Rainbow Six Siege kicks off Year 6 with Operation Crimson Heist, new attacker Flores and Border map rework

Rainbow Six Siege is all set to step into another year and Ubisoft has revealed what we can expect to see in year 6. To start off Year 6 Season 1 of Rainbow Six Siege is named Operation Crimson Heist. This is because the new operator is an attacker and thief called Flores.

Operation Crimson Heist also brings rework for the Border map along with a new secondary weapon called Gonne-6 and other in-game changes. The developers are giving the attackers a boost in this season citing the reason that the game had become a little too defender intensive.

New Attacker: Flores

The newest attacker to join the Rainbow team is Flores who hails from Argentina. He is a medium-speed, medium-armor attacking Operator whose DIY device RCE-Ratero is literally a bomb on a drone. It can clear out Defender obstacles, including barricades, shields, and barbed wire, and they can also target enemy gadgets, like Bandit’s batteries or Maestro’s Evil Eyes.

Essentially the RCE-Ratero is a C4 on a drone that has a timer and becomes invulnerable for the duration. The drone once deployed will constantly keep moving forward, but it can jump and can anchor on different surfaces when triggered and the countdown begins.

Flores has options for an AR-33 assault rifle or SR-25 marksman rifle in his primary weapon slot and a GSH-18 sidearm. His secondary gadget slot will include stun grenades or claymore.

Border map rework and new secondary Gonne-6

Rainbow Six Siege border map rework — (Image credit: Ubisoft)

Operation Crimson Heist is bringing a reworked Border map with a host of small changes made across the map. These will apparently increase mobility options, like the new exterior staircase to the Archives/Offices balcony, and the new interior balcony over the Waiting Room that connects East Stairs to the Break Room.

Ubisoft also mentions that the number of objective sites have been extended and reorganized as well, making for cleaner lines of sight and better balance. The Bathroom in particular has a new destructible wall near the exterior window that may prove pivotal in some matches.

Ubisoft has amended the ambient noises on the map which was the need of the hour. Border map ambient noise had become a source of memes online. Ubsioft says that the noise from the helicopter circling overhead has been significantly reduced, and the man on the PA system will only make announcements during the Prep Phase.

A new secondary weapon is also being introduced called Gonne-6 which can take out bulletproof gadgets, including bulletproof cameras, deployable shields, Maestro’s Evil Eye turrets, Castle’s barricades, and more. But the point of contention here is that the weapon will only have one round.

Other changes

Besides these primary additions, there are other changes being introduced as well. To start off the Match Replay system which was previously showcased is set to be introduced in a beta form. Some operators are set to be reworked and Ubisoft is starting off with Goyo, who will be losing his shield. His gadget will place explosive canisters much like Jäger’s ADS which will have some protection.

Next in line are Mira and Maestro whos gadgets will apparently be reworked to affect how they provide intel. Attackers will be able to melee their gadgets to crack the glass which will apparently obscure the vision. Melusi's gadget is also being reworked, and will open up like a flower when an attacker is in range and will also become vulnerable to bullets. Fuze and Finka are also in line with Fuze set to become more useful and Finka being able to revive herself with Nanoboost.

Bulletproof cameras are also set for a rework which seems justified with the addition of Gonne-6. Bulletproof cameras will apparently have full rotation and an EMP dart that disables attacker drones and gadgets, and an early version is set to be added to Year 6 Season 2 test server.

The downtime before a round is being reduced and an attacker repick option is being added where attackers can repick their operators and loadout during the preparation phase. Dead operates will now have an option called 'activities after death' which will allow them to control gadgets after they are dead.

To bring more transparency, Ubisoft is going to make armour and health visible. Those will more armour will have more health compared to those with lower armour. Hence one-armour operator will have 100 health, but two-armour will have 120 health and a three-armour will have 140 health. This is just a visual change with nothing affecting the gameplay.

There's also a reputation system being added to show player standing along with a streamer mode that will help streamers avoid stream snipe.

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Year 6 roadmap

The Year 6 will see a new operator each season with season two's operator hailing from Nakoda, season three from Croatian and season four from Ireland. Season two will see the Favela map being reworked for casual, season three will have three small map buffs and season four will see the infamous Outback map being reworked.

Battle Pass, skins and crossovers

With Year 6 the Battle Pass will be replacing the Year Pass, and will have the new operator built into it. Elite skins will become customizable and users can make their skin unique with their own combination.

Ubisoft will be partnering with other franchises to bring unique skins with the first in line being a Zofia skin inspired by Resident Evil’s Jill Valentine.