The world of Rainbow Six Siege is full of strategies and mechanics that aren’t immediately obvious when you start playing, so we’ve gathered seven common techniques seen in the game to help new players better understand Siege’s layers and layers of complexity. These are eight techniques that all players should know.

Nitro cells

The nitro cell is one of the most powerful gadgets in Siege. This big chunk of C4 can be tossed across a room to explode for crazy high damage. Finding yourself anywhere near one when it goes off is an instant or near death. But to learn how to utilize the nitro cell to its max potential, it’s important to think vertically.

In Siege, many floors and ceilings are partially destructible, meaning that destroying them will expose holes in the floor that can be shot through. Well, this can also be applied to nitro cells. This technique can be used with any defender that carries a nitro cell, but the classic example comes from Pulse. Wait and watch your prey on the heartbeat scanner and spring the trap once they’ve stepped inside. This also works great when a Valkyrie camera is positioned to watch the area above your explosive trap. Whenever it works, it’s the best feeling in the world.

Mira’s Black Mirrors

When utilized correctly, Mira’s Black Mirrors can mean the difference between a good and amazing defense. These one-way windows are completely bulletproof and can be deployed on any wall. On a completely reinforced wall, the Black Mirror is an excellent way to provide your team with callouts, but players have developed a few strategies to make them especially troublesome for the attackers. 

The idea is to either place the Black Mirror on a reinforced wall adjacent to a soft wall, or onto a soft wall itself. When you spot an enemy through the mirror, you can quickly step over to the soft wall and fire through the wall to take them down. Another deadly version of this strategy can be applied by placing the mirror at crouch level on a soft wall. While you’re crouching behind it, the mirror will act like a shield for most of your body. And when you’re ready to strike someone in the next room, stand right up and open fire. Black Mirror strats can take a little getting used to, but the results are devastating in the right hands.

Murder holes

One of the most classic strategies in Siege uses the game’s unique destruction system to create small “murder holes” and get cheeky angles on your enemies. Though, years now into the game’s life, most players are wise to this typical trick. Seeing a random hole in a wall is usually a sign that someone is behind it, and it can give an easy kill to your enemy. 

To truly use murder holes to your advantage, you’ll have to be clever. Try busting a bunch of holes into the same wall will make the enemy guess which one you’re sitting behind. Break the wall at different heights and take your shot as soon as you see your prey. Don’t peak from the same place several times in a row and reposition yourself if you miss too many shots. Shooting out even smaller holes with a pistol will create a near-invisible hole from afar that’s perfect for watching a very specific angle. Pull this off, and you’ve got yourself an easy kill.

Claymores 

Claymores in Siege are a lot less forgiving than the ones found in many other first-person shooters out there. Step through one of its lasers for even a brief moment, and you’re toast.

Using a claymore effectively is all about anticipating your enemy’s next move. In most cases, a claymore can be easily destroyed by any defender who’s paying attention, so the goal is to hide them in places where they can’t be countered so easily. The best use for claymores are as punishment for defenders that decide to hop out of a window and flank your team. Place the claymore parallel to the window so that the lasers will catch anyone that hops out. Even if the enemy hears you place the trap, there’s not much they can do about it. They’re likely to give up on running out from that direction.

Alternatively, claymores can be used in a more devious way to pull off a sneaky kill on defenders. Placing a claymore pointed towards a drone hole will beam its lasers through the hole and into the room on the other side. If a defender steps through it, the claymore will still deliver its full damage and net you a kill. Claymores are also useful for holding an objective for your team while the defusing ticks down or area is secured. In the chaos of an objective being captured, defenders are likely to throw caution to the wind and rush in to contest you. Use these moments to plant more obvious claymores that will be overlooked.

Smoke grenades

The smoke grenade is one of the most versatile tools you’ll find in Siege. It’s not a flashy gadget meant for busting down doors or scoring kills, but it’s an important assist tool that is important for a well-rounded attacking team. The most popular way to use them is on the Bomb mode, where they can be deployed in a room to cover your team while they plant the defuser. The smoke cloud will completely hinder sight at its center, so position them to cover a wide area of the room and keep the defenders guessing when they try to fire blindly into the haze.

