Season 2 of Year 3 in Rainbow Six Siege kicks off with the Operation: Para Bellum event, and as expected, it brings in a host of changes and new additions to spice up the game.
Already live on the PC test server, the full version of Operation Para Bellum arrives later this month for all players and will offer two new defender Operators, a Pick & Ban system to ban certain Operators from play for more strategy, and the long-awaited elite Thatcher skin.
Operation Para Bellum Guide
There’s a lot of new material to cover, so let’s dive into what’s included with this new Rainbow Six Siege event! First up are the new Operators, Maestro and Alibi from the Gruppo di Intervento Speciale counter-terrorism unit, who have massively different play styles.
New Operator: Alibi
- Type: Defender
- Speed: Fast
- Armor: Light
- Primary Loadout: Mx4 Storm, ACS12
- Secondary Loadout: Keratos .357 Pistol, Bailiff 410 Pistol
- Side Gadgets: Impact Grenade, Deployable Shield
Alibi comes with the unique Prisma gadget that projects holograms of herself. Any player shooting or interacting with the holograms will be marked, and the holograms can even announce a “Defender Outside” warning to Attackers, leading them away from the real player. For sneaky players who like misdirection, Alibi is the way to go.
Rainbow Six Siege Operator Alibi
New Operator: Maestro
- Type: Defender
- Speed: Slow
- Armor: Heavy
- Primary Loadout: ALDA 5.56, ACS12
- Secondary Loadout: Keratos .357 Pistol, Bailiff 410 Pistol
- Side Gadgets: Barbed Wire, Deployable Shield
Don’t let the similar weapons fool you, because Maestro is the polar opposite of Alibi! Although slower and more heavily armored, he’s also a perfect recon scout. His unique ability is the Evil Eye gadget that can be set on a floor or wall and then controlled remotely.
Not only does this allow for overwatch possibilities with its remote camera (and it can see through smoke!), but it can also open up to fire lasers at passing enemies. Best of all, while the lasers aren’t deployed, the evil eye is completely immune to ranged and melee damage.
Rainbow Six Siege Operator Maestro
Thatcher Elite Set and New Map
Aside from the two new Operators, what we’ve all been waiting for is the Thatcher Elite skin set, which leaked months back but hasn’t show up until now.
The Thatcher Elite set includes the Operation Nimrod Uniform, Fookin Smooth victory animation, Screw Top gadget skin, Elite Thatcher Chibi, and Maggie’s Resolve weapon skin on the L85A2, M590A1, and P226 MK25. The new skins will be available in the Thatcher’s Uniform section as soon as Operation Para Bellum officially launches.
The whole elite set bundle is expected to cost 1,800 R6 Credits (or 1,620 if you’ve got the Year 3 pass).
The Thatcher Elite set is almost here!
Finally, we also get Villa, the 20th map to arrive for the game so far, and it includes many tactical features to get used to, like secret hatches, staircases, and tight tunnels.
Focusing around a home owned by a crime family, we’ve actually already seen quite a bit of what will be on display here back when the map made its debut at the Season 7 Pro League Finals in Atlantic City.
The big thing to remember in Villa as an attacker is that many of the walls and ceilings are destructible, and the cellar entrance to the basement is a much safer bet than heading upstairs. The upstairs bomb sites are located on the sides of a long, wide hallway, so getting to those sites as an attacker is more challenging if you are trying to take a straightforward route.
None of the bomb sites have external access, so you can’t jump through a window and then defend from a distance. The map is designed to force a team to defend a site from the same room.
On the defending side, make use of the secret hatches and quick staircases that lead to other bomb sites. For instance, the kitchen has a very fast entrance through the pantry to the basement.
Villa Attacker spawn sites
Will you be loading up Rainbow Six Siege again to jump in on the Operation Para Bellum event, and what new elements of the game are you most looking forward to trying out? Sound off in the comments below!
