The Current Meta of Rainbow Six Siege

Operation Crystal Guard introduced bullet-proof attacker shields and some Operator reworks. But how much of these changes have impacted the Rainbow Six Siege meta?

Fuze, Mute, Twitch, and IQ, who have been there since Rainbow Six Siege’s first year, received reworks of their gadgets and kits to better balance with this new season. Furthermore, a new breed of shielding appeared with the inclusion of Osa and her new Talon-8 shields.

Balancing Changes

Twitch’s reworked Shock Drones are now working with some fancy new tech. They can jump to get her past pesky bullet-proof shields, making them less predictable in the process. In addition, they can destroy devices like Mute jammers with shock bolts.

Mute got an upgrade for his Signal Disrupters to gather better intel about other players’ gadgets. The disruptors now light up to show activation and their range now boasts a spherical pattern.

Image Credits to Ubisoft

Fuze, who has long been relegated to breaking devices from unsafe places such as windows, unreinforced walls, and wooden floors, grabbed himself a hefty change. His new Cluster Charge drops through reinforced surfaces, making for a safer way to send off those dangerous hockey pucks. Although grenades take longer to pass through reinforced surfaces, they can pass instantly through soft surfaces.

IQ’s rework equips her Electronic Detector with the “Ping System 2.0.” This grants her the ability to identify and ping through walls. This includes the devices held or used by Operators like Vigil and the counter defuser.

Rainbow Six Meta

Osa has become almost integral to attacking and holding Secure sites. With her bullet-proof, see-through glass shield, Osa can secure angles to hold like no other Operators. This added safety and her ability to give attackers the peeking advantage makes her a great threat.

As far as Operator reworks, IQ tracks Operators and their gadgets easier, Fuze can blast grenades past formally indestructible forces, and Twitch can barge through obstacles and destroy gadgets she had problems with previously.

In R6S, characters who run fast and explode walls tend to reign supreme. Operators like Ash, Thermite, Ace, and Maverick are its current kings and queens. Even Buck and Sledge are better than Fuze, who routinely likes to check the well-being of hostages. Thatcher is still king of disrupting gadgets despite only taking care of small traps.

Image Credits to Ubisoft

Mute, who has always been strong on defense, now has an even greater range. However, most operators’ strongest suits are the types of SMGs they have in hand and whether or not they have impact grenades, nitro cells, barbed wires, shields, or bullet-proof cameras. In fast-paced games, it’s hard to find a good fit for defenders like Pulse, Oryx, and Clash.

A player’s best bet on defense is to make it as difficult as possible to break through reinforced walls. Bandit, Kaid, and Mute are the only options to stopping the attackers from having a big hole in their reinforcements. But these are easily broken by thatcher or Twitch if she gets her drone in the room.

Image Credits to Ubisoft

This is where things get tricky for the other two defenders. If the game is fast-paced, choosing something to slow them down is the right play. Tachanka’s newest change to his trusty Shumikha Launcher is a great tool to prevent Operators from rushing. Jaeger is also a perfect instrument for stopping flashbangs, with the exception of coordinated grenades.

On the other hand, if the opposing team adopts a slow playstyle, based around different angles of attack, Lesion’s Gu Mines could help in disrupting a push. They can be placed down hallways, they could flank, by the windows, farther back in attacking points where they could hide and peek around a corner. Ela could also make some differences by disorientating other Operators with her Grzmot Mines, preventing last-minute pushes onto a site.

In a game like Rainbow Six: Siege, disruption and destruction is the meta. Ubisoft tried a few Operator reworks as time went by, but the current meta should seemingly stay true to the players’ abilities to break open sites and create angles from which to catch their opponents off-guard.

Written by Alana Thompson

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