Crystal Guard | Seasons | Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege | Ubisoft (EU / UK)
Introducing Crystal Guard, Rainbow Six Siege’s third season of Year 6! This season, we’re introducing our latest Operator, Osa, an engineering prodigy from Croatia who brings expertise to Nighthaven with her quick wits and unapologetic enthusiasm for '60s sci-fi movies.
This season is packed with a plethora of updates including changes to Operator armor and DBNO scoring as well as balancing for Twitch, IQ, Mute, and Fuze. Players also have a new way to customize Elite Uniforms. Read more in the Patch Notes below.
Dr. Harishva “Harry” Pandey
Director of Rainbow
“If one’s imagination is the only limit, there’s virtually nothing Osa can’t make.”
I’ve seen the creative process in many different forms, but watching Anja “Osa” Janković at work, I realize I had never seen just how natural innovation is for some. Sketching, calculating and tinkering with such ease, there’s no question as to why Kali chose her to lead Nighthaven R&D.
Osa
Primary Weapon
556xi
ASSAULT RIFLE
PDW9
SUBMACHINE GUN
Secondary Weapon
PMM
HANDGUN
Gadget
Claymore
Frag Grenade
Impact EMP Grenade
Dr. Elena “Mira” Álvarez
Director of R&D
“Most shields are bulky and singular in function, but the Talon-8’s adaptability makes it incredibly efficient in establishing forward positions…”
UNIQUE ABILITIES AND PLAYSTYLE
The transparent and bulletproof Talon-8 Shield can be carried by Osa or deployed on floors or window frames, giving her a protective line of sight while she formulates an attack strategy.
MAP REWORKS
Bank, Coastline, and Clubhouse have been rebuilt from the ground up to enhance balancing, environmental destruction, sound propagation, and lighting. Bank, one of Rainbow Six Siege's oldest maps, has largely remained untouched over the years. With this season's changes, all three maps are now in-line with today's technical standards, and Bank has received a full art rework. Some of the main changes to each map are outlined below.
BANK
- EXT Boulevard vehicles have been moved to new locations to prevent runout eliminations.
- Some EXT Low Roof and EXT High Roof skylights have been blocked to prevent unfair firefights.
- Line of sight into EXT Back Alley has been adjusted to prevent spawn peaks.
- EXT Terrace has been updated to prevent spawn peaks.
- Filing cabinets between 1F ATMs and 1F Lobby have been removed to prevent easy shots into the interior balcony.
- All metal bars have been removed from B Vault to increase the ease of shooting.
- A new alleyway named EXT Side Alley connects EXT Boulevard and EXT Back Alley.
- Hatch in 1F Lobby now leads to B Vault.
- Railing in 2F Skylight Stairwell is now destructible.
COASTLINE
- The line of sight into the building from EXT Rooftop has been partially blocked to prevent unfair firefights.
- Some windows in 1F Courtyard are now blocked, and all open windows can be barricaded.
- A new 1F Reception bomb site replaces the 1F Service Entrance bomb site.
- 1F Service Entrance is now located between the 1F Reception bomb site and the exterior door, preventing Defenders from planting the defuser directly at the exterior door.
- Exterior wall in 2F VIP Lounge is now breakable and players can rappel up from EXT DJ Booth.
CLUBHOUSE
- 1F Stock Room bomb site has been removed and there are now two bomb sites in 1F Bar, one behind the bar and one beside the stage.
- A doorway has been added between the bar and stage in 1F Bar.
- New props have been added to the bar area in 1F Bar.
- A path now connects EXT Kennels and EXT Graffiti Area.
ELITE CUSTOMISATION
Players are now able to equip any headgear with an Elite Uniform as long as they are both owned and belong to the same Operator.
HP REPLACES ARMOR
Operator armor has been converted to health (HP). 3-Armor Operators have 125 HP, 2-Armor Operators have 110 HP, and 1-Armor Operators have 100 HP.
PLAYER COMFORT
OPPONENT RIM LIGHT
- By default, opponents are now highlighted with a rim light, which helps prevent unfair camouflage. This Interface Preference can be turned off in the Options menu.
DBNO SCORING
- Players will now get a kill score when they down or completely eliminate an opponent. Players will receive an assist score when they eliminate an opponent who was already downed by a teammate. Note: The 'kill feed' will display the name of the last player to damage the opponent, whether or not they got a kill or assist.
