Operation Neon Dawn, the final season of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege Year 5, is now available. This new season brings new features such as Aruni, a brand-new Operator, the rework of the Skyscraper map as well as new accessibility settings.

Owners of the Year 5 Pass can play with Aruni immediately, while other players can unlock her with Renown or R6 Credits starting December 8. New seasonal content, including the Skyscraper map rework, are available for free to all players. Year 5 Season 4 also welcomes the Battle Pass, available now through February 22nd.

Equipped with an original gadget called the Surya Gate, Aruni can deploy laser gates on walls, hatches, doors, and windows. Those gates damage Attackers and their utility but turn off to allow defenders to access. The gate is intended as an obstacle, zapping all drones, projectiles and damage Operators. Aruni comes with a P10 RONI or a MK 14 EBR as a primary weapon, and a PRB 92 as a secondary weapon.

In addition to this new Operator, players can now discover a reimagined Skyscraper map, which has been newly reworked with three major objectives. The first is driving Attackers inside by lowering the number of balconies and relocating them to remove some of the crossfire players could create previously from outside. An entirely new rotation between the two sides of the building on the second floor was also added. Lastly, the bombsites have been balanced to make them all more competitive.

Operation Neon Dawn also marks the launch of the Sixth Guardian program, in which certain seasons have a limited-time bundle dedicated to a different charity. As of today, Rainbow Six Siege players can purchase a bundle with a uniform, weapon skin, charm, and headgear for Doc. One hundred percent of net proceeds, with a minimum of $6 USD per bundle sold, will be donated to The AbleGamers Charity. AbleGamers is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that aims to support players with disabilities by providing gamers with the tools they need to enjoy their playing experience and by promoting inclusion in the video game industry.



For more information about Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, please visit http://rainbow6.ubisoft.com.

Updated: November 30th 2020



Description: We are making progress on the matter, but it's a very challenging task and we are unable to predict the outcome of our investigations at this time.

Status: Ongoing


Description: In close collaboration with our partners, new ways of mitigating DDoS attacks have been deployed. According to our metrics, we believe that we made significant progress on the topic and that we are seeing a notable reduction of the phenomenon.

We are also aware that the situation is not solved for everyone and that it remains an issue for some of our players. We will keep on working on the topic and provide regular updates.

Status: Ongoing


Description: The purpose of Streamer Mode is to protect our content creators with settings that allow them to increase their anonymity while streaming. The settings intend to discourage and prevent disruptive players from using streamers' public information in a toxic way.

The settings work to prevent two major disruptive behaviors:

- Queue Sniping: When players taunt or kill a streamer after deliberately queuing at the same time as them.
- Stream Sniping: When players intentionally display toxicity during another player's stream.

Status: First half of Y6


Description: Along with our partners, we continue making progress in terms of detection, communication and vulnerability improvements. Additional measures and fixes are scheduled to be released with Operation Neon Dawn.

We invite all our players to use the in-game reporting panel to flag any cheater you may encounter.

Status: Ongoing


Description: We have noticed an increase of connectivity issues during Operation Shadow Legacy, the entire Siege team has dedicated considerable resources and time to identify potential leads.

Once again, in close collaboration with our partners on that topic, we have made substantial progress. Additionally, we continue to have a closer look at the current connectivity issues and are exploring potential improvements.

A more in-depth communication should be released at some point in the future, we would like to offer the community a better understanding of our infrastructure and challenges.

Status: Ongoing



Status: Improvements released with Neon Dawn, refer to our patch notes for additional information.


Description: It is possible to drop the defuser in locations where it cannot be picked up again by running over it. Often outside of the map, in cracks, gaps between objects, holes, etc.

To fix this, we created a 'Pickup Defuser' interaction that works at a distance. It will aim for defuser retrieval to act like picking up any other gadget.

We deployed this new system during Y5S.3.3 but we encountered some complications. We hope to release a newer version very soon.

