Ubisoft explains Siege’s Test Server changes in Y5S1.2 Designer Notes

Rainbow Six Siege’s latest Test Server patch ushered in a series of significant changes to several operators. Ubisoft shared the reasons behind the numerous tweaks in the Y5S1.2 Designer’s Notes.

The company also revealed vital data on Siege’s operators, including their pick rate and win delta—essentially a way to gauge the balance and player preference for each character. The Siege team shared the reasons behind some of the new balancing changes.

Jäger

Jäger suffered the most significant change. The operator was moved to a two-speed, two-armor position, the latest in a succession of balancing tweaks to the character.

Ubisoft wanted to level the playing field between Jäger and the rest of the defenders. The operator has been a constant in ranked matches with a pick rate above 90 percent. Ubisoft called him “incomparable” in both presence and win delta.

“Jäger was amongst the most mobile defenders and could rely one of the most praised weapons in the game on top of an incredibly useful utility,” Ubisoft said. Ubisoft has taken several steps to mitigate the discrepancy between defenders, including a nerf to the 416-C that sent its damage down to 38 (from a previous 43).

Ying

If Jäger’s balancing tweaks aimed to make him less ubiquitous, Ying’s changes took the opposite direction. The attacker has a negligible presence and a win delta close to negative 1.0, which makes her both underpicked and underpowered.

To rectify the situation, the Y5S1.2 Test Server patch gave her an extra Candela, added smoke grenades to her kit, and upped the damage of her T-95 LSW to 46. The tweaks aim to make the operator more viable and reverse the downward momentum in her win delta since the Y4S4.3 patch—a statistic that determines whether an operator is a boon or a detriment to their team.

Ying’s Breach Charge, coupled with her Candelas, can make her proficient at breaching without much help from teammates. Ubisoft aimed to increase her synergy with other operators with the added utility of smoke grenades, which can help elude Mira’s Black Mirrors. “We expect her to be more at ease and faster when rushing, as she won’t rely as much on droning thanks to her improved primary and secondary gadgets,” Ubisoft said.

Mozzie

The SASR operator lost his trusty shotgun. The Test Server patch removed Mozzie’s Super Shorty and took plenty of his freedom with it. Ubisoft defined the character as “one of the most versatile Operator[s] on defense” due to his weapons, speed, and gadget.

Players can use Mozzie to roam due to the utility his gadget brings. His Pest Launcher will steal enemy drones and is tailored for negating enemy surveillance. The operator also has great synergy with Mute as an “extremely dangerous” intelligence-denying duo. Taking away his trusty shotgun should make him less of a jack-of-all-trades.

“By removing the Super Shorty from his loadout, we aim at not only removing Mozzie’s ability to remodel bombsites, but also to address his capacity to create escape routes on the fly while roaming,” Ubisoft said.

Buck

Although he isn’t necessarily a controversial operator, Buck suffered two key changes. His underbarrel shotgun gained a buff at the expense of his Frag Grenades, which gave way to Claymore mines. The soft breacher “brought unique opportunities to the attacking team and was incredibly potent on many bombsites,” according to the Designer’s Notes.

Buck also outranked Sledge as a soft breacher. Although the two operators have a similar role, Buck’s Skeleton Key allows him to easily breach upper walls and ceilings—areas that are hard to reach with Sledge’s hammer.

“By removing his frags and giving more gadget ammunition, we expect players to have to operate a choice between an excellent downward attacker and a versatile soft breacher,” Ubisoft said.

TCSG12

The latest Test Server patch also inflicted a heavy nerf upon the TCSG12. The weapon would down any operator with just two shots in spite of its heavy recoil and the fact that it shot slugs made the TCSG12 considerably more accurate than its counterparts.

Ubisoft believed that the weapon was too powerful and nerfed it to “even the odds during duels.” To offset the damage reduction, players can carry an extra 10 slugs, to a total of 61. “After this change, two shots will put any one and two armor Operators in a DBNO state and three armor Operators will require three shots to get in the same status,” Ubisoft said.