- The DBNO scoring event has been removed. This prevents players from gaining unfair intel when they down an opponent who isn't in their line of sight.
BALANCING
TWITCH REWORK
- Twitch now drives a standard drone during the Preparation Phase. Her Shock Drone is equipped during the Action Phase. It now jumps and fires lasers that destroy opponent devices instead of disabling them.
IQ REWORK
- IQ's Electronics Detector is now equipped with the Ping System 2.0, allowing her to identify and ping electronic devices through walls, including those held by Operators, like the counter defuser and Vigil's ERC-7.
MUTE CHANGES
- The area of effect for Mute's Signal Disruptor is now spherical instead of cylindrical, and the device lights up when active.
FUZE CHANGES
- Fuze's Cluster Charge can now be deployed on reinforced surfaces. When triggered, the sub-grenades take additional time to pass through reinforced surfaces, whereas they instantly pass through soft surfaces.
FLASH DETECTION CHANGES
- Ying's Candela, Blitz's G52-Tactical Shield, and the Stun Grenade use a new flash detection system that calculates flash duration. It takes the environment and angle of the explosion into account as well as players' distance and orientation. This means that if an Operator is affected, they will always be flashed at 100%, but the duration will change each time, increasing the reliability of the flash effect.
OPERATORS PRICE DECREASE
Five Operators will see their prices adjusted during Crystal Guard, starting with Maverick and Clash, whose prices are set to go down to 10,000 Renown or 240 R6 Credits. Next, is Amaru and Goyo, with a lowered price of 15,000 Renown or 360 R6 Credits. Last but not least, Zero now costs 20,000 Renown or 480 R6 Credits. Make sure to add them to your personal roster!
SEASONAL WEAPON SKINS
This season features an explosion of colors in a kaleidoscopic pattern. Acquire the Holographic Bundle to become a visual masterpiece.
The weapon skin will be released at season launch and is available for purchase throughout the season. Once unlocked, it remains in your inventory indefinitely and can be applied to all available weapons.
OPERATOR BALANCING
These changes will be broken down and explained in detail in our upcoming Designer's Notes blog post.
AK-12 (Ace and Fuze)
- Increased first shot kick.
- Increased vertical recoil.
- Horizontal spread is now stronger and more constant to the right.
- Long burst recoil now starts on 10th bullet instead of the 12th.
FINKA
- Frag Grenade replaces Hard Breach Charge.
SLEDGE
- Removed SMG-11.
GLAZ
- Increased magazine capacity of OTs-03 to 15 bullets (from 10).
IANA
- Removed 2.0x scope from G63C.
- Removed 2.5x scope from ARX200.
TWITCH
- Twitch now drives a standard drone during the Preparation Phase. Her Shock Drone is equipped during the Action Phase. It now jumps and fires lasers that destroy opponent devices instead of disabling them.
- Note: The collision size of the Shock Drone has been adjusted, and as a result, it no longer fits through 6 drone vents. Level Design is working to correct this. The affected vents are located on the following maps:
- Kanal - 2F Printer Room
- Kanal - B1 Bathroom
- Oregon - 1F Shower Corridor
- Oregon - 1F Small Tower
- Border - 1F Bathroom
- Border - 1F Main Lobby
IQ
- IQ's Electronics Detector is now equipped with the Ping System 2.0, allowing her to identify and ping electronic devices through walls, including those held by Operators, like the counter defuser and Vigil's ERC-7.
MUTE
- The area of effect for Mute's Signal Disruptor is now spherical instead of cylindrical, and the device lights up when active.
- The area of effect is displayed for 2.5 seconds after deployment is complete.
- Bullet collision is more accurate as the device's antennas and handles have been added to the collision.
FUZE
- Fuze's Cluster Charge can now be deployed on reinforced surfaces.
- When triggered, the sub-grenades take additional time to pass through reinforced surfaces, whereas they instantly pass through soft surfaces.
TWEAKS & IMPROVEMENTS
GAME BALANCING
FLASH DETECTION CHANGES
- Ying's Candela, Blitz's G52-Tactical Shield, and the Stun Grenade use a new flash detection system that calculates flash duration. It takes the environment and angle of the explosion into account as well as players' distance and orientation.
- This means that if an Operator is affected, they will always be flashed at 100%, but the duration will change each time, increasing the reliability of the flash effect.
PLAYER COMFORT
POST-ACTION REPORT
- Post-Action Report has updated art representations in each tab.