Status: During Y5S4


Description: Single bullet holes are often used to gain an advantage during gunfights. We recognize that this situation can be quite frustrating for some players who couldn't spot the bullet hole from the distance.
We are currently exploring different options to make smaller bullet holes more easily noticeable or unusable for such situations. We have made substantial progress and are quite confident about this solution. There is still some work to be done and we are not quite ready to share more for now.

Status: Y6S2


Description: Certain Operator skins are notorious for blending quite effectively within the environment. This led to situation where players considered to be victim of an unfair advantage. We are investigating how to make Operators stand out a bit more from the environment.

Our goal is to let everyone pick & choose their skins without providing any sort of advantage. We will proceed with caution on that topic, as we don't want this solution to clash with the general art direction of the game.

Status: During Y6


Description: Following numerous community feedback, we have decided to reconsider the audio tinnitus triggered upon taking damage. We acknowledged that the reduced sound feedback was having a very strong impact on gunfights and could lead to some frustration.

By substantially reducing the tinnitus, we hope to offer fairer gunfights and a better chance to win duels.

Status: Y5S4


Description: The rework intends to make flash detection more reliable. Enemies are often not affected by flashes due to objects and obstacles. We want to simulate the light ricocheting with the environment, to improve the effectiveness of flashbangs & other similar gadgets.

Due to shifting priorities, we hope to address this topic a bit later during Year 6.

Status: Y6S2

Each season will bring the release of new charms, as well as a return of the streamer’s charms from previous seasons!

On the 15th of December, we will also be adding a commemorative IceyCat25 charm which will be available for all players to redeem through the in-game store for 1 renown, also available through the in-game news tile.

This charm will be available throughout Season 4, until the end of Neon Dawn.




JerichoFive

REMGURI / 렘쨩

IceyCat25

THE_M3RY









Ad9m
Alfredoplays
AnneMunition
Beaulo
Bighead
BikiniBodhi
Bnans
Drid
Gabbo
Interro
Jinu6734
Just9n
Kalera
KingGeorge
KittyR6
Kixstar
LagonisR6
Lil_Lexi
MacieJay
Matimi0
Narcoleptic Nugget
PaladinAmber
Pengu
Punjistick
Rubsarb
Salty Academy
SexyCake
Shorty
SilphTV
TangyD
Tatted
Tranth
Varsity
WhiteShark67
z1ronic
Zander
Zigueira


These charms are only available by subscribing to the respective streamer’s Twitch channel with a linked Uplay account. For more information on how to link your Uplay and Twitch account, as well as opt in for Twitch Drops, please refer to this FAQ.


Given the length of our production cycle for in-game content, the participants for Y5S1 S2, S3 & S4 have already been determined. We are always on the lookout for additional content creators to add to the program and will be exploring new candidates in 2020 & 2021. If your goal is to see your charm in game, we use the following criteria to begin the selection process for potential candidates:


- Approximately 350+ concurrent viewers – preferable.
- Average of 10 Rainbow Six streams per month.
- Average of 20 hours of Rainbow Six streamed per month.
- Positive standing with Ubisoft/Rainbow Six Siege.
- High quality level of content.
- Rainbow Six Siege reserves the right for final decision.


- Less than 10 Rainbow Six Siege main streams over 3 months.
- Level of quality dropping below an acceptable level.
- Standing with Rainbow Six Siege/Ubisoft compromised.
- Any actions that may negatively affect the R6S/Ubisoft brand.
- Rainbow Six Siege reserves the right for removal of any charms.

In Year 5 Season 4, we are launching the Sixth Guardian Program! We aim to support a charity through an in-game bundle on Siege, spanning a full Season per bundle released. 100% of net proceeds, with a minimum of $6 USD per bundle sold will go to the charity.

Your purchases will help to directly support a charity and help a diverse range of causes. Together, we hope to unite the Rainbow Six Siege community and make a positive change outside of our game.



