Rainbow Six Operation Shadow Legacy live: Zero, Chalet rework, more

Operation Shadow Legacy is here in Rainbow Six: Siege. It’s more than just Sam Fisher though, with the Chalet rework being moved forward, a new gadget for attackers, major Thatcher changes, and a host of quality-of-life improvements also coming in Y5S3. Check out the patch notes.

Operation Shadow Legacy marks a major shift in Siege’s development. From here on out, only one new operator will be released a season. This’ll open up the doors for much-needed improvements to the game as a whole.

In Y5S3, we are seeing just exactly what that means. Although there’s only half of the new, playable content, there’s more to get excited about. From Ping 2.0, to map bans, to new optics and customizable reticles, there’s more polish than ever.

That’s not to exclude Chalet being reworked, a new hard breaching gadget for attackers, and a major rework to Thatcher’s EMP grenades. Here’s everything you need to know about the Y5S3 Operation Shadow Legacy expansion.

When is the update?

The update is rolling out on all platforms on September 10.

• PC: 9am EDT/1pm UTC
• Xbox: 10am EDT/2pm UTC
• PS4: 11am EDT / 3pm UTC

New operator Zero

Sam Fisher is joining Team Rainbow as the only addition in Operation Shadow Legacy. He is a two-speed, two-armor attacker, and brings a new way of gathering intel.

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His Argus launcher stores four camera charges. These charges can penetrate through most surfaces, from barricades, to soft walls, to reinforced walls. Zero will be able to operate the camera so it can swap from each side of the surface it attaches to.

The Argus cameras will have a one-shot laser that can be used to destroy enemy utility, or deal five damage. The cameras are easy to kill though, with a stray bullet or an electrified surface destroying them. They are also capturable in mid-air with Jager ADS and Wamai discs.

As for Zero’s firepower, he’s bringing some old friends from Splinter Cell with him. His primary rifle is the SC3000K, fitted with up to a 2x scope. He also has access to the MP7, and his sidearm is a suppressed 5.7USG. His secondary gadgets are claymores and frag grenades.

Chalet rework moved to Y5S3, Skyscraper coming Y5S4

While the Skyscraper rework was originally planned for Operation Shadow Legacy, the order has been shuffled. The Chalet rework has been moved forward, and will go live in Y5S3 instead.

Numerous changes have been made to the map. The most obvious one is that it’s bigger. The top floor has expanded to include the master bedroom balcony in a new area called Solarium. Bathroom now connects to a new Piano room where the staircase used to be.

On the first floor, the Bar and Gaming Room bombsite has been reconfigured to make it a bit easier to defend. There’s now only one entry from outside into Gaming Room, while the Bar entry has moved to the other side of the fireplace.

In the basement, the Wine Cellar has been expanded to now connect with Blue. It is also all one room now, with the side Wine Room now being incorporated into the site. There’s now also a runout above Snowmobiles outside, so be careful when attacking for defenders sniping you.

New secondary hard breach gadget

Stuck without a hard breacher to help you break hatches and get onto site? Thankfully, there’s a new gadget being added in Operation Shadow Legacy to solve that conundrum.

A new secondary hard breaching gadget will be available to select attackers when Y5S3 launches. Attackers will only have access to one charge, but it’ll open a hole big enough to either crouch or vault through.

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The charge can be stopped by the usual methods ⁠— Bandit tricking, being shot, and Mute jammers. It’ll also be instantly deployed once you place it, so be sure to take cover once you’ve started the charge. Amaru, Capitao, Finka, Fuze, Lion, Montagne, Nokk, Ying will all have access to the new gadget.

Major Thatcher changes target EMP grenades

Thatcher’s utility has only gotten stronger in Siege as more operators have been added. There’s been one constant ⁠— the more powerful the defender utility, the more crucial it is to have a Thatcher.

In Y5S3, Ubisoft are looking at balancing that out. Thatcher’s EMP grenades will no longer destroy defender utility, but rather disable it for a certain amount of time. Certain gadgets will be disabled longer than others, but exact timings are unclear.

The change should give defenders a chance at minimalizing Thatcher’s impact. It’ll probably also shift him from being a must-ban to someone that’ll see a bit more play.

Replay system launching in Shadow Legacy

The replay system teased at Six Invitational, and revealed during Operation Steel Wave, will finally launch on Operation Shadow Legacy. Match replay will allow you to review your last 10 games using the in-game spectator mode, so you can analyze what you did right or wrong.

The feature will only be available to PC users on the TTS during the Alpha test. However, the full launch can be expected for sometime later in Y5S3 or early Y5S4.

Quality of life updates: reinforcement pool, Ping 2.0, map bans, more

With only one operator coming with Y5S3, Ubisoft have had the time to ship many quality of life updates that’ll make Siege a pleasure to play.

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Reinforcements will now be pooled between defenders. Instead of each defender getting two, the side as a whole will have access to 10 reinforcements. This’ll allow anchors to lock down sites, while roamers will be free to disperse across the map in prep phase.

A variety of new scopes are replacing some of the older ones. The ACOG is being removed entirely, being replaced by a selection of optics from 1.5x to 3x magnification. There’s also new Red Dot and Holographic sights, and players can now customize the color of their reticle.

Ping 2.0

Ping 2.0 is also coming with Operation Shadow Legacy. If you ping an enemy gadget, it’ll show as such for everyone on your team. You can also ping allied gadgets. Every player will also be assigned a ping number to more easily coordinate plays.

Finally, map bans are being added to ranked and unranked playlists. Each team will ban a map before entering the Operator ban phase. You’ll have a choice of three random maps. If both teams ban the same map, the game will randomly pick one of the remaining ones.