Ubisoft announces 5 big changes to Rainbow Six Siege

Ubisoft has managed to breathe new life into Rainbow Six Siege over its two year lifespan, offering sizable quarterly updates to keep its players interested. Its Year 3 updates are intended to be its biggest yet, however, as the publisher has announced five major changes coming to the multiplayer shooter.

Pick and Ban

Perhaps the biggest change coming to Siege is the “Pick and Ban” system, a brand new player-versus-player game mode that introduces banning phases akin to other competitive games, albeit with a twist.

Each team will be given the ability to ban two operators per match, one defender and one attacker. The total of four selections can be seen by both teams before the preparation phase, giving each team the option to change their roster based on the information. This is exciting, but also a double-edged sword as any banned operator will be out for the count for both teams, for the remainder of the match.

Initially, Ubisoft will introduce this in Custom only, with plans to eventually bring it to both Casual and Ranked rotations later down the line. This is to give the mode sufficient testing, which we all know the publisher enjoys doing, considering Ranked is still in beta two years later.

Attachments

Starting March 6th, attachments will be free for everyone on all operators, no matter what version of Siege that players own. Previously optics, grips and barrel attachments cost in-game currency known as renown. Doing away with this allows Siege to become a lot more accessible from the get go, letting players find their comfort zones rather than sacrificing buying attachments in order to save for new operators.

Map Buffs

Siege will see its existing maps receiving what Ubisoft has dubbed “map buffs.” These are significant reworks of existing maps that can significantly change the dynamic in which they are played.

The first recipient of this is Club House, which will now connect Bedroom and Cash Room with a brand new room of its own, changing the roof play of attackers and allow for new flanking opportunities on defense. Pool and Bar will also see significant renovations, with the pool table now enclosed in its own room rather than being open plan.

These changes don't kick in until the second seasons of Year 3, however Ubisoft has confirmed that these types of changes will come every update thereafter.

– New Maps and Operators.
– Pick and Ban System.
– Hereford Base Map rework.
– Map buffs starting with Clubhouse.
– A new and improved Pro League format.

All this and MUCH more will be coming during Year 3. For now, let's take a look at the new Hereford Base ? pic.twitter.com/NnPZKvQvSD

— Rainbow Six Siege (@Rainbow6Game) February 18, 2018

Map Rework: Hereford Base

If you think this is major, then you'll be shocked at what is happening to Hereford Base. Promptly removed from the Ranked map rotation, Hereford Base has been confirmed to be subject to Year 3 Season 3's major overahul and subsequent reintroduction into competitive play.

Currently, there is only a single image to work with, leaving us with a lot of mystery as to what to expect. It's older design is interesting, however, emphasised by the WWII Spitfire planes at spawn, but it is the interior that will truly change how Hereford Base is played.

Starter Edition Changes

While not particularly the changes I'd initially hoped for, owners of Siege's Starter Edition will now be able to unlock 6 operators right away, rather than the previous 4.

This is to quell the annoyance of having to grind a ridiculous amount of in-game currency to unlock subsequent operators, however a more sufficient change would have been giving Starter Edition players the opportunity to upgrade to the Standard Edition for a fee, something which still isn't possible.

KitGuru Says: Initially, I was underwhelmed by Ubisoft dropping a new map in favour of a 4-week event with Outbreak but after seeing all it is doing to keep existing players engaged, I can't complain. Expect a lot more balancing coming in the future, as well as big shake ups to strategy and coordination. How do you feel about the changes?

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