This Season, we’re releasing the Doc Sixth Guardian bundle. All proceeds will go towards The AbleGamers Charity, whose objective is to combat social isolation and improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.

This bundle includes for Doc the Sixth Guardian:

- Uniform
- Headgear
- Weapon skin
- Charm

The bundle will be limited in time and available only for this Season. Make sure to check it out before Season 4 ends!

• Tachanka’s RP-46 Degtyaryov turret has been replaced with the Shumikha Laucher.
  
• This launcher shoots grenades that generate areas of fire 1 second after the first bounce.
  
• The Shumikha Launcher is equipped with a fixed 5-grenade magazine. Tachanka has a total of 10 grenades available. Grenades are inserted one by one.

• The DP27 LMG is now available as a primary weapon option for Tachanka and will be replacing the SASG-12.
  
• This weapon allows players to open rotations on soft walls and destroy hatches.

• After his time on the TS, Tachanka will no longer have the ability to Withstand.

• Due to unavoidable constraints, voice lines have been recorded with a new voice actor for Tachanka upon the release of his rework. We thank Anatoly Zinoviev for his past work as Tachanka's voice actor and for the passion he was able to provide to both the role and to the community.

• FIXED - Several issues with visuals and functionality on Shumikha Shells.
  
• FIXED - Various SFX issues with the grenade launcher.
  
• FIXED - Visual issues present with the grenade launcher.
  
• FIXED - Several UI and store visuals with the Slava Korolyu Elite items and icons.
  
• FIXED -Tachanka's Elite fire VFX from the MVP dance are present on his model in multiple maps.
  
• FIXED - Frag bounce sound can sometimes play unintentionally.
  
• FIXED - Tachanka's DP27 LMG currently has the full penetration attribute.
  
• FIXED - DP27 does 48 damage instead of 49.
  
• FIXED - There is a major visual obstruction when Tachanka guard breaks a shield with his DP27.
  
• FIXED - The DP27 benefits from 1 additional round, despite being an open bolt machine gun.

We are ending Year 5 of Rainbow Six Siege stronger than ever with the supercharged season Operation Neon Dawn! For this occasion, we’re introducing another Defender to our roster: fierce Thai Operator Aruni. She is equipped with the Surya Gate, a device that zaps drones and projectiles. This new Unique Ability will have opponents' heads spinning.

You’ll find all the information about the season’s changes below, from the Skyscraper map rework to the Seasonal Weapon Skin. There's also information about new accessibility features, as well as changes to Echo’s Yokai, and Hibana’s X-Kairos! Keep reading for more.

View Patch Notes

We have taken good note of the Pro and Community feedback. We recognize that the current meta revolving around heavy utility in defense is causing issues to the health of the game.

This is a global issue, tied to multiple Operators that will require several changes. As a result, we are taking a few important steps to try to address it.


Catcher Operators are able to deny Attackers utility (projectiles). The combination of several Defenders of this type within a same line-up is putting a heavy strain on the Attacking side.

We are trying to lower the amount of projectiles denied by these Operators within a single round.

Currently, those catcher Operators can deny __five to six__ projectile per round. We are aiming for something closer to __three to six__ per Operator.

- Jäger is being reworked. A single ADS will no longer deny several projectiles in quick succession. We expect this change to lower his denial ability to be around three projectiles per rounds.
- Wamai is losing a MAG-NET: this will mechanically lower his ability to deny projectiles to four.
- Aruni has been designed with that constraint in mind. Similarly to Jäger, she should have a denial ability of three projectiles (she will have less option to place her gadgets than Jäger).


Catchers are great at protecting already resilient utilities: bullet-proof gadgets.

Changes to catchers should mechanically affect bulletproof gadgets. That being said, we will continue to keep a close eye on those operators.

We will react accordingly and tweak some of them if we deem it necessary. (Melusi and Goyo in particular).

We reshuffled the distribution of quite some secondary gadgets, including Deployable Shields. (See the Operator break-down below).


