GAME BALANCING

Operators Balancing IQ’s gadget now has enhanced visual feedback

We have changed the way IQ’s device displays the environment and electronic devices. You can now see through the screen, and there will now be an outline of the detected devices. The effective detection distance is now 20 meters.

• Tachanka’s LMG is now easier to place and easier to use

We have modified the placement zone so it is easier to deploy Tachanka’s Mounted LMG in tighter spaces, and while closer to walls or other objects. You will also be able to interact with the Mounted LMG much quicker than before (faster entry and exit time). This is a first step for Tachanka tweaks as we will continue to monitor and improve him.

• Montagne’s shield adds side protection

We are introducing added protection to Montagne’s shield to cover his sides. We believe this will make him a more interesting option, by pushing even further his defensive capabilities. This will allow him to enter rooms more safely and provide even more cover to his teammates.

• Frost no longer has a Nitro Cell

Building on the tweaks to Frost’s Super 90 shotgun introduced with Patch 2.3, we have decided to replace her Nitro Cell with Barbed Wire. We saw that the reduction in range to the shotgun did not really affect her selection rate nor her win rate. Since she has a very good and useful unique gadget, we believe that this change will fit her role as a trapper better.

• Buck gets grenades & reduced recoil, but his shotgun loses range

We are removing Buck’s Breach Charges due to the increase of Buck’s shotgun destruction radius. Instead, we are giving him frag grenades which we think will make him a more aggressive offensive Operator. We are reducing the horizontal variation on the recoil for one of his primary weapons, the C8 rifle. That means that when you hold fully automatic fire, the gun will move a little less in the left/right direction. We have slightly reduced underslung shotgun’s effective range by 2 meters, so it fits more as a tool than a clear-cut offensive weapon.

• Thatcher’s EMP grenade gets a range reduction

We’ve reduced his unique gadget’s effective range from 7m to 5.2m. The intention is to keep him from clearing a whole room of gadgets, from the top, bottom, or even sides. We want to encourage players into thinking where the best spot is to throw the EMP. Additionally, Thatcher’s EMP now disables enemies’ sights completely for 10 seconds.

• Sledge swaps Breach Charges for Stun Grenades

We have replaced his Breach Charges for Stun Grenades making his loadout options more versatile. We believe this change is for the best as Sledge has the equivalent of a better, reusable Breach Charge with him. He is also statistically almost never played with Breach Charges, which makes sense.

• Thermite swaps Frag Grenades for Stun Grenades

We are swapping Thermite’s Frag Grenades for Stun Grenades. There are two reasons behind this change. The first reason is that Thermite has a very important unique gadget, making him one of the most pivotal Operators in an attacking team. The second reason is to limit the number of concurrent Operators that can bring Frag Grenades on the field. To us, two Operators with frag grenades is more than enough for an attacking team, and more than two would make it a lot harder for the Defenders to protect their objective. This will make Thermite slightly less offensive, while giving him more utility.

• The FBI SWAT Recruit Shield loadout will now have heavy armor

The FBI SWAT recruit equipped with a shield is now bearing heavy armor, making him a 3 armor and 1 movement speed instead of 2 armor and 2 speed. We made that change for shield-wielding Operators to be consistent in speed. We saw what kind of aggression the Recruit Shield could bring and a skilled player taking full advantage of his loadout was too strong. This change should help making him on par with other shield-wielding Operators and effectively allow the newer Rainbow Six Siege players to get accustomed to the movement speed that shield-wielders have.

Gadget and Attachment Balancing Introducing gadget placement cancellation controls

We have introduced a new flow for placing gadgets. Instead of holding a key or button and letting it go when you are ready to place the gadget, you can now press it to take out the gadget in your hands and then hold it to place the gadget. You can also cancel the placement at any time. This feature will need to be turned ON in the Options menu.

• Red Dot & Reflex Triangle sights now more precise

The green triangle in the Reflex Sight and the red dot in the Red Dot sight are now much smaller for better precision.

• Flash Hider & Compensator adjustments

We have reworked how the Flash Hider and Compensator function. We want them to have more significant roles, like the Silencer. The intention is to have each attachment reward a specific weapon wielding style.

Flash Hider Besides still partially hiding the flash, we have opted to reduce the time it takes for the weapon to center back and reduce the first shot recoil. This attachment will now reward single-shot and short burst firing. Compensator We have added a cap on the maximum recoil this attachment allows for, making fully-automatic fire more potent. Stun Grenades now detonate faster after contact

• Stun Grenades now detonate 1 second after making contact with a surface instead of having a 3 second fuse. We wanted to make that change because we think it will add a surprise effect and will make them more effective.

