Creating new doors in walls is core to the destructible strategy in Siege. Creating new walls, new windows, and actual new doors is core to Map Buffs. The Level Design team is constantly looking at ways to iterate on maps in small, focused updates through what we call Map Buffs. Introduced for the first time in Operation Para Bellum with the Map Buff of Clubhouse, we wanted to revisit the philosophy of these decisions, as they will be a key feature in the future.



Here is an example of the Clubhouse Map Buff where a connector was added to the second floor to bridge the two structures.

After two years, some maps or parts of maps in Siege can feel stale. As players and playstyles evolve, there are also areas of certain maps that lack competitiveness. This can make a map unbalanced or even just not fun to play.

The philosophy of the Level Design Team when creating Map Buffs is to give maps new life while improving the competitiveness. The team builds onto the existing structure and flow of the map that improves on these qualities without completely changing the experience of the map. This is where Map Buffs differ from Map Reworks.



Here is an example of the Clubhouse Map Buff where a connector was added to the second floor to bridge the two structures.

Map Buffs are surgical and limited changes are focused purely on gameplay. These are more rapid iterations on a map that require reduced workload on the art team. They aim to offer a few critical improvements to competitiveness, mainly more viable objectives. The Level Design team looks at the objective pick rate in Ranked and Pro League and attempt to redistribute it more equally with these buffs.

In the future, we plan to introduce Map Buffs on a more regular basis. They all will not be as robust as the changes made to Clubhouse, but they will be focused on the philosophy outlined above.

For more information on the upcoming season, follow Rainbow Six Siege on Twitter and Facebook.

We have a few changes that will have an impact on gameplay, but this will not be a major balancing patch. These changes will come with the Y3S3 patch, and will be available on the Y3S3 Test Server.

• EMP Grenades will now temporarily disable cameras instead of destroying them.

As we noted in a previous AMA, Thatcher’s binary playstyle is somewhat limiting, and we adjusted his gadget to allow for additional creativity, and have a longer lasting impact on the Meta. His EMP grenades will now temporarily disable cameras; this includes security cameras, bulletproof cameras, Maestro’s turrets, and Valkyrie’s cameras. This is a small part of a larger project that we are working on, but have too many dependencies on current systems to implement this at the same time as the rest of the changes. Future changes will include elements that will make Thatcher stronger, but we needed this interaction in place before we can begin working on those.

• Shock Drone will emit slightly more noise

We will be increasing the amount of noise made by Twitch’s Shock Drone, as player’s had too much trouble hearing the drone even in extremely quiet situations. It is still very discreet, and quieter than other drones. Our goal is to help players that are paying attention be able to pick up on the audio cue from the drone when it is moving.

• Weapons will no longer interact with your Field of View

Our recoil system has a flaw affecting automatic weapons that causes bullets to diverge from where the reticle is pointing. A fix will be implemented with the upcoming Year 3 Season 3 patch. This will be done by removing your weapon’s interaction with your Field of View (FOV), and ensuring the reticle will always be in the center of your screen.

Our goal is to offer a clean, tight shooting system that enables our players to showcase their skill, without rewarding players with a headshot when aiming at the torso. We have worked hard at trying to match the unique shooting feel of Siege by firing tens of thousands of bullets and switching back and forth between the two systems, and iterating to bring the new recoils closer to their live counterpart.

The implementation of this change will also be a starting point for a re-evaluation of all weapons. We will share more information about any future weapon changes prior to them being implemented in the live game.


Following the changes that Finka experienced in Patch 2.2, we have seen a positive result. As of right now, her Win Delta has dropped to 1.7%, bringing her more in line with other Operators, and her pick rate has slightly increased. We are happy with the result of the changes that were made, but are going to continue to monitor her performance should anything change, as well as keep an eye on how she is performing in Pro League.

We have seen an interesting increase in the Win Delta for Kapkan and Frost in the last few weeks. They have each shifted from a Win Delta of approximately -3.0%, to nearly 1.0% each. We aren’t sure why this happened, but to the dedicated Frost and Kapkan mains out there, keep doing great things. We see you.