The Utility Meta forced Attackers to heavily rely on projectiles (mostly explosive ones) in order to deal with the bulletproof utility.

In that regard, both Zofia and Ash (to a lesser extent) turned out to be mandatory picks. This lead to making these two Operators with an already solid loadout even more appealing.

Our goal is to have as much diversity as possible in terms of Operator presence, even in a competitive environment. We are not ignoring this aspect of the issue.

We have also been working on another solution to let Attackers deal with Defenders' utility. That solution is not completely ready for now, but we are looking forward to tell you more soon™.



- Added configurable shot to the X-Kairos launcher.

Population targeted by this change: Top Ranked and Pros.

[[url=https://videos.ctfassets.net/p0f8o8d25gmk/6z12syUqrJ9MuxUXeFqW05/4d3d6c2cdf6b049cf1f1226151472567/Trim.mp4]VIDEO[/url]]

The newly added configurable shot will allow more flexibility, as Hibana will choose the number of X-Kairos to shoot.

She will be able to select between, two, four, or six X-Kairos per shot. We have made several changes to the gadget to make sure that the user experience stays smooth and self-explanatory.

We felt that we needed to provide attackers with more hard breaching options to even out the odds and reduce the pressure on the Attacking side.
Our first step was to introduce the Secondary Hard Breach charge. The next step was to look at the resource management of hard breachers. Until today Hibana had to waste quite some X-Kairos whenever a hatch or a Castle barricade had to be destroyed.

Following the Y5S4 update Hibana will be able to manage her resource as follows:

- Hatches will require 4 X-Kairos. (The extra two pellets won't be used up anymore)
- Castle's Armor Panel will require 1 X-Kairos. (Only one pellet will be used up instead of 5)
- We expect Hibana to be able to open hatches more often and to be even more useful and creative.

She will now have the possibility to open one extra hatch, if her resources are managed properly.


- The ADS can only catch one projectile each 10 secs.

Population targeted by this change: Top Ranked and Pros.

As we explained it in the introduction, the status of the utility meta is at the source of a number of issues. We believe that one way to tackle the subject is to look at how Defenders counter the attack.

Currently, Attackers suffer from being unable to effectively destroy a number of gadgets. We believe that Jäger, as well as Wamai are a part of the issue.

With this change, we expect the attacking side to be more effective when spending projectiles on the defending setup. This should reduce the number of projectiles needed by Attackers and open opportunities for other secondary gadgets and Operators.

We also expect Jäger to be a bit closer to Wamai in terms of presence, as the former is incredibly popular.


- Jäger has priority over Wamai. If both gadgets are placed at a similar distance from the projectile, the ADS will have the priority.
- If Wamai intercepts a projectile and brings it into the range of an ADS, the ADS will intercept the projectile and both gadgets will be used up.
- Surya Gates block the line of sight of the ADS and of the MAG-NET system.
- In any other case, the closest catching device is triggered.


- Removed cloaking to the Yokai Drone.
- Added Deployable Shield (Removed Barbed Wire).

Population targeted by this change: Casual, Top Ranked and Pros.

Echo has been targeted by Operator bans since those were introduced. The feedback we gathered from the Community indicated that the Yokai drone was a constant source of frustration.

We consider that its cloaking ability played an important role in that perception.

We also noticed that Echo turned out to be one of the most problematic Operator in pro play for many teams.

By removing the Yokai drone invisibility, we hope to reduce the Operator ban rate in Ranked as well as in pro plays. Additionally, the skill ceiling required to use the drone effectively should be increased.

Echo mains will have to think twice before placing their drones. Using the ultrasonic burst should also be riskier, more difficult but also more rewarding.

We also expect attacking teams to be a little less reliant on IQ, as she is not a mandatory pick to deal with Yokai drones.

As for the secondary gadget, the Japanese Defender will have to spend more time using his drone.

We felt that giving him a deployable shield to protect himself is useful and makes sense. His Impact Grenades may also be an interesting alternative for players versed in Impact Tricking.


