Rainbow Six Siege has officially released its new update, Operation Twin Shells. This marks its 9th year and 3rd season for the game. In this new update, there’ll be a lot of new features and changes that’ll change the game and improve the quality of life for players. For those not in the loop or who haven’t played the game in a while, here’s everything new coming in Y9S3: Operation Twin Shells.
New Operator Skopós
Rainbow Six Siege has a new Defender Operator entering the game, Skopós. She’s a Greek veteran, an engineering genius, and a master strategist returning to active duty with a unique ability. She uses her V10 Pantheon Shells that allow her to control two robotic “Shells.” These Shells work like any other operator, but she can only use one at a time. The second Shell can work like a deployable shield and an observation tool. She can switch between the Shells anytime as long as they’re connected to her. Aside from her unique ability, Skopós comes with the new PCX-33 as her primary and a P229 as her secondary. As of now, the PCX-33 will be exclusive to Skopós. She also has access to Impact Grenades and Proximity Alarms during rounds. With her loadout and unique ability, Skopós is an effective intel provider and support operator.
New Playlists
Siege Cup
The new season will introduce a new playlist called Siege Cup, where 5 player squads will be placed on a competitive ladder based on their skill and compete against others to earn rewards. Currently, the playlist is in its Beta stage. Players who sign up will receive an invitation to help develop the new playlist. The Siege Cup will run for 2 weeks every season, but it’ll only be available for PC players, and they have plans to expand it in the future.
Competitive Coins
The new season will add Competitive Coins, a new currency that’ll be given in Competitive, Ranked, and Siege Cup Playlists. The coins can be used to buy Competitive Packs or individual items in the Competitive Packs.
Competitive Packs
Competitive Packs are exclusive items given during the season and are solely for Siege Cup and Ranked Playlists. Competitive Packs can be redeemed using Competitive Coins. This new addition will incentivize players to rank up and reward them with exclusive skins for each new season.
1v1 Custom Games
A new custom game preset has been added to the new season, allowing players to play 1v1 matches on their favorite maps. There’ll be two types of matches: Short Match and Long Match.
Short Match will consist of a 6-round bomb game mode. The first to win four rounds wins the Match. The roles will swap each round, and if the score is tied, one overtime will be played. The custom 1v1 games will be available for all maps.
Long Match will have a 14-round bomb game mode, and players will need 8-round wins. There’ll be 3 overtime rounds, and roles will swap every round. Like the Short matches, the game mode is available for all maps.
Ranked Skill Initialization
Players who’ve unlocked the Ranked playlist will be assigned a ranking based on the game’s new calculation. This calculation will consider the player’s past matches in Siege to give a more accurate level of skill. It will ensure that players are put in fair matches closer to their skill level.
New Game Changes
In this new season, a few changes will affect operators and gadgets to balance the game.
Operator Changes
Solis
Solis’ SPEC-IO Electro Sensor will now only detect electronic devices in the central view. Solis will need to use Overclock, a new function of her SPEC-IO, to identify and see what gadgets have been detected. Overclock has limited uses, but her SPEC-IO will last longer and not require a full charge. Solis will emit a warning on attacker detection tools when they’re identified.
Nøkk
Nøkk’s Hel Presence Reduction will now be consumed when the ability protects them from observation tolls and the time to recharge has been increased. Nøkk’s FMG-9 will have a new and easier recoil pattern.
Dokkaebi
Dokkaebi will now start with 0 Logic Bomb charges and will get a new charge every 45 seconds, but she can only have a maximum of 2 charges at a time.
Gadget Changes
Drone Boost
Drones will have a speed boost that players use for a short period. Standard Drone, Brava’s Kludge Drones, Twitch’s Shock Drone, and Echo’s Yokai Drones will have the speed boost. The speed boost can be accessed in the settings in the controls section of the option menu.
Proximity Alarm
Proximity Alarms will no longer grant a score after being triggered.
Claymore
Claymores will no longer have a delay and will instantly explode when triggered.
New Anti-Cheat
With the new season, Rainbow Six Siege has provided a better Anti-Cheat for players. Binary hardening has been implemented to make future cheat development difficult. The new security system will consist of 6 detection systems, and they’ve focused their efforts on creating a security update where current cheats will be detected in 12 hours or sooner, and players found with cheats will be banned and have their access revoked.