Weapon Balancing

• Pump-Action Shotgun rebalance

We have improved the pump-action shotguns by giving them more effective range for their maximum damage. This means that their full damage will begin falling off at a further distance than previously.

• SDASS Compact

53 damage up to 3 meters -> 53 damage up to 5 meters

• 591A1

48 damage up to 5 meters -> 48 damage up to 6.5 meters

• M870

60 damage up to 2 meters -> 55 damage up to 3.5 meters

This change was primarily due to feedback we received from the community and from workshops with Pro League players. Please note that the line is very fine between underpowered and overpowered for shotguns. We will be monitoring the change to these weapons closely.

PLAYER COMFORT

Controller aiming deadzone fix There was an issue with deadzones on controllers that has been fixed, which will result in smoother and more accurate aiming while using a controller.

No more penalty points for destroying your own gadget You won’t be penalized for destroying your own gadgets anymore. For example, if you’re Rook and someone forgets to pick up an armored plate, you can now destroy the bag so the enemy can’t take advantage of it, without losing points.

Maintenance System Messaging There is now an improved maintenance messaging system that will provide a prompt before the maintenance occurs. Additionally players will not be able to attempt to join a game during a maintenance.

Edit playlist – Custom Games You can now edit custom game playlists.

Skip boot sequence You can now skip the boot sequence by pressing any button.

Options, Activity, and Squad menus Now in-game menus, like the Options menu, are black.

PLAYLIST CHANGES

Seasonal Ranked Beta & Ranked Reward System We are introducing Seasonal Ranked Beta and an exclusive reward system for the end of every season. Starting at the end of Season 1, every player who earns a rank will receive a reward based on their rank tier when the season has finished. We will also be doing a complete reset of ranks for Season 2, with a soft reset of ranks for future seasons. This means that everyone will be going into Ranked Season 2 from the same starting level, while future seasons will be a compression of player ranks. One of the reasons why we are doing a complete reset is primarily due to the bug that was counting players’ matches as an abandon when exiting the match before the After Action Report animation had completed. This bug was fixed in Patch 2.3, but the results of this means that there are a lot of players still stuck at a lower rank than they should be. So doing a complete wipe of ranks means these players are not penalized for Season 2. Until further notice, Ranked is considered a continuous work in progress as we will monitor data from matchmaking closely. Throughout the Season, we will continue to introduce improvements based on this data and feedback from the community. Our intention is for the community feedback to continue to shape Ranked, as you have helped us shape many aspects of Rainbow Six Siege. We encourage you all to play Ranked Season 2 and provide us with feedback on your experience as this will be an evolving feature.

Ranked Matchmaking now matches you with players closer to your skill We've tweaked the way rank and MatchMaking Rating (“MMR”) calculations work. The uncertainty level of your skill (the sigma value) now has a much stronger importance when matching you against other players. This has two consequences:

New players (e.g. placement matches, where the system doesn't know much about you yet) have a very high uncertainty value. In Season 1, winning your first one or two placement matches would often result in you getting matched against high Gold or low Platinum ranked players for your following match. Season 2 matchmaking now errs on the side of matching high-uncertainty players with lower-skilled players, which should make for a match with closer actual skill rating. Rank variation in matches should feel smoother in your first ~20-30 matches of the season, instead of the fluctuations we used to see in Season 1. In addition, we've reworked the UI to show you your MMR and where you stand in your current rank bracket. This should make it easier for you to see what you need to do to rank up or to avoid ranking down.

10 Ranked placement matches instead of 5 We have changed the number of Ranked placement games you need to complete before being ranked. This is to ensure that you are indeed placed in the right skill bracket as 5 games was not giving the matchmaking system enough certainty about your skill.

Ranked Display Changes All players’ ranks are now displayed in the After Action Report, and we’ve made it clearer when you change ranks.

Ranked Abandon now has a Renown penalty When you abandon a Ranked match, you will now receive a 50% Renown penalty for a fixed time for Ranked matches.

GAMEPLAY OPTIMIZATION

POSITIONING AND PERSPECTIVE REPRESENTATION IMPROVEMENTS

Reduced exposure on Operator’s head positioning while aiming

We have grouped the camera and head placement tighter to expose the player’s head less. This should mitigate the issue where you are looking down from a window and someone can see your head but you can’t see theirs.

