Year Four Season One is all set to go, featuring two new operators from the SASR. One’s a stoic Attacker who’s just there to get the job done, and the other is a quick-witted Defender who’s in it for the guts and glory. Two old mates from way back, they’ve signed up with Rainbow to bring a little Aussie know-how to the other side of the world. This includes a new device that’ll keep roaming Defenders on their toes, and one that’ll leave Attackers at a bit of a loss.

That doesn’t mean they’ve left the sunburnt country completely behind them, though – there’s a slice of the red desert coming with them. A high-stakes chase has ended in a standoff at a service station halfway between here and nowhere, resulting in a map that’s packed with twists, turns, and Australiana. Try not to get distracted in the gift shop or dream of sampling the national specialties available at the fast food counter. Your teammates will thank you.

Visit our Rainbow Six Twitch Channel [www.twitch.tv]on February 17 for the full reveal of Operation Burnt Horizon, live from the Six Invitational in Montréal.

Kompletter Artikel: Y4S1: OPERATION BURNT HORIZON

The Y3S4.2 Patch will deploy on January 29th for PC, and January 30th for consoles.

A detailed breakdown, as well as the rationale as to why we are making these changes, can be found in the Designer’s Notes[rainbow6.com].

CAVEIRA
Luison

• Damage decreased to 65 (from 99).
• Adjustments to damage falloff to align with other pistols for consistency.
• Reduced magazine size to 12 (from 15).
• Increased recoil to make chaining shots at long-range more challenging.
• Increased hipfire spread to reduce the viability of spamming non-ADS shots.

CLASH
SPSMG9

• Upgrade to full-automatic fire mode from 2-round burst fire mode.
• Updated recoil to align with other full-auto weapons.
• Increase total ammunition at 161 (from 121)
• Increased damage to 33 (from 30).

KAID
AUG A3

• Increase ADS speed by 33% to align with other SMGs.

DOC + ROOK
MP5

• Decrease max damage to 27 (from 30).

NOMAD

• Yellow light on Nomad’s Airjab will now blink during activation delay.

GAMEPLAY

• FIXED – Visual graphics glitch that impairs player sight. (Also known as the "Bird Box" glitch)
• FIXED – The shield collision box is not synced properly when the player looks up and down.
• FIXED – On Bomb, counter defuser will instantly appear in operators’ hands instead of playing counter defuser animation.
• FIXED – Missing frames on crouch replays on end of round replay and death cam replay.
• FIXED – Defusing at the last moment will not stop the round timer and prevents the round from ending.
• FIXED – The holographic sight reticle thickness.
• FIXED – Players can become immune to Stun/Flashbang effects after being stunned multiple times in THunt.
• FIXED – Recruit operator has Fuze’s default green ballistic shield skin instead of a black shield skin.

GAME MODE
TERRORIST HUNT

• FIXED – Users in a PVE squad session can be stuck in an infinite loading screen after voting to retry.

CUSTOM

• FIXED – In Pick and Ban, if player votes ‘No ban’ for the first ban, the ‘No ban’ option is automatically selected in the second ban-round.
• FIXED – In Custom matches, the Operator art remains grayed out when ‘Change Operator’ button is pressed during 6th pick.
• FIXED – In Custom matches, players cannot re-pick their previous Operator selection during 6th pick.
• FIXED – In Custom matches, when the Attacker’s Unique Spawn option is set to off, the Attacker’s tactical map may have missing or displaced icons.
• FIXED – In Custom matches, when a player leaves after spawn location vote, their vote count text remains.
• FIXED – Players who are Clearance Level 5+ can’t create a Custom Online game when in a squad with users who have a CL less than 5.

OPERATORS
NOMAD

• FIXED – Drone collision issues with Nomad’s Airjab when deployed on any surface.
• FIXED – Fire damage from any environmental map sources will not destroy Nomad’s Airjab.
• FIXED – Nomad’s Airjab does not deploy on some types of debris.
• FIXED – Certain gadgets are not destroyed even when Nomad’s Airjab pushes an Operator through them.
• FIXED – Mute’s jammer can cause incorrect Airjab detonation behavior.
• FIXED – One of Nomad’s VO lines does not play properly during Airjab detonation.
• FIXED – When Nomad deploys an Airjab inside a smoke grenade, she can sometimes gain vision inside the smoke grenade’s area of effect.
• FIXED – Nomad’s Airjabs can sometimes be activated and destroyed at the same time.
• FIXED – The yellow laser on Nomad’s Airjab will shift left when the unequip animation is interrupted.