The more general use for them is to blind your enemies to a direction in any situation. Filling a dangerous hallway with smoke can often be the advantage needed to even the odds. When capturing the objective on Secure Area, cover the most vulnerable doors or windows with smoke to make the defenders’ last-ditch efforts that much harder. If you have a Glaz on your team, considering lending your smokes towards his area, since his rifle scope can see right through it.

Using destruction to hear more

When anchoring on defense, sound is the first line of defense that will warn you to an oncoming threat. Siege’s sound system is a complicated one allows players to hear most things going on in the match if they’re listening. Players have figured out that sound volume is calculated by how much sits between you and the sound, be it walls or objects. So when reinforcing a wall, you’re actually creating a second layer of wall that muffles the sound a bit.

But you can easily get around this, as long as you have any operator with a shotgun or impact grenades. Before reinforcing an important wall, make a few holes in it. This will make sounds happening on the other side much easier to hear, which can often make a world of difference. Some walls even have a soft area at the top that the metal reinforcements don’t cover. Blasting holes through will create some of the same sound benefit, but aware that attackers can use this to toss grenades into your room unimpeded.

Advanced drone deployment

Advanced drone deployment is a feature that was only recently introduced in Siege. After turning on the setting in your options, advanced drone deployment allows you to toss out your drone without immediately assuming control of it. In a tense situation, this can be useful to quickly set a drone down for dead teammates to watch, but it can also be used to trick enemies.

When you know an enemy is nearby, try tossing out a drone as bait. After hearing the drone, the enemy might assume you’re vulnerable and move in for attack. That’s when you strike, lying in wait.

The one-hit door and window vault

Movement in Siege is all about making sure there’s enough room for your body to fit through. This is true when making a hole in a wall with any character. It doesn’t matter where it is, if there’s an opening big enough for the body, you can crawl, walk, or vault right through.

Funny enough, this principle also applies to barricaded doors and windows. The most common strategy for attackers is to melee a barricade twice. After the second hit, there’s usually a big enough opening to vault in. But, there’s a trick to pull this off with only one hit, and mastering it could help you speed up your infiltrations.

The goal is to melee the door or window near the middle of the yellow X. If you aim just to the right or left, you will break three wood boards, creating a big enough gap to vault through immediately. This one takes a lot of practice to hit consistently, so keep at it.

Wrap up

These tips don’t cover everything you’ll see from teammates and enemies alike in Siege, but they should help you better take advantage of your surroundings no matter what operator you’re playing.

This article was supported by Ubisoft. Read more about supported content on PC Gamer.

Variety reports that Paramount Pictures has developing official film adaptations for two Tom Clancy novels with Michael B. Jordan as the leading man. Jordan will helm the role of ex-Navy Seal John Clark (Clancy's second-most popular character in the "Ryanverse") in both Rainbow Six and Without Remorse, the former of which launched alongside the classic tactical shooter game of the same name in 1998.

Without Remorse will follow the novel in setting up the origins of Clark while Rainbow Six will follow the character as he forms the titular multi-national counterterrorism unit the games are based on. Clark is a long-established character in the Clancy universe and has previously been portrayed in Jack Ryan movies by Liev Schreiber in 2002’s The Sum of All Fears and Willem Dafoe in 1994’s Clear and Present Danger. 

Throughout most of the game series, Clark was heavily featured as Team Rainbow’s director. This streak was broken in 2006’s Rainbow Six: Vegas. The series’ modern incarnation, Rainbow Six Siege, ditches most of the story elements of the past games for a multiplayer-only experience and an all-new cast of Rainbow operators. If Paramount’s new flicks decide to acknowledge Siege’s popularity, we could see Michael B. Jordan shooting baddies through walls or breaching the floor below to save a hostage. Hey, a guy can hope.

Teamkilling in Rainbow Six Siege’s Casual mode is about to carry much harsher punishments. The first patch since the release of Operation Grim Sky expands the punishments already dished out in Ranked play while also bringing the same consequences to Casual.

