Rainbow Six Siege's Shifting Tides Update Introduces Two New Operators

Ubisoft has confirmed the rumors that Year 4, Season 4 of Rainbow Six Siege will be titled Shifting Tides. Like previous seasons, Shifting Tides adds new Operators to the game, and they're now available on the PC version's test servers as of Monday, November 11. Shifting Tides will also bring a revamped map and other changes to the game sometime in the near future, although we don't know exactly when it will launch for everyone on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Team Rainbow is getting two new Operators in Shifting Tides: one Attacker and one Defender. The new Attacker is codenamed Kali, while the new Defender goes by Wamai. Kali is the very rich head of a successful private military contractor while Wamai is former Kenyan Navy Special Forces who now works for Kali. You can see the new Operators in action in the video below.

Kali is the first Operator to carry a bolt-action sniper rifle as her primary firearm, and the heavy-duty weapon packs a punch. It fires bullets with enough firepower to penetrate through both destructible walls and Operators, allowing you to kill enemies hiding behind teammates or walls. Kali's gadget is the LV Explosive Lance, an under-barrel projectile that tears through walls--even reinforced ones--and destroys all gadgets within its radius once it reaches the other side. Think Ash's Breaching Rounds combined with Thatcher's EMP Grenade.

Wamai doesn't have anything special in regards to firearms, but he makes up for it with one of the coolest gadgets that Siege has ever seen. The Mag-Net System allows Wamai to attach powerful magnets to pretty much any surface. These magnets activate when they sense projectiles of a certain speed (faster than someone walking but slower than a bullet, like a thrown grenade) and pull them away before they detonate. If carefully placed, Wamai can use his Mag-Net System to cause Attackers to grenade a hostage, flashbang themselves, or--in the case of certain Operators like Ash or Capitão--accidentally use their own gadgets against their teammates.

Another key component of Shifting Tides a "reimagined" version of the Theme Park map. Here's how Ubisoft describes the adjustments: "The Rail Platform has been removed and the East and West sections have been brought closer together. Inside the building, the East section has largely evolved, primarily the downstairs area. Gargoyle and Haunting Dining bomb sites are replaced with the Throne Room and Armory pair. The new Gong Room in this area also becomes the main entrance, while the Arcade Entrance is now blocked."

Shifting Tides also makes a change to how players begin to rappel, adds a system for limb penetration, and decreases the price of seven existing Operators:

• Hibana
• Echo
• Dokkaebi
• Vigil
• Zofia
• Nomad
• Kaid

An exact release date for Shifting Tides was not announced, but as noted above, PC owners will be able to try the new operators out on the test servers soon.

Rainbow Six Siege is available for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. A spin-off, Rainbow Six Quarantine, is scheduled to release in 2020.