Rainbow Six Siege Y9S1.3 Designer Notes: Operator balances, gadget balancing, weapon balancing, and more

Numerous balances in the Rainbow Six Siege Y9S1.3 Designer notes are about to make their debut in the live servers. These are mainly focused on some operators, gadget & weapon balancing, and some quality-of-life changes based on several community feedbacks and pick rates of the operators. Ranging from Iana getting an EMP Grenade to Impact Grenade’s damage reduction, the developers have injected plenty of content for the community to cherish.

Having said that, this article will explore all the balancing changes of Operators, gadgets, weapons, and more in the Rainbow Six Siege Y9S1.3 Designer note.

---

OPERATOR BALANCING in Rainbow Six Siege Y9S1.3 Designer notes

AZAMI

KIBA BARRIER

• Increased by 10% the damage received by High-caliber Handguns and Revolvers.
• Handguns: .44 Mag Semi-Auto, D-50
• Revolvers: .44 Vendetta, Keratos .357, LFP586
• Increased by 10% the damage received by Medium caliber Submachine Guns and Assault Rifles.
• Submachine Guns: K1A, P90, UMP45, Vector.45 ACP
• Assault Rifles: 416-C Carbine, 552 Commando, 556XI, AK-12, AR33, AUG A2, C7E, C8-SFW, Commando 9, F2, F90, G36C, L85A2, PARA-308, POF-9, R4-C, SC3000K, Type-89
• Increased by 5% the damage received by High caliber Assault Rifles and Light Machine Guns.
• Assault Rifles: AK-74M, ARX200, M4, M762, Mk17 CQB, Spear .308, V308
• Light Machine Guns: 6P41, ALDA 5.56, DP27, G8A1, LMG-E, M249, M249 SAW, T-95 LSW

IANA

LOADOUT

• Secondary Gadgets: Added Impact EMP Grenade. Removed Stun Grenades.

Developers’ Comments: Considering her ability to bait defenders and facilitate re-frag opportunities for teammates following the hologram, she should be an excellent operator choice for support players. Additionally, her infinite intel gathering resources make her particularly advantageous in the current situation, where drones are limited. Therefore, we will enhance her support capabilities by incorporating Impact EMP Grenades and maybe look into the Gemini Replicator in the future.

NOKK

HEL PRESENCE REDUCTION

• Duration: Increased to 30 seconds (from 20).
• Cooldown: Increased to 30 seconds (from 20).

Developers’ Comments: The recent changes to Frag Grenades, along with increased operator access, have had a negative impact on Nokk's presence. To mitigate this issue while we investigate other solutions to make her more impactful, we will be increasing the duration of the HEL Presence Reduction. This adjustment will allow Nokk to traverse bigger areas more comfortably without being detected by defenders' cameras and catch them by surprise.

ORYX

REMAH DASH

• Will destroy Deployable and Talon shields. The dash is not interrupted.

Developers’ Comments: We are updating the Remah Dash to improve comfort and consistency. From now on, Deployable Shields and Talon Shields will no longer impede Oryx during the dash; instead, they will be destroyed and he will go through. This adjustment aligns with player expectations, especially considering Oryx's existing ability to pass through Kiba Barriers and Reinforced Barricades.

SENS

R.O.U. PROJECTOR SYSTEM

• Max. Resources: Increase to 4 R.O.U. Projectors (from 3).

Developers Comments: Despite the numerous improvements to the POF-9 and the additional utility that brings, Sens continues to underperform. We acknowledge the intricacy and skill required to use the R.O.U. Projectors effectively. The unpredictability of bounces can sometimes work against you. We hope the new Trajectory Previsualization can help to improve accuracy, but we are going to allocate additional resources to enhance flexibility and provide more opportunities for error correction while we keep investigating new ways to improve it.

---

GADGET BALANCING in Rainbow Six Siege Y9S1.3

Designer notes

IMPACT GRENADE

EXPLOSION

• Damage: Reduced to 40hp (from 60).
• Radius: Reduced to 2 meters (from 3).

OPERATORS AFFECTED

• Azami
• Caveira
• Clash
• Echo
• Goyo
• Maestro
• Melusi
• Rook
• Valkyrie
• Vigil
• Wamai

Developers’ Comments: We recognize the growing significance of Impact Grenades over the years. They play a crucial role in site setup, facilitate defenders' swift rotations, aid in clearing attackers utility, deny walls, and even eliminate adversaries. However, we acknowledge their excessive versatility, which prompts us to address their killing potential and wall-denial capabilities.

The reduced explosion radius possesses two major effects:

1. Impact-Tricking countermeasures: Attackers can prevent it by positioning the hard-breach device as close to the ground as possible in additional locations, And defender must be more accurate to do it successfully.
2. Precision requirement for utility clearance: Defenders must exercise greater accuracy when dealing with attackers' utility, such as Airjabs and Claymores. This adjustment allows attackers to place more reliance on this type of gadgets and experiment with unexpected placements.

---

WEAPON BALANCING in Rainbow Six Siege Y9S1.3 Designer notes

BALLISTIC SHIELD

GUARD BREAK

• Explosion: Trigger threshold reduced to 30 damage (from 50).

OPERATORS AFFECTED

• Blitz
• Fuze
• Montagne
• Clash

Developers’ Comments: Our goal is to ensure that the Impact Grenades remain effective counters against Ballistic Shields. Because of the recent damage change, we find it necessary to adjust the threshold for breaking a shield owner's guard.

The guard break system relies on the damage received, and it's important to note that no other explosives have undergone alterations. Consequently, other explosive devices will now create larger openings than before.

---

That sums up all the balances in Rainbow Six Siege Y9S1.3 Designer notes. For more Rainbow Six Siege related articles, check these out:

• Is Rainbow Six Siege Worth playing in 2024?
• 10 Best Rainbow Six Siege Elite Skin
• Rainbow Six Siege: Vulkan Mode explained
• Rainbow Six Siege error code 10-0x00000000: Possible fixes, reasons, and more