Up until now, teamkilling twice in a match triggered a kick to the main menu. If you’re playing Ranked, the same would kick would occur, but the player would also be given the 30-minute abandon penalty that any player gets for willfully leaving a Ranked match. Under this new system, teamkilling gives the offender a 30-minute ban that locks them out of all matchmaking, including Casual, Ranked, and Terrorist Hunt.

Subsequent offenses will lock out the teamkiller for one hour, two hours, 24 hours, and then a full week. After reaching out on Twitter, community developer Craig Robinson confirmed to me that there is an eventual timer that resets your teamkilling offenses, but it has been slightly adjusted. We’ve yet to hear back on how long this timer is.

This move is part of Ubisoft’s continued efforts to curb Siege’s toxicity problem. Back in July, Siege began using a in-game chat filter that automatically catches the use of racial and homophobic slurs and immediately bans the offender.

Patch Y3S3.1 released yesterday on all platforms and also comes with a wealth of bug fixes that you can find below.

Gameplay

• Fixed – [PC][PS4][XB1] A number of crashing issues across all platforms.
• Fixed – [PC][XB1] Cannot use melee for a short while after using prone.
• Fixed – Players are able to take the defuser through the walls.
• Fixed – Throwing C4 on an electrified wall will not destroy the nitro cell on contact.

Maverick

• Fixed — The bullet casings are ejected forwards when firing the AR-15.50 weapon. 

Clash

• Fixed - Clash's Shield can be deployed while crouched.
• Fixed - Clash's CCE shield can clip in the arm and clip in the pistol.
• Fixed - Clash is able to fire her gun before weapon appears on screen.
• Fixed - In the loadout menu charms are not equipped in the same place as during a session for Clash's CCE Shield.
• Fixed - When a player is killed by the CCE shield, the generic death icon is displayed instead of the taser shield
• Fixed - [PC][XB1] Clash's CCE shield is clips through partially broken barricades when rotating.

Smoke

• Fixed - If the attackers drop the defuser, Smoke can move it by throwing his gadget on it. 

Hereford Base 

• Fixed - Players are able to throw gadgets outside during the prep phase via the floor of 2F Bathroom. 

User Experience 

• Fixed - Inconsistency between thumbnail icon and preview for Buck's Grim Sky BDU.
• Fixed - Non-purchased items have the 'set as active' option.
• Fixed - Error message present in the pop-up modal when 2SV is active.
• Fixed - Pressing enter multiple times while the title is loading will cause the title to start a situation with the 2SV pop-up still on the screen.
• Fixed - All the Six Major Paris Charms appear with a placeholder model.

After a series of hotly-contested season finals during its opening year, Rainbow Six Siege hosted its first Invitational in early 2017. With events spanning Montreal, São Paulo, Atlantic City, Katowice and beyond, the online shooter held its inaugural Major in Paris last month. 

Over two years since its debut campaign, the modern Siege esports scene is near unrecognisable—and it shows little signs of slowing down. With this in mind, I caught up with Ubisoft esports director François-Xavier Deniele at the Paris Major to discuss the past, present and future of Siege's ever-growing competitive spectrum. 

PC Gamer: The Paris Major is Siege's first ever Major. It seems like the Siege esports scene is in rude health. 

François-Xavier Deniele: Yes, it really is. For me and my esports department at Ubisoft, our first Major is a great achievement. We've brought it back home, to Paris, and the reason for doing that was not only because this is Ubisoft, but also because we wanted to reward the French community. They've been here from the beginning. There are four teams in the pro league, there are two at the Major. 

It was the right time to say: guys, we're going back. 

You can hear the crowd cheering behind us. They get particularly loud for the French teams. 

Oh, absolutely. That said, the crowd at São Paulo were just as loud. An amazing crowd. 

Siege has grown so much since launch that it's become almost unrecognisable. Can the same be said about its esports scene? 

It can. I mean, it's hard to say that we could've predicted being here three years ago. But even before the release of the game, before the rest of the world had played it, we knew we had something different from the competition. For example, what Counter-Strike is doing is great, it's really good, but we wanted to propose something different. 