Tune-in for the reveal of Y3S3 Operation Grim Sky on the Rainbow Six Twitch Channel on August 17 - 19th during the first ever Six Major in Paris.

Meet Clash, the first Defender with a shield.

Born and raised in England, she’s a tough officer who served with the Territorial Support Group, holding the front line during the 2011 London Riots. She earned her spot with the Specialist Firearms Command (SCO19), making herself known within London’s Metropolitan Police Services (MPS).

She’s an expert at devising crowd-control strategies and she even acquired special permission to attend Gold Command meetings. She later made Detective Constable. Her experience, service record and persistence in her line of work got her noticed by Rainbow Six.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM5Pqv10vJA

Twitch and Mira combined their engineering backgrounds, leading an R&D project to create the CCE Shield (Crowd Control Electro Shield). Clash is the perfect Operator to handle this new gadget and weapon because she understands mob behavior and she pioneered snatch squad tactics, not to mention her experience as a riot officer. She knows exactly when and where to deploy this shield to deny entry and slow down her opponents. Not only that, Clash has the backbone to stand her ground and a cooperative mindset to set herself up for assists. She shows no mercy and she has zero-tolerance for nonsense.

Despite her new title as DC at the MPS, she knows she belongs on the front line. This new Defender joining Rainbow Six, she’s none other than Morowa “Clash” Evans.

Visit our Twitch Channel on August 17-19th for Clash’s full reveal during the first ever Six Major in Paris.

Our recoil system has a flaw affecting automatic weapons that causes bullets to diverge from where the reticle is pointing. A fix will be implemented with the upcoming Year 3 Season 3 patch. This will be done by removing your weapon’s interaction with your Field of View (FOV), and ensuring the reticle will always be in the center of your screen.

Our weapons are rendered at 50 FOV and the game world is rendered between 60-90 FOV. The center of your screen and the reticle match between 50 and 60 to 90 FOV, so the first shot is always accurate. Our weapon optics will become offset due to the variance in render scales, causing displacement of the reticle. Displacement of the reticle occurs whenever multiple shots are fired in quick succession (fully automatic fire). Any displacement of the reticle is going to create further misalignment.. When there is weapon displacement, it moves the reticle off center, thus sending the bullet to a different point than where the reticle is pointing. Displacement occurs when there is rotation (weapon spins around a central pivot point, forming two circles as each end of the weapon) and translation (the weapon moving in a direction on the X and Y axis).



In the new system, we are not able to transfer the recoil “patterns” from the old system. They need to be recreated manually for each weapon, and we have been working to make the recoils match the “old” ones. We have made an effort to ensure that each weapon feels as close to the original recoil as possible.

Our goal is to offer a clean, tight shooting system that enables our players to showcase their skill, without rewarding players with a headshot when aiming at the torso. We have worked hard at trying to match the unique shooting feel of Siege by firing tens of thousands of bullets and switching back and forth between the two systems, and iterating to bring the new recoils closer to their live counterpart.

These changes were live on the latest version of the Test Server, and we have done our best to consider your feedback.

Hereford Base is getting a makeover. The aim of this rework is to make serious adjustments to the map to address previously encountered gameplay issues, and to raise the standards of what’s expected for competitive play. Overall, the map will still feel familiar, but this new Hereford Base contains many twists and should be treated as a new map.

The current map as we know it was the first to be prototyped for Rainbow Six Siege, so it only makes sense for this map to be the first rework. Rarely does a Dev Team get to revamp an existing map, let alone a location as iconic as Hereford. Thanks to your continued support and feedback, the Dev Team collected a good amount of data to make the required fixes, pushing Hereford Base to the next level.

Players can expect a new layout and the map as a whole will be bigger, meaning that each floor will have a larger surface area. Level Designers have also added new stairs to improve movement between each floor, increasing the viability of rotations. However, the new Hereford Base will still retain its “soul,” making multiple nods to the old base. Level Artists also took this opportunity to update the map’s visual identity and color palette, giving each floor more personality.

For the Level Designers, revisiting this map was a rare treat. Rainbow Six Siege has been running live for over two years. During this time, the level design team has matured and fine-tuned its knowledge of the game, and now has the chance to apply this knowledge to the Hereford Base map. Despite the frequent rain over Hereford Base, the Dev Team has a sunny and positive outlook on what’s to come.

