Operation High Calibre

[e][h]Operation High Calibre

Patch Information

Version:

6.4.0

Release Date:

2021-11-30

Highlights

• New operation
• Balance changes
• Bug fixes
• Misc changes

Chronology

 6.3.3

6.4.1 

Overview

Rainbow Six Siege introduces the fourth season of Year 6, High Calibre! Our newest Operator, Thorn, joins Rainbow as a Technical Weapons Expert from Ireland's Emergency Response Unit. Never one to back down from a challenge, her strength and leadership set a new course for Rainbow. Her Razorbloom Shell proximity grenade is as sharp as her temper.

This season we've integrated some select updates including Team Colors, a Bulletproof Camera Rework and changes on the Test Server. We're bringing balance to Finka, Drone Counters, Elite 2.0, and more! Read the Patch Notes below for full details.

New Operator

Thorn

“If one’s imagination is the only limit, there’s virtually nothing Osa can’t make.”

I’ve seen the creative process in many different forms, but watching Anja “Osa” Janković at work, I realize I had never seen just how natural innovation is for some. Sketching, calculating and tinkering with such ease, there’s no question as to why Kali chose her to lead Nighthaven R&D.

Dr. Harishva “Harry” Pandey, Director of Rainbow (Rainbow Six Siege's official website)

Unique Ability

GADGET: Razorbloom Shell

Once triggered, Thorn’s Razorbloom Shell gives you just enough time to re-think all your life decisions.”

Dr. Elena “Mira” Álvarez, Director of R&D (Rainbow Six Siege's official website)

The Razorbloom Shell sticks to a surface after it's thrown by Thorn. Shortly after detecting a nearby opponent, it automatically propels a set of sharp blades in all directions, delivering lethal damage.

Map Rework: Outback

Outback has received a variety of updates to improve balancing and player comfort. Both the main building and its exterior have been modified to allow Attackers to create and execute more effective strategies. As well, new exterior soft walls have been added to the building, and some areas have been refurbished and cleaned up to remove junk and provide better lines of sight and balance.

A few new locations have been added to the map:

• 1F Convenience Store, 1F Compressor Room, 1F Gear Store, and 1F Beer Fridge have been combined into 1F Bike Repair and 1F Mechanic Shop.
• 2F Office Supply is larger and has an exterior soft wall.
• 1F Restaurant has been split into two rooms: 1F Restaurant and 1F Shark.
• 2F Covered Terrace is now an interior area that connects 2F Mezzanine and 2F Piano Room. The 2F Piano Room stairs have been removed.

Bomb sites have been moved:

• The bombsites that were previously in 2F Dorms and 2F Laundry have been moved to 2F Laundry and 2F Piano Room.

Test Server

TS Update

• The Test Server will now only be open at three separate times throughout the season and content will be split into three different releases.
• Season Release: Contains only content that will ship for the season.
• Lab Release: Contains experimental content and will be used by the team as an opportunity to collect feedback on features that are still in early production.
• Balancing Release: Contains Operator and other balancing changes.

R6 FIX 2.0

• R6 Fix has received a variety of extensive updates. The website's UI and UX design has been completely overhauled, and the function of various features, such as the search feature, has been brought up to date. In addition, a new notification system now allows users to track updates to reports, and to provide even more transparency, devs now have the ability to communicate directly with users.

Team Corlors

Since the game's release, Rainbow Six Siege has always used two colors to represent teams: blue and orange. The default team colors have now changed to blue and red, with opponents always being red. This change is mainly reflected in the UI and round feedback. It aims to bring consistency to the UI and improve onboarding for newcomers. The team colors can be changed between blue, red, or orange in the Accessibility section of the Options menu.

To go along with this change, teams are now referred to in-game as Your Team and Opponents instead of Blue Team and Orange Team.

