The 5 best attackers in Rainbow Six: Siege Year 6

Andrew Amos

Rainbow Six: Siege has now entered Year 6, and there’s plenty of attackers to build a squad with. Be sure to get your ranked grind off on the right foot by picking up the best attackers in the game right now with our guide.

With 30 operators to choose from on attack – including the recent addition of Flores – it can be hard shuffling through what’s good and what’s bad. A lot of attackers have a heavy focus on hard-hitting weaponry, giving them the advantage in gunfights over defenders.

However, there are some operators that get the perfect blend of strong weaponry and good utility to help them breach into sites, clear out pesky roamers, or just straight up frag.

So, to help you out on the ranked climb, we’ve compiled a list of the best attackers in Rainbow Six you need to have on your team to get more wins ahead of Y6S4: Operation High Caliber.

Ash

Rainbow Six: Siege Y5S4.3 Patch
Ash may not be as strong as she once was, but she’s still really good.

Some things change, but others stay the same. Ash is still one of Siege’s most prolific attackers in Year 6, despite Ubisoft doing everything in their power to nerf the hasty American.

She’s a core staple of pretty much every ranked stack, quick play squad, or Pro League team. A three-speed with explosive power in her gadget, she can quickly break onto sites, fragging up a storm with either the G36C or the R4-C ⁠— two of the most lethal rifles in Siege.

She’s lost her flash bangs late in Year 5, but gained an extra Breaching Round charge. She can do a lot of damage if set up correctly, helping knock down Deployable Shields once ADSes and Wamai discs are burned out.

She still have an over 80% presence ⁠— the highest out of any attacker ⁠— so it’s gonna take some extra changes from Ubisoft to bring Ash into line. For now though, feel free to pick up the Team Rainbow OG to stomp on everyone if you back your aim.

Zofia

Zofia in Rainbow 6
Zofia is Siege’s jack-of-all-trades on attack.

If you want to play a more fancy version of Ash, then Zofia is your gal. The Polish attacker has plenty of utility up her sleeve with her KS79 Lifeline, packing both explosive charges and concussion grenades to keep defenders on their toes.

Much like Ash, she’s a staple of basically every attacking lineup in the game. Sometimes Ash and Zofia are used in replacement of one another, but more aggressive lineups with aim gods will use both.

Those who can tame Zofia’s M762 assault rifle will be treated to an experience with one of the best rifles in the game. Need a little more destructive power? Her LMG-E can hose enemies down ⁠— one 150-bullet magazine at a time.

Coming into Year 6, Zofia has been nerfed pretty hard. She’s lost her resistance to concussion, and also her Withstand mechanic that allowed her to get back fighting on 5 HP after being downed. However, it’s unlikely to stop her from being a menace on the battlefield in 2021.

Ace

Ace key art for Rainbow Six Siege
Ace has overtaken the old guard to become Team Rainbow’s best hard breacher.

Ace is Rainbow Six’s newest hard breacher, and arguably the best in the game. His SELMA charges can open up as big a hole as he and his team wants, making for some great plays tinkering with lines of sight and other cutesy mechanics.

He has also been graced with the ultra-powerful AK-12 assault rifle, once only reserved for Fuze. It was a bit wasted on the Russian, so having its insane stats on such a potent operator like Ace is a gunner’s delight.

The best part about his entire kit though ⁠— to truly round it out ⁠— is his Smoke Grenades. Once he blows open a wall, he can throw down some smokes, get a quick plant off, and jump back out, making for an easy defense. Just make sure you clear out any potential threats before going for the hero play.

Just one thing to be mindful of with Ace: Don’t use his SELMA grenades on floor hatches. It’s a waste of utility, so if you need to open up reinforced hatches (like for attacking on Clubhouse), bring a Hibana or Maverick as well.

Thatcher

Thatcher in Rainbow Six Siege
Thatcher is a must-have in Rainbow Six, when he’s not banned.

If your hard breacher is having a hard time getting their utility off due to some pesky Mute jammers or some Bandit tricking defenders, you need to call in Thatcher. The British attacker specializes in making sure his team can get onto the point with his EMP Grenades.

Thatcher gets three of these highly-powerful explosives that take down enemy utility for a certain amount of time. In that time, you can get off whatever you need, without having to worry about getting stopped by defenders.

Once you’re on the other side of whatever obstacle you had to climb, Thatcher can whip out his AR33 or L85A2 assault rifle to pick off any stragglers trying desperately to maintain their ground. He can even deploy a Claymore to watch behind him.

Thatcher is a high-priority ban in both ranked and pro play, so if he slips through the cracks, it’s useful to be able to use him. He makes attacking bombsites a lot easier, so be sure to recruit him in every situation you can.

Nomad

Nomad deploying Airjab in Rainbow Six Siege
Nomad’s Airjabs make her Siege’s best flank watch.

To round out our list, we’ve got Nomad. While she may not strike you as a must-have in your Siege attacking line-up, she does one thing supremely well ⁠— better than most other attackers ⁠— and that’s flank watch.

Her airjabs are brilliant at keeping defenders at bay as your team pushes ahead. As soon as they pop around a corner, you can knock them down and clean them up before they can fight back.

Once she’s put out the grenades, you can focus on throwing in flash bangs to use up enemy ADSes, and then charge in with either the AK-74M or ARX200 rifles to clean up house. Both are great rifles to have by your side, although the ARX can be a bit slow-firing for some.

Not every attacker in Siege has to blow up big holes or go on killing sprees every round. Some just have to be team players doing their job to get the win. Nomad is the definition of that in Siege.