In preparation for "Rainbow Six Siege" Year 5, Ubisoft is testing dramatic nerfs and buffs that could shake up the meta. The most significant of these tests will be a significant increase in the Aimed Under Sight (ADS) time for all weapons in the game.

Blackbeard, Yin, Finca, and Era are receiving experimental buffs, which may increase from medium to high. Receiving nerfs are three of the most popular defenders: Echo, Maestro, and Jaeger. All of these changes are being made on the technical test server, and there is no guarantee that they will be reflected in the production game. But at least Ubisoft is seriously exploring these ideas.

This is partly a fix, partly a new nerf: according to Ubi, the new ADS times are "similar" to those before the first-person animations were reworked in Operation Emberlize. There are a few notable exceptions, however. ADS times for secondary SMGs (SMG-11, SMG-12, Bearing 9, C75 Auto) are more than twice as long in this patch. Smoke, Mute, and Dokkaebi will be most affected.

This is also a small buff for LMGs, whose sights are now only 0.05 seconds slower (down from 0.1 second) than assault rifles. With the exception of the listed SMGs, the longer sighting time would not make a significant change for the player. After all, we are talking tenths of a second.

Against all good sense, Echo finally gave in and bought a smart phone. Unfortunately, that meant he became known as Dokkaebi, just like the other defenders. His specter drone also became susceptible to Dokkaebi's camera hacks.

The proposed adjustment is a major nerf to Echo's main job in the meta, which is to destroy the defender's plants with the specter's sonic burst, because when called by Dokkaebi's Logic Bomb, the defender is forced off camera until he hangs up, A well-timed call can buy enough time for the attacker to set up the defender without fear. The light emitted by the specter when the cloak is released may be the biggest nerf of all. If that light is bright enough, finding and destroying the drone after firing a burst may become trivial.

"We believe the ALDA is powerful even without the ACOG and want to see if the removal of the ACOG will highlight the ALDA's other excellent qualities," the post reads Maestro's ALDA LMG is arguably one of the best weapons on the defensive side of the field. Players have long suggested that increased recoil would balance its qualities as a good fixed weapon, but Ubi has opted for optics instead. The loss of sights limits their advantage on some targets, but their status remains the same.

Speaking of nerfing powerful defender weapons, a lot of damage was lost from the Jaeger 416-C assault rifle; according to Ubi, this change is because the 416 outperforms all other defender weapons. knockdown to the 38 is still higher than other weapons higher, but it takes at least one more shot to get a kill in most situations. Jaeger's ADS device remains essential to the competition, so his pick rate will probably not move.

This is a borderline rework for Ing. I like the focus on ease of use and clarity in this change, as it has always felt like a game of chance to accurately throw and roll Ying's Candela. I can now see through walls to see if the candela has reached its intended target, and I can see if it is safe to push an enemy. The faster detonation time is really scary. The whole thing detonates in 0.3 seconds, closer to the instantaneous pop of a flash grenade than the methodical "thunk thunk thunk" of a fuse charge.

Remember when Ela was the most overpowered at Siege? Her Scorpion hasn't gotten much attention since the big 2018 nerf, but Ubi is taking a stab at its higher-than-average recoil. A low recoil on a high powered weapon makes me a little nervous, but time will tell how well it balances out.

A small QOL change by Blackbeard that makes a lot of sense. I still think rifle shields that block headshots don't belong in "Siege" in the first place, but a faster ADS time might make players forgo shields, especially in tense situations.

For almost two years, Finca's Spear Rifle has been one of the weakest in the game; four extra damage would help a bit, but most players would still prefer the 6P41 LMG. When timed with her adrenal boost, the LMG can easily outperform the Spear as a laser.

As Ubi points out, the damage boost primarily targets the Nøkk; the FMG is particularly weak in status, making it a tough primary weapon. This boost makes it roughly equivalent to a typical defensive SMG.