Customization

ELITE 2.0

• Players can customize their Operator's unique abilities in the Loadout section.
• Players can navigate to any Operator in the Operators section and select the Appearance tab to view Headgear, Uniforms, Victory Celebrations, Operator Portraits, and Card Backgrounds.
• Players can customize their Operator Cards by mixing and matching Operator Portraits and Card Backgrounds. Their selections will be seen by teammates before everyone loads into the match and in various places in-game. They will also be seen by opponents they eliminate.
• UX and UI changes have been made to various customization menus to improve player comfort.

3D WEAPON SKINS

• Players can now acquire Exotic weapon skins during their Battle Pass progression. These new weapon skins have a unique 3D effect.

Player Comfort

Drone Counter

• Defenders now have access to a drone counter in the HUD to help them keep track of the number of regular drones they've destroyed. This feature can be turned off in the HUD section of the Options menu.

HUD Rework

• Visuals for the HUD have been updated to be more in-line with the game's art direction.
• Compass now displays pings and other marker locations, as well as feedback for height differences.
• Loadout (weapons, gadgets and unique abilities) was regrouped together to follow more consistent display rules.
• Text action reminders (ex: Press [SPACE] to Vault) have been replaced with icons to take up less space.

Player Privacy

• A new Privacy section in the Options menu allows players to adjust settings related to in-game privacy.

Balancing

Finka

• She can now use the Adrenal Surge to revive herself, which is more consistent with other devices in-game, like Doc's Stim Pistol.
• Her recoil boost has been removed.
• The Adrenal Surge cooldown has been increased to 20 seconds (was 10 seconds).

Bulletproof Camera Rework

• Defenders can now rotate the Maestro's Evil Eye and Bulletproof Camera which equiped with EMP bursts that disable opponent devices. EMP bursts cannot be fired by Attackers when the camera is hacked.

Weapon Balancing

Angled Grip

• The increase to ADS speed provided by the Angled Grip is now 20% less than it was before.

Gamepad Recoil Comfort

• Reduced lateral recoil on:
  • Jäger - 416-C
  • Ash - RC4
  • Vigil - K1A
  • Zofia - M762
  • Ace - AK-12
  • Warden, Dokkaebi, Vigil - SMG-12
  • Mozzie, Aruni - P-10 Roni
  • Alibi - Mx-4 Storm

Operators Price Decrease

Five Operators are getting a price decrease with this season.

• Nomad and Kaid's price drops down to 10,000 Renown or 240 R6 Credits.
• Kali and Wamai’s price goes down to 15,000 Renown or 360 R6 Credits.
• Aruni 's price decreases to 20,000 Renown or 480 R6 Credits.

Seasonal Weapon Skins

TBA

Tweaks & Improvements

Battle Pass

First Win of the Day Bonus

• Earn extra Battle Pass Points when winning any PVP playlist game within 24 hours of the first matched played.
• Time starts at the first match played and resets each day.

Battle Point Booster Update

• Boosters now give a 30% bonus for you, a 10% bonus for your teammates, and a 30% bonus for a team with at least 3 active Boosters.
• The bonus can be stacked for up to 100% bonus points.

Game Balancing

DSEG - Disabled State for Electronic Gadgets

• Created more consistent Scoring and Warning messages.
• Operators' access to Observation Tools while being affected by DSEG has been normalized. Previously the access was only blocked for Attackers, and now it is blocked for Defenders too.
• Iana, Finka, Lion, Dokkaebi and Warden's unique abilities cool down timer is now paused while affected by DSEG.
• Jackal's Eyenox automatically deactivates when affected by DSEG
• Dokkaebi's Logic Bomb ability can be interrupted by DSEG during its casting.
• Attackers affected by disabled state won't receive Finka's adrenaline boost anymore.

Testing Grounds Playlist (TS)

• No Squad MMR Restriction.
• Join in Progress enabled.
• No leaving penalty.
• Pro League map pool and New/Reworked map with a higher chance of appearance.
• No map ban.
• Operator ban enabled. New and reworked Operators can’t be banned.
• Mix of Unranked and Quick Match settings (3 rounds role swap and one round Overtime).

