Rainbow Six Siege has one of the deepest gameplays that you will find in a popular first-person shooter. Unfortunately, that also means new players can have a difficult time getting over that learning curve. Today, we’re taking a look at how to get better at R6S, whether you’re climbing the ranks or simply want to win more and lose less.
How to Get Better at R6S – The Rundown
Already itching to play? Here’s a quick rundown on what you should try to improve your game.
- Improve your aim
- Learn proper movement and positioning
- Get used to your gadgets
- Memorize your maps
For those who want a deeper understanding of how to get better, keep on reading. We’ll take a deeper look at how these pointers can help you win more rounds.
Improve Your Aim
This may sound like an obvious advice, but there’s more to aiming than just getting that crosshair over your opponent’s head. Unlike in other FPS titles such as Overwatch and CSGO, the gunplay in R6S has plenty of nuances that you have to get used to.
Aiming at Head Height
One of the most important aspects of aiming in R6S is knowing where to focus. Remember that all guns will kill on a successful headshot. That being said, you have to get used to the concept of aiming at head height. If you encounter someone aiming for body shot, you’re more likely to win the fight even if they fire the first shot.
Learning Crosshair Placement
Another crucial habit to develop is aiming while moving. Regardless of how you’re approaching an area, you should always keep your eye on possible angles where an enemy can ambush you. When travelling down a hallway, it pays to keep the crosshair near the sides of the hallway. This will allow you to snap your crosshair faster to anyone entering the same hallway.
Getting Used to ADS
Getting used to aiming down your sights (ADS) while moving is a balancing act: on one hand you want to get the early advantage against enemies. On the other hand, ADS slows you down, narrows your field of view, and leaves you vulnerable to flanking. If you want a good balance, a good rule of thumb is to ADS a few steps before you make a turn.
Important – Many players will go for ACOG attachments for long range combat. However, the reflex and holo sights provide a wider field of view and bring more utility in close quarters.
Memorizing Spray Patterns
Ideally, you’d want to kill targets with the first bullet you shoot. However, you need to be able to shoot more in case your first shot misses. This is where managing spray patterns and recoil comes into play. If you know where the next shot goes, you can use your mouse to adjust your aim so that the next bullets will hit close to where the first one lands.
Important – Barrel attachments can have a huge effect on spray patterns. Find one that will best suit either your gun or your personal preference.
Learn Proper Movement and Positioning
Movement and positioning go hand-in-hand with aiming when it comes to winning matches. Unfortunately, many players make the mistake that movement just boils down to finding ambush spots and moving quietly. Proper movement and positioning is a balance between speed, safety, and timing.
Do You Ever Have to Sprint?
Many new or low-ranked R6S players make the mistake of not sprinting when they should have. Many will argue that sprinting makes loud noises that will give their position away, but there are many cases where getting somewhere fast is more important than staying undetected. Think of it this way; by the time you crouch-walked your way to a “safe” spot, the enemy may have already found a different position, putting you at a disadvantage.
Learn Positioning Based on Specific Roles
Trying to do everything at the same time is difficult especially for new or low-ranking players. If you want to get better at R6S, we strongly recommend focusing on specific roles. Here’s a quick explanation of what each role is supposed to do plus a couple of recommended operators. This way, you can narrow down aspects of the game that you have to get better at.
Attackers
- Entry Fragger – Leads the push to get early kills and secure a path to the objective [Ash, Blitz]
- Support – Provides information (usually by droning ahead of the entry fraggers) or holding angles to deny enemies from flanking their teammates [Twitch, Dokkaebi]
- Utility – Helps the team by creating sightlines, destroying enemy gadgets, or opening paths towards the objective [Thatcher, Sledge]
Defenders
- Anchor – Stays in one area to deny attackers access to an area, usually in or near objective rooms [Doc, Smoke].
- Roamer – Roams the map to present a threat to the enemy attackers, forcing them to slow down their advance [Bandit, Caveira]
Each role has its own aspects that will give you a deeper understanding of the game as you get better. For example, playing as an entry fragger will help you get used to movement, breaching, and shooting. On the other hand, an anchor player will have more focus on using cameras and holding angles. Having a good grasp of one role will help establish your fundamental game sense, making it easier to transition to other roles later on.
Important – Some operators excel at certain roles compared to others. For example, entry fraggers and roamers will have an easier time moving with 2 or 3-speed operators.
