Rainbow Six Siege: Did Patch 5.2 Deliver?

On December 15th, the long awaited 5.2 patch dropped for Rainbow Six: Siege and it dragged behind it a massive hype train. Excitement levels were set pretty high by the devs who basically treated Patch 5.2 as the end all problem solver for many of the games balance, lighting, and bug issues. Part of the reason this subject is being covered so late is because there was so much to go over and learn to see just how well the patch holds up. So does it deliver?

I’ll start with the bugs. When Red Crow first dropped it revived a bunch of old bugs that had been fixed in previous patches. The operator Caveira has a special ability to interrogate enemies to ping the enemy team location, and when she released her victims could leave the match in the middle of the process to deny her the benefits. This was patched in the past, but it was revived in Red Crow. “Rubberbanding” became significantly worse in Red Crow as well. Rubberbanding being an event where the destruction in game would not appear the same way for all players involved (destruction and smoke elements are rendered client side) so people would attempt to run through an open door or wall only to find that the game didn’t register the surface as open and slingshot them back where they started. Needless to say in a competitive shooter having your position compromised by a game bug was a frustrating way to die.

Patch 5.2 actually squashed the bugs again. Caveira is back to getting her interrogation even if the person leaves (actually if you leave mid-interrogate it triggers quicker so you’re doing her a favor). The destruction elements are done more consistently so slingshot operators are less of an apparent issue. And as is always the case with a new patch, the hit registration has been adjusted and improved and there have been less game crashes overall. So basically, every major non-balancing issue has been addressed.

Most of the balance issues that exist in Siege that got patched with 5.2 have been in the game for a really long time, not new stuff that dropped with Red Crow. The operator Tachanka, for example, was notorious as the “hard mode” operator since his unique gadget forced him to stand stationary in a game where movement and exploitation of latency with high speed operators are key means of winning gun fights. Tachanka would just sit there on his turret with his head completely exposed and usually get picked off without dealing any damage. In 5.2, Tachanka now enjoys the cover of a massive ballistic shield cover him on his turret allowing him to hold an angle properly.

Blackbeard, an operator introduced in the Dust Line DLC also got balanced with Patch 5.2. “Balanced” might be a forgiving term for it. “Nerfed into oblivion” might be more accurate. Blackbeard used to enjoy a pretty high pick rate in game as his gadget essentially made him immune to headshots in a firefight. His Rifle Shield allowed him to hold a narrow angle and ensure his own safety while driving a wedge between the defenders. And in the off chance that one of them managed to get enough shots on him to break his shield before he scored the kill, he had a backup. Now though, his shield will only save him from one or two shots (depending on the damage of the weapon used) so, while he still has his place and his usefulness (the ability to survive a headshot that should have killed you is never “useless” no matter how hard Reddit whines), you see less of him in game.

Alongside Blackbeard and Tachanka, all shield using operators (Blitz, Montagne, Fuze) got buffs to resist damage they take from explosives. Where previously shields saw little to no use in serious matches, they actually have a solid place with their ability to tank the deadly and versatile C4 wielded by defenders. The C4 still effectively kills non-shielded operators and works as an easy trap as well as a remodeling method for when the defenders want to manipulate their environment and make it harder on the attackers.

Overall, the balance tweaks were a welcome change. People have been sick of Blackbeard dominating the maps and Tachanka has been underwhelming since the game released so both changes were long overdue. And while the Tachanka buff comes way late (people have been trying to get him buffed for a long time) at least it finally came, and it definitely adds a huge and new element that made him a fun operator to play again. Even Blackbeard’s nerf makes him more fun as you play more cautious and careful trying to make use of your shield to get an early peek, but not so overzealous as to get yourself killed while the ballistic glass shatters around your body.

A major issue that players have had with Siege is the lighting. At the best of times, the lighting is so bright you can’t see the background, but a black silhouette will be a giveaway. At the worst of times the lighting is the pure white light of a thousand blazing suns as they burn just outside each window and bullets will fly from the empty white void with no hope of ever seeing your assailant. There was no small amount of hype over Patch 5.2 performing a total light system overhaul, with Ubisoft community managers even collecting examples of where the lighting was particularly awful. Unfortunately, an overhaul never happened.

The lighting was dimmed on the Yacht map, which made it look significantly better, but in all other cases the lighting wasn’t noticeably changed much at all. The thing that did stand out was a new unusually shaped vent obstacle on the roof of the map Kafe Dostoyevsky which cast a shadow over one of the more brutal lighting spots. So while we wanted an overhaul, what we got was a vent. A cleverly placed vent, but still just a vent.

Patch 5.2 did very well for the game, and playing it after the patch has been some of the most fun I’ve had in Siege since the days of the beta. While it didn’t deliver on all promises, it did very well for the game as a whole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS_yuctJGsY