Rainbow Six Siege Y11S4, called Operation Vital Signal, is coming on December 1, continuing the development team's commitment to refining the game's core tactical mechanics and competitive play. Here's everything you need to know:
Operator Remaster: Doc
This Defender is trading in his healing Stim Pistol for an all-new E-HEAL Monitor system, which will allow him to heal and revive teammates across the map – without exposing himself to unnecessary risk. Here's how it works: Defenders will spawn into the match with medical patches pre-attached to their persons. When in need of healing – including those in down-but-not-out status – Doc will remotely activate the patch via his E-HEAL Monitor. The E-HEAL Monitor will display critical teammate information including health, available actions, and activation progress to help Doc track their status and deploy healing when it's needed most. As with his Stim Pistol, Doc can heal himself, but it will take a bit longer.
New Weapon: MBZ-19
Defenders Jäger, Warden, and Thunderbird are getting a new addition to their primary weapon arsenals: the MBZ-19. This high-powered assault rifle features:
- 64-round magazine
- 750 RPM
- 33 damage per round
Major Balancing Changes
Along with Doc's rework, there are plenty of other balancing effects coming in Operation Vital Signal:
Thunderbird
- Kona Station count increased to 4, with a 10s cooldown (down from 15s)
- Kona Stations now cleanse stun and concussion effects
- Added the MBZ-19 as a primary weapon
ACS12 Shotgun
- Damage reduced to 50hp (from 69hp)
- Magazine capacity reduced to 20 (from 30)
- Increased magazine count to 6 (from 4)
TCSG12 Shotgun
- Damage reduced to 55hp (from 75hp)
Jäger
- Added the MBZ-19 as a primary weapon
Warden
- Added the MBZ-19 as a primary weapon
Competitive Play Overhaul
In order to deliver the fairest competitive experience for players regardless of group size, moving forward, the Ranked ecosystem will have a split Ranked Solo/Duo and Ranked Flex structure, each with its own rank. The Solo/Dup playlist will provide a fair and level playing field for individual and duo players, while the Flex Queue will cater to larger squads looking for coordinated group play. Your starting Rank for each playlist in this new structure will be based on your existing Flex Rank.
Here are some of the changes coming to Ranked Playlists:
- Cross-Queue Matchmaking to reduce bottlenecks between the two Ranked Playlists
- Ranked entry level reduced to 30 (from 50)
- Progressing in Solo/Duo, Flex, Legend Division, and Siege Cup will all contribute to Ranked Rewards track
New Targeted Map Update
Bank has been updated, adding a new area behind the Bank, giving new access points that will provide a faster entry option for Attackers as well as adding cover outside. This will affect how Defenders play and control the 2F objective points, as well as open up new strategic opportunities.
Operation Vital Signal also continues the Modernized Maps initiative, bringing visual and gameplay improvements to:
- Yacht
- Favela
- Tower
Social Hub Feature
The Social Hub overlay is a new feature designed to streamline playing with friends and connecting with new teammates. It’s a new, easy to use menu overlay, which you can open up to invite your friends to join a match. It's an extension of the Squad Panel that contains:
- In-game Friend List
- Social Notifications
- Recently Met Players
Limited-Time Events
Operation Vital Signal will feature two limited-time events: Freeze For All: Permafrost and Grand Larceny.
Freeze For All: Permafrost is an eight player free-for-all match style with multi-pick allowed. It will start at the same time as Y11S4, and will feature in-game challenges and a bespoke collection. You can earn rewards like:
- Event Packs
- PRB92 Weapon Skin (Event Challenge Reward)
- ARX200 Weapon Skin (Twitch Drop)
The Grand Larceny event is a 5v5 game mode focused on destruction and close-range combat, set in a 20s era mafia universe. Kicking off in February, it will also have unique in-game challenges and signature bundles, with rewards that include:
- Event Packs
- Mx4 Skin (Event Challenge Reward)
- MP7 Skin (Twitch Drop)
Winter Daily Rewards
Celebration Packs are back! Every day you log in from December 1 to January 15, you'll receive a Winter Daily Reward. There are 20 rewards in total, five of which are Celebration Packs. Each Celebration Pack brings a chance for you to win one of Siege's two most iconic skins. Gold Dust and Glacier are back, alongside a new weapon skin for the T-5 SMG.
New Testing Grounds: Half-Reinforcements
The Testing Grounds return in Operation Vital Signal, letting you try out Half-Reinforcements as a secondary gadget while the feature is still in the development phase. The Half-Reinforcements are deployed in the same way as full reinforcements, but providing new strategic opportunities when it comes to creating lines of sight. You'll be able to pressure test this feature in actual gameplay, and provide critical feedback to developers to make sure Half-Reinforcements are as good as they can be before being deployed in Rainbow Six Siege at large. The Testing Grounds Playlist will run from January 19-February 2.
Don't miss Operation Vital Signal when it releases on December 1, and play Rainbow Six Siege today on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC via the Ubisoft Store, Steam, and the Epic Games Store. You can also play with a Ubisoft+ subscription.