Rainbow Six Siege’s newest operation, North Star, launched on June 14th, bringing a host of new changes with it. North Star marks the twenty-first expansion in Siege’s lifecycle, and while it only adds one new operator to the rotation, it has introduced numerous quality-of-life changes that have been missing from previous seasons.
Previous seasons of Rainbow Six Siege have left a bit to be desired. While the last two updates, Operation Crimson Heist and Operation Neon Dawn, added operators with interesting mechanics in Aruni and Flores, there was very little other substance. On the contrary, Operation North Star tackles some of the fundamental issues that have been prevalent throughout extensive periods of the game.
With Operation North Star’s updates, Rainbow Six Siege is doubtlessly in store for the evolution of some new strategies. While the most notable content update comes in the introduction of the new defender, Ubisoft has also introduced some much-needed nerfs that will alter the playstyle of previous seasons, as well as the revision of game mechanics that have been a staple of Siege for some time.
Operation North Star launches with the introduction of the new defender, Thunderbird. Thunderbird is one of only three defenders released in the last three years with one armor and three speed, the others being Alibi and Melusi. This speed makes her an ideal character for roaming. She also comes equipped with three Kóna Stations, gadgets which can be placed on the floor. These stations will heal any defender or attacker who walks within its radius for thirty health. Moreover, this health can overheal players, but will not stack with additional overheals.
The Kóna Station can also revive downed players, provided the player crawls to the station and presses a hotkey. After it expends its heal, the Kóna Station gradually recharges, readying another heal after about thirty-five seconds. Thunderbird is only the second defender to be introduced with a healing mechanic, the first being Doc from the original release, and will surely provide new tactical advantages on defense.
Several Rainbow Six Siege operators have also received nerfs. Melusi’s gadget, the Banshee Sonic Defense, will now open after several seconds when an attacker enters its radius, allowing the attacker to shoot and destroy the device. A shattered glass feature has also been added to bulletproof glass, affecting Mira and Maestro. Operators can melee Mira’s Black Mirror or Maestro’s Evil Eye, causing the glass to break and rending them impossible to see through. Maestro will still be able to open his camera and see enemies, though now risking the camera being shot in the exposed state.
As for Mira, not much can be done once the glass has been shattered, so defenders will need to keep an eye out for attackers looking to melee the glass. Rainbow Six Siege's best defense operators often shift, but Melusi and Mira have had high ban rates for a while now. Hopefully, these changes will cause the meta to shift from past seasons.
More welcome changes have come in alterations to dead bodies and bullet holes. Now, when a player is killed, their body will disappear from the floor after several seconds. The body is then replaced by a translucent icon of the operator. While some players may complain this eliminates realism in Rainbow Six, bodies have been a known issue in previous seasons. Bodies would often appear to be in different positions for different players, sometimes causing players to be killed by a player who was obstructed by a body.
As for bullet holes, players can no longer see through a single bullet hole in a destructible surface. Now, if players want to look through a breachable wall or barrier, they need to create a larger hole, either with a melee attack or several concentrated shots. This eliminates many of the sneaky pixel-peeks and angles that would get players killed from seemingly out of nowhere.
The coming weeks will be the best indicator for how Rainbow Six Siege's gameplay adapts, but North Star is beginning in the right direction. For now, Ubisoft has demonstrated it is committed to adding both new content and refining existing game mechanics, making the experience of Rainbow Six Siege the best it can be.
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