If you’re new to Rainbow Six Siege, picking an operator might be daunting. Understanding the gadgets, weapons, maps and roles to find the best operator can be overwhelming. To help you get started, we’ve compiled a list of 10 best operators that are great for new players, with five for the attacking team and five for the defensive team. Let’s jump right into it!
Attackers in Rainbow Six Siege
5. Buck
Buck is your Swiss army knife when it comes to a Rainbow Six Siege attacker. He has an under-barrel shotgun attached to his AR, giving you flexibility in both long-range and short-range gun combat. This means you have one of the best ARs in the game, and with a single click of a button, you can switch to one of the best shotguns in the game.
You can take long-range and short-range gunfights with a switch of a button. You can use that shotgun to open up any soft walls, soft floors, and even soft ceilings to play vertically from above or below. Additionally, he carries a hard breach device for reinforced surfaces, meaning not only can you go through soft surfaces like an unreinforced wall, but if you do run into a reinforced wall or hatch, you can poke a hole in it or open it up completely using your secondary gadget.
Overall, Buck is just a great pick, and even as you get better over time, Buck will continue to grow with you. He’s currently one of the best operators in the game, and once you get used to his shotgun, it can be insane.
4. Iana
Iana’s gadget creates a hologram clone, giving you an extra drone to scout ahead. At first sight, she can seem a bit overwhelming but think of it like this: in Rainbow Six Siege, you have two drones, one in the prep phase and one in the action phase.
Drones can be great for gathering intel, and scouting rooms ahead without getting caught off guard by someone just crouched in a corner, and Iana’s gadget is just to make a clone of herself, basically being an extra drone every single time you use it. Other attackers like Sledge, Lion, and Jackal also offer unique strengths, such as Sledge’s breaching capabilities, Lion’s tracking, and Jackal’s ability to locate roamers.
When you’re in this clone phase, don’t worry if you get shot because you can’t take damage. It is just a hologram, but the intel you can get by using this clone is vital. If you’re someone who finds themselves getting killed by people you can’t see, then using Iana and scouting the area ahead of you before you rush in there is probably your best bet. Her weapon, the G36C, is reliable and beginner-friendly with manageable recoil. It’s reliable, very consistent, has a decent fire rate, and not a whole lot of recoil as well.
3. Lion
Lion’s gadget detects and pings moving defenders, making it easier to locate roamers. He is a very simple operator. You press the operator button, it does a short little countdown, and when the gadget is scanning, anyone on the defensive team who is moving will be spotted by a little red ping. It will ping them a few times while the gadget is activated, and then it will go away.
The cluster charge is another useful gadget in the game, capable of downing multiple defenders and pushing enemies out of rooms. What this gadget is useful for is catching people who are roaming or rotating around the map nowhere near the objective. If you already have some information on someone, using it just before you swing and take a gunfight is helpful because they probably won’t be moving, meaning you probably know their exact location.
His V308 AR is beginner-friendly with a decent fire rate, high damage, and a large drum mag, reducing the need to reload frequently. It’s an AR that has a pretty decent fire rate, nothing special but does quite a lot of damage and has a massive drum mag of about 50 bullets, so you’re not going to run out of any bullets if you’re spraying and praying.
2. Sledge
Sledge uses a sledgehammer to open soft walls and floors, similar to Buck but with a manual touch. Once again, he is a very simple operator. Just like the name suggests, Sledge comes equipped with a sledgehammer that you can use to open up soft walls. He is kind of like Buck but with a hammer and a more manual process, and you can use it a lot more times than Buck can.
As I said, Sledge and Buck can kind of fill the same role. They are both very, very good. It’s all just down to preference. His weapon, the L85A2 AR, is easy to control, and he also has frag grenades for added breaching and combat capabilities. On top of that, he does come equipped with frag grenades as well, which is probably a lot simpler to use if you don’t know what you’re doing yet.
1. Ash
Ash is one of the most played operators due to her speed and agility. Her grenade launcher breaches soft walls from a distance, and her G36C’s low recoil and high consistency make her a favourite among players. She is one of the best operators in Rainbow Six Siege for beginners because she comes equipped once again with the G36C, the same weapon as Iana, which has very manageable recoil and is so goddamn consistent.