ALIBI

• FIXED – Alibi’s Prisma will not activate when dropped by Alibi after being pushed-back by Nomad’s Airjab.

KAID

• FIXED – Addressed recoil differences of Kaid’s TCSG12 with mouse vs controller input.
• FIXED – A round remains in the chamber while performing a full reload of Kaid’s TCSG12.
• FIXED – Lesion’s Gu Mine will deploy in electrical barbed wire if deployed before or at the same time Electroclaw activates.
• FIXED – The Electroclaw visual zone effect disappears after being deployed when switching operators in Support mode.
• FIXED – Gadgets will still remain electrified by Kaid’s Electroclaw even after destroying the barbed wire on which the gadget was originally deployed.
• FIXED – Some parts of Kaid’s uniform clips with the player’s camera when prone against a wall.
• FIXED – The AOE effect indicator for Kaid’s Electroclaw is missing or is smaller while the gadget redeploys itself after falling off from a deployable shield.

LEVEL DESIGN

• FIXED – Some walls do not respond properly to destruction after being hit in the same spot repeatedly.

FORTRESS

• FIXED – Sound propagation issues in Kitchen / Central Stairs on Fortress.
• FIXED – Operators bodies clip through the wall of 1F Kitchen on Fortress.
• FIXED – Operator bodies can clip through a box on 1F Hammam.
• FIXED – Floating debris when destroying ceiling surfaces in 2F Bathroom.
• FIXED – Players sometimes pass through the indestructible separator walls of 1F Courtyard on Fortress when activating Nomad’s Airjab from a certain angle.

COASTLINE

• FIXED – Players can vault through the floor to 2F Bathroom on Coastline.

CHALET

• FIXED – When placing Fuze’s Cluster charges on the floor above certain metal beams, the pellets will detonate but will not deal damage to the environment or the players.
• FIXED – Certain ceilings on Chalet don’t destruct properly due to horizontal pillars blocking explosions.

KANAL

• FIXED – Players sometimes clip through wooden walls of Kanal.

USER EXPERIENCE
FIXED – Ranked match summary displays the individual MMR earned from the match, and not the Player’s current total MMR.

• FIXED – Players sometimes receive a [2-0x00009008] Game Full error in Casual matchmaking.
• FIXED – Voice chat audio continues to transmit even when alt-tabbed out of the client.
• FIXED – Erroneous menu UI visual effects when using a controller.
• FIXED – Menu UI tabs sometimes overlap when using two different inputs.
• FIXED – Two observation tool key binding popups still erroneously popup on first boot for new players.
• FIXED – Scrollbar overlaps the end of the details list for seasonal weapons.
• FIXED – Incorrect compass location is displayed when drones are close to the ceiling.
• FIXED – Players can duplicate weapon skins between two weapons.
• FIXED – 2D visual corruption when vaulting over any thin objects.
• FIXED – VFX issue with Reflex sigh on Spetsnaz attachments.
• FIXED – FNP9 Pistol Iron sight not centered properly.
• FIXED – Killcam replay moves sporadically when an operator dies from a thrown C4.
• FIXED – Kaid and Nomad’s default headgear is misnamed.
• FIXED – The "Canadian Trenches" Uniform for Frost has a clipping issue around the chest area.
• FIXED – Glaz’s Elite Uniforms & Headgears have missing titles on the Operator screen.
• FIXED – Headgears are not arranged by order in player’s inventory.
• FIXED – Sorting charms by price leads to an alphabetical sort in the shop.
• FIXED – The Vigil Chibi Charm visual effects missing around the sides of his mask.

Kompletter Artikel: Y3S4.2 PATCH NOTES

Sharpen your reflexes, ignite your competitive spirit, and get ready for the Road to S.I. event.

Starting on January 25th and running until February 18th, play like the pros on the Road to S.I. Playlist. This playlist will be accessible on the main menu through the Discovery Playlist, and includes features like our Esport Map Pool and Pick and Ban[rainbow6.ubisoft.com]. Full playlist details can be found at the end of this article.