When the production came back with the idea of: okay, we will create the perfect field between a shooter and a MOBA, and take the best argument for both; it was then: okay, let's take the Rainbow Six brand and see where we can take it. It was really good to mix all of these ingredients together. 

What we can see today, as you mentioned, it's not the same game almost three years on. The teams are so close to each other now that we have a really good standard. It's so exciting.  

Where do you think the new operators, Clash and Maverick, fit into the pro side of Siege?

That's a good question because every new season we ask the same thing. Players need to change their capacity and strategy—depending on whether they're playing as the new operatives or playing against them. Before we release the new characters, we have some workshops with the pro players to make sure we get the balance right. Then we run alphas and beta for the community. Not everyone plays at the same standard as the pro players. Getting the balance is important. 

This mix of players is essentially pushing the production team, too. The workshops let players see all the elements before the release and we can gather feedback. 

From your perspective, is Siege's esports scene a different entity from the base game or are they interlinked across the board? 

They are absolutely interlinked, completely. The esports scene is feeding the game all the time, by the pro players and by the dedicated community that follow. 

At the same time, however, the game also affects the rules and functionality of the esports scene. I work everyday with Alexandre Remy and it's crucial that we work together as a team to make both worlds work. If he has an issue with the production, we need to feed each. It'd be a huge mistake for us to pursue different agendas because our game constantly reflects what the community wants. 

The esports community is also really vocal, and occasionally their feedback isn't as positive as we want or hope it could be. But, because our game is for everyone, that's when it can be tricky. Ultimately, though, our community trusts us and we trust them.

Earlier this year, Siege introduced a familiar MOBA feature—Pick and Bans. How is that working out in the pro scene?

For me, there are two things. The first thing is that it was a complete change of strategy from the team and it was hard for some of us to understand at first. It was: okay, I now need to rework my strategy completely because I don't know which characters might be banned, I don't know which strategies I can push and put in place before the match. Understanding and appreciating that [process] was hard, but it's also part of our process for entertaining people—which is also important. 

Now, with the new format of our esports competitions, every phase is so important. From the first Pick and Ban to the last shot at the last second, you can understand that, okay, the player made this particular decision because that operator was banned, or that decision because they were made to pick this operator. It's easier to follow. 

What our team and the production team are working on is the creation of tools to help people better understand each phase. What is unique to Rainbow Six Siege is that there are different approaches to every phase of the game. Ultimately, everyone must be able to understand every phase of the game.  

Siege chose multiplayer over singleplayer at launch. Is there ever any regret or desire to pursue the latter, given how big the Siege community now is?It's always a question of balance. For the production team, it was a case of: okay, if we want to create a true competitive esports title, we need to focus on the multiplayer aspects. If you are creating operators and putting them into singleplayer—it's not the same rules, you can't do it. 

Even from co-op to multiplayer, it's not the same rules there either. Where we are truly different from other games, it's the multiplayer. It's as simple as that. It wasn't an easy decision. It was a hard decision. But it was, I think, the right decision. We focussed all the production, all the planning on these elements. It was all or nothing. I think it's worked out okay. 

You've now held your first Major. The Siege esports scene is constantly growing. What's next?

Our next immediate step is our Rio De Janeiro final in Brazil. This will be our first ever tournament that takes place within a stadium. Three years ago, this was a dream, and in November it's going to happen. For me, the main strategy for the next coming year is developing what we call the semi-professional and non-professional tournament—meaning if we want to become a top, top esports scene, we need to develop every level. 

From the pros—which we showcase in things like the Paris Major—to the bottom, which is, for me, the grassroots, the local tournaments. This is the key to helping people understand the path to professional play. What do you have to do to become the average player? It's our job to show you. 

Is that achievable? Can the average player join in at the bottom and end up at a professional Major?For me, I think it's a great time to do so. If you watch for too long it might become too difficult to become a world champion, but our national championship has really come a long way. There are so many players, but we plan to open more and more non-professional tournaments. You can watch out for that.