The new season of Rainbow Six Siege is finally here. For the release time, patch notes and more read on.

First Published June 14, 2021, 12:40

It's been a long few months but the new season of Rainbow Six Siege is almost here.

The Y6S2 North Start update is bringing with it a brand new operator, Thunderbird, a rework to Favela, and game-changing additions the first steps towards a massive overhaul to the game's After Death Experience, which will give dead players more impact on rounds than ever before.

The update will release today and the servers are currently down for maintenance. Here is everything you need to know before they come back up.

Y6S2 North Star - release time / update size

The developers are expecting the servers to go down for one hour on 14th June as they roll out the update.

Here are the times for each platform:

(Picture: Ubisoft)

The patch will be between 4-6GB depending on the platform.

• Steam: 4GB
• uPlay: 6GB
• Xbox One: 4GB
• Xbox Seres S/X: 5GB
• PlayStation 4: 4GB
• PlayStation 5: 5GB

Y6S2 North Star- patch notes

North Star might well prove to be one of the biggest updates the game has ever seen with the After Death Experience changes (currently only on the Test Server) potentially marking a sea-change in how the game is played.

Read on if you want to learn more.

Thunderbird

(Picture: Ubisoft)

The game's newest Operator is Thunderbird, a 3-speed defender and "free-spirited pilot" from the Nakoda Territories in Saskatchewan, Canada. A healer by nature, she uses her Kóna Healing Station to improve the well-being of her teammates and also foes.

Primary weapon:

• Spear .308
• Spas-15

Secondary weapon:

• Bearing 9
• Q-929

Gadget:

• Impact Grenade
• Nitro Cell

Favela

(Picture: Ubisoft)

Favela was originally made to provide players with a brand new destruction experience and was never intended for competitive play. While the destructible exterior walls on Favela map have allowed for interesting strategies, they never provided players with perfectly balanced gameplay. Attackers had plenty of entry points to breach, making it difficult for Defenders to guard their objectives.

The goal of this rework was to make gameplay on Favela map more balanced and competitive, while still retaining its element of fun.

The two main entryways on Favela's roof have been preserved. They were previously named 3F Main Stairs, 3F Back Stairs, and 3F Packaging and are now named 3F Red Stairs, 3F Trash Chute, and 3F Electrical. The map's small size, irregular exterior, and verticality also remain. The rest of the map, including the overall structure of the main building, has been completely remade, so players will get to experience a virtually new location that retains the same theme as the original Favela.

Death Experience

Death Changes

• When a player dies they will now be able to skip over the first-person death animation. In addition, the slow motion and opponent closeup that were previously part of the death replay have been removed. This change was made to help keep players in the flow of action.

Operator Icons

• When a player is eliminated, a transparent Operator icon will appear in place of their body. The icon will remain for the duration of the round, just as a body would. This change was made to help players identify eliminated Operators and prevent unfair gameplay scenarios involving bodies.

Gameplay After Death – Test Server Only

• To gather community feedback, the Y6S2 Test Server will have new gameplay after death. Attackers will be able to drive their own drones after death. As well, Zero's ARGUS Cameras, Mozzie's drones, Echo's Yokai, and Maestro's Evil Eye can be used by those Operators after death. Bulletproof Cameras (which now fire EMP bursts) can be used by Defenders after death. This feature aims to reduce downtime when players are eliminated and offer more ways for players to support their team and have an impact on the round.

Balance changes

Melusi Changes

• When active, the center of Melusi's Banshee Sonic Defense will now be vulnerable to bullets, lasers, explosives, and melee attacks. The outer shell that surrounds the center is bulletproof but vulnerable to explosions.

Smoke Changes

• The propagation system in Smoke's Remote Gas Grenade has been reworked to prevent the toxic gas from travelling through walls, floors, and ceilings.

Shattered Glass

• Players will now be able to use a melee hit to shatter the glass of Mira's Black Mirror, Maestro's Evil Eye, and the Bulletproof Camera. Shattered glass is opaque and prevents the devices from being used to spot opponents.

Nøkk Changes – Test Server Only

• To gather feedback, a few changes to Nøkk will be present on the Test Server only. When activated, Nøkk's HEL Presence Reduction won't set off proximity-based devices, but Nøkk will still trigger laser-based gadgets (like Kapkan's Entry Denial Devices and Aruni's Surya Gates). The noise reduction aspect of her ability has also been removed.

Operator changes

Ash

• Reduced number of Breach Rounds from 3 to 2.
• Increased R4-C vertical recoil. Horizontal spread will be more constant and stronger to the right, and long burst recoil will start on the 8th bullet instead of the 12th.

Finka

• HP is now permanently granted, similar to HP granted by Doc's Stim Pistol.

Melusi

• When Melusi's Banshee Sonic Defense is active, the core becomes vulnerable to bullets and melee attacks.
• The device now detects enemies' feet.

Rook

• The deploy and equip interactions for Rook have been merged, so he now drops the Armor Pack and applies his own armour in the same movement.

Valkyrie

• Valkyrie now has primary control over her Black Eye cameras, so she will take control over the cameras if another player is trying to use them at the same time (similar to Zero and Echo).

Vigil

• Increased vertical recoil. Horizontal spread will be more constant and stronger to the the right. Long burst recoil will start on the 6th bullet instead of the 12th.

Zero

• The ARGUS Camera now uses the same resource management system as the Shock Drone. A shot is recharged every 15 seconds. The device has infinite ammunition and only 1 shot can be stacked.

Bearing 9

• Horizontal spread is now more constant instead of randomly moving to the left or right, and the next shot is closer to the centre.

SMG-12

• First shot kick has been reduced and vertical recoil has been reduced. Horizontal spread will be more predictable and constant to the left, and long burst recoil will start on the 12th bullet instead of the 6th.

The full patch notes can be found on the Ubisoft website.