As I mentioned in last weeks blog, we are going to discuss the changes that recently occurred within the game of Rainbow 6 and how these changes effect all operators as well as the specific tweaks to operators like: Blackbeard, Echo, Ela, Finka, JÄGER, Maestro, Nokk, Smoke, Ying, and finally Lesion.
First off we start with the ADS timing (also known as Aim Down Sight) and the slight increase to the timing changes between how long it takes to aim down sight on the variety of different guns within the game.
ADS time increased for all weapons classes.
- Assault rifles: from 0.30s to 0.40s
- DMRs: from 0.30s up to 0.40s
- SMGs: from 0.20s up to 0.30s
- LMGs: from 0.40s up to 0.45s
- Pistol: 0.10s up to 0.20s
- SMG in secondary slots: 0.10s up to 0.275s*
- Shotguns: 0.20s up to 0.25s
Observing this stat line at face value can be quite misleading and therefore cause doubt and confusion at first. However, given that the margin of error on the competitive side of Rainbow 6 can be decided by thousandths of a second; the impact that this small timing increase can have may actually end up being monumental in its own respect. Therefore, this small increase to ADS timing can actually change the core mechanics to siege’s brilliant first person shooter game, and quite possibly change how the game is played from now on.
The question however does arise from this small portion of the developer notes. How does this affect the weapons with the ‘angled grip attachment’? Essentially arising the conversation of whether or not weapons with this specific attachment become overpowered due to their ability to ADS at a much quicker rate than the rest of the guns without it. Regardless, as it is just a matter of time before we find out how this affects the games shooter aspect.
Moving into the more meaty portion of the designer’s notes we now start to look at and analyze each individual operator buff and nerf. Starting off and getting the ball rolling is Blackbeard. An in-game attacker that is based out of the U.S. Navy seals that has a special ability of mounting a shield on top of his gun to prevent enemy shots from hitting him directly in the head. His buff/nerf essentially entails the decision for quicker ADS time and more protection for gunfights. As equipping his shield with and without the ‘angled grip’ will effect his ADS with and without the shield. Since there are so many other variables when it comes to Blackbeard and his weapon of choice. the designers decided they wanted the player to be making as conscious decision when it comes to weapon attachments and timing of shield placement.
Next we see Echo up on the block, and while his re-work serves as less of a nerf and more of a buff to Dokkaebi, he undoubtedly makes players more cautious when choosing him in future matches. As we talked about in last weeks blog, next to Mira, Echo is one of the highest banned operators when it comes to ranked games. therefore, this re-work is one that the designers hope to lessen that statistic while at the same time allowing Dokkaebi to be a more viable option. With Echo’s drones now being able to be hacked and seen through the lens of the other team, this provides a greater value for Dokkaebi while slightly decreasing Echo’s capability on defense.
And for the sake of the blog, we will end shortly after Ela’s coverage.
Ela has received the wrong end of the stick in the past months, however, things are looking up for this operator as she is finally receiving a long-overdue buff to her weapon recoil. While her ability ‘grizmot mines’ are in a pretty good place Ela has suffered a lot lately with players being able to control her SMG recoil. So to help lessen the burden of choosing this operator on defense; Ubisoft has decided to make Ela’s Scorpion SMG a more feasible option to choose, they have done this by reducing the recoil for the first 16 shots that leave her gun. This in-turn allows for a much more stable and controllable gunfight experience when playing with this operator. Next week we may dive into the rest of the operators that we did not cover. However, as time is the greatest indicator we will see what lies ahead for this blog’s journey.
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