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All the best Rainbow Six Siege operators suck now

New speed changes to the best Rainbow Six Siege operators will likely shake up the meta in a pretty significant way following the FPS game's Solar Raid update

All the best Rainbow Six Siege operators suck now: A Japanese woman wearing a hoodie holds a gun on her shoulder with a tactical vest with the Japanese flag

If you’re familiar with Ubisoft’s tactical shooter then you know that practically all of the best Rainbow Six Siege operators are the fast ones with a speed rating of three – and they’re getting nerfed hard when Operation Solar Raid comes out.

 

In case you’re new to Rainbow Six Siege, the advantage of three-speed operators is that they can swing around corners and peak angles at a speed that’s hard to even react to. However, while speed differences will remain in the game when Solar Raid arrives, Ubisoft is reducing the speed of aim-down sight movement so that every operator can ADS strafe at the same speed.

The speed rating has been a contentious element of Rainbow Six Siege since its earliest days, with many prominent members of the competitive scene highlighting that it increases the number of variables in each gunfight and makes combat more random. Ubisoft has previously reduced the movement speeds of all operators in the game and used speed rating changes as a means of buffing and nerfing operators like Jager and Glaz.

What’s still a little unclear is how the speed rating will affect the transition between hip-fire and aim-down sight fire, as it may still be possible to swing around a corner at full speed before the ADS speed takes effect.

While this is a relatively small change compared to the new map, operator, and ranked overhaul that is arriving with Operation Solar Raid, its impact on the meta could be huge with some of the most picked three-speed operators like Ash, Maverick, Hibana, Alibi, Melusi, and Vigil losing their edge in gunfights. While harder to notice, this will also act as an indirect buff to the much less popular one-speed operators.

Alongside this general balancing change, Ubisoft is also adjusting the health and armour ratings of a few operators. Osa is going from a two-speed, two-armour to a one-speed, three-armour so that she can survive a bit more limb damage while placing her shields. Dokkaebi and Sens meanwhile, are both going from two-speed, two-armour, to three-speed, one-armours as their gadgets require more mobility to be effective.

Rainbow Six Siege Operation Solar Raid is set to arrive on December 6 and will bring a new IQ-like operator to defence, a fresh map, and plenty more. In the meantime, though, we’ve got a list of the best FPS games to help you sharpen your skins ahead of Solar Raid.