Rainbow Six Siege:
Year 6 Roadmap
New year, new changes to Rainbow Six Siege!
We are about to enter another year of content updates, with plenty of changes to gameplay and various systems within the game. Recently, Ubisoft has revealed the Rainbow Six Siege Year 6 roadmap which gives a taste of what to expect in 2021.
Here is a high level roadmap of what we can expect in the upcoming seasons:
NEW CONTENT IN YEAR 6
Continuing the trend of Year 5, Rainbow Six Siege will introduce only 1 new operator per season.
Furthermore, we will not receive new maps in Year 6. Instead, we will see reworks of existing maps:
- Border
- Favela
- Outback
On top of that, developers announced that Y6S3 will bring multiple smaller modifications to multiple maps, rather than a complete rework of a specific one.
SEASON PASS OUT, BATTLEPASS IN
Year 6 brings a change to the monetization method in Rainbow Six Siege. Up until this year, players were able to buy a Season Pass which gave them instant access to new operators without an in-game cost.
On top of that, Season Pass holders had 7 days early access to new operators. Once the early access period expired, the non-season pass holders could buy new characters with the in-game currency.
Now, this is not going to be the case with Year 6.
Starting with Y6S1, players will gain access to new operators by purchasing Premium BattlePass available during the season.
The New BattlePass model will give its holders 2 weeks of early access to new operators. If you worry about having to grind for the new operators on top of the cost, then relax – the new character will be unlocked with 1st tier of BattlePass.
UPCOMING CHANGES
IN YEAR 6
Rainbow Six Siege Year 6 will bring a lot of changes to how we play the game.
From what we gathered from the developers, they find the current state of the game to significantly favor defenders, which should be considered when judging their ideas for changes in the upcoming year.
Still, we find some of the changes as good ideas, while other modifications to the gameplay as very risky.
Nonetheless, whenever major changes to the game are announced, people tend to overreact to the significance of their impact. So, as always, we will have to live and see how this actually plays out.
Now, let’s go over the expected changes to the gameplay of Rainbow Six Siege in Year 6.
THE CORE GAMEPLAY CHANGES
Post-death devices usage
The change intends to allow dead players to use their devices such as drones, Evil Eyes or Yokai drones. Therefore, instead of just pinging and observing the gadget, we will be able to move the drones, shoot Yokai blasts or shoot Evil Eye’s tasers. This gameplay mechanics modification will be available for both attackers and defenders.
We do not know the details about the exact limits of such usage, yet.
If implemented wrongly, this change may turn out to be disastrous. Imagine 1v2 as a defender while being constantly droned by 3 dead attackers. Or losing a round to dead Maestro and Echo thanks to Evil Eyes & Yokai preventing a plant.
Developers did not provide an implementation date, not expected for Y6S1.
Attackers' operator re-pick
During the Rainbow Six Siege Year 6, attackers will be given the possibility to re-pick their operators during the preparation phase (droning phase before the action begins).
This means that attackers can check with drones which objective defenders have picked, as well as how are they setting up their defenses, and then change their offensive lineup to fit their attack plan.
I’ll be honest with you, we are not big fans of this idea. It potentially removes a layer of a tactical game within the game. Re-pick takes away the advantage defenders could obtain by acting in an unpredictable manner. It also removes the risks of not picking crucial operators on the attack.
We would like to see this feature be allowed in a limited number of re-picks for the attacking squad.
Attackers’ re-pick doesn’t have a fixed implementation date yet, it is not coming in Y6S1.
OPERATORS CHANGES & REWORKS IN YEAR 6
Kali's gun damage increase
An increased damage model for CSRX 300 to base 127 damage.
As a result, the body shots impact will change to:
- 3 armor operator will be downed
- 2 armor operator will be downed
- 1 armor operator will be killed
Having Armor Plates from Rook will change the body shots results to:
- 3 armor operator will be downed with 2 shots
- 2 armor operator will be downed with 2 shots
- 1 armor operator will be downed with 1 shot
Kali’s buff is coming to live servers in Y6S1.
Nook's Buff
Nook’s interactions with intel-gathering devices will be changed.
As of now, Nook is capable of countering cameras (and other visual-based intel tools) but she is vulnerable to other types of intel-gathering devices available to defenders.
