Ubisoft has just given us a complete rundown of Rainbow Six Siege Season 3, and it’s set to be another packed update. Kicking off on September 1, the new season introduces another defensive operator, Noor, alongside changes for Kali, Dokkaebi, Lion, Echo, and Kapkan. It will also bring the introduction of the 3v3 arcade mode, refinements to Siege’s ‘ranked 3.0’ system, a Villa overhaul, more modernized maps, and a drone racing event called Wasteland Circuit. Let’s take a closer look at everything that’s on the way.
Creative Director Joshua Mills took to the stage during the ongoing EWC grand final to lift the lid on Rainbow Six Siege Year 11 Season 3. Its new addition to the roster is Egyptian operator Noor, a defender who is specifically designed to counter shield operators and disrupt attacker momentum. His unique ability is the Horus Lance, which can deploy five projectiles that pierce through shields or other destructibles before sending out a jet of flame on both sides if possible. It also works through floors and ceilings, allowing you to catch your foes off guard from all angles.
Among the other operators being changed, Kali sees her CSRX scopes dropped from 5x and 12x down to 3.5x and 8x, and the weapon will benefit from both reduced time between shots and an increase to its total ammo. You can also use her V-Lance while continuing to aim down sight. Following her rework, Dokkaebi’s EMP Grenades are being swapped for Breach Charges. Her Jegeo payload hack is now interruptible by Mute jammers, and her tablet must remain active throughout the full upload, allowing Solis to track it.
Elsewhere, Lion’s EE-One-D is being buffed, giving defenders less warning time that they’re being watched. Also on the up are Echo’s Yokai drone, which recharges its Sonic Burst faster, and Kapkan’s Entry Denial Devices, which deal more damage than last season. There will also be notable balancing for the AR-15.50, MK14 EBR, and SMG-12, so be sure to put all three through their paces on the firing range to make sure you’re still comfortable with them.
Mills walks us through the changes being introduced to the ranked 3.0 matchmaking system. You’ll still have five placement matches, but ranking swings will be bigger. Once you’ve placed, wins will award slightly more RP (30 instead of 25). There will be a soft reset at season launch of 300 RP for most players, while top Champions will be put in Emerald 3. Emerald players can no longer drag squads with Platinum or Gold players into Champion lobbies, and there’s the introduction of the new Legend division.
The Legend division will kick off midway through Season 3. This is a public leaderboard showing the very best of the best. It’s entirely solo queue, and you’ll need to be Champion in this season to take part, along with a history of reaching at least Platinum rank in Season Two. The Legend league will be the first to use Ubisoft’s new Rainbow Six Shield Guard secure platform, which employs both Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 to maximize its anti-cheat potential.
Wasteland Circuit is a new drone racing mode that will be running from Wednesday September 23 until Tuesday October 13, with a range of rewards up for grabs. Associate Game Director Mathieu Lacombe describes the three maps we’ll be competing on: “The first one is all fast and furious, the second one is close and personal with gadgets, and the third one is a beautiful display of the map while we test your skills.”
Also arriving in Season 3 is the 3v3 arcade mode, following the success of 1v1. Live Content Game Director Christopher Budgen breaks this one down: “It’s still going to be fast-paced – it’s an arcade after all – but each person on the team actually holds more weight.” It uses attrition settings, meaning that winning a round will lock out all three of the operators your side was using for the rest of the match. It’s “the perfect blend in between 5v5 and 1v1,” and will be availble between Tuesday September 8 and Tuesday September 22.
“Over the past few years, we’ve heard players asking for more frequent map updates,” Level Designer Dominick Doyon remarks. For Season 3, Ubisoft is introducing ‘targeted map updates,’ which Doyon describes as “smaller, meaningful gameplay changes that shake up a map, opening the door to new strategies to keep a map feeling fresh without touching its core identity.” The first one will be on Villa, but you can expect a targeted map update to appear in each season that does not introduce an all-new location.
To close things out, the modernized map rollout also continues into Season 3. Stadium Alpha, Stadium Bravo, and House are all being spruced up, alongside a graphical update for the tutorial zones and shooting range.
Rainbow Six Siege Y11S3: Operation Split Fire launches on Tuesday September 1. The test server will open its doors on Monday August 17.
There is one aspect previously announced for Season 3 that you might have noticed is missing. Operator Mastery is being moved to Season 4 “to make sure the team has the time they need to get it right, and it’s the experience we want it to be.” Mills explains. This system is designed to track your individual progression with every operator, so expect it to be rather extensive when it does arrive. In the meantime, it sounds like we’ll have plenty to play with.