Counting down to Rainbow Six Siege's Y6S2 update: Operation North Star


Looking for a Rainbow Six Siege Y6S2 countdown? We've got a quick-fire list of every major change and new bit of content coming to Rainbow Six Siege's Y6S2 update: Operation North Star.

Y6S2 Release Time & Download Size

Ubisoft love giving everyone notice, right? Earlier today, a mere five hours before the update is scheduled to drop, Ubisoft announced when Y6S2 was due to be released and offered us an updated look at the platform-specific release times and download sizes. You can check them all out below:

Maintenance Times & Release Time

  • Steam
    • Maintenance Time: 09:00 EST / 12:00 PST / 17:00 BST
    • Release Time: 10:00 EST / 13:00 PST / 18:00 BST
  • Uplay
    • Maintenance Time: 09:00 EST / 12:00 PST / 17:00 BST
    • Release Time: 10:00 EST / 13:00 PST / 18:00 BST
  • Xbox Consoles
    • Maintenance Time: 10:00 EST / 13:00 PST / 18:00 BST
    • Release Time: 11:00 EST / 14:00 PST / 19:00 BST
  • PlayStation Consoles
    • Maintenance Time: 11:00 EST / 14:00 PST / 19:00 BST
    • Release Time: 12:00 EST / 15:00 PST / 20:00 BST

Full Patch Download Sizes

  • Steam ~ 4GB
  • Uplay ~ 6GB
  • Xbox One ~ 4GB
  • Xbox Series X|S ~ 5GB
  • PlayStation 4 ~ 4GB
  • PlayStation 5 ~ 4GB

New Operator - Thunderbird

Mina "Thunderbird" Sky is the newest Operator to join the Rainbow Six Siege roster and she's going to hit hard. Following Flores in Operation Crimson Heist, she is going to balance the sides as a Defender and brings another healing ability to the line-up.

You can check out her stats and loadout below:

  • Movement: 3 Speed
  • Primary Weapon: Spear.308 / SPAS-15
  • Secondary Weapon: Q-929 / BEARING-9
  • Throwable: Impact Grenade / C4
  • Gadget: 3x Kona Station
Rainbow Six Siege Y6S2 Countdown Kona Station
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THE KONA STATION - Make sure you're placing this gadget in the middle of your team, but away from the enemy

The Kona Station is a destructible AoE healing device that heals both allies and enemies. Placement of this gadget is key and it'll be sure to cause some chaos for both sides.

New Map Rework - Favela

Favela is getting a major rework in the Y6S2 update and this countdown wouldn't be complete without mentioning it. The changes have been available in the test servers for a little while now, but we have a list of all the changes for you below:

Favela is now a night-based map, with Fireworks exploding overhead to offer bursts of brighter light;

  • Most of the external destructibility has been removed from the map;
  • Meth Lab has been replaced by crypto-mining Coin Room;
  • Attackers' choke points reworked;
  • Defenders' roaming options reevaluated;
  • Internal colours toned down/muted;

Do you think these changes are a good idea? Favela was one of the more colourful Siege maps before...

Balancing Changes & More

There are a few weapons balancing changes and operator alterations worth mentioning too. The changes aren't as pronounced as they were in the Y6S1 update, so expect the future to hold quite a few more...

Vigil and Ash are getting nerfed to balance their damage output and Finka, Zero, and Melusi are going to be getting tweaked to reflect the introduction of Thunderbird.

Once again, Nokk's changes are Test Server only. Expect to see her changes implemented fully in Y6S3 in a couple of months.

Rainbow Six Siege Y6S2 Nokk
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WHEN WILL THEY DROP? - Nokk's changes are going to make her a formidable foe, but we don't know when they're coming properly

In terms of weapon balancing... The Bearing-9 and SMG-12 are going to be getting tweaked slightly. The SMG-12 is going to be changed the most but in comparison to previous updates... This isn't really too many changes.

We still don't have any finalized Patch Notes available but expect them to be made available in the countdown to the full release of the Y6S2 update. For now, though, the Designer's Notes help to reveal what we should be seeing.

For more articles like this, take a look at our Rainbow Six page.