Player Comfort

Grenade Indicator

• Changes made to the UI so it is more reliable.

Operator Autopick

• While AFK during the Planning Phase, the Operator selected will be based on the player's personal statistics.
• This does not affect the behavior of the Random button.

Esports

• Live notification added when there is an ongoing match.

Alpha Packs

• New visuals for Alpha Packs.
• Behavior of Siege Esports Packs has been adjusted so that, instead of duplicates, it will give out Battle Pass Points.

Switch Firing Mode

• Switch Fire Mode was removed for weapons, but the function (now called Switch Ability Mode) was kept for Operator's that have unique abilities with different modes (Ex. Zofia, Capitao).

Game Health

Player Privacy

• New Privacy tab in the Options menu.
• Prevent Queue Sniping options moved to this new section.
• Options are: Hidden Matchmaking Delay and Hide Region and Latency.

Map Rotations

• Added Outback map and removed Border map from the Newcomer playlist.
• Added Outback map to Ranked/Unranked.
• Added Playlist Presets when creating a Custom game.

Y6S4 Patch Size

Below you will find the download sizes for each platform:

• Ubisoft Connect: 5.4 GB
• Steam: 4.8 GB
• Xbox One: 4.1 GB
• Xbox Series X: 4.3 GB
• PS4: 4.4 GB
• PS5: 4.1 GB

Bug Fixes

Gameplay

• Fixed – Total ammo count is incorrect on some weapons.
• Fixed – Movement speed while using ADS upside down is faster than right side up during Rappel.
• Fixed – Changing sensitivity mid-game removes the ability to look in any direction while ADS.
• Fixed – Assist is not counted for the player that injures an opponent if a teammate puts the opponent in DBNO and then eliminates them.
• Fixed – Barbed wire can be destroyed by allies when friendly fire is off.
• Fixed – Muffled sound on some weapons.
• Fixed – Some device recharging cooldowns don't get paused while in DSEG.

Level Design

• Fixed – Multiple issues with planting or picking up the defuser in specific areas on various maps.
• Fixed – Collison, asset, and texture issues on various maps.
• Fixed – Multiple LOD issues on various maps.
• Fixed – Attacker can instantly teleport down from the roof by dropping to the lower ledge and entering Rappel on Bank map.

Operators

• Fixed – Mute's Signal Disruptor area of effect is visible in Support Mode for Attackers and Defenders.
• Fixed – Ash's R4-C assault rifle total ammo count is incorrect.
• Fixed – Pulse's Cardiac Sensor does not appear on screen after a player joins a match in progress.
• Fixed – Lesion's Gu mine maximum limit is displayed as 99.
• Fixed – Zero's smart ping is misplaced and offset when the piercing camera is placed on the ceiling.
• Fixed – Ela's deployed Grzmot Mines appear in their undeployed state for a player that joins a match in progress.
• Fixed – Valkyrie's Black Eye camera can't be picked up if its thrown under tight spaces.
• Fixed – Goyo's Volcán Shield canister shells remain present after being destroyed for a player that joins a match in progress.
• Fixed – Thunderbird can peek behind cover without opponents seeing her when she deploys a Kona Station.
• Fixed – Ping marker doesn't appear when IQ aims at the edge of asset if it's behind an obstacle.
• Fixed – Various animation issues.

User Experience

• Fixed – Various UI issues.
• Fixed – Various localization issues.
• Fixed – Various customization issues.
• Fixed – Various VFX and audio issues.
• Fixed – Custom Playlists present some inconsistencies between cross-platform for PC and Stadia.
• Fixed – Saved Customization can be reset after a patch.