Again, none of this would be possible without the community’s feedback. Thank you for all your support.

Find out all about Hereford’s full treatment by visiting our Rainbow Six Twitch Channel on August 17-19th during the first ever Six Major in Paris.

In a game like Rainbow Six Siege, ensuring that all maps are as competitive as possible is crucial. As part of that effort, we have learned a lot about how our maps are played, and what goes into making all of the Bomb Site locations viable options. For some maps, this can be done with adding and removing a few walls, and making minor tweaks to the flow of the map. For others, it will require extensive overhauls to the core layout of the map, which is where our Map Reworks come in. The goal of these reworks is to make a map more player-friendly at all skill levels, but also ensure that they are as balanced as possible. As previously announced, the first map receiving a rework will arrive in Year 3 Season 3.

With the Map Rework system, the level design team heavily alters the landscape to improve map flow. The overall goal of this process is to create more feasible Defender site choices. Our hopes are not to remove the most favorable selections, but to make other choices more practical, leading to a fresh experience. Additionally, changes to the layout of the map will open up better possibilities for Defenders to move around the map, as well as for Attackers when they are assaulting the objective. For example, ensuring that players have rotation opportunities and are not funneling through a single choke point to access a portion of the map is a part of reimagining the interior layout of a map.

The theme, or visual identity, of a map is also one of the areas that may be fine-tuned. This is where the art team will use their skills to make changes that improve the art direction. This is not limited to touching up on graphical fidelity of certain aspects of the map – the team may choose to revamp the feel, or setting, for where this map exists. We believe that this is an important step in making the maps more visually pleasing.

Maps that have competitive potential, but lack in this area, will be the leading candidates for the rework process. When maps suffer from imbalanced Bomb Sites, difficult rotation options, or spawn points that are problematic, they will either be reworked (Hereford Base), or removed from Ranked/Professional play (Tower). It is important to note that a map being removed from a playlist does not guarantee it will go through a rework or buff. This will allow the team to reevaluate the layout and make the necessary changes to improve the player experience.

To find out further details about map reworks and the incoming Hereford Base in Season 3, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, on the forums, and on our subreddit.

These two Operators may associate with two different CTUs, but they are both joining Rainbow’s Urban Tactical Response Team, codenamed Grim Sky (or GSUTR).

The first Operator is a Defender from Great Britain. She’s a tough police officer who’s an expert on mob behavior and snatch-squad tactics. She knows she belongs on the front line and she won’t tolerate any nonsense.

The second Operator is an American Attacker, a specialist with a remarkably sharp mind when it comes to tactical operations. He has seen the worst in Kabul. Despite it all, he fell in love with the city. Legendary for his surgical precision, he remains an enigma within Rainbow Six.

We’re also introducing our first map rework. The map in question: Hereford Base. Despite the high chance of rain at this iconic training facility, we’re renovating the place and making many adjustments to raise the bar for competitive play.

A few gameplay enhancements are also making their way into Operation Grim Sky. Following a lengthy test phase, we’re bringing forth much-anticipated modifications to address the weapon sights misalignment. But that’s not all! In our constant pursuit to improve the game and the player experience, an adjustment with the Operator Idle Pick as well as dynamic resolution scaling for consoles are also on their way. Make sure to play on our test server and submit your feedback on R6 Fix.

Visit our Rainbow Six Twitch Channel on August 17-19th for the full reveal of Operation Grim Sky during the first ever Six Major in Paris.

On June 7th, we provided you with a recap of our next steps regarding Anti-Cheat. We wanted to take a moment to update you on our progress on the various topics covered in the original message.

On Monday, a vulnerability used by a large number of cheat creators was patched, and is rendering a large number of cheats defunct. We also deployed a fix to prevent cheaters from planting the Defuser anywhere on the map.

This week, we suspended approximately 1300 players that we determined to have been boosted by cheaters. These players were suspended for 15 days, which many in the community feel is not harsh enough. They will also not benefit from their illicit activities come the end of the Season. We are currently assessing how we will be delivering this from a technical side, but all players sanctioned for this will have their rank and rewards removed prior to the launch of Season 3. We want to stress that we do not view the sanctioning of boosted players as a solution to the issue. It was a stop-gap while we work on the solution, which is adjusting MMR gains/losses for all players in a match with a cheater.

