PROs:
- Two good guns for selection
- Reliable support utility
- Mechanically simple to use
- Vital to team’s success
CONS:
- High responsibility
- Not as much fragging power as other operators
Thatcher
Offensive operator
If you want to main an attacker who is always beneficial to have, then the Thatcher R6 Siege operator is your man!
He is one of, if not the most, essential support operators on the attacking side in the game.
Thatcher’s EMPs can impact tons of defensive utility devices. Most notably countering Breach denial operators.
For certain sites, Thatcher is almost a must pick if the attacking team prioritizes opening angles to the objective.
Organization
SAS
Availability
Release
Armor Rating
Medium
Speed Rating
Medium
Biography
Born into a family of stevedores, Baker enlisted for active military duty on his eighteenth birthday.
A veteran of three wars, Baker was the oldest SAS operative on active duty until he was recruited by Rainbow.
OPERATOR VIDEO
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Operator guide
Detailed information on how to play Thatcher R6 Siege
Utility
What is the utility?
Thatcher R6 operator has 3 EG MKO-EMP grenades, also known as merely EMP.
This utility allows Thatcher to temporarily disable electronic defensive utility permanently.
EMP has a radius of 5 meters and is not impacted by surfaces, meaning that Thatcher can disable defenders utility within radius without risk of exposing himself (or EMPs) to defenders.
Besides electronic utility devices, EMP disables for 10 seconds defenders’ gun sights: Red dot, Reflex, and Holographic sights. Magnifying scopes are only impacted when not in ADS, which makes disabling it ineffective.
EMP has a trajectory of a regular grenade (frag, stun, or smoke), but unlike frag grenades, it cannot be cooked.
Cooking a grenade means pulling the pin of a grenade and holding onto it to shorten the delay between throw and detonation of a grenade. For frag grenades, it allows unavoidable death. For EMP it would be useful for detonating it mid-air or on certain heights to dispose of utility placed in spots hard to affect otherwise.
How to use utility?
In the Rainbow Six Siege, Thatcher’s EMP is the most reliable counter to multiple defensive devices.
The primary usage of Thatcher’s utility is to disable Breach denial utility preventing Hard breachers from opening reinforced surfaces.
His gadget is the most reliable, safest, and easiest counter to mentioned anti-breaching devices due to its effect not being impacted by walls and other surfaces.
This means that you can throw an EMP grenade on the opposite side of the wall and your utility will disable any electronic device on the defensive side!
Bear in mind, though, that since Y5S3 Thatcher disables all the utility and does not destroy it!
Other operators like Twitch or IQ are also good counters to Breach denial.
However, due to the nature of their gadgets, they require specific circumstances to be effective, thus being a less reliable option than Thatcher.
BREACH DENIAL IS ABSENT – SCENARIO
If enemies do not have anti-breaching operators or your team opened a wall without your help, you can still support your team by disabling traps and other utility on the defensive side.
Defenders usually place traps (like Lesion’s Gu mines or Kapkan’s EDD) at entrance points for objectives or building – doors or windows. Therefore, it’s wise to use spare EMPs on such chokepoints to ensure trap devices impact you the least possible.
However, whenever possible, try to gain intel about defenders’ utility placement. You only have 3 EMPs, so make them count!
COUNTERING MAESTRO
Another important usage of EMP is countering Maestro’s Evil eyes.
Maestro is a popular pick. His gadget has seen a recent nerf – EMP from Thatcher disables it temporarily and also opens its bulletproof glass. This allows attackers to shoot Evil eye and destroy it permanently.
COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY!
Communicate with your team to know what’s their plan and how you can support them the most.
During the preparation phase, ask Hard breacher where do they plan to breach and where are they spawning.
I cannot stress this enough!
Your team will often count on your utility. You do not want to slow down the attack, potentially exposing your team to being picked off while waiting for your arrival.
Also, the longer it takes to open objective walls and hatches, the lower time for opportunities is left to utilize the newly created angle.
Interactions
SYNERGIES
As a support operator in R6 Siege Thatcher is there to help the team. However, he can also be aided by his teammates who can feed intel about defenders’ utility placement, by simply droning location.
One of the rare synergies but very useful is having IQ with Thatcher.
“Why?” you may wonder. Well, it’s pretty simple yet so rarely seen. IQ is the most effective operator in R6 Siege when it comes to detecting defenders’ electronics. In a case where she can shoot devices through penetrable surfaces or has a direct line of sight, she can get the job done on her own.
However, in case no such access is available, IQ can use her scanner to point to the exact location for Thatcher to use his EMP grenade. This makes everyone’s life so much easier and usage of utility significantly more practical!
Counters:
EMP temporarily disables utility such as:
- Kaid – Electroclaw
- Kapkan – EDD
- Smoke – Gas canister
- Jäger – ADS
- Valkyrie – Black Eye cameras
- Ela – Grzmot mines
- Lesion – GU mines
- Mozzie – Pests
- Echo – Yokai drone
- Alibi – Prismas
- Pulse – Cardiac sensor
- Clash – Shield taser
- Wamai – Mag-net
- Melusi – Banshee
- Bulletproof cameras
- C4
Above mentioned devices remain disabled for 10 seconds.
A special counter applies to Maestro’s Evil eyes.
