Operator: Frost (Year 1, Season 1 Black Ice)
Frost is a solid choice for someone who is a newer player on Rainbow Six Siege. She is an easy operator to get used to, Frost is one of the universal operators that can be successful on all maps and game modes. When it comes to her ratings, she is a 1 difficulty, a 2 speed, and a 2 armor. She is a balanced defender that has a good ability if you want to be one of those annoying, yet strategic players. Her ability is called a “Welcome Mat”, which is a bear trap that looks like a floor mat. What this mat does is once an opposing player steps in it, it crunches their leg and downs the player (unless it is the last remaining player, then it just kills them”. She gets 3 of these mats that she can put anywhere on the map as long as it is on the ground. One common use for these mats are when you place them right inside of a window so that when the opposing player jumps through it, they land in the mat and are instantly down. Another strategy that is the best use for a mat is Frost has a deployable shield that she can put in a doorway to make the other team jump over it if they want to get into the room. What She can do is put a mat right behind that shield forcing the other team to hit the mat. The one catch is that if the other team is quick enough, they can shoot the mat while jumping if they see it. When you think about it, it’s a win, win situation, either you will down the player in a mat, or they will give away their position when they shoot it. When it comes to her weapons, she has the choice between a shotgun and a submachine gun. The shotgun the SUPER 90 is a 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun that is a good choice if you are on a close quarters map, however it is not the usual primary weapon for most Frost users. Her 9mm C1 submachine gun is the normal choice, it has a slower fire rate but makes up for it with medium stopping power. Frost one gets one choice for a secondary and that is the MK1 9mm standard pistol. It is a reliable pistol, just only use it when out you have no ammo in your primary or the opposing player is rushing your position. For equipment, she has the choice between either a bullet proof camera or a deployable shield. I would recommend the deployable shield so that you can use the tactic to put a welcome mat behind it.
Operator: Valkyrie (Year 1, Season 2 Dust Line)
Valkyrie is a more strategic operator that usually requires a decent knowledge of the map in order to use her. There are two ways to play as Valkyrie, you can either play as a support character and be in the job site the whole round, or you can be a roamer that tries to flank the other team as the approach the objective. For her ratings, she is a 2 difficulty, a 2 speed, and a 2 armor. If she is used correctly, she can be a very reliable and feared operator. Her ability is called the “Black Eye” which is the name for her hidden cameras that she throws. She throws cameras throughout the map where she sees fit and they can only really be seen when someone is looking through the camera. When they are in use, they give off a blue light that looks different from normal cameras and her cameras have a 360 degree oscillation. These cameras are great for throwing in hallways that are not already patrolled by the standard cameras the map has already in the game. Usually you would put one camera in each objective if you are playing bomb so that you can have a view of the objective without being in it. The other way to use her cameras is to tear down a window that goes outside and throw a camera outside so you can spot the opposing players before they get in. You can only throw the cameras outside after the “Prep Phase” and that means that the other team will be able to shoot you if they see you throwing the camera. Cameras can be accessed by both living and eliminated players, so even when she dies, she can still help the team with well placed cameras. She has two choices for a primary weapon, the first being the MPX submachine gun. This is my recommended pick because it has a high fire rate and high penetration through enemies and soft walls. She then has the option of the SPAS-12 semi-automatic 12-gauge shotgun, this option is for those toxic players that like to barrel-stuff (run up to you and hit you from point-blank range). This can be useful when in close quarters but majority of the time, you are going to want a gun with some range. Just liker her counter part Blackbeard, she has the D-50 .50 caliber pistol as her secondary. This Desert Eagle is a deadly secondary that can deal similar damage to a shotgun if you have the accuracy. She then has the choice between a deployable shield or a nitro cell (C4) for her equipment. Both can be used strategically; it is all based on your play style.
