In Rainbow Six: Siege, the new Season 2 of Year 5 (Y5S2) is coming. The new Operation Steel Wave brings along two new Operators: Ace and Melusi. Both could fit into the game in their own way and be fun – or really annoying.
Who are the Operators? The two newcomers are Håvard “Ace” Haugland from Norway and Thandiwe “Melusi” Ndlovu from South Africa. Ace will be the new Attacker, Melusi the new Defender in Rainbow Six: Siege. We have embedded the trailer for them here:
Both come with the new Season 2 of Year 5, which will be called “Operation Steel Wave”. The season is expected to start in early June according to many speculations. You can find a general overview of Y5S2 with the colleagues from GameStar.
The abilities of the two new Operators are already known. Both bring unique gadgets that could integrate well into any team – to the joy or dismay of the players.
Operation Steel Wave: What the Operators can do
This is what Melusi can do: Melusi, as a Defender, relies on traps and surveillance. She has a speed of 3 and an armor of 1. Here is her loadout:
- Primary Weapon: T5SMG (SMG) or Super90 (Shotgun)
- Secondary Weapon: RG15 (Pistol)
- Device: Impact Grenade or Mobile Shield
- Special Ability: Banshee Sonic Defense
Melusi’s special gadget is sound mines that she can place. If an enemy triggers them by getting close, they will be slowed down and a loud noise will sound. The mines themselves are armored – they can only be destroyed or disabled with counter gadgets (like those of Thatcher or Kali) or with explosive rounds. Close combat attacks also work, but the effect is stronger the closer you are to the mine.
This is what Ace can do: Ace joins the Attackers as the fourth “hard breacher” after Thermite, Maverick, and Hibana. With an armor and speed rating of 2 each, he has balanced stats. His loadout is:
- Primary Weapon: AK-12 (Assault Rifle) or M1014 (Shotgun)
- Secondary Weapon: P9 (Pistol)
- Device: Breaching Charge or Smoke Grenades
- Special Ability: S.E.L.M.A.
Ace’s operator gadget is a mix between those of Hibana and Maverick. He fires a projectile that wraps around multiple times and slowly burns a hole in a wall – even in a reinforced one.
If the Defenders ignore the hole long enough, a passage will form. If they destroy the gadget, at least a sight hole will remain.
This is why the characters might be annoying
What makes the Operators “bad”? Melusi’s ability introduces another trap into the pool of objects that Attackers already have to watch out for. Alongside gadgets like those from Ela and Frost, or the surveillance from Valkyrie, it will now be even harder to infiltrate an area unnoticed.
If the gadgets are placed correctly and the team plays together, it will be almost impossible for Attackers to simply quickly win with a rush tactic.
On the other hand, Ace will likely take on a core position as the new hard breacher. Maverick, Thermite, and Hibana are already a “must pick” in most matches where they are not banned because only they can destroy reinforced walls.
What effects could this have? Both Operators will require stronger teamwork from the opposing team. Additionally, they could increase the play rate of characters like IQ, who can detect gadgets, or Maestro with his “Evil Eye”.
Our colleague Dimitri Halley from GameStar also sent Ubisoft some questions about Ace and Melusi to find out how to counter them. Here are the answers:
- Mute, Bandit, Maestro, and Kaid can destroy Ace’s gadget with their abilities
- Wamai and Jäger have the ability to directly prevent the use of the gadget
- Sledge and Maverick can destroy Melusi’s gadget with their abilities
- Finka’s boost helps players affected by the mine
- The abilities of Twitch and Thatcher temporarily disable the gadget
Also, Ubisoft lists Fuze, Kali, Ash, and Zofia as counters for Melusi. At least with Kali and Fuze, Operators that are relatively rare are represented here – they may appear more often soon.
Whether the abilities will remain in their current form is yet to be seen. Only in April, Ubisoft buffed the Operator Ying. However, that led to a nerf coming shortly after due to its strength.
Ace – especially annoying for professionals?
Ace is in a unique position as the fourth hard breacher. In professional matches like in the currently ongoing GSA League, it often happens that players ban two of the currently three playable Operators with this ability.
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This leads to the third character having to be chosen to fulfill this role. This way, the defending team at least knows relatively securely which Operator it will be, allowing them to prepare accordingly.
This method is one of the professional tricks that can help you improve immediately in Rainbow Six: Siege. However, once Ace arrives, that will no longer work – because then two hard breachers remain open, who only share their counters to a limited extent.
As a result, the bans and played Operators might change, which in turn would affect the meta and concern all players. After all, the victory is ultimately what matters to most, and that is best achieved with the strongest available team.
However, these are considerations for the future, and Ubisoft will only have to think about balancing when the time comes. At present, the publisher is fighting against Apple and Google over a blatant mobile copy of Rainbow Six: Siege and is suing the two giants.
