Rainbow Six Operation North Star patch notes: Reworks, Ash & Melusi nerfs, Zero buffs

Rainbow Six Siege’s Operation North Star is just around the corner and a range of huge changes are set to be added to the title. Let’s break down exactly what Ubisoft is bringing on June 14 and which Operators are receiving buffs and nerfs.

Ubisoft’s Operation North Star patch is scheduled for June 14 and Rainbow Six players are counting down the days before the major update goes live.

With a brand new Operator to master, new after-death activities, and a host of reworks, Operation North Star is definitely one of the game’s most highly-anticipated updates.

However, before all these changes are introduced, it’s key you’re familiar with every detail and addition that is coming on June 14 so you’re ready to play as soon as Operation North Star launches.

So, without further ado, here are the patch notes for the Y6S2 update.

Rainbow Six Siege May 24 update patch notes

Gameplay after death rework

Although these features will only be available on the test server this season, Ubisoft has confirmed they’re reworking what players are able to do in a match once they have died.

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The goal is to keep participants in a game interested and engaged even after they’ve been eliminated. A lot of the time it can often feel as if you’re waiting for the round to end and the developers do not want this to be the case.

So, to combat this, players are being given the opportunity to control their drones and cameras more actively after they’ve died. The changes differ depending on whether you’re attacking or defending as shown below:

Attackers

• Dead players can control and drive their own drone, including Twitch’s drone. You cannot drive the drone of another operator.
• Antennas are shown on regular drones when the owner dies, in order to help opponents know if the drone belongs to a dead or alive operator.
• The abilities of observation tools and gadgets can be used.
• If you died with regular drones in your inventory, they will spawn at your original spawn location.
• An operator ability like Twitch’s Shock Drone won’t spawn after death.

Defenders

• Bulletproof Camera Rework
  – The camera can now rotate.
  – The camera can shoot an EMP burst to disable Attackers’ electronic gadgets and drones for 8 seconds.
  – The first player in the camera can use the ability to shoot. Unlike operators’ abilities, there is no notion of ownership.
• Drone Counter
  – The Drone Counter is displayed exclusively to Defenders to help them track the number of regular drones their team has destroyed or captured.
  – This is intended to incentivize Defenders to be aware of the importance of destroying drones, especially in a context where dead players can still drone them out.
  – This counter is not meant to reveal extra intel to Defenders. It only reflects Defenders’ actions and doesn’t take into account special drones – only regular ones.
• Echo, Maestro, and Mozzie can control and use their abilities after death.
  – Note for Maestro: Teammates will be able to rotate the turret-like any other observation tool, although Maestro will maintain priority over other Defenders.

HP set to replace armor

In order to streamline and establish clear health pools for all operators, Ubisoft is replacing armor with HP to make it easier for players to evaluate the impact of an aggressive play.

Similar to the death after gameplay rework, these changes will remain on the test server for the time being.

• Operator armor will be converted to HP:
  – 3-armor operators will have 125 HP
  – 2-armor operators will have 110 HP
  – 1-armor operators will have 100 HP
• Rook’s Armor Plates will grant a buff to permanent HP for the round:
  – Picking up Armor Plates will buff an operator’s maximum HP by 20 until the end of a round
• Any heals will heal up to this new maximum value for the duration of the round

Death Experience

Adjustments are being made to the death sequence in Operation Northstar, with Ubisoft tweaking replays to give players more control. The goal of the changes was to give players a clear indication of how they died and allow them to relay that key information to their team as quickly as possible.

• Adjusted the flow and content of replays after being fragged

Eliminated Operator Icons

Ubisoft has decided to remove player bodies in the upcoming patch, replacing them with easy-to-see icons. This will prevent players from being affected by unfairly obstructed sightlines and even the playing field between teams.

• When a player is eliminated, a transparent operator icon will appear in place of their body and remain for the duration of the round.

Bullet Holes rework

Players will no longer be able to peak through single bullet holes following the major update. Instead, they’ll have to shoot multiple times through a surface to create a larger hole that can be used as a sightline.

It’s worth noting that on release, this rework will not apply to barricades.

• Line of sight through bullet holes in soft surfaces has been blocked

Shattered Glass & Bulletproof changes

With players finding a lot of value in bulletproof utility, Ubisoft is looking to give other players a counter for these gadgets and devices. This will come in the form of a well-placed melee hit that can block vision coming from a device.

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However, exposing yourself to break the bulletproof glass is extremely risky and may not be worth it in certain scenarios.

• A melee hit will now shatter the glass of Mira’s Black Mirror, Maestro’s Evil Eye, and the Bulletproof Camera
• Shattered glass is opaque and prevents these devices from being used to spot players
• When Mira’s Black Mirror is shattered, vision is denied on both sides
• When the canister is destroyed, the device now shatters and explodes (solely a visual effect) instead of falling to the floor
• When Maestro’s Evil Eye is shattered, he has to open the device to see through it

Smoke operator changes

Ubisoft is changing the behavior of Smoke’s toxic gas and Remote Gas Grenade so the fumes release more naturally. This will improve players ability to maneuver through his gas instead of being locked off in certain locations.

• Toxic gas from Smoke’s Remote Gas Grenade will not travel through walls, floors, and ceilings
• A new sound plays when the canister is detonated
• Toxic gas damage increased to 15 HP every 0.66 seconds while in area of effect

Operator buffs & nerfs

Ash

• Reduced Breaching Rounds to 2 (from 3)
• Modified R4-C recoil, harder to control:
• Increased vertical kick
  – Horizontal spread will be more constant and stronger to the right
  – Long burst recoil will start on the 8th bullet (previously the 12th)
• Breaching Rounds are now immune to electricity

Finka

• Finka’s ability will fill up teammates’ base health. The exceeding boost health will be allocated as overheal

Nokk

The changes to Nokk are currently limited to the game’s test server and will remain there even when the update goes live.

• When HEL Presence Reduction is active:
  – Proximity-based gadgets are not triggered
  – Gadgets affected: Ela’s Grzmot Mine, Melusi’s Banshee, Proximity Alarm, and Metal Detectors
• Laser-based gadgets are triggered
• Sounds made by Nøkk are no longer muffled
• Glitch effect cancels proximity immunity, resulting in the activation of any gadget in range

Melusi

• Banshees are now deployed closed and will open when triggered, revealing a Banshee Core
• Banshee Cores are vulnerable to bullets and melee attacks
• The device now also detects enemies’ feet (previously detected head and hip)

Vigil

• Modified K1A recoil, harder to control:
  – Mild increase to vertical kick
  – Horizontal spread will be more constant and stronger to the right
  – Long burst recoil will start on the 6th bullet (previously the 12th)

Zero

• Added same resource management system as Twitch’s drone to Argus Camera
  – Cooldown: 15s
  – Initial/Maximum shots: 1

Weapon changes

Bearing 9

• Modified recoil, easier to control:
  – Horizontal spread will be more constant and closer to the center

SMG-12

• Modified recoil, easier to control:
  – Reduced first shot kick
  – Reduced vertical kick
  – Horizontal spread will be more predictable and constant to the left
  – Long burst recoil will start on the 12th bullet (previously the 6th)

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There you have it, that rounds off all of the changes arriving in the Operation North Star update. There are certainly plenty of major reworks to look forward to and some serious changes to the fundamental aspects of the game.

Don’t forget to check the official patch notes on Ubisoft’s official page here.