Animations when leaning are now mirrored on both sides

Since all Operators are right-handed, leaning on the left or right gave a different head exposure. We have mirrored the animations in a way that exposes the head as much on the right than on the left.

VISUAL & AUDIO IMPROVEMENTS

Indoors vs. outdoors lighting differences are now less extreme

We have improved visibility when looking inside and outside, from the opposite perspective. This is especially noticeable for extreme cases where it was too bright or too dark.

Graphics update

We have improved many aspects of the graphics. One of them being the HDR rendering, so that the game will be more contrasted and saturated. Additionally some of the lighting on menus have been tweaked, and the lighting on the weapons has been improved.

Added gun occlusion to make sound more realistice

In addition to sound propagation, we have added gun occlusion sounds to represent a more realistic sound profile. This means that you will have additional positional information when someone is firing behind a wall near you, or above/below you.

Killcam black & white effect reduced

The black and white effect for the killcam is now greatly reduced.

Near death visual effect reduced

The near death effect now desaturates the colors a lot less.

Death animation polish

The death animation has been polished to make it more organic.

Larger weapon preview size

The preview size of a weapon is now bigger in the menus.

DESTRUCTION IMPROVEMENTS

Car windows are now breakable

You can now shoot through previously unbreakable car windows.

OTHER IMPROVEMENTS

ANTICHEAT AND TOXIC BEHAVIOR

Code of Conduct Link

We are introducing a Code of Conduct that clearly states how we expect players to engage with one another in and outside of the game. We have developed a discipline matrix that coincides with the Code of Conduct and will be using this as a procedural guideline to take disciplinary action against players we identify as exhibiting toxic behavior, including cheaters. Click here to read the full Code of Conduct.

Ban escalation is now harsher for cheaters

With Season 2, we are implementing a new escalation plan for cheating.

First Offense: Temporary ban for a maximum of 15 days. Second Offense: Permanent ban. Cheating is an on-going battle, but we want to be clear: cheaters are not welcome in our game, and we are always advancing towards meaningful solutions.

Bans for toxic behavior

We are introducing temporary and permanent bans for offensive behavior, such as racist comments. In these cases, we will apply the following discipline actions:

First offense: Warning Second offense: 2 day temporary suspension Third offense: 7 day temporary suspension Multiple offenses: permanent ban Cheating in the Pro League and ESL

We are working closely with ESL to investigate any team or player that is accused of cheating while in the Pro League. Additionally, any player identified as cheating in the Pro League will be banned in-game.

PVE IMPROVEMENTS

Reduced friendly fire in PVE

Friendly fire damage percentage in PVE has been reduced from 0.25 to 0.1 in Casual, and 0.5 to 0.25 in Normal.

More appropriate AI balance for Consoles vs. PC.

We have rebalanced the PVE on Consoles to match win rates of PC. Previously, we observed that PC players have a higher win ratio at all levels of difficulty. This is mostly due to the fact that the mouse and keyboard are a more precise input device than controllers, making it more difficult for Console players to achieve the same results as their PC counterparts.

In-game shop

• CHARMS

Charms are now available for weapons. Whether you want to equip your favorite operator, a six medal or a unicorn, you can now equip your weapon with a lucky charm before going into battle.

• HEADGEAR

Swap out your operator’s headgear from basic camo upgrades to high quality traditional military and fantasy gear. Unlock new gear using Renown, R6 Credits, or a combination of the two.

• DUST LINE WEAPON SKINS

With Operation Dust Line, get the USA desert Camo, the Dust Line signature skin, the Navy SEAL skin and more.

More items from the in-game shop are now available for purchase by R6 Credits or Renown. Additionally, the overall cost of weapon skins have been reduced. In Season 2, we have reworked the weapon skin tiers to only include three tiers instead of five. We have also added a Seasonal Tier for the signature skin of Season 2.

NEW FEATURES

• WINNING TEAM SHOWCASE

We are also introducing a new winner’s showcase to the end of multiplayer matches. After the final round, the winning team’s operators are displayed in all their glory to both the winning and losing teams, and an MVP for the match is crowned, for ultimate bragging rights.

• LOADOUT CUSTOMIZATION BETWEEN ROUNDS

You can now customize your operator’s loadout between each round. Simply select your operator and go to their loadout to select weapon, attachments, charms and headgear.

