Hero image: Rainbow Six Siege, Y11S3 patch notes. Image: Ubisoft
Noor drills shields faster and hits harder, and Tachanka gets an impact mode. Ubisoft’s Y11S3.2 balancing patch notes also trim Solid Snake’s radar.
The notes for Rainbow Six Siege’s mid-season update went up at 12:15am AEDT on Friday 16 October. They describe “upcoming changes” and give no release date or time. Check the game’s Steam page and your client before you plan around them.
If you play Noor, the Horus Lance Launcher changes most. Drilling time on Ballistic Shields, soft surfaces and solid surfaces drops to 1.5s from 2s. Guard break strength against Ballistic Shields rises to 100% from 30%. Equip time falls to 0.4s from 0.9s, and impact damage against an operator rises to 80 from 50. It can now damage shield operators while they are in the removal animation.
The designer’s notes say the aim is a launcher that is “more punishing against ballistic shield operators when they make positioning mistakes.”
Tachanka’s Shumikha Launcher gets a second firing mode that triggers Incendiary Grenades on impact. The old bouncing mode stays. Ubisoft says the change is about “lowering the skill floor required to use the gadget effectively.”
Solid Snake’s Soliton Radar MK III loses one precision mode charge, so you get 3 instead of 4. Valkyrie gains the Glaive-12 as a secondary weapon.
There are smaller refinements too. Capitão’s fire bolts expand every 0.9 seconds, down from 1. Clash’s Taser slows retreating enemies by 10%, up from 5%. Osa’s Talon-8 Clear Shield has fewer deployment restrictions, and fire now deals 14 hp, up from 12.
Bug fixes include defenders losing points for destroying their own Barbed Wire, Noor’s oversized Horus Lance hitbox and a voice chat indicator that sometimes stopped appearing.
The Doktor’s Curse event runs until 2 November. If you followed the R6 Oceania stage finals at PAX Aus, where ENTERPRISE beat Chiefs 2-1 in the grand final, these are the changes Ubisoft is lining up for the game.
Source: Rainbow Six Siege (Steam) – PATCH NOTES: Y11S3 MID-SEASON UPDATE, Rainbow Six Siege (Steam) – DESIGNER’S NOTES: Y11S3 MID-SEASON UPDATE, Steam – Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege