Rainbow Six Siege is Ubisoft's take on the tactical FPS genre, which has dominated the esports landscape for years. The game is renowned for its steep learning curve and the incredible amount of variance in how players can approach each round. With floors, walls, and ceilings being highly destructible, players can physically break down each map to facilitate their strategies for victory. Combine that with the nearly 60 operators in the game and each of their unique gadgets, and Siege presents an infinite amount of possible situations for players to encounter every time they queue up for a match.
With so much variance and complexity, Rainbow Six Siege can be relatively inaccessible for new players. Broadly speaking, one major barrier to entry for competitive play, for example, is having every single map in the game completely memorized - a feat that can take dozens if not hundreds of hours of practice. With new players staring down this steep of a learning curve, it's in the best interest of most players who are just starting to learn to play operators that don't require much game knowledge or technical know-how. Many characters in Rainbow Six Siege have remarkably simple gadgets that can have a massive impact on each round. This guide will be tailored towards the Bomb game mode, as it's considered the definitive mode for competitive Rainbow Six Siege.
The Best Defense Operators for Noobs in Rainbow Six Siege
Rook
- Rook is the quintessential "set it and forget it" operator in Rainbow Six Siege. His gadget, the R1N "Rhino" Armor Pack, is quite simply a duffle bag full of ballistic armor for all of Rook's teammates to equip. Rook players need only to press down the gadget button to place their Armor Pack, then go about their business setting up the bomb site at the very beginning of each round. These armor plates allow Rook to significantly impact each round without any effort, giving each of their teammates a small amount of damage resistance and a guarantee to be put into a DBNO state if they did not die to a headshot. This means that even if the Rook player immediately dies trying to spawn peek with a 1X sight halfway across the map, he can continue to affect the match thanks to the nature of his gadget (unlike his other French support counterpart, Doc). Rook's status as a 3-armor operator also means that he himself is naturally more resilient to damage, even before picking up one of his own armor plates, meaning he gains a slight advantage in gunfights. All of this makes for an operator perfectly tuned for new players to learn the game.
Jager
- Right off the bat, it's worth mentioning that Jager has an astronomical pick-rate across all levels of play in Rainbow Six Siege. On average, Jager is picked in upwards of 90% of matches in Siege, nearly doubling most other operators' pick-rate in the game. The first reason for Jager's popularity is his extremely useful gadget, the ADS-MKIV "Magpie" or simply ADS. Jager's ADS (Active Defense System) can intercept live grenades and a handful of operator gadgets before they have the chance to activate. Jager starts the round with 3 ADS charges, with each gadget capable of neutralizing 2 grenades. This means that Jager alone can deny six of the attacking team's grenades/gadgets, making Jager an expert at denying attacker utility. In addition to his near-mandatory gadget, and the second reason for his stunning pick-rate, Jager also happens to have arguably the best gun available to any defense operator. The 416-C Carbine is the go-to choice for primary weapon amongst Jager mains, and for good reason. The 416-C is one of a select few assault rifles available for defenders in Siege, as the balance of the game usually sees defending operators with slightly weaker weaponry like SMGs or shotguns. For a 2-speed operator like Jager, having a highly capable assault rifle like the 416-C means that he can stay mobile while also standing toe-to-toe with most of the guns attackers bring to the table. All-in-all, the only unique skill newer players will need to learn with Jager is how to insta-lock the operator the quickest in each lobby.
Alibi
- Alibi is an operator tailored around the deception of the attacking team. Her gadget, the Prismas, create stationary clones of Alibi herself standing ready with her Mx4 Storm SMG. When attackers shoot or move through a Prisma, their location is revealed for a few moments to the entire defending team. This can often lead to crucial positional intel, which Alibi and the rest of her team can capitalize on. Alibi is a 3-speed operator, meaning she can move faster and quieter than most of the Rainbow Six Siege roster. This means Alibi players can move around the map quickly to get the jump on anyone revealed by her Prismas. While moving around the map to flank enemies, or "roaming," can be a strong tactic, it also requires a decent amount of map knowledge. Thankfully, Alibi players can still get plenty of use out of the operator by playing her closer to the bomb site. The Prismas allow players to get creative with their placement, meaning even newer players can find plenty of tricky spots for fooling attackers looking to take control of the site. Additionally, Alibi's Prismas will stay where she placed them even if she dies early in the round, meaning that the operator's potential for helping her team can extend long after losing a gunfight. Lastly, on top of having another useful "set it and forget it" gadget, Alibi's previously mentioned Mx4 Storm is an incredibly strong SMG, offering a high rate-of-fire and low recoil. In a game like Rainbow Six Siege, where one headshot means death for any operator, rate-of-fire reigns supreme, and thanks to the high ROF on Alibi's SMG, fishing for those headshots is a breeze. Overall, Alibi is an operator that will offer new players a lot of room for growth and creativity, making her a solid pick for learning the ropes of Siege.
Rainbow Six Siege is a game of details. New players are faced with a mountain of knowledge they'll have to scale before eventually playing the game to its fullest competitive capacity. While it can be a daunting journey, it's also what makes Siege such an appealing game both on a casual and competitive level. Unlike CS:GO or Valorant, which rely heavily on raw gun skill, players who have mastered Siege have done so on the back of hundreds of hours of difficult lessons learned on a handful of complex maps. Thankfully, newer players to the game can make this journey a little easier by learning it all through the lens of a beginner-friendly operator.
Ubisoft continues to bolster Siege's presence in the competitive gaming scene, as they've not only recently made the game available on Xbox Game Pass but have also confirmed that it will continue its legacy onto next-gen consoles. What this means for players just joining in on the game's lifecycle is that there's still plenty of time ahead for them to master everything Rainbow Six Siege has to offer - and it's a lot.
Rainbow Six Siege is available on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.