On the topic of adjusting MMR gains/losses for matches with cheaters, we are finalizing the design next week. Once that is complete, we will meet to determine workload, personnel, and deadlines. We will then have a better idea of the timeline for this feature going live.

We are continuing to make progress on the Two Step Verification requirement for Ranked. As of right now, our plans are to have this implemented during Season 3. This will be done in a patch that will occur within the Season, and is not tied to the launch of Season 3. As mentioned previously, we will have more detailed information once it is available.

We are interested in hearing your thoughts, and welcome your feedback on the topics mentioned above. Please let us know what you think on Twitter, Facebook, the forums, and our subreddit.

Patch 2.2 will be deployed on Monday, July 23rd for PC. The primary focus on this patch is balancing changes and bug fixes.



Players will now have the option of not being immediately pulled into their drone’s camera after deploying it.

Standard: Will pull players into drone view immediately following deployment of their drone.

Advanced: Players will need to manually enter the drone’s camera after deployment.


Players will now be able to select their preference for rotating through the Observation Tool groups, as well as cycle through the first and last Defender cameras.

Following the implementation of the new Observation Tool system, we have seen players express that they have two different expectations for how the cycling of the Observation Tools should function. Some players would like to see the “next tool” key bind stay within the same group, while others would like to see it cycle to the next grouping.


The enter Observation Tool key bind can be found in the Operator Control section, and the Exit Observation Tool key can be found in the Observation Tool Control.

With the introduction of the new Observation Tool System, we split the key bindings section into three groups, General, Operator Control, Observation Tool Control. Enter/Exit Observation Tool was not split between Operator and Observation Tool controls, which led to that key bind not responding as expected.


Below you will find the bulleted list of balancing changes in 2.2. For a detailed explanation of why we have made these changes, please reference the Designer’s Notes, found here.

• Reduce ability duration from 20 seconds to 10 seconds
  
• Stun grenades will be replaced with Frag grenades
  
• Reduce Smoke’s Gas Canister damage modifier
  
• Aim down sights modifier from Adrenaline Rush reduced from -50% to -25%

• Frag Grenades replaced with Claymore
  
• Electronics detection reduced from 20m to 15m

• Increase MK17 damage from 42 to 49
  
• Reduce SR-25 damage from 72 to 61
  
• Reduce the hit points on the Rifle Shield from 60 to 50
  
• 30% reduction in movement speed penalty when the Rifle Shield is equipped (He will move faster)

• Reduce OTS-03 damage from 85 to 71

• Reduce FAMAS damage from 40 to 37

• Increase footsteps scanning distance from 5m to 8m

• Increase SMG damage from 43 to 45
  
• Increase Super 90 damage from 32 to 35

• Claymore will be replaced with Stun Grenades

• Slowing effect increased from 45% to 50%

• Fixed - Following certain steps, it is possible to peek an enemy without exposing your head
  
• Fixed - Defuser can be stuck in a wall after dropping it during rappel animation
  
• Fixed - Shield operators will have the ADS sensitivity while reloading
  
• Fixed - When Maestro is hacked and using his turret, there's no "Operated By" mention in the hackers observation tool

• Fixed - Prismas are unable to deploy when thrown on a magazine
  
• Fixed - Prismas will not deploy on certain carpets
  
• Fixed - Players get detected when shooting at Alibi's Prisma gadget through the hologram

• Fixed - Capitao’s crossbow bolt can remain floating on the side while in use

• Fixed - Doc's Legendary skin has two less syringes in Terrorist Hunt

• Fixed - Following certain steps, it is possible to reload three rounds in the BOSG 12
  
• Fixed - Defender cannot identify any Attacker via hacked camera if any Attacker is using this hacked camera

• Fixed - If an Evil Eye is destroyed when Maestro is controlling it, he will not be able to shoot
  
• Fixed - Maestro's Evil Eye loses its functionality after attempting to pick it up from higher ground

