The first operator to be added to Rainbow Six Siege as part of year nine is Deimos, the first playable villain in the game, who can track your exact position.
The reveal of Deimos came at the Six Invitational, which is already breaking records, along with the reveal of what else to expect in year nine season one. The update, which is expected to land next month, will also include major overhauls to some systems, improved UI areas and improvements to anti-cheat tactics.
Deimos is a two speed, two health operator who can track your location precisely. His DeathMARK Tracker gadget reveals the target’s precise location as a live ping and Deimos’ location until the gadget’s time runs out or one is killed. This means that it basically becomes a race to kill or be killed, and should be useful for anti-roaming, avoiding enemy flanking and distracting enemy operators.
Interestingly Deimos is the first villain operator that is playable in Rainbow Six Siege. All the other operators so far have been good guys on the side of the Rainbow faction, but Deimos bucks that trend and in the cinematic reveal trailer is shown trying to take down members of Rainbow before being captured.
Also coming in season one are major changes to some systems. Shields are being overhauled, although exact details on how are thin on the ground, and attachments & ADS will also be tweaked. The hope is that these changes will improve balance and emphasize strategic play and teamwork. The team mentioned they want Siege to become a more tactical shooter.
Outside of the in-game action, there will be a new feature called the Locker added to the menu. This new area will make it easier to equip, sort and view cosmetic items, which has become a bit of a chore with the old system given how many cosmetics are now available in Siege.
Elsewhere the Versus AI Playlist is also getting some changes including more maps and operators to hopefully give new and returning players a safe space to get up to speed before heading into competitive matchmaking, which is a win for everyone.
While no release date for the patch was revealed, it is expected to hit sometime in March as is usually the case for the first season of a new year. More information on what to expect later in year nine will be revealed tomorrow at the Six Invitational.