- Added Claymore (Removed Stun Grenades).
- Added one extra Breaching Round (From 2 to 3).
- Breaching Round damage reduced to 50 (From 90).

Population targeted by this change: Top Ranked and Pros.

Ash boasts a very strong presence and currently is one of the best Operator to counter Jäger and Wamai. She has a central role in the current utility meta and we needed to have a closer look at her.

We would like players to focus on her Primary Gadget and incentivize the team play. The utility she brings is very important, and we also need to provide attackers with more explosive projectiles to deal with the defending setup.

By removing the Stun Grenades, Ash won't be able to deal with the projectile catchers as easily, she goes down to three throwables (from 5). The extra Breaching Round should increase the number of utility she can destroy.

While we understand that it can be perceived as strong reduction of her capabilities, we are mainly trying to redistribute the utility she brings and to tone down her entry-fragging aspect.


- Added Frag Grenades (Removed Stun Grenades).

Population targeted by this change: Top Ranked and Pros.

Dokkaebi suffers a bit from a low presence, she is an Operator that brings intel already. By giving her (back) frag grenades, we want her to be able to destroy bulletproof utility.

She brings a lot of intel by taking control of cameras and by tracking down enemy roamers with her Logic bomb. Now, thanks to her newly added destruction ability should help speeding up the execution on the attacker side even more.

Again this change is part of our overall reflection on the current utility meta, that we will keep an eye on it during the next Season onwards.


- Added Stun Grenades (Removed Breach Charges).

Population targeted by this change: Top Ranked and Pros.

Twitch has seen her presence reduced over the last few seasons, as the F2 is not performing as well as it used to.

By adding Stun Grenades to Twitch, we are aiming at making the French Attacker a better utility denial than she is now and to boost her presence.

The arrival of the Surya Gate may be problematic for Twitch, as she may not rely on as many projectiles as other Operator specialized in utility destruction.

Stun grenades may be a better option than Breach Charges to make sure that she can effectively use her primary ability.


- Added Impact Grenades (Removed Deployable Shield).

Population targeted by this change: Pros.

This change is entirely focused on Pro Play, as Ranked and Casual players always prefer using the C4 as a secondary gadget.

However, the impact of her Deployable Shield in competitive play has been the source of many feedback and discussion.

Once again, this change is part of our intent to reduce the overall amount of bulletproof utility.

We opted for Impact Grenades as a replacement, as it brings the possibility to remodel bombsites or to impact-trick.


- Added Impact Grenades (Removed Deployable Shield).
- Removed the explosion when the MAG-NET system self-destructs.
- Reduced the number of MAG-NETs to 4 (From 5).

Population targeted by this change: Pros.

Very much like Valkyrie, Wamai was identified as a source of discussion for Pro Players and analysts.

His ability to rely on both a Deployable Shield, as well as his ability to deny throwables made him an extremely strong Defender that caused multiple issues to the Attacking side.

The replacement of his shield by Impact Grenades should partially address the concern.

Additionally we have decided to remove his overall number of MAG-NETs to reduce the pressure on the Attacker's utility. Our data indicated that the average number of MAG-NETs was quite high.

We consider that impact grenades may give him a mobility boost. Given how flexible MAG-NETs deployments are, he could potentially roam slightly more than prior to this change.


- Added Hard Breach charges (Removed Frag Grenades).

Population targeted by this change: Top Ranked and Pros.

Zero was released with a strong kit and we realized that he was able to be very autonomous and did not need to rely on his teammates as much as we would like to.

The combination of a primary gadget having projectiles with Frag Grenades appeared too effective. We are aiming at making him more support-focus, we want him to deny Defenders' gadgets, flank watch and help breaching reinforcement.

Zero relies on a strong primary weapon and we are confident he will continue to perform well.

---

Try out the latest Rainbow Six updates on the Test Server and earn an exclusive charm through the [[url=http://rainbow6.com/bughunterprogram]BugHunterProgram[/url]].