2 NEW OPERATORS

With Operation Dust Line, Team Rainbow recruits two of the Navy SEAL’s finest: Blackbeard and Valkyrie.

The new Operators are immediately unlocked for Season Pass owners, with a 7 day exclusive access. All players can then unlock the Operators with Renown or R6 Credits after the exclusive period ends.

NEW MAP

• BORDER

Team Rainbow has been called in to assist the local law enforcement and regain control of the border. Two Navy SEALs stationed in the area have been enlisted to provide their expertise of the region to Team Rainbow. A mix of old and new buildings with open air pathways make this the most destructible and open planned map to date.

The new Border map is available for free for all players.

MAIN BUG FIXES

GAMEPLAY

Fixed – FBI Operator sights losses accuracy after aiming with secondary weapon.

Fixed – User throwing a Nitro Cell may see it go through a hole but then stick to another obstacle. The Nitro Cell collisions are now a lot smoother and will not stick to walls that it does not collide with when thrown.

Fixed – Leaning while holding a gadget is not correctly replicated during the Death Replay.

Fixed – Guns can be picked up for ammo if they fall directly onto a player.

Fixed – A player would receive extra ammo if a teammate holding the very same weapon would die next to him.

Fixed – A graphical glitch can be seen on the bombs after the Defuser was planted on night time maps.

Fixed – [PVE] AI looking in non-strategic direction after a breach has occurred.

Fixed – Glaz’s Flip Sights were slightly misaligned.

Fixed – A player can install Jager’s gadget on a deployable shield.

Fixed – A player wearing Rook’s armor plate would be put into downed state instead of dying when hit by a melee attack.

Fixed – Blitz’s head placement was misaligned with his shield.

Fixed – Players in prone position behind a reinforced wall can be killed by frag grenades detonating on the other side.

Fixed – Player can have ADS accuracy before being fully in ADS.

Fixed – Stun Grenades' fuse not shortened to 1 second after colliding with obstacles.

Fixed – Possible to knife opponents through trapdoors.

Fixed – A player that goes down while vaulting can still shoot until the vault animation is over.

Fixed – Unique gadget count for Jager does not update correctly if installing a unique gadget on a shield in teammate’s hands (not deployed).

Fixed – Jager's unique gadget is floating once installed on a shield in hands of another defender.

Fixed – Operators that equip Rook's armor plate ( ceramic plate ) are put into DBNO after receiving melee damage.

Fixed – Player cannot melee the bottom part of barricades when there is an electrified barbwire in front of it.

Fixed – Players killed while crouching and moving will get up and stumble forward before collapsing.

Fixed – If Castle places his deployable shield immediately after removing his reinforced barricade, players cannot vault over it.

Fixed – Player immediately dies if he rappels into a room and lands on a Welcome Mat.

Fixed – While spectating Tachanka,a broken animation can be observed.

Fixed – The Fuze operator willl be revived with more bullets on his pistols.

LEVEL DESIGN

Fixed – [Consulate] Some doorframes allow bullet penetration through unbreakable walls.

Fixed – [Yacht] The drone can fall out of the map if deployed in a certain location.

Fixed – [Hereford Base] [Exploit] Player is able to get under the map and kill enemies while rappelling at EXT Basement Entrance.

Fixed – [Kanal] A player can vault inside the truck in the Loading Dock.

Fixed – [Oregon] A player can enter a closet in the laundry room.

Fixed – [Bank] Multiple draw distance objects were not appearing correctly.

Fixed – [Yatch] A player can vault into the wall in the Globe Hallway.

Fixed – [House] A player can shoot in between reinforcements on a wall in Training Room.

Fixed – [House] Readability of the breach indicator (Breach, Unbreakable or LOS) is inconsistent and confusing near 1F Office.

MISCELLANEOUS

Fixed – [PS4] Players Met feature from the friends tab in the PlayStation dynamic menu has no functionality.

Fixed – [Xbox One] Graphical corruption can be seen on the guns if exposed to light.

Fixed – When the host of a custom match leaves, the match ended for all players.

Fixed – Players were able to determine the enemy team’s IP address.

PATCH SIZE

Patch size ~4.56GB

Thank you for being part of this with us and sharing your feedback. We hope you enjoy the new content Season One brings and are looking forward to sharing more improvements on the game with you.

The Rainbow Six Siege Development Team

Source: http://rainbow6.ubi.com/siege/en-US/updates/dustline.aspx