Rainbow Six Siege is an immensely complicated game to jump into. But we want to make your life easier, so we’ve compiled our picks for some of the best attacking operators in the game.
From soft-destructors to flank watch, we’ve got you covered. Some current favorites may be excluded from the rankings due to being new to the game and require more time and testing before it can be determined whether they can transcend metas.
Here are our picks for the top attacking operators in Rainbow Six Siege as of Operation Shifting Tides.
Buck
If you’re looking for a soft-destructor and breacher, then Buck is your best bet. While it’s true that Sledge is also a great soft-destructor and breacher, his gadget forces the player into sometimes precarious situations. What gives Buck the edge in our eyes is the fact that he can cause as much destruction as Sledge but from a slightly greater distance.
Giving yourself some breathing room while also putting the pressure on the defending team is an ideal situation for survival. As Buck, you’ll want to cause as much destruction as possible with the under-mounted Skeleton Key shotgun. But you’ll also want to stay up for the final push if the clock runs against your team.
The Skeleton Key is a decent option for those last-minute close-quarters encounters that might not demand accuracy so much as they might require a blunt force weapon like the Skeleton Key. Again, it’s much easier to rush an objective and get a kill with the Skeleton Key than it is with Sledge’s breaching hammer—unless you’re running Sledge’s shotgun or in it for the memes.
Buck also has access to the sturdy C8-SFW assault rifle and the less-commonly used CAMRS marksman rifle. Rounding out his kit with Frag Grenades is also what sets Buck a bit above the rest. The added ability of opening a hole above or beneath an objective to destroy traps is just too useful. For beginners, we would recommend Sledge, as the player will make mistakes that reinforce valuable learning experiences when it comes to soft-breaching.
Hibana
Hibana makes our list of top picks for more-or-less the same reason Buck took the edge over Sledge. Not only is there more flexibility than there is with Thermite, but there’s an added level of safety with Hibana that Thermite doesn’t quite offer. Hibana’s X-KAIROS pellet launcher allows the attacking player to tailor the size of the opening when hard-breaching a reinforced wall.
Instead of having to get right up against a wall to use her gadget, Hibana is able to have some more space when opening up a wall. Being able to set up a hard-breach and hold an angle from a small distance is much more comfortable than putting yourself in harm’s way with Thermite.
One of the only downsides to Hibana is that her Type-89 assault rifle has a smaller than average magazine size. Fewer bullets per mag means that the player will have to have better than average accuracy to make her work for their team. This really shouldn’t be a problem for seasoned players, but for beginners, we would recommend using Thermite until they’re more comfortable in gunfights.
Gridlock
For as strong as Gridlock has become in and out of the Pro League, it’s a wonder that she has only been around since Y4S1. The Australian attacker can provide some great roam denial and is a great candidate for a flank watch, or even some planting when the going gets tough.
Gridlock’s gadget and loadout combination are what give her the edge over Nomad. While Nomad is a fantastic operator with a bit more fairness to her than at launch, she does have a lackluster loadout that many players find uncomfortable. Nomad sees a fair amount of Pro League play but she takes a bit more coordination to play as effectively as Gridlock.
Having the option to lock down an enemy flank route and deny roamers access to the site for a retake is what make Gridlock’s Trax Stingers an amazing attacking tool. Because the Trax Stingers deploy to fill the space, there is no way around the gadget unless the defender very noisily destroys the Stingers. The ensuing noise will tip off the nearby Gridlock, and if the team is in communication, it should be a matter of shooting fish in a barrel.
The same can be said for locking down a bomb site. Once inside or on the approach, Gridlock can effectively lock out or flush out defenders from the site with her Trax Stingers. It’s a really interesting gadget that rewards flexible playstyles, communication, and is overall a bit more comfortable and reliable than Nomad’s Air Jabs.
Thatcher
Thatcher is a no brainer when it comes to the most valuable support operator in all of Rainbow Six Siege. There’s nobody else that can do what Thatcher does. His gadget is by far one of the simplest, yet most effective when used correctly. The operator takes literally no time to learn after the first time someone yells at you to “Thatcher this wall!”
Aside from being an easy operator to pick up, Thatcher is also an invaluable support operator that can quickly dictate the course of a round. Defenders cozied up with some Bandit batteries? Thatcher. Defenders are running a Kaid? Thatcher. Defenders pining you on cams too much? Thatcher. Really, the operator is extremely flexible and easy to use once learned.
Nobody will ever complain about a Thatcher on the team unless they fail to do their two jobs, which is to not die and throw an EMP at a wall. Without Thatcher, Thermite would never get to inform the team that there’s “a really big fucking hole coming right up!”
Jackal
Jackal is the operator that changed the landscape of how defensive roaming works in Siege. Before Jackal, there was really no way to track roamers down and flush out lurkers from their hiding spots. When Jackal arrived at the onset of Velvet Shell, roamers were knocked off their feet by how much harassment Jackal was capable of at any given point in a match.
The GEO operator’s ability to track his opponents with the Eyenox Model III has made Jackal one of the most heavily banned operators in all of Siege. While his ban rate is typically high at higher levels, he is one of the more frequent bans across the board and with good reason. Jackal can strike fear into roamers who are incapable of keeping their composure when being tracked.
Combine Jackal’s gadget with the laser beam that is the C7E assault rifle and the ITA12S shotgun secondary, and it’s really a no-brainer as to why the operator finds himself banned out so consistently. Jackal is as unique as Thatcher but his loadout is much stronger and isn’t dependent on synergy, making him a standout lone wolf operator.