The information in the Battle Pass tab and the Packs tab is more specific and clear.
DISPLAY AREA
- Players can now scale the display area of the menu and in-game HUD. These options are in the Display section of the Options menu.
WEAPON MAGAZINES
- Adjusted ammo count for primary and secondary weapons to set a consistent magazine ammo range for each weapon in a weapon type.
DAMAGE DROP-OFF
- Adjusted damage drop-off for each primary weapon type (except for shotguns with spread pellets) to have consistent, linear curves.
- Unified damage drop-off for silencers (15%) across all primary weapons (except for shotguns with spread pellets).
FRIENDLY FIRE
- To help combat toxicity, friendly fire for thrown device hits and launcher hits has been removed.
- This change does not impact the effect of the gadget. For example, throwing a frag grenade at a teammate will not deal damage, but the explosion of the frag grenade will.
RARITY ICONS AND CARDS
- Improved the recognizability of different rarity categories for items and pack cards.
MATCH REPLAY
- Added gamepad functionality.
- Added support for Team Loadout.
- Added support for Banned Operator icons.
- Improved sounds overall.
- Reduced replay file size.
SPECTATOR MODE
- Spectator mode now shows the Operators who have been banned by each team and displays the magazine ammo in the loadout info.
OPPONENT RIM LIGHT
- By default, opponents are now highlighted with a rim light, which helps prevent unfair camouflage. This Interface Preference can be turned off in the Options menu.
DBNO SCORING
- Players will now get a kill score when they down or completely eliminate an opponent. Players will receive an assist score when they eliminate an opponent who was already downed by a teammate.
- Note: The 'kill feed' will display the name of the last player to damage the opponent, whether or not they got a kill or assist.
- The DBNO scoring event has been removed. This prevents players from gaining unfair intel when they down an opponent who isn't in their line of sight.
SCREEN SHAKE REDUCTION
- Screen shakes that result from explosions are now reduced across the board and are completely removed from certain device explosions. This helps make shooting more precise and competitive.
- Screen shakes are completely removed from explosions caused by:
- Ela's GRZMOT Mines
- Zofia's KS79 Lifeline concussion grenades
- Echo's Yokai sonic bursts
- Nomad's Airjab Launcher repulsion devices
FLINCH REDUCTION
- The flinch animation that used to occur when an Operator was hit by bullet damage is now reduced. This helps make shooting more precise and competitive.
MMR ROLLBACK 3.0
- To ensure fair players keep their MMR (such as when they win against a cheater), improvements to the system address the most relevant matches and restrict the time window in a current season when rollbacks occur.
- The messages displayed by the system have been improved.
GAME HEALTH
HP REPLACES ARMOR
- Operator armor has been converted to health (HP). 3-Armor Operators have 125 HP, 2-Armor Operators have 110 HP, and 1-Armor Operators have 100 HP.
NEW SKILL DISTRIBUTION
- The team detected a trend where Ranked players who reach Platinum don't play as much to reach Diamond. For this reason, Platinum now has smaller gaps between skill ranks, and more skill ranks have been added to Diamond, so high level players can climb skill ranks faster and have a greater sense of progression.
- New Platinum gaps (old ones in parenthesis):
- Plat III – 3200 (3200)
- Plat II – 3500 (3600)
- Plat I – 3800 (4000)
- New Diamond gaps and skill ranks:
- Diamond III – 4100
- Diamond II – 4400
- Diamond I – 4700
- Please note: This is not Ranked 2.0 – that feature will require more changes and will come at a later date.
INDIVIDUAL ATTACKER SPAWN
- Players can choose whether they want to spawn with other players or spawn alone.
- This setting is now always active in all playlists, allowing players more agency over their spawn selection and overall strategy.
- Since the setting is now always active, the option to vote for a single Attacker spawn location has been removed from Custom Game settings.
MAP ROTATIONS
- Instead of a big rework, this season there will be three maps with small changes: Bank, Coastline, and Clubhouse.
- Ranked/Unranked: No rotation, since Favela was introduced to Ranked and Unranked map pools midseason during Y6S2.
- Newcomer: Coastline replaces Favela in the Newcomer map pool.
- Note: Remember, Quick Match does not have a rotation.
MAIN BUG FIXES
To learn more about the mischievous bugs we've fixed for this season, follow the link below.
BUG FIXES LISTVisit Other Social Channels