Follow us and share your feedback on [[url=https://twitter.com/Rainbow6Game]Twitter[/url], [[url=https://www.reddit.com/r/Rainbow6/]Reddit[/url]], [[url=https://www.facebook.com/Rainbow6/]Facebook[/url]] and on our [[url=https://forums.ubi.com/forumdisplay.php/64-Rainbow-Six]forums[/url]].

It’s All Hallows’ Eve. Creeping away from the horrors of the battlefield, Frost indulges in the nostalgic fun of Halloweens’ past: candy. From October 27th to November 10th 2020, experience the chills of Sugar Fright!

LEARN MORE

Y5S3.3 was released on PC on October 20th.



Ace couldn't handle all the thirst from his fans.

• Reduced the number of explosive ticks of the SELMA Aqua Breacher to 2 ticks (down from 3).

Shoot your shot(gun).

• Added the ITA12S as a secondary weapon.

• Reduced vision recovery time to 0.4s (down from 1s).
  
• Reduced movement penalization by 50% to 12s (up from 6s).

• MP5 primary will replace the T-5. Optics available on the MP5 will be the red dot, holographic, and reflex.

• T-5 primary will replace the MP5. Optics available on the T-5 will be the red dot, holographic, reflex, and scope 1.5x.

• The guard break effect occurs when operators with a ballistic shield are hit by an explosion or take certain types of damage (from a scale of a minimum of 50 to trigger the guard break to 100 damage).
  
• 
  
• The severity of the guard break is proportional to the damage done to the shield. Electric damage and the minimum 50 damage threshold will trigger the minimum strength guard break animation.
  
• 
  
• Melee damage, concussion FX, sonic bursts, and explosions of 100 damage or higher will trigger the the maximum strength guard break animation.
  
• 
  
• Operators positioned behind a Clash, Monty, Blitz, or Fuze are now also partially protected from explosion damage (this still applies even if they are from the opposing team). This protection also applies if the shield is on the operator's back. Damage taken from the explosion is proportionally calculated based on the operator's exposure to the blast.
  
• 
  
• Instead of folding Montagne's Extendable shield, he now as a guard break animation.
  
• 
  
• Shield explosion protection is reduced to 66% (down from 80%).

• Damage drop-off is now more progressive to reach minimal damage at 50m (instead of 20m).
  
• Damage at max range increased to 68% (up from 48%).
  
• Suppressor damage penalization normalized to -12.5% regardless of range

• Changes to the defuser interaction that allow players to pick up the defuser, even in situations where it might have originally been inaccessible, due to falling into difficult-to-reach spaces.
  
• Improvements to the chat filter feedback system.
  
• The ban ticker has been deactivated for custom games. It will remain visible in all other game modes.

• FIXED - Sometimes defenders spawn on top of each other when in 2nd Floor Master Bedroom on Chalet.
  
• FIXED - Players can't vault over the half-wall/railing in 2F Library Stairs on Chalet.
  
• FIXED - Dropped defuser can be difficult to recover from behind the table of 2F Cigar Balcony on Kafe.
  
• FIXED - (PvE) Barbed wire spawns issues in Situation 10.
  
• FIXED - Poor lighting inside the cabinet between sofas in 1F Bar of Chalet.
  
• FIXED - Players can use a deployable shield to get to the counter next to the piano on Chalet.
  
• FIXED - Zero's Piercing Camera can pierce and see through the ceiling in 1F First Aid on Plane.
  
• FIXED - Missing SFX when picking up generic items.
  
• FIXED - (PvE) Missing pre-barricaded doors/windows in Heavily Fortified Situation.
  
• FIXED - Cancelling a Ranked queue can sometimes trigger an abandon penalty even when the player did not join a match.
  
• FIXED - Secondary hard breach gadget's blue light can sometimes be seen through a barricade when deployed on it.
  