Being at the Right Place at the Right Time
Knowing where you should be at certain points of the round is essential if you want to remain a threat to the enemy team. For example, roamers should be patrolling away from the objective and stall attackers early on. By the last one and a half minutes of the round, you have to start making your way closer to the objective to assist your anchors.
Having a good grasp of positioning will also help you understand where the enemy teams could be. As an attacker, you should be expecting to run across roamers early on and more ambushes towards the end of the round.
Important – Pay attention to how many members are still alive. If you’re down by two or more members, you should consider regrouping to avoid being flanked by superior numbers regardless of how much time is left!
Get Used to Your Gadgets
R6S is known for having a wide variety of gadgets that can help you win matches if used properly. Aside from each operator’s signature gadgets, all attackers get access to drones while all defenders have barricades and wall reinforcements.
Attackers – Drones
During the preparation phase, attackers have to use drones to spot the objective and identify which operators are active. During the action phase, attackers can hop back to their drones and use them to scout possible ambush spots before pushing towards the objective. You should always try to keep your first drone alive throughout the preparation phase, with the second drone as backup later on in the round.
Defenders – Barricades and Reinforcements
All defenders start with two wall reinforcements and an unlimited number of barricades. You may be tempted to barricade all windows and doorways, but that could actually work against you if the attackers make their way to the objective. It’s a good idea to barricade windows and doorways that would give attackers a good line of sight. Wall reinforcements have a more consistent optimal placement for each map.
Important – It is generally a bad idea to reinforce walls separating two objective rooms since it will limit the areas you can cover when defending!
General Team-specific Gadgets
Barring operator-specic gadgets, players also have access to other attacker and defender-specific gadgets. Here’s a very brief rundown on how to make the most out of them.
Attackers
- Frag and Stun Grenades – Use them to flush out defenders before entering a room.
- Smoke Grenades – Use them to break the defenders’ line of sight before entering a room, on the defuser during the last few seconds of a round, or a chokepoint as a decoy.
- Claymore – Use in entry points in the objective room to stall defenders or along routes to deter roamers from trying to flank you.
- Breaching Charges – Best used on “soft” or non-reinforced walls to create more entry points in a room. Can also be used on floors to provide line of sight from above.
- Ballistic Shield – Rarely a good pick. If you need a shield, pick Montagne or Blitz instead.
Defenders
- Impact Grenades – Use on walls between objective buildings to provide better coverage for anchors. Also great for opening pathways for roamers.
- Nitro Cell – Save it for flushing out attackers or blowing them up through walls. Best used against shield users by detonating it behind them.
- Barbed Wire – Use them in staircases and areas near key entry points as early warning devices.
- Deployable Shield – Use them in objective rooms to provide extra cover or in doorways to conceal traps such as Frost’s Welcome Mat.
- Bulletproof Camera – Place them where they can cover “high traffic” areas in the map or provide vision around the objective room.
Memorize the Maps
Map knowledge is one of the most important parts of playing R6S. If you don’t know your way around a map, you will have a difficult time navigating and getting crucial information about the enemy team. R6S maps are smaller compared to maps in other popular shooters. However, the map’s destructibility, camera placements, and enemy gadgets can make things complicated.
Map Callouts
Every part of the map has a designated callout that will help you give or receive information. For example, when playing in Bank and you’re defending the objectives at the basement, if someone says they spotted an enemy at the office hallway, you can prepare to hold angles over either vault lobby or secure hallway.
Callouts are also important when droning out areas (as attacker) or using cameras (as defender). Instead of “tagging” enemies and risk giving away your camera’s position, you can just tell them where you last saw the enemy using the right callout. Last but not least, callouts are important if you want to instruct teammates to deploy gadgets or reinforcements at certain points of the map.
Taking the Right Map Routes
Two things that go hand-in-hand when it comes to map knowledge are routes and angles. Any route going from point A to B has its own set of angles that you have to wary about. A route with so many windows or doorways along it will leave you open to a lot of potential ambushes. On the other hand, taking a route with only a few possible angles makes you less prone to ambushes.
Does that mean that routes with fewer angles are always better? Not necessarily. Remember that most of the safer routes tend to be on the outer side of the map, away from objectives. This means taking a safer route could eat up too much time. Also, many players are savvy enough to expect their targets to take those safer routes.
Important – Reinforcements and gadget placements will give defenders the option to deny certain routes if placed at the right location. Some attackers like Gridlock, Nomad, and players picking claymore mines can also do the same thing.
That wraps up this article on how to get better at R6S! We hope this will help you improve your skills and win more games. Want to enjoy the game from a spectator’s point of view? Check out our guide to R6S betting!
