First-person shooters like Rainbow Six Siege, Call of Duty, VALORANT, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive are all about teamwork, strategy, and headshots. It's no wonder that games focused on racking up eliminations keep track of this with something called K/D.
K/D stands for "kill-death ratio." Basically, K/D represents the amount of times a player has killed an enemy in a match versus how often they were eliminated themselves. For example, if your kills for the match were six and your deaths were four, your K/D would be 1.5.
What is a good K/D in Rainbow Six Siege?
It's difficult to pinpoint what a good K/D is in Rainbow Six Siege because each rank has a different average K/D. The general average is about 1.0 to 1.2, but K/D is often lower when you're in a higher rank since the players are more skilled and tougher to kill.
A K/D lower than 0.8 is often seen as too low. This could mean you aren't winning a lot of gunfights, which could be due to bad mechanics, bad positioning, or not enough map knowledge.
Does your K/D in Rainbow Six Siege matter?
At the same time that 0.8 is too low, having a high K/D like 1.5 is also not automatically impressive.
Someone could have a high K/D because they are in lower ranks like copper or silver. These players are obviously not as competitive as players in higher ranks, meaning it's easier to get eliminations.
Someone could also have a high K/D because they purposely chase eliminations without worrying about winning the match. This is often referred to as "empty fragging." This means the rags don't impact the round or may just be easy kills that don't lead to the team getting ahead.
While your K/D will go up, your level won't due to a lack of wins. That's why a lot of Rainbow Six Siege players won't judge each other by K/D. It's sometimes seen as a "simple stat" because the game also requires teamwork, communication, strategy, and positioning. K/D won't often reflect these skills, especially if you're in a certain role.
Does K/D matter for support players in Rainbow Six Siege?
Support players are often focused on keeping their team alive, gathering intel, or giving their teammates an opportunity to push. A lot of support players are also In-Game Leaders (IGL), who are essentially in charge of the strategy.
These players have to focus on guiding their team and leading the push, meaning they may not engage in as many gunfights. That's why support players often have lower K/D. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't sharpen up their gun skills whenever they have time.
How do you improve your K/D in Rainbow Six Siege?
Improving your K/D takes a lot of self-evaluation and consistency.
The first thing you should do is pick a sensitivity level that feels right for you and make sure you always keep your sensitivity the same since you want to develop some muscle memory.
Then you want to use an aim trainer each day to improve your aim and reaction times. You will also start to learn the maps and understand where to place your crosshair in certain situations.
You should also improve your positioning. Watch clips of your matches, checking out what led to each elimination. You will probably notice where you should have been positioned, when you should have rotated, and what angles you missed.
How do you determine skill level in Rainbow Six Siege?
A lot of players claim you can't determine another player's skill level based on their K/D. So how can you tell if other players are good at the game? A lot of players will say to pay closer attention to a player's W/L ratio instead.
What is a W/L ratio?
This is determined by a player's wins versus losses. A player that wins a lot more games than they lose will often be seen as skilled because it means they are a good teammate and have implemented successful strategies. Teamwork is a very important skill in Rainbow Six Siege and is definitely a way for players to get more respect from others.