In Year 6 we can expect Nook to become immune to proximity-based devices. Such devices include:
- Ela’s Grzmot mines
- Melusi’s Banshees
- Kapkan’s EDD
- Proximity Alarms
- Metal detectors
Nook’s buff is available on TTS but is not intended for the Y6S1 release.
Melusi's Banshee nerf
Currently, Melusi is one of the most banned defenders. In fact, she is 2nd most banned defensive operator as per Y5S4 statistics.
In Year 6, we can expect a nerf to the Banshees. Ubisoft developers plan to make the gadget vulnerable to gunshot while it is active (slowing down attackers).
It’s quite a big nerf to this powerful defender and sounds like a bit of an overkill. Perhaps disabling Banshee temporarily with a single bullet would make more sense?
Melusi’s nerf does not have a release date, it is not expected for the Y6S1 patch.
Goyo will lose shields
To fight the 20-second meta, Ubisoft decided to further nerf one of the biggest offenders – Goyo.
The Mexican operator will lose his shields. Instead, he will have access to canisters that can be deployed similarly to Jager’s ADS and shot with bullets for detonation. From what was showed, we can expect Goyo to have an increased number of canisters to 3 (from the current 2 shields).
Developers are still experimenting with the size and shape of the gadget, but during the reveal, they showcased the below design:
Both popular defenders will get a nerf – their utility can be meleed to remove the vision.
From our understanding, Maestro will have to open the glass on the Evil Eye to ping, shoot or just see through the meeled device.
We do not know if Black Mirrors will be having a similar usage possibility after being meleed by attackers.
Getting to the melee distance of a well-placed Black Mirror should be extremely difficult. Evil Eyes, on the other hand, will have to be placed much smarter once the nerf hits live servers!
Both nerfs are expected somewhere in Year 6, without a specific release date. Y6S1 patch does not include the above nerfs.
Finka self-revival
Finka will be finally able to use her Nanobots while in DBNO state. As a result, she can pick herself up from being downed similarly to Doc.
This buff to Nanobots is not coming to live servers in the Crimson Heist patch.
Fuze buff (no details yet)
No details were provided by the Ubisoft team about the modifications they plan for Fuze, but they hinted that they are working on making him more viable.
OTHER CHANGES TO R6
IN YEAR 6:
Armor system changes
Developers are striving towards creating more transparency in how the game operates, thus intention to remove armor ratings as a behind-scenes value invisible to players.
Instead, the plan is to show higher resistance to damage with operators’ HP pools. This means that:
- 1 armor will have 100 HP
- 2 armor will have 120 HP
- 3 armor will have 140 HP
Bear in mind that the speed system is not going to be changed.
Menu UI overhaul
Developers plan to upgrade the in-game UI to make the interface more responsive and user-friendly.
Here’s a preview presented by Ubisoft during the reveal:
GONNE-6
A new secondary weapon will be added to the game. However, this new pistol will serve more as a gadget than a weapon. GONNE-6 will have one bullet that will be able to destroy bulletproof gadgets. As a result, this new tool will work similarly to Kali’s explosive lance or Zofia/Ash explosives.
Streamer mode
Finally, Rainbow Six Siege is planning to add a streamer mode. Streamer mode is a tool that competitive games introduce to help prevent stream sniping.
Stream sniping means identifying the streamer in the game and then watching their stream to gain an advantage by using this outside game information.
R6 team plans to add the ability to:
- hide player name, ping & region
- hide other players’ names
- create a hidden matchmaking delay
Streamer mode is not coming to live Rainbow Six Siege servers in the Y6S1 patch, it is expected to be released somewhere later in Year 6.
You can find more information about the streamer mode in Ubisoft’s article available here
Customization enhancement
In Year 6 we should receive an improved system for customizing the appearance of our operators. Developers plan to add the possibility to match various elements with different cosmetics.
We will be able to use elite skin MVP animation with different head and body skins or match elite skin body with head skin of different sets.
The Rainbow Six Siege team has not provided yet a release date for this feature.
Replay mode beta
Year 6 will bring another nice addition to the game – the replay system. We have covered the potential pros of replay mode in an article dedicated to this subject.
Reputation system
Lastly, Rainbow Six Siege is expected to receive a reputation system somewhere in Year 6. This system will reward good behavior during the matches with feedback and rewards. Simultaneously, the system should punish toxic actions by creating sanctions (i.e. players unable to play ranked matches). The system is supposed to provide feedback to punished players to allow them to improve their standings within the system.
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