Her gadget is a grenade launcher that you can shoot breach charges through, once again opening up any soft walls that you need to open. This can also be a direct counter to those Mira windows that you see now and then as well. If you shoot that, you will break the glass immediately.
Overall, everyone just enjoys playing Ash at one point or another. She is one of the most played operators in Rainbow Six Siege right now, and it’s clear to see why. So if you haven’t given her a go yet, give her a go, she’s pretty good.
Defenders
5. Jäger/Wamai
Both operators counter throwables like grenades and stun grenades. Jäger’s system destroys one throwable every 30 seconds, while Wamai’s gadgets catch and disable them once. Wamai’s MP5K is fast-firing and effective for beginners. Both of these operators are great, and both of them do kind of the same role. They’re kind of like a little trophy system.
You throw down their gadget or place their gadget, depending on which one you are. If any throwables or projectiles like grenades, stun grenades, or anything like that get caught in its radius, it will stop it and either destroy it completely or just catch it there.
The main difference is that Jäger has a bit of a cooldown. Each of his 3 gadgets, can destroy one item every 30 seconds or so, and when it gets destroyed, it removes it completely. Whereas Wamai gets five magnet discs throughout the round, and they can just catch an item, and they only get it once. In my opinion, Jäger’s gadget is slightly better, but Wamai’s loadout is slightly better than Jäger’s, with the MP5K being a very fast-firing SMG and can be an absolute headshot machine.
4. Bandit
Bandit electrifies reinforced walls, destroying any hard breaching devices attached. He is the simplest form of a counter-hard breach that you can get in Rainbow Six Siege. You want to defend the objective and to do that, you have to reinforce walls, meaning most operators won’t be able to get through them unless they’re a hard breached.
Counter-hard breachers like Bandit can take this one step further by electrifying the walls, meaning any gadgets that are placed on that wall entirely will get destroyed. The only counter to this is by bringing someone with EMPs. His MP7 is one of the best SMGs with a high fire rate and excellent damage. It is an absolute machine on the defensive team. It’s one of the best SMGs, if not the best SMG right now, and overall Bandit is just one of the best operators for beginners.
3. Mute
Mute’s gadget jams enemy drones and breaching devices, adding versatility to his role. Mute can kind of do the same role as Bandit, but at the same time, it is just kind of like a mute jammer. This means any drone that gets caught in its radius will get stopped. So it’s kind of like a counter-hard breacher, but it’s also a little bit more versatile.
When you run a Mute, you’re probably going to want to run a shotgun and help set up the defense of the site. You just shoot a big-ass hole in a few walls, and you reinforce the other walls while everyone else goes and does their thing.
2. Kapkan
Kapkan places traps on doorways and windows that detonate upon entry, dealing significant damage. He can be incredible on the defensive team. What he can do is kind of put down claymores on doorways or windows. That is the simplest way to explain it.
If someone walks through it, it will trigger an explosion. Each single trap does about 60 damage. You can stack multiple traps on any doorway or window to deal multiple damage. If you put two on one doorway and it gets detonated, it will give you a free kill.
Additionally, Kapkan can use barbed wire as a defensive tool to slow down or damage attackers. His SMG, the 9×19 VSN, is versatile and reliable, making him fun and effective for beginners. Very versatile, very good, and overall, he’s just a very fun operator when you’re starting the game.
1. Rook
Rook provides body armor for the team, increasing their health and survivability. His unique character gadget, the R1N “Rhino” Armor, increases his effectiveness by providing additional protection to teammates. He is so easy to understand.
He comes equipped with some body armor. You put this down right when you spawn in, and everyone on your team gets to pick it up as well. This armor increases their base health so that they can take a few extra bullets unless it’s a headshot. Another nice touch that this body armor grants is if anyone does die due to body shots, they will go down instead of being eliminated immediately. It’s like a guaranteed fact that they will go down. If they do go down, they will be able to self-revive.
His role is straightforward, making him perfect for new players. Rook’s simplicity and the direct benefits his gadget provides to the whole team make him a top choice for beginners. Additionally, he is an operator capable of providing significant benefits to the team, enhancing their overall survivability and effectiveness.
