Rainbow Six Siege Y9S2 Designer's Notes

Rainbow Six Siege's team always releases their developer's notes before going into their next season, and this time is no exception. We'll be looking at all the upcoming changes for the next season and the reasoning behind them.

Rainbow Six Siege: Balancing Matrix

Win Delta per Operator Versus Presence

R6's team often uses these statistics to determine which operators are performing well and which ones need a bit of love. The following graphs show the operators' presence (popularity) and their win delta in percentages on PC and console, respectively:

From this chart, we can see that, on PC, Rainbow Six Siege Y9S1.3 in a Ranked setting, Ash has been overwhelmingly popular, which is no surprise considering that hasn’t changed from the last few patches. We can also see that Finka is currently with the highest win delta despite all the nerfs and has also kept her crown for a few patches now.

The new operator, Deimos, who came with Operation Deadly Omen, seems to be doing a bit better, maybe because the few players left playing him have managed to master his kit. Overall, we can see that most Operators’ win rates have gone down, and only a few have been left to stick out with positive statistics.

In the console version of Rainbow Six Siege Y9S1.3, things appear a bit different. No operators stand out in terms of a positive win delta, but Sense and Deimos seem to still be performing the worst. Ash remains the most popular operator here and appears to still be the most-played attacker in R6 Siege.

When it comes to defenders in Rainbow Six Siege Y9S1.3, few operators truly stand out. This might be due to the season being rather defender-sided, with most operators proving useful depending on the map.

A major change in the statistics that stands out is Lesion, who’s been picked a lot less compared to the last patch. Other than that, a lot of Operators have increased their win rate on defense.

The operator that stands out the most is Clash, who is at the very bottom with a -7.9% win delta and a 4.4% presence. It appears that Clash has gotten worse since the last patch and is currently the worst operator in R6 Siege.

The defender's chart for Rainbow Six Siege on console in Y9S1.3 hasn’t changed at all. Wamai is still the most popular operator at the moment, while Kapkan has the highest win rate.

Operator Changes

Ubisoft mentioned that they recognize the delicate position of the Recruit Operator. While they have always wanted them to be playable and enjoyable in serious matches without being a meme, their potential had to be carefully managed due to the ability to have multiple Recruits on the same team.

Additionally, the Recruit served as a safeguard for various systems, which means that remastering it also requires updating those systems.

Striker

Striker, in particular, stands out as a versatile support on attack. You can assist Thermite with Impact EMP Grenades for breaching walls while using Hard Breach Charges to open the remaining hatches. Alternatively, protect your teammates by placing Claymores to block flanks and Smoke Grenades to control lines of sight. Or even take on the entry role with Frag Grenades and Stun Grenades while your team does the hard work.

Base Stats

• Armor: 2
• Speed: 2

Gadget Kit (Ability)

• Equips two gadgets instead of a gadget and an ability. Can select any attacking gadget on the team, but not the same twice.

Loadout

• Primary weapons: M4, M249
• Secondary weapons: 5.7 USG, ITA12S

Sentry

Sentry serves as the defensive counterpart to Striker. Their primary objective is to assist with site setup and provide any missing utility. If you require additional intel, consider bringing a Bulletproof Camera and Proximity Alarms. For enhanced map control, opting for a Deployable Shield and Barbed Wire would be more ideal.

Base Stats

• Armor: 2
• Speed: 2

Gadget Kit (Ability)

• Equips two gadgets instead of a gadget and an ability. Can select any defensive gadget on the team, but not the same twice.

Loadout

• Primary weapons: Commando 9, M870
• Secondary weapons: C75 Auto, Super Shorty

Fenrir

F-Natt Dead Mine

• Max. resources (Mines): Reduced to 4 (from 5).
• Max. resources (Tickets): Reduced to 2 (from 3).
• An inactive mine is no longer bulletproof.
• Tickets are no longer lost when an active mine is destroyed. They will return to Fenrir's inventory.
• Disabling a mine automatically gets its ticket removed. They will return to Fenrir's inventory.

Loadout

• Secondary gadgets: Added Observation Blocker. Removed Barbed Wire.

Solis

SPEC-IO Electro-Sensor

• SPEC-IO goggles remain disabled during prep-phase.
• SPEC-IO energy duration reduced to 10s (from 20s).
• SPEC-IO needs to fully recharge before using it.
• SPEC-IO Detection range 12m (from 15m).

Loadout

• Secondary gadgets: Added Proximity Alarm. Removed Impact Grenades.

Deimos

By adding grip options to Deimos' AK-74M, Ubisoft are hoping to make the weapon slightly more viable for his more aggressive support playstyle. However, they will be monitoring this change carefully, as they want to make sure that the focus remains on taking full advantage of his DeathMARKs and Vendetta.

Loadout

• AK-74: Added Vertical, Angled, and Horizontal grips.