Rainbow Six Siege Patch Improves Weak Characters

    Ubisoft has previewed the upcoming 3.3 patch for Rainbow Six Siege, the focus of which is on dealing with team killers and improving two underperforming characters. Kapkan is the first of two characters to be addressed in this update. As he currently exists, his trip mine gadget is underwhelming, there's a clear indication on the other side of a wall where a mine has been placed, and it's only allowed to be positioned at a particular height in a doorway.
    With patch 3.3, neither of these things is still true. Mines can be placed at any height (forcing enemies to scan the entire doorframe, rather than one specific spot), and the red screw on the opposite side of the mine is no longer there.

"We believe these tweaks will restore Kapkan's former glory and make him a force to be reckoned with," Ubisoft says.

The other character to be worked on is Mute. The patch increases his Signal Disruptor's range by 50 percent, from a radius of 1.5 meters to 2.25 meters.

"This range will let you jam larger areas around walls as well as reinforced ones, as well as making it almost impossible for drones to jump through," Ubisoft explains.
"Both changes were made because these Operators' gadgets are relatively underwhelming, and the win/loss ratio and pick rate for these two were well below average. For example, Kapkan had the fourth weakest win ratio and second lowest pick rate. Mute had the fifth lowest pick rate, second lowest kill/death average, and second lowest win rate. As players have become more experienced with the game, they know how to counter these Operators. By making these changes, we hope players will find new ways to play these Operators."

  On the team killing side, it's ranked PvP matches specifically that are being adjusted. Killing teammates over and over will subject the offender to a series of penalties starting with temporary ranked matchmaking bans and escalating to a potential permanent ban. Ubisoft says it'll evaluate things on a case-by-case basis to determine the exact length of a suspension, but offers up the following set of examples as an idea of what to expect:

• First offense: Banned from Ranked Matchmaking for 15 minutes, 50% renown penalty for 30 minutes.
• Second offense: Banned from Ranked Matchmaking for 30 minutes.
• Third offense: Banned from Ranked Matchmaking for 2 hours.
• Fourth offense: Banned from Ranked Matchmaking for 24 hours.
• Fifth offense: Banned from Ranked Matchmaking for 7 days.

Whether these penalties are enough remains to be seen; they're not nearly as harsh as those for cheaters.
    As for team killing in casual modes, Ubisoft promises to have more information about what it plans to do when it announces the details of the 3.4 patch coming in July.