Changes In Battle Pass
“Year Pass” is now retired in Rainbow Six Siege and will be replaced with a more familiar “Battle Pass”. A new operator will become available as soon as the Battle Pass arrives. A new Battle Pass will be offered every new “season” and in Year 6, a season lasts for three months. Players who do not purchase the Battle Pass will have to wait two weeks until they can purchase the new operator with R6 Credits or Renown. In essence, there is a limited-time exclusivity of new operators for Battle Pass owners.
New Operators and Maps
Operation Crimson Heist is the first season in Year 6. Crimson Heist introduces the Argentinian attacker Flores, who specializes in explosions and breaching using his drones. Flores is equipped with four RCE-Ratero drones which he can direct into position for ten seconds. The drone goes to its spot afterward, becomes bulletproof, and explodes after a few more seconds. Every explosion seems to have a blast radius comparable to that of a nitro cell, but thanks to an audible siren that rings out when the drone anchors, defenders get plenty of warning to scram. The drone is also slower compared to other drones in the game and only moves in a forward direction. Flores inventory choices include the AR33 or the SR-25 for primary weapons, and stun grenades or a claymore for secondary gadgets. Unfortunately, Flores’ sidearm is limited only to GSh-18. While there are operator changes in Year 6, most of the rework involves utility-based defenders. For example, Goyo’s exploding shields will be replaced with another utility. Mira’s, Maestro’s, and Melusi’s gadgets and utilities will also receive nerfs. On the other hand, Fuze and Finka are expected to receive buffs. For example, Finka will be able to revive herself. Year 6’s season 2 will feature the operator from Nakoda. For season 3, it will be a Croatian Operator. For the final season, it will be an Irish Operator. For maps, Favela and Outback maps will also undergo major rework. Three unspecified maps will also have smaller buffs as the year progresses.
Reputation System
The biggest feature in this update is the arrival of a player behavior system that has actually been running in the background for a few months now, though in a limited capacity. Ubisoft doesn’t get into the details of what activities affect the ranking, but there are five levels to the reputation system and players are able to climb up and down levels depending on their actions. At Level 0 there may be messages and warnings about the actions of the player, and also penalties such as not being able to queue for ranked matches. On the bright side, at Levels 3 and 4, players will earn incentives, the details of which are unknown right now.
Gameplay Balances
There is a drastic change for attackers in the planning process, and the squad can now switch operators after surveying the target. The support system will also encourage teams to use their drones and post-death gadgets to keep teams involved until they have been wiped out.
Other Miscellaneous Changes
Aside from performance improvements, both in the optimization of the game and the servers’ stability, other quality-of-life improvements will arrive. One of these is the Streamer Mode where the player’s region, name, clearance level, and profile picture is obfuscated to prevent “Stream Sniping”.