EVENT SCHEDULE
The playlist will be available every weekend up to the Six Invitational finals. The schedule is as follows:

• From January 25th 2019 – 10:00 am EST to January 28th 2019 – 10:00 am EST
• From February 1st 2019 – 10:00 am EST to February 4th 2019 – 10:00 am EST
• From February 8th 2019 – 10:00 am EST to February 11th 2019 – 10:00 am EST
• From February 15th 2019 – 10:00 am EST to February 18th 2019 – 10:00 am EST

Each weekend of this event will feature a new Club Challenges that will reward players with a 2019 Collection Pack, up to four in total for the entire event. Additionally, other Challenges during this event will feature increased Renown rewards.

Playlist type: NORMAL MODE
Map rotation: ESPORT MAP POOL (Villa, Oregon, Border, Consulate, Coastline, Clubhouse and Bank)
Time of the day: DAY
HUD settings: NORMAL

MATCH PARAMETERS
Number of Bans: 4
Ban Timer: 30
Number of Rounds: 6
Attacker/Defender role swap: 3
Overtime: 2 ROUNDS
Overtime score difference: 2
Overtime role change: 1
Objective Rotation Parameter: 2
Objective Type Rotation: ROUNDS PLAYED
Attacker unique spawn: ON
Pick Phase Timer: 30
6TH Pick Phase: OFF
Damage handicap: 100
Friendly fire damage: 100
Injured: 20
Sprint: ON
Lean: ON
Death Replay: OFF

GAME MODE
Game mode: BOMB
Plant duration: 7s
Defuse duration: 7s
Fuse time: 45s
Defuser carrier selection: ON
Preparation phase: 45s
Action: 180s

For more information and updates about this event, check the full article[preview-rainbow6.ubisoft.com] and follow us on Twitter. See you at the Six Invitational 2019!

Kompletter Artikel: ROAD TO S.I.

The “Designer’s Notes” series will provide you with insight into our Balancing team’s thoughts on Operator balancing around the middle of each Season. These will come after we have reviewed the data and feedback from the new Operators, and changes made with the latest Season.

We utilize data and player feedback to make decisions on adjustments. With that in mind, we wanted to share some of the data they have been looking at for our various Operators. The following charts plot the power (Win Delta) and popularity (Pick Rate) of the Operators on Attack and Defense. The Win Delta is the average win ratio when an Operator is picked minus the average win ratio when an Operator is not picked.

CAVEIRA

• Decreased damage from 99 to 65
• Damage falloff adjustments to make it more consistent with other pistols
• Magazine size reduced from 15 to 12 bullets
• Increased recoil (will be more challenging to chain shots at long range)
• Increased hip fire spread (reduce the viability of non-ADS spam fire)

We are trying to make her less frustrating to play against and reduce her power level at low to medium levels. Lowering the damage, the number of bullets that need to hit the chest of an enemy to put them in a DBNO state should be the same as before, but we reduce the penalty of being hit by one shot. Thanks to this, we can also normalize the falloff curve to be more consistent with other pistols, which gives Caveira increased ranged and versatility.

With the changes to the recoil and hip-fire, We also want to reinforce the hunter aspect of the character, force her to approach silently to her prey and be precise to guarantee the kill. With this in mind, we have made the aforementioned adjustments to the recoil and hip fire experience.

KAID

• ADS speed has been increased by 33%

Kaid is performing below our expectations; we want to take a deep look in the future to make him more attractive for the utility and creativity that he brings to a team. For now, the ADS of the AUG A3 was too slow, closer to an Assault Rifle than an SMG. This change should help him to win more gunfights.

ROOK & DOC

• MP5 maximum damage reduced from 30 to 27

Rook has the highest win delta for the defenders, and Doc is trending the same way, with a win delta that increases Season over Season. We want to slightly reduce their power without changing how it feels to play them.

CLASH

• Changed SPSMG9 fire mode to full-auto
• Removed SPSM9 2-shot burst
• Adapted SPSMG9 recoil to full-auto fire mode
• Increased SPSMG9 total ammunition to 161, from 121
• Increased SPSMG9 damage, from 30 to 33

We are not satisfied with the current state of Clash: she has been underperforming, and the latest updates did not improve that situation.

We believe that she is the Operator that needs quality team support the most, which makes her too weak when there is no backup, especially when outnumbered. By changing the fire mode of the SPSMG9 to full auto and increasing its damage, our goal is to help improve her performance when encountering those kinds of situations. At the same time, these changes come with a new recoil alignment that will bring the SPSMG9 behavior closer to the rest of the machine pistols.

