Ubisoft has introduced Season 3 for Year 6 in Rainbow Six Siege. The season is titled “Crystal Guard” and brings a new operator, Osa, among other things. Experts are already excited about the updates, and one of them says: This will be the best season yet.
What’s in the new season? Season 3 of Year 6 in Rainbow Six brings numerous updates. The next major update includes:
- Osa, a new attacker from Nighthaven
- Improvements for the gadgets of various operators
- various “map buffs”
- a revamp of the armor system
- customization options for the elite skins
With the maps, it is emphasized that “buffs” are being discussed, not just adjustments. For example, there are adjustments to Clubhouse and Coastline, where various obstacles have been removed. You can now move more easily around the maps.
The highlight of the presentation is probably Osa, the new attacker. After Flores, the first openly gay operator, Osa is the first transgender character in the game. However, it is her gadget that makes her particularly attractive, at least according to the YouTuber BikiniBodhi.
Who is the expert? BikiniBodhi has been creating content about Rainbow Six for many years and is one of the largest and most well-known YouTubers for the game. His channel now has over 1.64 million subscribers.
In his videos, he informs his viewers about changes and excites them with his strong and sometimes very creative gameplay. In one of the recent updates, he showed how he made the weakest operator really strong with a crazy trick.
New operator is “scary”
Who is the new operator? Anja Katarina “Osa” Janković comes from a Croatian family of toy makers. In Rainbow Six, she is responsible for the development of various protective gadgets, including Wamai’s Mag-NET system.
Militarily, she comes from the special unit Nighthaven, like Wamai and Kali. She has a special connection with Kali. Osa is the first transgender operator in Rainbow Six Siege.
What can Osa do? Osa’s special ability is the Talon-8 clear shield. This is a portable shield made of bulletproof glass, which behaves like a mobile shield of the defenders.
Just like the mobile shield, the Talon-8 can lock into doors or be placed on the ground. It can also lock into windows, providing visibility and protection, similar to Mira’s mirror – except that the shield is transparent from both sides.
When carried, the Talon-8 acts like a portable shield of the attackers. It combines multiple gadgets in one. If it is hit in a deployed form by a melee attack, the glass shatters and becomes opaque.
A cartridge on the back can destroy the glass, just like with Mira’s mirrors.
Why is Osa “scary”? The gadget itself opens up completely new paths for attackers. With the shield, attackers can:
- coordinate new attacks through windows, as there is always a gap at the top to shoot through
- secure areas while being protected, such as when the floor is blown up
- secure zones as attackers when a bomb is being defused
Although the shield primarily opens up new defensive options, it can also be used for attacks. BikiniBodhi, for example, demonstrates in his video a combination of Osa and Sledge that he describes as “scary.”
As Osa, he sets up his shield and aims at enemies in the room behind. Although they can see him too, they can do nothing. He now instructs his Sledge to use his gadget, a sledgehammer, to destroy the shield.
At the same moment, he already shoots through and takes out the opponents without any possibility of resistance. This works only because the opponents cannot anticipate Sledge’s action when he is concealed behind a wall. Other similar combinations are apparently also possible. You can see the scene in the embedded video starting at 3:34:
Better gadgets and no armor anymore
What else is in the new season? In addition to Osa, there are some adjustments to existing operators. Among the more important ones are:
- IQ, who can now ping enemy gadgets through walls with Ping 2.0
- Fuze, whose explosive charge can now even penetrate reinforced walls
- Twitch, whose drone can now jump
Interestingly, operators will have no armor starting from Season 3. Armor is instead converted into health points, making the resilience of characters more transparent. In the developers’ notes, you will find all the changes, buffs, and nerfs in detail (via ubisoft.com).
Furthermore, you can now customize the popular elite skins. Previously, you could only equip all parts of the set or none at all. This will change. For now, you can only customize headgear and uniforms, but in the future, every part should be interchangeable.
When can I play it? The new season will be playable on the test servers starting August 17, with Osa available from August 18. When exactly the new update will be rolled out to the live servers has not yet been announced. Traditionally, it takes about 3 weeks until the release, so September 7 seems plausible.
Rainbow Six has steadily improved over the years and continues to provide interesting new approaches. One of the reasons it remains one of the best shooters in 2021:
The 15 best multiplayer shooters of 2021 for PS4, PS5, Xbox, and PC