External Links

• 6.4.0 Patch: Operation High Calibre

Additional Content

News

Rainbow Six Siege – High Calibre Operator and Map Guide

High Calibre is introducing a deadly new Operator and a powerful new weapon for the fourth season of Year 6 of Rainbow Six Siege. Thorn joins the Defenders, hailing from Ireland and packing a destructive new SMG along with her Razorbloom Shells – sticky, proximity-triggered devices which she can hide around the map in devious locations. As usual, Thorn will be available at the launch of the season through the premium track of the High Calibre Battle Pass, and will be available to unlock two weeks after launch with Renown or R6 Credits.

High Calibre will also come with a suite of free updates, including a complete overhaul for the HUD, giving players a fresh way to gather information at a glance and laying the groundwork for developments to come. There is also a full rework for the Outback map, balancing changes, player protection updates, and a buff for Finka – she can now use her Adrenal Boost charges to get herself up from a downed-but-not-out state.

Thorn and her Razorbloom Shells
Thorn’s gadget is called the Razorbloom Shell, a lovely name for a deadly device. Thorn can throw these grenade-sized devices and they’ll stick basically anywhere. After the fuse is set, the Razorbloom lies in wait for an Attacker to wander into its proximity. When one comes close enough, the timer starts ticking and, shortly after, the device unleashes a spray of high-velocity projectiles that will absolutely take you down if you’re too close. It is possible to survive a Razorbloom encounter if you are on the outskirts of the radius or manage to escape it in time, but what makes it truly deadly is savvy Defenders.

Firstly, as an Attacker, hearing a fuse timer activate is alarming; you’re likely to get distracted, and Thorn is likely to be nearby to take advantage of that. Secondly, it’s a lot harder to sprint out of a Razorbloom’s deadly radius when there is barbed wire at your feet, or one of Lesion’s Gu mines in your ankle, or Melusi’s Banshee ringing in your ears. Thorn’s Razorbloom Shells can make these gadgets much more effective. Thirdly, Clash. This shield-wielding specialist can position herself in areas where Razorbloom Shells are deployed, and then use her Charged Field Generator to slow down Attackers at just the right time.

There are a number of ways that Attackers can mitigate their exposure to Thorn’s gadget. Razorblooms can be destroyed by bullets or lasers or explosions, or disabled by EMP. Their fuse timer does give you a window for a quick-reflex shot providing a) you can find it and shoot it in time and b) you don’t get shot while looking for it. If you prefer to play it more safely, you can scout for Shells with Zero or IQ, or go hunting with a Twitch drone. Razorbloom Shells can force the Attackers to burn time and betray their position, and if Attackers choose to rush in without first sacrificing some time or intel, well, Thorn will be more than happy to greet them with her M870 shotgun or her UZK50Gi submachine gun.

A New Weapon
The UZK50Gi submachine gun is entirely new, a custom weapon created by the Siege team. It may be an SMG, but the UZK50Gi is chambered with 50-caliber rounds to give Thorn plenty of destructive power, allowing her to rip through walls and floors to gain an advantage. Complement it with her sidearm, the 1911 TACOPS pistol or C-75 Auto machine pistol, and pair her Razorbloom Shells with Barbed Wire or a Deployable Shield. Thorn is coming, so watch your step.

Outback Map Rework
There is a full rework of Outback coming with the High Calibre season, and almost every area has been optimized for cleaner navigation and better flow. The garage size has been reduced, and more cover and windows have been added to make it more viable for Defenders. Upstairs, there’s a new exterior breakable wall close to the Party Room & Office bomb site, while the restaurant area downstairs has been split beneath the shark to break up some big sight lines. On your way over to the motel, you’ll notice that the outdoor Terrace has been enclosed, now accessible through an exterior double door, and the motel rooms and bathroom have been simplified to make for clearer, more intense engagements. There are plenty more changes to adapt to, so be sure to check out the Discovery playlist and learn the ropes.

Chris Watters, Ubisoft (Ubisoft News)