LION
Progress is being made on the Lion Rework. We have tested and validated the design changes that we would like to implement, and are in the process of tightening up the parameters, as well as UI and Audio feedback. We will have more information available for you during the Six Invitational!

Kompletter Artikel: Y3S4.2 DESIGNER'S NOTES: MID-SEASON

On December 10th, we will be evolving our chat toxicity system by activating a chat filter. As a part of our efforts to address toxicity, we previously implemented an automatic ban feature for inappropriate language. Upon review, we found that the automatic ban feature, while effective at curtailing bad behavior, was intrusive to the gameplay of other players not engaging in the inappropriate activity. Therefore, the current system for auto-bans is evolving to improve the experience for all players, including those behaving appropriately.

The goal of the chat filter is to encourage players to be vigilant with the language they are using without immediately disrupting other players. While we valued the performance against toxicity that the auto-ban system brought, we also wanted to provide a more transparent feedback system to our players. The chat filter system will not only give direct feedback to players who are using toxic language, but will continue to allow us to provide appropriate sanctions to offending players.

When players use inappropriate language, they will receive the following private message:

"The following message was not sent and will be reviewed for inappropriate conduct:*word used*"

The flagged message is not broadcasted to other players in the match.

For clarity, manual toxicity reviews for temporary and permanent bans will continue in the same way that they have for the last few years.

Kompletter Artikel: DEV BLOG: TOXICITY UPDATE

Over the last two weeks, we have deployed a number of additional bug fixes and balancing tweaks to the Test Server. These changes will be integrated into the final Y3S4 Wind Bastion Season update.

Click Here for Full Wind Bastion Patch Notes.[rainbow6.ubisoft.com]

GENERAL
– Lowered damage taken when meleeing electrified barbed wires from 15 to 3/damage tick.
– Increased recoil for .44 Mag Semi Auto.

KAID
– Lowered number of electroclaws to 2.
– Players now only receive 2 points for deploying electroclaw.

NOMAD
– Airjab will no longer detect targets while traveling.
– 1.5s delay on warhead between the moment it sticks and the moment it will activate.

IQ
– Increase to IQ’s gadget detection range from 15m to 20m.

NIGHT MAPS
– Night Maps have all been removed for all maps for Ranked.
We came to this decision based on both feedback from players and the fact that we have found that Night maps hinder competitive gameplay. Night map versions will still be available in the Casual Map Playlist.

LIGHTING UPDATE
– Improved lighting algorithms.
– Tweaked map moods.
– Night map sky environment update (similar to previous HDR map updates).
This goal of this lighting update is to provide a more realistic look and feel for the Rainbow Six Siege environment. With the new lighting algorithms being introduced into our global illumination system, this update will allow us to provide greater lighting precision and give us a greater degree of artistic control for all our day and night maps. While making these changes, we worked closely with player feedback to ensure that all lighting changes are transparent in terms of gameplay and will have no effect on player performance.

GAMEPLAY

• Fixed – Operators with ballistic shields are immune to guard break effect while walking backwards.
• Fixed – Red Dot and ACOG sights obscure the player’s view more than in Y3S3.
• Fixed – After teamkilling, offenders are not kicked and do not receive a TK offense.
• Fixed – Hostage kill counts only as 1 teamkill instead of 2.
• Fixed – A desync occurs when a character climbs a ladder and triggers an airjab at the same time.
• Fixed – A desync occurs when a character starts rappelling and triggers an airjab at the same time.
• Fixed – Jackal’s gadget sometimes cannot see footprints left by Operators.

FORTRESS

• Fixed – Breaching a floor on Fortress sometimes only destroys the top layer of the floor.
• Fixed – Drones can clip inside the EXT Guard Tower of the hatch on Fortress when thrown at a certain location.
• Fixed – A desync occurs when a player vaults a window and triggers an airjab at the same time.
• Fixed – Character’s feet can clip through the 1F Old Tower Stairs on Fortress.
• Fixed – A space under the table in 1F Cafeteria on Fortress make it look like a drone can pass through.
• Fixed – LOD issues in the table in 1F sitting room on Fortress.

CLUBHOUSE

• Fixed – Lighting issues in Clubhouse makes it difficult to see prone Operators.

HOUSE

• Fixed – Lighting issues on House make it difficult to see Operators in certain areas.

KAFE

• Fixed – After being pushed back by Nomad, operator can get stuck on the EXT Park Alley of Kafe.

SKYSCRAPER

• Fixed – Lighting issues on Skyscraper make it difficult to spot Operators in certain spots.

