Rainbow Six Siege Y6S2 Operator balancing changes detailed

Operation North Star isn't too far away now and Ubisoft has shared the upcoming Operator balancing changes that they will be implementing in the Rainbow Six Siege Y6S2 update that's on the way.

Here's everything you need to know ahead of Thunderbird's apperance in Operation North Star.

Operator Balancing Changes

Ash - Nerf

On the whole, Ash has recieved a nerf that will limit her damage output and should help to balance Attackers with an Ashe-focused strategy.

• Reduced Breaching Rounds to 2 (from 3)
• Modified R4-C recoil, harder to control:
• Increased vertical kick
  • The horizontal spread will be more constant and stronger to the right
  • Long burst recoil will start on the 8th bullet (previously the 12th)
• Breaching Rounds are now immune to electricity

Finka - Alterations

The update to Finka is more just an alteration of how her Operator Ability works in relation to the other healers in Siege's roster. The additional health added with Finka's Adrenal Surge is no longer timer-based.

• Finka's ability will fill up teammates' base health. The exceeding boost health will be allocated as overheal

Nokk ( Test Servers Only ) - Buff

These changes were talked about in the Y6S1 Designer's Notes and now it looks like they're going to finally be added to the Test Servers. After some more tweaking, we could finally see Nokk's buff added in Y6S3 or Y6S4.

• When HEL Presence Reduction is active:
  • Proximity-based gadgets are not triggered
    • Gadgets affected: Ela's Grzmot Mine, Melusi’s Banshee, Proximity Alarm, and Metal Detectors
  • Laser-based gadgets are triggered
  • Sounds made by Nøkk are no longer muffled
  • Glitch effect cancels proximity immunity, resulting in the activation of any gadget in range

Melusi - Alterations

Bulletproof gadgets are a bit of a pain and Ubisoft know that. Going forwards, her gadgets should be more balanced. To balance their additional vulnerability, they now have a better detection range.

• Banshees are now deployed closed and will open when triggered, revealing a Banshee Core
• Banshee Cores are vulnerable to bullets and melee attacks
• The device now also detects enemies' feet (previously detected head and hip)

Vigil - Nerf

To balance the changes being made to the SMG-12, Vigil's Primary Weapon is being nerfed. It's a little unfair, perhaps, but Ubisoft is trying to avoid Vigil becoming overly stacked.

• Modified K1A recoil, harder to control:
  • Mild increase to vertical kick
  • The horizontal spread will be more constant and stronger to the right
  • Long burst recoil will start on the 6th bullet (previously the 12th)

Zero - Alterations

Zero's drones are being brought in line with Twitch's drones to help further create a universal drone experience in-game. They now have a longer cooldown, but should offer more utility in-game.

• Added same resource management system as Twitch's drone to Argus Camera
  • Cooldown: 15s
  • Initial/Maximum shots: 1

Operation North Star Release Date

The next seasonal update for Rainbow Six Siege isn't too far away now and it's actually live on the Test Servers right now!

If you don't fancy that, though, the full release of Operation North Star is slated for June 14th. This is just two days after Ubisoft's UbiForward at E3 2021!

We know that Thunderbird is being added as a new Defender Operator, but what else is on the way? Favela is the next map to undergo an overhaul and there will be a new Battle Pass to grind through.

We'll make sure we update this with more details when they become available.