Games
Rainbow Six Siege has grown a lot in the last 4 years. Analyst Alex "Z1ronic" Dalgaard breaks down what new players need to know to get involved
Rainbow Six Siege can feel like an alien language to get to grips with. If you've struggled through the first few matches and think you're ready to start playing Siege in 2020, here are a few tips that'll help you start winning Ranked matches.
Understand team composition
A round in Rainbow Six Siege can often be decided as you're picking operators. Siege is an asymmetrical game where your gadgets become the economy, so always consider if you have the right utility in your lineup. Take a default attacking line-up like Thermite, Hibana, Thatcher, Buck & Zofia: with Thermite and Hibana you have 2 hard breachers — hard breaching operators can punch through reinforced walls — for redundancy, which allows you to open more angles. Then you have 2 soft breachers, Buck and Zofia, to help pressure the site or deal with defender utility like deployable shields, Evil Eye cameras and other gadgets and then Thatcher who can deny enemy gadgets and allow you to gain entrance.
This gives you a lot of different options. Need to remove Bandit batteries so Thermite can breach into the objective? You can use Thatcher, but if that's not an option you can use Buck to open up a line of sight from above, or Zofia can use her concussive grenades to stop Bandit from placing new batteries and "bandit tricking."
When you understand the roles each operator has the flow of the game becomes much simpler - following the simple 2-2-1 rule of two hard breachers, two soft breachers, and one disabler will help a lot.
Flip this to defence and you should apply the same logic, but focus on always having two intel operators, and a minimum of one shotgun to open rotation holes and hatches.
Use the clock as a Gadget
Players often forget that there's more than one way to win in Siege — on defence the timer can be your best friend. If Smoke can save his toxic grenades by the 0:45 mark instead of burning through them early on, the power of his utility can tip the scales in your favour.
Almost everything on defence scales with time; if your roamer survives and can flank when the attackers are executing, then youtotally change the scenario for them, forcing them to focus on more than just the site.Operators such as Lesion, Echo, Smoke and Maestro all become much stronger the longer they stay alive.
In Quick Play and Unranked planting takes five seconds, but in Ranked it goes up to a long seven seconds too. This difference in time increases Maestro’s plant denial strength in ranked; if the attackers have not dealt with his utility by the time they come to plant, it’s an easy win for the defence!
Everything changes every three months
Every three months a new Season starts, this often means 2 new operators - 1 attacker and 1 defender, a new or reworked map and some balance changes. Try to stay up to date with patch notes and changes as that can have a massive impact on a site or a whole map - sometimes a site that was almost impossible to defend becomes the new go-to site just because one new operator was added to the mix.
Embrace content creators for this: Siege has a ton of people that will keep you up to date with new tips and tricks, mapping out each change as it happens and explaining what the new operators are good for.
New operators cost renown to unlock and will be locked for the first week of the season for everyone but active Year Pass holders. Each year has a new Year Pass that gives you instant access to the new operators without having to spend renown, If you're playing Siege a lot this might be worth it. Don't be afraid of failure, If you're new to Siege it can be daunting jumping in the deep end with millions of players who have been at it for a long time, but remember it's a game and is supposed to be a lot of fun.
Sound is your friend, sometimes
Rainbow Six Siege is both loved and hated for its sound. It can be difficult to work out sound because sound flows and moves as it does in real life. If, for example, you are in a room and someone is creeping around the hallway outside, you'll mainly hear the sound coming through the door. Make a shotgun hole into that hallway and you'll find it easier to pinpoint his exact location.
Sounds above you are easy to hear, while sounds below are almost impossible: this is by design. Remember to break the glass on windows to be able to hear attackers outside as they approach and remember that sound interacts with the game's destruction and try to be aware of the changes in audio when you break a new wall, it's fairly intuitive but also unique in Rainbow Six Siege compared to pretty much every other game.
This can catch you out too, so keep an eye out for holes blasted into walls and broken windows: people could be listening out for your approach.
Adapt your gameplan
When all is said and done, Rainbow Six Siege is like playing Chess with guns. Like gun-chess, It's all about finding a solution to a problem: how do we open this wall? what is needed for us to plant the defuser? where to put rotate holes?
You need an open mind and some skill at troubleshooting to get the best out of Siege, as playing to the meta isn't always possible. Gameplay in Siege tends to be reactive, so your strategies to overcome enemies will sometimes need a tweak.
"There is always a META in Siege, but the strongest players are those who understand when to break from the meta and when to follow it. A lot can be learned from watching Pro League play, where you see the best of the best battle it out. Here you can learn everything from what sites to focus on, what operators fit well together and how to solve a 3v5 when low on utility. Siege, ultimately, is not only about shooting. Played well, it is equal parts mechanical skill, smarts, experience and innovation.
Play with friends
While this might seem obvious, a 5v5 game is more fun if you know the 4 other players on your team. Invite friends to play and get on voice chat to work together and you'll be able to experience how awesome it can be when a team really clicks, plans out a strategy and then moves to execute.
You can play and enjoy Siege solo just fine, but there's no doubt that you don't get the full experience unless you are with a full stack of friends. communication and teamwork can make Siege a lot easier to understand, but it also takes it to a whole new level of fun. Then, who knows, maybe one day you'll be playing alongside some of them in a competitive match, maybe in front of thousands of viewers?