• Fixed - Tachanka's speed is significantly increased following certain steps
  
• Fixed - Tachanka can exit the building during prep phase

• Fixed - When Valkyrie has thrown all her Black Eye cameras, she cannot connect to them with the gadget button

• Fixed - Drones can clip in 2F Offices from EXT Roof

• Fixed - The electrical panels in Utility Room do not have collision
  
• Fixed - Players are able to clip under the floor of 1F Pool Room
  
• Fixed - Drones can clip in the wall from 1F stage

• Fixed - Players can vault onto purple tarps from EXT Rooftop
  
• Fixed - Operator's feet can clip through a wall at 2F Penthouse

• Fixed - Player can fall out of world at EXT Peaceful Tree
  
• Fixed - Attackers can fall or drop the defuser in an unreachable spot

• Fixed - Players can CLIP through the wall at 1F Kitchen
  
• Fixed - Drones can clip inside the wall at the bottom part of the dome
  
• Fixed - Gadgets, projectiles and drones have no collision with the wooden support beam in 2F Classical Hall
  
• Fixed - Players are able to plant the defuser on top of the boxes at 1F Dining Room preventing the defender to defuse it from the ground
  
• Fixed - Drones clip into the ceiling at the "1F Art Studio" location
  
• Fixed - [PVP20_Italy][LD] Player get stuck in two corner of a barrel at B Wine Cellar
  
• Fixed - Drones can clip in 1F Pantry Stairs

• Fixed - Players switching from a disabled Evil Eye to another camera can end up with the EMP disable sound playing indefinitely
  
• Fixed - 1gb video memory cards are not meeting the minimum requirement set

Patch 2.1 will be deployed as follows:

• PC - Wednesday 20th of June.

• Fixed - Players can access 3rd person perspective following certain steps.
  
• Fixed - The counter defuser doesn't appear in the Operator's hands in the end of round replay.
  
• Fixed - The red light in the Bulletproof Camera remains on after picking up the camera during the EMP pause effect.

ALIBI

• Fixed - Most charms are clipping through Alibi's MX4 Storm.
  
• Fixed - The Mountain Foliage headgear and uniform have an incorrect thumbnail.

BANDIT

• Fixed - Bandit Keychain charm appears as low quality.

ECHO

• Fixed - Yokai's Sonic Burst doesn't always inflict deafen effect.

MAESTRO

• Fixed - Maestro gets stuck and cannot shoot anymore after pressing his gadget button if both Evil Eyes are destroyed.
  
• Fixed - Maestro's Evil Eye can still ping enemies while disrupted by a Twitch drone.
  
• Fixed - In some instances, the Evil Eye will deal no damage to gadgets nor Operators.
  
• Fixed - Maestro an put his turrets in Equipped state while he is in prone mode.
  
• Fixed - When the Evil Eye overheats, the bulletproof glass won't open if the players keeps right mouse button pressed.
  
• Fixed - Maestro doesn't receive bonus points for assists with the Turret in PVE.
  
• Fixed - Evil Eye does not break assets on deployment.

TACHANKA

• Fixed - Tachanka's skin is red when equipping the Para Bellum Headgear.

THATCHER

• Fixed - Thatcher's portrait is misaligned in his Elite Uniform card during the Preparation Phase.

CLUBHOUSE

• Fixed - The bullet proof camera becomes unbreakable when placed in certain spots.
  
• Fixed - It is possible to climb up on the other side of the fence.
  
• Fixed - Fixed multiple issues when rappelling at EXT Graffiti Area.

• Fixed - Para Bellum is misspelled on the Seasonal Weapon Skins banner.
  
• Fixed - Adding ban or 6th pick to a playlist avoids the operator selection screen to correctly appear.
  
• Fixed - Players can see the message "the Attempt to connect to Server failed" during matchmaking.
  
• Fixed - Banned operators from a custom game remain temporarily unplayable in PVP/PVE matches
  
• Fixed - "Play 0x14839b2b18" appears in Discovery Playlist for Villa.
  
• Fixed - The diamond pattern of the Carnevale skin appears broken on the lower section of the stock.
  
• Fixed - "Full Screen" display mode can't be set during banning phase.