Ubisoft unveils new Italian operators for Siege’s Operation Para Bellum

Rainbow Six Siege is just about wrapping up with the first season of its third year, ushering in Operation Para Bellum and with it the two new Italian operators. Balancing out the two attackers introduced this season, Alibi and Maestro are both defenders that focus on gathering intelligence.

As we heard previously, Alibi uses “deceptive decoys to fool the attacking team” using her Prisma gadget. She gets three Prismas, which project a holographic replica of Alibi herself standing still, gun aimed straight. Bullets that pass through the hologram provide a live ping, similar to that of Jackal’s tracking ability, so it’s important to choose when to throw Prismas as well as where.

Throwing one of Alibi's Prismas outside will result in it being detected for up to 10 seconds, allowing for interesting run-out opportunities. Her gadget can be countered by Twitch, which destroys them with one zap, Thatcher which temporarily disables it and Glaz, whose sight will not be fooled by the hologram's lack of heat signature.

Unlike Ailibi, who provides false intelligence to the enemy team, Maestro gathers very real information for his allies using his Evil Eye cameras. His two bulletproof cameras act as a turret that shoots laser blasts, while having the ability to see through smoke.

To shoot the lasers, however, the Evil Eye must open is bulletproof shutters. Given that the shots do just five damage per shot, this is likely better used against gadgets such as a Thermite charge, Hibana’s pellets or a general breach charge.

Thatcher is a counter to Maestro’s Evil Eye, temporarily disabling it similar to Echo’s Yokai drone, while a single bullet can destroy it if fired when the shutters are open. Shooting the laser in quick succession will also cause the device to overheat and enter a cooldown period.

While Maestro’s gadget is an interesting addition, it’s his ALDA 5.52 LMG that is sure to shake the defender meta up with an 80-round belt that’s even compatible with an ACOG sight. Both Maestro and Alibi can make use of the ACS12, an automatic shotgun with a 30-round drum magazine and the Bailiff 410 secondary shotgun revolver, that carries 5 rounds. Both are impeccable at destruction for rotation and peek holes.

Nothing was given away during the Pro League reveals, but it seems that director of marketing Alex Remy has also teased that a new operator designed around “great abilities in breaching” might be making its way to the game in later seasons. While not confirmed if this meant hard breaching à la Thermite and Hibana or soft breaching like Sledge and Buck, Remy does feel that attackers are “missing an extra option or two.”

Operation Para Bellum will be available on the Technical Test Servers starting May 22nd, with it reaching the live servers in June.

KitGuru Says: For now, players will have to make do with the new defender meta, which hopefully won’t be as unbalanced as Operation Blood Orchid’s Ela or this seasons Lion. Personally, I’m looking forward to the new map and map buff more than the operators themselves. Are you excited for Operation Para Bellum?

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