• FIXED - Residual black smoke is visible after some soft walls in the Basement of Chalet are destroyed.
  
• FIXED - Minor map asset issues.

In this latest edition of Designer’s Notes, we'll go into more detail about the balancing changes that’ll come with the 3.3 patch and give you an insight into the reasons behind these changes.







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.






Due to a tracking issue, we cannot provide the "No Ban" details this time around, we hope to have it back next time.

• Reduce the number of S.E.L.M.A. Aqua Breacher explosions to 2 (from 3).

Population targeted by this change: Casual, Top Ranked and Pros.

Ace is currently a very strong and popular Operator as you can see in the Balancing Matrix above.

Our investigation on his performance led us to witness that his hard-breaching gadgets are very effective and have less downsides than Thermite for a similar result.

With this change we aim to reduce the presence of the Operator, maintain Thermite as a credible alternative and to invite Ace players to think twice when placing S.E.L.M.A. on a reinforced wall.

• Adding the ITA12S as a secondary weapon.

Population targeted by this change: Casual.

As you all know, secondary shotguns are very important in defense to structure the environnement and create rotation holes.

Frost's efficiency currently relies on how often she is played, most players trapped in her Welcome Mats did not expect the Canadian Defender.

On top of that Frost is often placing her traps in staircases close to doors and windows. We hope that by adding a secondary shotgun to her loadout she will benefit from being a bit more versatile, but also to be able to create new pathways to place her Welcome Mats, such as rotation holes requiring Attackers to vault their way in.

Players will be able to be a bit more creative and we hope to bump her presence by a little margin.

• Reduce vision recovery time to 0.4s (from 1s).
  
• Reduce movement penalization by 50% (from 6s to 12s of movement).

Population targeted by this change: Casual, Top Ranked and Pros.

According to our Balancing Matrix, Glaz currently is one of the most underperforming Operator. We are aware that Glaz is an extremely situational Attacker who has to potential to be quite frustrating in certain configurations.

At the moment, we are only trying to help Timur find a middle ground to boost the usefulness of his gadget to make him slightly easier to use and a bit closer to other Attackers in terms of performance.

As usual with Glaz, we will monitor your feedback very closely.

• Adding MP5 as a primary weapon (Removing T-5).
  
• Optics available on the MP5: Red Dot, Holographic, Reflex.

Population targeted by this change: Casual and Top Ranked.

Melusi's performance is extremely solid as she boasts a very high presence and Win Delta in defense. We gathered feedback on this outstanding performance to investigate which balancing lever would make more sense.

The T-5 is currently on of the best Defender weapon and we felt that switching it for the MP5 should lead to an adequate performance reduction. Additionally, only 1.0x optics will be available on the MP5. This should slightly reduce her versatility and ability to win gunfights.

• Adding T-5 as a primary weapon (Removing MP5).
  
• Optics available on the T-5: Red Dot, Holographic, Reflex, Scope 1.5x.

Population targeted by this change: Casual and Top Ranked.

Contrary to the change we did with Melusi, Oryx was suffering from having an underwhelming weapon which turned out to be detrimental to performance in firefights.

Thanks to the T-5, which has proven to be excellent for other roamers, but also with the addition of the Scope 1.5x we are fairly confident that Oryx should see some improvements in that area.

• Removed 1.5x Scope from Tachanka's 9x19VSN.

Population targeted by this change: Casual; Top Ranked and Pros.

To prepare the arrival of the Tachanka rework, we decided to remove the 1.5x Scope from the Lord's SMG.

We believe that he will be able to rely on quite some assets and this scope would likely make him a bit too potent.

• Shields bearers are now affected by the Guard Break when hit by an explosion.
  
• Operators protected behind a shield bearer are no longer taking full explosion damage.
  
• Shield explosion protection lowered to 66% (from 80%).

The following Operators: Montagne, Blitz, Fuze and Clash will protect any player (hostiles included) from an explosion if the shield bearer is standing between them and the explosion.

