Operation Chimera is nearly here, and the patch notes for the Rainbow Six: Siege update that will bring with it a wave of new operators, maps, balance changes, and zombie slaying were revealed today.
This will be the first time since last year that new operators are added to the game, but Finka and Lion are just the tip of the iceberg for this massive patch. Alongside the French and Russian biohazard specialists, the Outbreak event will kick off—the largest special event to ever hit Siege in the two years following its release.
Outbreak will pit you and two friends against hordes of people invested with an alien pathogen. That’s right, it’s not zombies, it’s aliens. The Rainbow team follows a space capsule crash in the New Mexico town called Truth or Consequences. In this three-person mode, you’ll attempt to set up and defend the quarantine against these alien-invested people.
Playable operators in this event include Ash, Tachanka, Doc, Smoke, Buck, Kapkan, Glaz, Ying, Finka, Lion, and the Recruit. The Outbreak event will run from March 6 to April 3, and it’ll pit you against multiple types of infected, such as the ruthless Smasher that can bust through structures and toss your team aside like they were legos it didn’t need. The Outbreak event will also feature new uniforms, headgear, skins, and exclusive animated charms. As a part of the festivities, all players from before this patch will receive a brand new Elite Ashe uniform set, including weapon skins, a charm, headgear, and of course, a new uniform.
Along with all of those new goodies, several significant changes are coming to Siege, too. Yacht is returning to the casual gameplay rotation, and Bartlett University will be removed, while the ranked rotation remains the same. Ela’s Scorpion will now have increased recoil and lower damage, but higher fire rate. The goal of this big nerf is to put her at a disadvantage when facing attackers with ACOG scopes.
Blitz is also moving to a two-speed and two-armor attacker, to amp up his speed and help him get in close quarters where he excels more quickly, and Kapkan’s barbed wires are being replaced by impact grenades.
For the full list of changes, check out the official patch notes on the Siege website.