Operator: Caveira (Year 1, Season 3 Skull Rain)
Caveira is one of the most hated and loved operators in the game to this point. She is the first installment of a rogue operator. She is the best form of counterintelligence you can get in Siege. Aside from Echo, she is the most commonly banned operator in ranked gameplay, there is no more annoying operator than Caveira. This is not a proven fact, but from my perspective, Caveira is the operator that causes the most rage quits in all of Siege. Her ratings are a 3 difficulty, a 3 speed, and a 1 armor. Her stats are great, but that is not what makes her a feared operator, it is her ability. It is called the “Silent Step” and what this does is it allows her to have silent footsteps, this takes away the ability of attacking operators to hear her run around or hear her coming. Since she can be completely silent, combined with her 3 speed, she can get from one side of the map to the other without being heard. She also has a secondary ability, when using her silent step, she can only use her silenced pistol, but when shot by this pistol enough, the opposing player will go into the downed state. If no other opposing players are around Caveira can go up to them and interrogate them, this then reveals the position of all other opposing players for about 10 seconds. That is the annoying part, you could be sneaking around the side of the objective but if your teammate gets caught by Caveira, your plan for a stealthy entrance has been foiled. There is no more defeating event in Siege than to be downed and interrogated by Caveira, your team usually hates you and you hate yourself at that point. Before a recent patch update, if you quit the game before Caveira finished the interrogation, it would cancel it and your team would be safe from being revealed, but now if you uit it just automatically gives the interrogation to her. So now if you quit while being interrogated, you will not only give away your team’s positions, but you will also leave them a man down when you decide to quit. When it comes to weapons, she has the choice between two weapons, a normal gun and then a toxic gun. First, she has a M12 submachine gun that is effective at short to medium range. It has a low recoil which is great for firefights and peeking. Her toxic option is the SPAS-15 semi-automatic 12-gauge shotgun. This is not a pump action, so if you have a good trigger finger, this will be a very deadly option. She then has her silenced LUISON pistol which is a PRB92 9mm pistol that has a custom suppressor. You can only use her ability if you have this pistol out, if you switch to her primary while using her ability, it will cancel the ability and force it to recharge before you can use it again. She also has the choice between 2 impact grenades or a bullet proof camera for her equipment. Use her as a roamer with a good knowledge of the map and you will be a force to be reckoned with.
Operator: Echo (Year 1, Season 4 Red Crow)
Echo is another annoying operator to play against but a great choice to have on your team. Just like Caveira, Echo is one of the most commonly banned operator it ranked gameplay. When in ranked, each team gets to ban one attacking and one defending operator. That would be a total of 4 operators that cannot be used for the duration of the match. For his ratings, he is a 3 difficulty, a 1 speed, and a 3 armor. Echo is typically used as a support operator that stays in or near the objective area. His ability is called the “Yokai”, and these are 2 cloaked drones that shoots sonic concussion waves to disorient the opposing players. What usually happens if you are playing is that Echo will put one of these drones in the objective site and one in the hallway leading up to it. These drones have a double use, first as a camera that can be used to spot opposing players and mark them, then he can use the disorienting effect. Each drone gets 2 shots that recharge over time and can be used again. These drones stick to the roof and can be moved at any time when Echo is alive. Once Echo is eliminated, he cannot use the sonic pulse feature, rather it will just become a cloaked camera for your team to use. The one big factor about why he is banned a lot is that if he hits you with a pulse while you are planting the defuser, it will stop you from planting and make you start over. He can do this from anywhere on the map so it can become very annoying for attackers if they cannot stop him from using the drone and he can prevent you from planting the defuser, so he gets banned a lot. When it comes to his weapons, he has the choice between the SUPERNOVA pump action 12-gauge shotgun. I would not recommend this for anyone, rather I would tell you to use his MP5SD 9mm submachine gun that has a fitted silencer on it. It is fully automatic and has very little recoil. For a secondary, he has the option between a standard P229 semi-automatic pistol (not recommended) and then his Bearing 9 compact submachine gun, which is do recommend. To have another fully automatic weapon gives you a huge advantage in firefights that come down to your secondary. For equipment, he has the option between either a deployable shield or barbed wire. If you do it right, you can hide behind the deployable shield in a corner and operate your drones from complete cover.