It's important to add that players standing behind a shield will suffer proportionally to how exposed their body is to the explosion. Additionally, shields will still be protecting Operators even if stored on characters' backs.


The Guard Break animation will be proportional to the damage inflicted to the Shield (not to the Operator) and will only be triggered if a minimum of 50 damage is received. The greater the damage the more important the guard break animation will be. (up to 100 damage)..

Melee damage, concussion effects as well as the Sonic Burst will trigger the guard break to the highest degree, while Electric damage will only trigger the lowest guard break animation.

Additionally, the rotation speed of the shielded Operator will be reduced during the animation and we also added a new animation for Montagne to prevent his shield from folding up during the Guard Break.

This change has several major goals, the first being consistency. It feels intuitive for Operators hiding behind a shielded ally to be protected in the same way as the Operator standing even closer to the explosion.

With that in mind, we know that this is likely to open the door to more team work and cooperation. Attackers will be able to rely on the passive protection of a shield bearer to plant on a bombsite for instance.

Indirectly, we foresee a renewed interest from Defenders to pick Operators such as Goyo, Smoke as well as the future Tachanka to counter these tactics.

However, explosions will now also trigger the Guard Break mechanism and offer a window of opportunity to damage shield bearers.

On top of that, Clash's CCE Shield is becoming a hard counter for shielded Operators as her ability will now trigger the Guard Break.

We are aware that shields are often a source of frustration, and we hope that the new guard break mechanism will improve this aspect. Our goal is also to improve teamwork and find new interesting ways to play with a shield and for the benefit of your team.

• Damage drop-off has been made more progressive to reach minimal damage at 50m (instead of 20m).
  
• Damage at maximum range increase to 68% (from 48%).
  
• Suppressor damage penalization normalized to -12.5% regardless the range.

Population targeted by this change: Casual and Top Ranked.

The presence of both Kaid and Goyo is currently quite low within the Top Ranked population, we would like to tweak their shotgun to make them a bit more appealing that they have been recently.

The feedback we gathered from pro players tend to indicate that buffing long-range damage by a reasonable margin should not be concerning. With these new specifications, the TCSG12 will now be capable of downing a 2-armor operator at maximum range.

We will keep on monitoring the performance of both Defenders to see if additional adjustments are required.

• Damage drop-off has been made more progressive to reach minimal damage at 50m (instead of 20m).
  
• Damage at maximum range increase to 68% (from 48%).
  
• Suppressor damage penalization normalized to -12.5% regardless the range.

Population targeted by this change: Casual.

Just like the change abovementioned, and also out of consistency, now that the ACS12 is equipped with slugs, we are increasing the effectiveness of this weapon and long-range.

Given how good the MX4 Storm for Alibi and the Alda 5.56 for Maestro currently are, we don't expect this change to have a massive impact on the presence of win delta of both these Operators.

The ACS12 should now be a bit more viable and more effective at long-range for anyone willing to use it.


The community requested the possibility to equip any x1 optic an any weapon. From our perspective, some elements of these optics are only a matter of preference and have no direct impact on the actual performance of the Operator. However, these optics have different shapes and casings and have, to a degree, a balancing impact. The space taken by the optic on the screen can be something that can make the gun perform better.

On top of that, we want Operators to feel different and have a specific identity. Our intent is to give players a reason to choose certain Operators over others.

If you want to learn more about optics in Siege, Mathieu Lacombe was recently interviewed on the Logic Bomb podcast and provided some additional insights on this specific topic (around the one hour mark).

We also updated the full list of our weapon optics for attacker and defender to reflect the current distribution on the live build and the upcoming Y5S3.3 TS changes.



Click here to download the full assets.

• A few operators are not included in these assets: Kali as she only has her unique scope on the CSRX 300 and Blitz, Montagne & Clash as their only primary option is their shield.
  
• Tachanka's new primary option, the DP27 is not included either, as it only has access to a custom reflex sight.

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