The second major content update for Rainbow Six Siege breaches this week, and the official site has all the details on what to expect May 11. Operation Dust Line's two new Operators – Valkyrie and Blackbeard, both from the US Navy SEALs – aren't all the expansion is bringing to the table. For starters, Operation Dust Line also adds Border, a new map that mixes old and new buildings and features a high degree of destructibility. As in the previous update, Operation Black Ice, the new map is free to all players. Valkyrie and Blackbeard are available exclusively to Season Pass holders for seven days, after which all players will be able to unlock them with Renown or R6 Credits.
That's just the beginning. Operation Dust Line also introduces new customization options, letting you unlock new headgear for your Operators and decorative charms for their weapons, and giving players the option to change their loadout between rounds. You'll also have the chance to show off your customized Operator whenever your team wins a match, as a new winner's showcase screen displays the victors and crowns an MVP after the final round.
Operation Dust Line also brings a huge raft of gameplay tweaks and bug fixes meant to improve game balance, player comfort, and more. Some highlights include:
We have introduced a new flow for placing gadgets. Instead of holding a key or button and letting it go when you are ready to place the gadget, you can now press it to take out the gadget in your hands and then hold it to place the gadget. You can also cancel the placement at any time. This feature will need to be turned ON in the Options menu.
Controller aiming deadzone fix
There was an issue with deadzones on controllers that has been fixed, which will result in smoother and more accurate aiming while using a controller.
Maintenance System Messaging
There is now an improved maintenance messaging system that will provide a prompt before the maintenance occurs. Additionally players will not be able to attempt to join a game during a maintenance.
Ranked Matchmaking now matches you with players closer to your skill
We've tweaked the way rank and MatchMaking Rating ("MMR") calculations work. The uncertainty level of your skill (the sigma value) now has a much stronger importance when matching you against other players. This has two consequences:
- New players (e.g. placement matches, where the system doesn't know much about you yet) have a very high uncertainty value. In Season 1, winning your first one or two placement matches would often result in you getting matched against high Gold or low Platinum ranked players for your following match. Season 2 matchmaking now errs on the side of matching high-uncertainty players with lower-skilled players, which should make for a match with closer actual skill rating.
- Rank variation in matches should feel smoother in your first ~20-30 matches of the season, instead of the fluctuations we used to see in Season 1.
In addition, we've reworked the UI to show you your MMR and where you stand in your current rank bracket. This should make it easier for you to see what you need to do to rank up or to avoid ranking down.
For the full list of changes, be sure to visit the official Operation Dust Line page.
