Operation Dread Factor is the second season of Year 8 of Rainbow Six Siege, and it’s introducing a new Operator named Fenrir, who uses his F-NATT Dread Mines to deploy fear-inducing gas whenever an Attacker steps into their proximity, drastically affecting their vision and lowering their life expectancy. Fenrir will be available at the launch of Operation Dread Factor as part of the Premium Battle Pass, and will be unlockable two weeks later with Renown or R6 Credits. The new season is also bringing a bunch of free updates for all players, including an extensive rework of the Consulate map, new customizable shooting range lanes for training your aim on moving targets, a permanent arcade playlist, a buff for Grim, and more.
New Operator Loadout
Fenrir is a Swedish Operator who will be joining the roster of Rainbow Six Siege defenders as part of the Redhammer squad, the explosive unit led by Thermite. His loadout includes a choice of the MP7 submachine gun or the SASG-12 shotgun for his primary weapon, as well as the Bailiff 410 revolver as his secondary and either a bulletproof camera or barbed wire.
Fenrir’s F-NATT Dread Mines
Fenrir begins each round with a full complement of his Dread Mines, which he can strategically deploy by throwing them and sticking them to any surface. But simply deploying them isn’t enough to make them effective; Fenrir’s mines have to be activated and triggered to start affecting his adversaries. Once Fenrir has placed a mine, it can exist in one of three states:
- Deactivated – This is the default state of the mine when it is deployed. A deactivated mine is bulletproof and therefore difficult for Attackers to remove, as they must spend utility – either explosives or EMPs – to destroy or disable them. However, a deactivated mine cannot release the fear gas, so it’s not an immediate threat.
- Activated – In this state, the inner workings of the mine are exposed, and it can be easily destroyed by bullets and other damage sources. However, it is also dangerous, because as soon as an Attacker steps into its radius, it will trigger.
- Triggered – A triggered mine releases a steady stream of fear-inducing gas as long as an Attacker is within range. Any Operator (except Fenrir) who steps inside the radius of the gas will have their vision drastically limited. Everything beyond a few meters will be blacked out, leaving affected players with very short view distance; an opponent lurking down a hallway will be completely obscured from view. Note that the gas does not obscure vision within the visible radius (only tints it slightly purple) and does not have any damaging or slowing effect on Operators.
So how does a mine get activated or deactivated? Fenrir has five mines, but only three activation codes, meaning he can only have up to three of his mines activated at any given time. He can send activation codes remotely by looking at the icon of a deployed mine and interacting with it. This puts the mine in an activated state, so it will trigger and start gassing off if an Attacker comes near. Fenrir can also retrieve activation codes remotely in the same way. This resets the mine to its deactivated state, making it bulletproof again, and returns the activation code to Fenrir’s inventory so he can use it again. Fenrir can use his mines to cover multiple areas of the map and, by using his activation codes wisely, respond to enemy pushes from multiple directions.
Defender Synergies and Attacker Counters
As with most gadgets in Rainbow Six Siege, Fenrir’s Dread Mines get even more powerful when used in conjunction with his teammates. Try placing Melusi’s Banshee devices or positioning a Clash around one of Fenrir’s mines to add a slowing effect to Attackers caught in the fear gas, or deploy Thorn’s Razorbloom Shells to catch enemies lingering in (or trying to flee from) the gas. Valkyrie’s Black Eye cameras can be great sources of intel for Fenrir, advising him on when to activate which mines, and Caveira makes a perfect predator for any Attacker prey whose vision is clouded by the gas.
Attackers can deal with Fenrir’s mines by removing them outright; as mentioned before, it’ll take an explosive or an EMP to deal with any deactivated mine. Stepping into the mine’s radius is a good way to find out where a mine is because you’ll see an on-screen indicator of where the gas is emanating from, but that’s also a good way to make yourself vulnerable. Use Finka’s Adrenal Surge to push back the vision-obscuring effect and gain a few more feet of visibility, or use a shield Operator like Montagne to trigger the mine and block enemy fire, allowing a teammate to shoot the mine. For less-risky removal options, use Twitch’s Shock Drone or Zero’s Argus cam laser to eliminate an activated mine. Or play it even safer and bring IQ along to spot the mines, plus Brava, whose Kludge drone can switch the allegiance of activated and triggered mines and outright destroy deactivated mines.
Consulate Map Rework
Operation Dread Factor also marks the long-awaited arrival of construction crews to the Consulate map. This is a full-on, floor-by-floor rework that will be free for all players when the season launches. The much-contested garage entry now has a half-in-half-out space that gives Attackers some cover to work with when breaching and entering, but also cuts off their long outdoor sightlines, forcing them to get in close to access the site. A new basement hallway gives some breathing room between the yellow stairs entry door, the garage, and the stairs themselves. The majestic circular main stairs are still in place, though there’s now a window entrance near the very top that sits opposite a cheeky exterior soft wall, which gives Attackers a higher entry point into the yellow stairs. There’s also a soft wall in place of the windows on the balcony above the main entrance, so Defenders will have to adjust their reinforcement priorities accordingly. You can explore the new Consulate rework and develop new strategies by playing it as part of the Discovery Playlist when Operation Dread Factor launches.
Other Free Updates
- Observation Blocker gadget – This gadget will be made available to select Defenders and can be placed on the floor. To the naked eye, it just looks like a small metal object, but when viewed through a camera, the device projects an opaque gray wall taller than an Operator that the camera cannot see beyond. Whether it’s drones, Iana’s hologram, Zero’s Argus cams, or default cams hacked by Dokkaebi, any camera vision that Attackers can use to gain intel will not be able to see beyond the Observation Blocker. It can be easily destroyed by any damage source, but when properly deployed, it can give the Defenders an edge in the intel game.
- Shooting Range update – New lanes in the shooting range include Operator holograms that can be customized for different speed and movement styles, helping you train your aim to hit mobile foes. A lane with a destructible surface between you and your target, as well as a headshots only training mode are also on the way.
- Permanent Arcade playlist – This new playlist will be a destination for Siege’s more playful games modes, like Golden Gun, Headshots Only, Team Deathmatch, and more.
- Grim buff – Grim will be able to equip and fire his Kawan Hive Launcher faster. Plus, his tracking bees will deploy more quickly and cover a larger area for a longer time. Grim is also getting new options for his sidearm and generic gadget; the Bailiff 410 revolver and a Hard Breach Charge, respectively.
Catch up on the latest patch notes on the official Rainbow Six Siege website and learn about last season’s mischievous new Operator, Brava, in our Operation Commanding Force Operator and Gadget Guide. For weekly round-ups of all the news from Ubisoft, be sure to visit This Week at Ubisoft.
