During the BLAST R6 Major in Manchester, a panel took to the stage to present the reveal of Operation New Blood. This effectively ushers in Y9S2 of Rainbow Six Siege – and marks the end of Operation Deadly Omen, which reintroduced Deimos to the game. More than a week ago, Ubisoft revealed the title for the all-new season and stressed some themes, such as a major update to Recruit(s).
With key upgrades being made to the game’s onboarding and training elements and the in-game Marketplace going global, there are plenty of players to look forward to as part of Operation New Blood. Ubisoft spoke at length about updates to the player protection and anti-cheat systems, the typical balances being made to certain Operators, and an all-new ‘Membership’ that’ll give players added benefits in exchange for a monthly fee…
Become a Recruit
For the longest time, the ‘Recruit’ has existed in Rainbow Six Siege as a default replacement for players who don’t have access to an Operator. Ubisoft has taken that concept and blown it wide open, taking inspiration from Rainbow Six Mobile and introducing Strike and Sentry, recruits with plenty to offer players getting used to Rainbow Six Siege. They’re being designed as ‘Swiss-Army Knives’ of Operators that can be customised by the player.
Most importantly, Striker and Sentry won’t be predictable. They don’t have unique abilities but they can take a mixture of gadgets into the field, with those gadgets being split as you would expect between an attacking and defending team. As 2-2 Operators, both Striker and Sentry will make for fantastic and versatile additions to the extensive roster of Operators in Rainbow Six Siege.
Get Good
Operation New Blood will bring about changes to the game’s onboarding and training mechanics. For instance, players can now take advantage of an ‘Endless Drill’ function that allows them to practice for up to an hour against bot characters on any map they choose. In the same vein as improving accessibility, Ubisoft has performed balancing-based changes on two key Operators: Fenrir and Solis.
Here are some of the key updates:
Fenrir:
- F-NATTs are no longer bulletproof and reduced to two rather than three charges
- Removing Barbed Wire and giving him Observation Blockers
Solis:
- Can’t use SPEC-IO during Prep Phase, use time reduced to 10 seconds, and charge must be at 100% to be activated
- Removing Impact Nades and giving her Proximity Alarms
Ubisoft has also prepared an update to the weapon statistics screen, making data much more granular and easier to understand.
Behind the Scenes
Ubisoft has been working hard on the game’s player protection mechanics and anti-cheat systems.
‘The team has been doing incredible work. We’ve made a seven-times improvement to the data points that we use to make bans.’
This has resulted in an increase of more than 60% in sanctions. The team has also partnered more effectively with Steam to use the VAC bans system – this is aimed at reducing the number of offenders creating multiple accounts to disrupt the Rainbow Six Siege ecosystem. The promised Reputation System still isn’t ready, though – that’s being kept behind closed doors until a future update rolls around.
Elsewhere, the in-game Marketplace is now going global – but will require 2FA and an LL25 account to access it. Attrition is making a return, and a new Map Filtering function is being added to the standard playlist.
Controversial
During the reveal at the BLAST R6 Major in Manchester, the crowd was quick to show their disappointment at the new ‘Membership’ function. This will see players set up a recurring subscription to Ubisoft for Rainbow Six Siege. They’ll pick up a ‘premium membership’ that’ll reward them with exclusive cosmetics and a stack of Rainbow Six Credits every month, but it’s a paid-for subscription that nobody saw coming.
It’s penned as being ‘a new and best way to get some of the game’s new and exciting content.’
For more Rainbow Six Siege news, Esports.net
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