Y7S1 will bring a plethora of changes to Rainbow Six Siege, including features that players have been asking about for years.
Azami and the Kiba Barrier
Azami will be the newest operator to join Team Rainbow in Demon Veil. She’s a two-speed two-armor operator equipped with the 9x19VSN or the ACS-12, the D-50, Kiba Barriers, and your choice of barbed wire or impact grenades.
The Kiba Barrier is the first real primary gadget-based counter to vertical play and off angles, and it will assuredly change the way anchors play and vertical play will be employed late in rounds.
Azami spawns with one Kiba Barrier, which can be thrown at just about anything to create a medium-size bulletproof circle of hardened goo. Similar to Lesion and Wamai’s gadgets, the Kiba Barriers recharge over time, with a total of five that can be employed. They can adhere to any surface to block sneaky off-angles, vertical play, or even somewhat plug a breached hard wall.
New map, but not immediately
One of the most oft-requested features is a brand new map — and during this upcoming season, that request will be granted.
The name will be Emerald Plains, and it’s modeled after a resort on a Scottish golf course. Not much is known about how the map will play since it was not available for exploration in the preview build that press played.
However, the excitement of a fully-new map coming is a welcome feeling for Rainbow Six Siege fans. It’s been three years since the last completely new map was added to the pool.
Goodbye, Goyo shields
The Goyo rework will be live in Y7S1. The explosive canisters and the shields have been separated — you’ll likely be able to place one on a shield, but they’re no longer tied to each other. Think of placing the new Goyo incendiary canisters like Melusi’s Banshees.
For professional play, this is a welcome change. The less shields, the better.
Long have we awaited, TDM mode activated
The Deathmatch warm-up mode is finally here, and will launch with the launch of Y7S1. Matches will go to five minutes or 75 kills with no restrictions on the number of operators per side — grab whoever you want and jump in.
Only Villa, Favela, and Theme Park will be available as playable maps at launch. No shield operators will be playable.
Attacker repick is here
Attacker repick will finally make its way into the game in Y7S1.
The controversial mode is the future of Rainbow Six Siege. In an effort to make the prep phase as influential for attackers as it is for defenders, Ubisoft has granted the attackers the ability to change their operators, weapons, and gadgetry in the prep phase as they scout out the defenders’ utility.
Time will tell whether this feature will be limited to professional play, or whether it will be healthy for the game overall. One thing is clear: this is a change aimed at decreasing the amount of dead time for players and viewers, and will impact many elements of the game at a competitive leve.
Now can we do away with Sixth Pick forever?
Best of the rest
- Match replay will come to consoles.
- All weapons will receive all 1X sights.
- Nomad gets an elite skin.
- The test server for the new season will be live on the 21st.