections for your favourite Operators and a chance to gain exclusive skins through Event packs! Grab a free Collection pack upon login from the store during the event!

Discover the new Operation Deep Freeze features!

Siege continues to evolve in its brand-new season: Operation Deep Freeze!

Control the pace of battle with latest Portuguese Operator, Tubarão, and his new Zoto Canisters which are throwable devices which can stick to any surface, freezing it. They temporarily disable all gadgets while slowing and revealing their location to Defenders.

Deep Freeze also introduces a brand-new Ranked map, Lair, item trading with the Marketplace (beta), an updated Reputation system, balancing updates, and a new Versus AI playlist to polish your tactics and aim!

Get the most out of the last season of Year 8 by purchasing R6 credits in-game to acquire cosmetics for your newly unlocked Operator or to get these exclusive limited-time Freeze for All bundles!

Kompletter Artikel: Welcome a new Operator to your squad with the free Holiday Pack!