All changes coming to Rainbow Six Siege with Operation Heavy Mettle

Rainbow Six Siege has remained relevant since its 2015 release through constant updates, meta changes, and new operator releases. Ubisoft recently announced the much-awaited Operation Heavy Mettle, which brings the game into the third season of its eighth year and introduces several exciting new changes for players to keep an eye on.

Ubisoft‘s Rainbow Six Siege is a one-of-a-kind competitive first-person shooter that relies heavily on team strategy, tactics, and individual operator gadgets. It allows players to experience thrilling close-quarters combat in completely destructible environments, ensuring no two rounds play out the same. Moreover, every operator brings something new to the table, and the feeling of accomplishment when you pick an exact counter to your opponent’s strategy, is truly unrivaled. 

Constant changes to the meta to keep players interested are extremely important, and Ubisoft has done a brilliant job of introducing new content since the game‘s release. Rainbow Six Siege now follows a roadmap of releasing four seasonal updates every year, and Y8S2 Operation Dread Factor introduced players to the Swedish defender Emil “Fenrir” Svensson, along with a host of other changes. Likewise, with Y8S3 Operation Heavy Mettle now on the horizon, we decided to jump in and take a look at what Ubisoft has in store for us.

All changes included in Y8S3 Operation Heavy Mettle

Rainbow Six Siege’s Y8S3 update, codenamed Operation Heavy Metal, drops on August 29, 2023, and brings with it a new operator, several gameplay tweaks, and a few quality-of-life changes. Well, here’s an exhaustive breakdown of everything one can expect with the new seasonal update.

The new operator coming to Rainbow Six Siege

Rainbow Six Siege’s Operation Heavy Metal adds the South Korean operator Ram to an already extensive roster of attackers. Prior to joining the Redhammer Squad under Team Rainbow, Ram was included in an all-female group that functioned as a part of the South Korean Special Forces. Besides, as her name suggests, this 3 health 1 speed attacker’s primary gadget represents an actual battering ram and leaves a trail of destruction in its path.

Ram’s primary gadget, the Bu-Gi, is a deployable ground drone that can break through any barriers or walls as long as they aren’t reinforced. Although it cannot be controlled once deployed, Ram can set it down in a specific direction before allowing it to do its work. Moreover, once deployed, the gadget will destroy everything in its way, including soft walls, barricaded doors, deployable shields, and even the soft floor beneath its wheels. Defenders should also note that the done is entirely bulletproof and can only be disabled by shooting a red canister on its back, chucking an explosive at it, or trapping it in Mute’s jammer.

Apart from the Bu-Gi drone, Ram has a powerful arsenal at her disposal, which includes the R4C assault rifle and the LMG-E light-machine gun as primaries, as well as the ITA 12S shotgun and MK1 9mm handgun as secondaries. She will also be equipped with four Bu-Gi drones and a choice between stun grenades or hard breach charges. It is also essential to note that players will have the option to attach 1.5x and 2x Scopes to Ram’s R4C, which acts as an exciting throwback to Ash’s glory days.

Weapon Reworks

The Rainbow Six Siege meta has moved away from shotguns in recent months, and Ubisoft aims to change that with Operation Heavy Mettle. The Y8S3 update will completely change the way shotguns work since their efficiency and consistency have been upgraded to match the Bailiff. Moreover, all shotguns, except the slug variants, will shoot more precisely when still and aimed down sights, while movement and hip-fire will increase the damage. This update will surely make soft-wall destruction more efficient, allowing defenders to use their C4s and impact grenades elsewhere.

Operator Reworks

Apart from introducing Ram to the Rainbow Six Siege roster, Y8S3 brings with it several new operator changes, including the Frost rework. While the time to deploy the bear traps has been decreased, attackers who fall in the trap have one of two choices. They can either call a teammate over to free them without any debuff, or they can choose to free themselves, leading to a debuff of 60 seconds, during which they will be unable to run and leave a trail of blood behind. Similarly, the new update buffs Grim’s Kawan Hive Launcher, allowing him to deflect his hives off walls, while Fuze will be able to place his cluster charges on Osa‘s Talon Shield or other deployable shields, furthering his reach.

Lesion also went through a significant rework as his Gu Mines are no longer technology-based. Hence, even though they won’t cloak anymore, they will be immune to an IQ scan or a Brava hack. The time to refill the mines has been reduced to 20 seconds from the original 30, and the number of mines has been increased to 9 from 8. Additionally, the moment an attacker steps on a Lesion mine, their HP will reduce by 5, and they will continue taking 12 HP hits every 2 seconds until the poison debuff is removed. Players should also note that stepping on another mine with the poison debuff active resets the timer and takes an instant 12 points off the operator’s health bar.

Other Changes

Operation Heavy Mettle brings several new gameplay changes, with the most significant being the introduction of the new game mode, Weapon Roulette. Although this game mode will follow the rules of team deathmatch, every operator will be armed with the same weapon, while the guns and attachments keep changing periodically. Meanwhile, Ubisoft plans to change how “Quick Match” works, with defenders getting access to pre-setup objective sites and attackers remaining invulnerable for the first 10 seconds of a round. Lastly, the unranked playlist will be reworked as Ubisoft reduced the total number of overtime rounds to 1 and did away with operator ban phases.

In addition to the game mode reworks, Rainbow Six Siege will receive several quality-of-life updates, including one allowing party leaders to kick and promote players from the parties. At the same time, there will be several new tutorials for beginners, and once a match is over, players can commend each other on three different positive attributes, namely Valor, Dedication, and Guidance. 

That is an exhaustive list of all the changes one can expect with Rainbow Six Siege’s Operation Dread Factor. In the meantime, you can click here to learn more about the upcoming first-person shooter, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3.