THEME PARK

• Fixed – Lighting issues on Theme Park which can cause disruptive contrasts when entering the building.

YACHT

• Fixed – Placeholder hat in 4F Captain’s Office of Yacht.
• Fixed – Lighting LOD issues in 2F Kitchen on Yacht.

USER EXPERIENCE

• Fixed – In the options menu, clicking the Benchmark button under Graphics Settings will cause a black screen issue.
• Fixed – Accepting a squad invite can sometimes result in loss of UI functionality when trying to access the main menu.
• Fixed – Incorrect weapon stats/damage values are displayed in menu.
• Fixed – When a user is removed from game, in-game announcer shows 5 v 0 text.
• Fixed – Shaking animation of Hostage when being escorted.
• Fixed – Shield shaking animation if the Operator moves while they are equipped on their back.
• Fixed – The "Baroque Exalted" Weapon Skin is not displayed when applied on several weapons.
• Fixed – The "Gingerbread" weapon skin is not displayed when applied on Glaz’s OTs-03.
• Fixed – Clash SPSMG9 bullet capacity shows 15 instead of 20 in the operators menu.

Kompletter Artikel: Y3S4 PATCH NOTES ADDENDUM

Earlier this year, we announced our plans to activate mandatory Two Step Verification[rainbow6.ubisoft.com] in order to play Ranked.

We are excited to announce that ranked lock will be activated on December 11th, 2018 in Europe, Middle East, North America and South America. If you are playing on the data centers for these regions and you want to play Ranked, you will need to have 2 Step Verification activated on your account by December 11th. For APAC data centers (include the data centers here), this lock will happen at a later date.

What is 2SV?
2-Step Verification is a system that allows you to add an extra layer of security to your account. You can find more info here[support.ubi.com].

How do I activate 2SV?
You can find a complete guide of how to activate 2SV in this article[rainbow6.ubisoft.com] or in our Support page[support.ubi.com].

Why do I need to activate it in order to play ranked?
Account security is very important to us, and this is the next step to ensure that players participating in Ranked have a secured account.

What do I get for enabling 2SV?
Three things:

• An extra layer of security in your account
• The possibility to play Ranked after December 11th.
• A free Thermite bundle if you activate 2SV before December 11th.

Why is the lock not happening in all regions at the same time?
EU and NA have enough players with 2FA enabled to ensure a positive matchmaking experience.

What happens if I don’t enable 2SV?
You will still be able to access the game and play Situations, Terrorist Hunt and Casual, but not Ranked.

I am having issues accessing my account because of 2SV, what do I do?
Make sure that your application is synchronised, here[support.ubi.com] is how.

What if I lose my authenticator and my back up codes?
You will need to get in touch with our Support team.[support.ubi.com]

Can I disable 2SV?
If you need to deactivate 2SV, here[support.ubi.com] is a full guide about how to do it.

I play on console; do I need to activate 2SV to play ranked?
No, this requirement only affects PC players.

Can I get the Thermite skin even if I play on console?
No, this reward is only available for PC players.

Kompletter Artikel: 2 Step Verification Ranked Lock Update

On November 2nd, we shared an article detailing the Aesthetic Changes coming with Operation Wind Bastion. Since then, our community and players have raised concerns.

We have spent the last week working on solutions and have decided that we will be reverting all aesthetic changes.

We will begin reverting these changes alongside the launch of Wind Bastion so no player is impacted; we ask you to be patient if some elements remain.
We will carefully remove them all to the best of our ability considering the short timeframe and with the lowest impact on the season’s launch date and our build stability.

Our intentions are to keep any impact to a minimum, though such changes may lead to a season delay and/or some instability as our testing and debug times are shortened. We will monitor our tests closely and keep you updated on any new development on the matter via our Rainbow Six Twitter.

We have been following the conversation with our community closely over the past couple of weeks, alongside regular discussions with our internal Ubisoft team, and we want to ensure that the experience for all our players, especially those that have been with us from the beginning, remains as true to the original artistic intent as possible.

Current players in Asian territories can continue enjoying the same game as the other players.

 
We will be sure to keep you informed, as updates progress. In the meantime, we are excited to unveil Operation Wind Bastion on the Test Server later today, and cannot wait to introduce players to Kaid, Nomad, the new Fortress map and more in Year Three Season Four.

Kompletter Artikel: Update: Y3S4 Aesthetic Changes