A few months after the debut of Operation Brutal SwarmUbisoft continues relentlessly in supporting its Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, which is preparing to welcome the update full of new features that will kick off Season 4 of Year 7, entitled Operation Solar Raid.
Solis arrives
At the center of the seasonal update, whose release should be scheduled for the first half of December, we find the new defense operator who takes the name of solis.
This soldier bases everything on her highly technological equipment, since she wears a glove and a helmet with a particular aesthetic which, activated in combo, allow her to exploit augmented reality and identify electronic devices even beyond the walls.As you may have already guessed, it is in all respects a sort of ‘defense IQ’since his gadget’s function is exactly the same as the German specialist’s. Using the primary ability, Solis enables his visor to locate nearby devices, which however are visible only and exclusively to you, who can report their position to your companions via ping or voice chat. It is only through the secondary skill that an impulse is generated which, independently, marks the location of enemy objects also on the screen of the remaining party elements.
We have seen the operator in action and her ability is not only effective against drones and other devices scattered around the map by attackers: in some cases, in fact, Solis identifies the piece of equipment even while it is in operation between the opponent’s handsallowing her to flush him out beyond a cover, without her being able to react in any way.
In this regard, the new playable character has two armor points and two speed points, with this balance also reflected in the endowment. Solis can decide whether to use an agile P90a machine gun with a large magazine and a high rate of fire, or whether to wield a powerful shotgun ITA 12L for close quarters. Alongside the primary we find a SMG-11 and either the Impact Grenade or the Flak Camera to choose from.
With Operation Solar Raid, all owners of the first-person tactical shooter will be able to play at no additional cost even in the brand new arena Nighthaven Labs. It is a splendid laboratory located in the middle of an exotic location which serves as a base of operations for thenamesake team of operators led by Caveira and focused on espionage.
Characterized by a futuristic and incredibly clean design, this map structured on two floors has a small size and a high concentration of small rooms in which the operators can freely choose how to act both in attack and in defense.By choice of the developers, Nighthaven Labs will not be able to be banned in fights that will take place in the period immediately following the release of the update, so that players can begin to become familiar with the scenario and know all its secrets.
Barrier-free multiplayer
Operation Solar Raid is not only made up of new content, but also and above all by a wide range of devices that fans of the first-person shooter will appreciate a lot. We start with the highly anticipated duo formed by cross play and cross savewhich will finally allow you to switch from one platform to another while keeping all the skins and currencies, which will be automatically unified (provided the accounts are linked to the same Ubisoft Connect profile).
Cross-play, on the other hand, will have a more particular functioning due to the division into two macro-categories who will not be able to interact with each other to avoid problems due to the use of different peripherals: console players will be able to play together without limits, while Amazon Luna and PC users will be managed separately (also as regards the ranks of the ranked).A novelty of this magnitude could have a significant impact on the gaming experience, allowing longtime fans to change the reference platform and speed up matchmaking thanks to a much larger pool of users. Another big change concerns competitive matches, as the developers have decided to introduce the ‘ranked 2.0’.
The new system revolutionizes the functioning of theMMRa value that will not be reset from season to season and will therefore be permanent: the grade will act as an evaluation for the user, since everyone will start from bronze – without the placement matches – and they will have to accumulate points with victories to reach the diamond and also passing through the emerald, a grade introduced precisely with the new system.
Each rank also comes with an exclusive reward, so players are encouraged to perform at their best in ranked. To make matters worse, the restrictions for groups have also been liftedso that users can take part in competitive matches regardless of their rank: the matchmaking system will evaluate their overall skills and match them with other users of the same level.
Linked to the innovations of the ranked is also the renewed reputation mechanism of the player, coming soon. It is a screen visible exclusively to the player which signals bonuses and maluses relating to his online behavior. Those who behave well in the game, for example, can see their progression speed up, while those who have a toxic attitude could even be deprived of the ability to communicate with the other members of the team.In order to limit toxicity and contingencies, Ubisoft has also decided to introduce a small change to friendly fire, which will no longer be active during the match preparation phase. This should further reduce unintentional takedowns and those performed with the aim of ruining the match after the already excellent results obtained with the introduction of reverse friendly fire.
A different Battle Pass than usual
The seasonal update also includes small tweaks concerning the controls, the movement of the drone (we will be able to move it diagonally with a controller) and other aspects of the French production that should improve the ‘quality of life’. One of the most important changes concerns Zofia And Capitao, since we will be able to change the bullets in use on their gadgets even while holding a primary or secondary weapon. The statistics of old operators will also be revisited soon to enhance their potential, since Dokkaebi, Sens And Dare they will become characters with only one life point and three speed points. Even the eye wants its part and could not miss a little study on Battle Passes, which offers a different system of access to rewards than usual. Following closely what has been done recently in COD Warzone 2.0, Rainbow Six Siege also tries the non-linear approach and the path through which skins can be obtained (including drone decorationsan absolute novelty for the game) and other cosmetics will be made of crossroads and secondary paths that will also lead to the splendid yokai uniform for Smoke.
Finally, to close with a flourish we find the announcement of a new series of crossover skins which marks the beginning of one partnership with NieR AutomataSquare Enix title to which two costumes will be dedicated: one inspired by 2B for Iana and one that incorporates the features of the protagonist of Replicant for Maverick.
Rainbow Six Siege: Solis and the cross save among the many novelties of Operation Solar Raid