Rainbow Six Siege Y9S4.2 Designer's Notes: Character balancing, slug shotgun nerfs, and more

With the Rainbow Six Siege Y9S4.2 Designer's Notes, the developers aim to make several changes to character loadouts and tone down the lethality of slug shotguns that have been dominating the defense. As we head into the mid-season of Operation Collision Point, some specific changes are being introduced to address the win-delta vs. presence graph again.

This round of Designer's Notes is targeted towards soft breaching characters and curbing the slug shotgun dominion, among other changes.

In this article, we shall look at all the presence vs. win delta graphs, buffs, and nerfs being introduced with the upcoming patch as outlined in the Rainbow Six Siege Y9S4.2 Designer's Notes.

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Operator changes in Rainbow Six Siege Y9S4.2 Designer's Notes

PC Attackers presence vs win delta in Rainbow Six Siege Y9S4.2 Designer's Notes (Image via Ubisoft)

Buck

• Added Claymore by removing Hard Breach Charges.

Hard Breach Charges allowed Buck too much freedom, turning him into a one-man army in many instances of vertical play. Introducing Claymores instead of Hard Breach charges aims to bring Buck in line with his primary role as a soft breacher while having to rely on team coordination to open up reinforced hatches.

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Kapkan

• Nitro Cell replaced with Barbed Wire.

Barbed Wire replacing the C4 Nitro cell intends to bring down the high level of lethality that Kapkan currently possesses. This secondary gadget will allow him to disrupt enemies' movement by prioritizing area denial instead of pure lethality.

These will be a great addition in positions where EDDs may be deployed. This deliberate positioning can direct attackers towards more predictable and dangerous pathways.

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Console Attackers presence vs. win delta Rainbow Six Siege Y9S4.2 Designer's Notes (Image via Ubisoft)

Lesion

• Maximum Gu Mines reduced from 9 to 8 and Refill time increased from 25 seconds to 30 seconds.

Currently, in Season Collision Point, Lesion can cover numerous entry sites within the first minute of the Action Phase. Therefore, this patch aims to alter the refill time while having fewer mines overall to allow Lesion players more room for strategic and intentional Gu-Mine placement.

This change will also make it easier for attackers to traverse the battlefield without the constant fear of stepping on a Gu Mine while giving Lesion more thought to put into gadget deployments.

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Oryx

• Weapon recovery time after dashing has been reduced to 0.2 seconds from 0.5.
• Weapon recovery time after dashing against a wall has been reduced to 0.3 seconds from 0.5
• Weapon recovery time after dashing against an enemy is reduced to 0.1 seconds down from 0.5

This update to several instances of weapon recovery time improves Oryx's ability to disrupt opposing strategies and pressurize attackers, making him a more viable hard counter to shields.

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PC Defenders presence vs. win delta in Rainbow Six Siege Y9S4.2 Designer's Notes (Image via Ubisoft)

Ram

• ITA12S is removed from the loadout.

Arguably one of the strongest soft breach utilities in the game, the BU-GI Auto Breacher is capable of damaging a wide array of items and surfaces while leaving Ram in a safe place. This amount of destruction capability made it hard for other soft breaches to make an impact in a match.

This change in Rainbow Six Siege Y9S4.2 Designer's Notes will bring Ram more in line with other soft breaches, making her a more intentional pick.

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Sledge

• Kit updated to Two-speed Two-armor from One-speed Three-armor.

The soft-breaching operators and tools underwent some changes in Year 7 which was followed up with the introduction of the operator Ram and Frag Grenade mechanic updates in Year 8.

These eventually led to the downfall of Sledge due to his slow and cumbersome kit. These changes in Rainbow Six Siege Y9S4.2 Designer's Notes aim to bring him back up to par with Ram and Buck and make him a viable choice for maps and objective sites that require precise soft destruction.

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Weapon Balancing in Rainbow Six Siege Y9S4.2 Designer's Notes

Console Defenders presence vs. win delta in Rainbow Six Siege Y9S4.2 Designer's Notes (Image via Ubisoft)

Slug Shotguns

• Damage starts to drop off at 15 meters down from 25.
• Damage drop-off ends at 25 meters down from 35.
• Damage at maximum range has now been reduced to 60% down from 70.
• Destruction range has also been reduced.

WEAPONS AFFECTED

• BOSG.12.2
• TCSG12
• ACS12

After the universal weapon damage drop-off change back in Y9S1, the BOSG was one of the exceptions that changed its damage drop-off from 18 to 35 meters. This made it one of the hardest-hitting one-shot down/kill weapons on the defending side that became too much of a menace for attackers.

As a result, the devs decided to tone down this shotgun with a damage drop-off change to make it more consistent with other Shotguns. This change in Rainbow Six Siege Y9S4.2 Designer's Notes will keep the BOSG and the other affected slug shotguns lethal at short to medium ranges while diminishing their effectiveness in longer ranges.

Additionally, the destruction range reduction also applies to Deimo's .44 Vendetta.

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G36C

• Vertical and Horizontal recoils have been reduced.

During the Y8S4.2 patch, the G36C had one of the highest Kill-death ratios. This led to the R6 balancing team drastically increasing its recoil to tone down the lethality. However, the severe drop in pick rate made them reassess the recoil to bring it down to a fair middle ground.

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TCSG12

• Damage increased to 75hp from 63.

This weapon has been a consistent performer, especially after the recent adjustments made in the last major patch. However, the new updates to the Slug Shotgun class of weapons could spell its downfall. To counter this preemptively, the devs have decided to increase its base damage to ensure that its effectiveness isn't hampered.

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