EMP disables the Evil Eye temporarily and opens its bulletproof glass slightly. This allows attackers to shoot Evil eye and destroy it permanently.
Countered by:
Currently, Thatcher’s EMP grenade is countered by Jäger’s ADS device, which intercepts EMP when in line of sight – just like other grenades.
Also, Wamai MAG-nets with a line of sight on EMP will pull Thatcher’s utility towards its location and detonate it there.
However, the primary way of countering Thatcher on the defensive side is to “juggle” utility. Such a technique mainly applies to Bandit’s batteries (called “Bandit tricking”) but can be done similarly with Jäger’s ADS.
What we mean by juggling is: Defenders will pick up utility as soon as they hear Thatcher throwing his EMP and put it back down after the grenade’s detonation.
Bear in mind that this is an advanced technique of countering, new players will have a hard time performing such tricks as it requires timing actions properly.
How to play -
Thatcher R6 Siege
Playstyle
SUPPORT
As a support operator, you are not expected to be the first attacker engaging with enemies. Instead, play a bit more cautiously until your role is fulfilled and utility has been fully used.
In fact, Thatcher might be the most passively played operator until his utility job is done in R6 Siege, well maybe beside Thermite.
The best way to utilize the support operator from the beginning of the action phase in Rainbow Six Siege is to avoid getting spawn peeked while approaching the objective building. I highly recommend jumping on a drone for an initial 5-10 seconds and re-check your entry point.
Most of the spawnpeeked deaths can be avoided by this step alone… Seriously!
I highly recommend for support operators to aid their entry fragging teammates by droning for them to feed with invaluable intel about defenders position.
Droning for others is not flashy and won’t show on the scoreboard. However, it is one of the essential aspects differentiating a consistently victorious squad and a random group of people where everyone plays for themselves.
The playstyle on the attack in Rainbow Six Siege is flexible and in fact fluid. Every operator turns eventually into fragger, once necessary tasks are completed, and utility has been used.
Therefore, you can play more aggressively and go fragging once:
- entry to the building has been made
- your team has established sufficient map control
- you have used your utility
Difficulty
MEDIUM
- Mechanically simple utility to use
- Requires team-oriented mindset
- Vital utility to attack’s reliable success
Loadout guide -
Thatcher R6 Siege
Available options
Primary weapons
Secondary weapons
Universal gadgets
Claymore
Anti-personnel explosive. Explodes when contact with the sensor is made, injuring or dealing lethal damage.
Breaching charge
The charge allows opening a hole in unreinforced walls, hatches, and barricades.
Loadout suggestion
Loadout choices are an individual aspect, and rarely there is a “go-to” loadout in R6 Siege.
Sight choices are purely personal and depend on the player’s playstyle, map, even objective & specific role.
Please treat the below suggestion as what it is – our preferences.
We encourage you to experiment to find your setup.
Remember, just because something works for someone else, does not mean it has to and will work for you!
Suggested loadout:
| Primary weapon | Barrel | Grip | Scope |
| L85A2 | Compensator | Vertical grip | 2.0x scope |
| Secondary weapon | Barrel | Grip | Scope |
| P226 MK25 | Muzzle brake | N/A | N/A |
| Gadget |
| Claymore |
Why such loadout?
PRIMARY WEAPONS
Thatcher R6 operator has access to 3 primary weapons. Two of those weapons are close when it comes to performance and depend on personal preferences – AR33 and L85A2.
If you do not mind the lower capacity of the magazine, then give AR33 a shot. Since Grim Sky recoil changes it is a fookin’ laser now!
The vertical recoil of AR33 is easy to control, and with the compensator, horizontal recoil is almost non-existent.
Ammo limitation is usually a big turn-off for many players, but I suggest that you give this weapon a chance.
L85A is the go-to primary weapon for most players. It is a reliable gun with a relatively low rate of fire (670) but good 47 damage per bullet.
From the perspective of attachments to your primary, the compensator is the barrel of choice. L85A works fine with other barrels, as well, but has horizontal pull after the initial few shots with which the compensator helps a lot.
Like most ARs, it has both 1x sights and 2.0x scope for selection. We recommend using 2.0x scope on L85A as for short-range encounters I switch to SMG-11 anyway.
SECONDARY WEAPONS
Like many other operators, Thatcher has access to only one secondary weapon.
P226 is an excellent pistol with high damage per bullet (50) and big magazine capacity (15).
Since the game’s release, it has been overshadowed by SMG11 available to other SAS operators (Sledge, Smoke, and most recently to Mute, too). However, with recoil changes to SMGs available as secondary weapons, P226 has seen more picks and appreciation.
I recommend using a muzzle brake to lower vertical recoil on every shot unless you want a bit of stealth with your pistol.
UNIVERSAL GADGETS
I usually select claymore as a Thatcher to secure our flanks and prevent runouts while focusing together with a Hard breacher on opening reinforced walls.
Most teams rarely have an issue with lacking breaching power as breaching capable operators are usually fairly often picked due to their entry fragging capabilities.
Nonetheless, I suggest checking your team’s composition every round so that you can decide what is going to be the best selection.
There’s not much point in having 4-5 claymores on one team.
Community Videos -
Thatcher R6 Siege
Instructional videos
Gameplay showcases
Other operators
Learn more about other operators in R6 Siege!
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