Skip to main content
PC Gamer PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
  • Games
  • Hardware
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Video
  • Forum
  • More
    • PC Gaming Show
    • Software
    • Movies & TV
    • Coupons
    • Magazine
    • Newsletter
    • Community guidelines
    • Affiliate links
    • Meet the team
    • About PC Gamer
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
PC Gamer Magazine Subscription
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe to the world's #1 PC gaming mag
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$32.49
View
Popular
  • Amazon Prime Day Deals
  • Essential Hardware
  • Microsoft
  • AI
  • PC Gaming Show
Recommended reading
Rainbow Six Siege X
FPS Rainbow Six Siege is more popular and better than ever. That's one point for 'make something actually unique and stick with it,' zero points for 'give up and lay everyone off'
rainbow six siege sledge
FPS Rainbow Six: Siege X is out today, meaning one of the best tactical shooters ever made is now free-to-play
Expedition 33 tips - Maelle fighting a Nevron
RPG 10 tips to conquer the continent in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Elden Ring: Nightreign
RPG 12 Elden Ring Nightreign tips to get a head start hunting Nightlords
rainbow six siege thorn
FPS Rainbow Six Siege X director says free currency gain has been 'buffed' after complaints: 'The goal wasn't to make it a harder grind for players'
Rainbow Six Siege X Paragon bundle
FPS Ubisoft slows free currency gain in Rainbow Six Siege X to a pathetic crawl, then immediately drops its most expensive skin in 10 years
Rematch football game
Sports 7 Rematch tips to help you hone your football skills
  1. Games
  2. Action
  3. Rainbow Six Siege

Seven things I wish I’d known before starting Rainbow Six Siege

Features
By James Davenport published 4 December 2015

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

In Rainbow Six Siege, it can be hard to unlearn old shooter habits in order to properly mess with your opponents. Success depends more on strategy, communication, and outwitting your opponent than gunplay, but with so many operators, labyrinthine maps, and understated mechanics at play, it can be hard to feel useful in Siege without patient teammates. To help smooth the learning curve and get you moving sooner, I’ve thrown together a few things I wish I knew before hopping in.

Check out our review for more on Rainbow Six Siege.

Page 1 of 8
Page 1 of 8
​Don’t worry about unlocking every operator ASAP

​Don’t worry about unlocking every operator ASAP

In Siege, there are 20 operators total (10 attackers and 10 defenders) with unique abilities. They're all locked behind Renown, a currency earned through playing the game and completing daily challenges. It may seem like a move to arbitrarily insert some kind of progression and reward system into the game, and that may be the case, but it rarely takes more than an hour or so to unlock an operator in late game.

Take advantage of getting to know a few at a time. There's plenty of nuance to each character, and having too many options at once might spread your skill acquisition a bit too thin. I'd rather have someone on my team that knows how to play Pulse (he wields a heartbeat sensor) super well, rather than have someone hop in and out of every operator on a whim. It may be that during the character selection screen, your only operators get picked, and you're stuck as the generic Recruit character. Don’t fret. They come with as much barbed wire, breach charges, or grenades as the other operators. They’re far from useless, and it's likely there will be enough specialized operators on your team to spearhead some kind of specific defensive or offensive strategy.

Page 2 of 8
Page 2 of 8
​But if you can’t help it, watch the tutorial videos and play the Situations

​But if you can’t help it, watch the tutorial videos and play the Situations

I know we're not all paragons of patience, so luckily there's a way to get enough Renown to unlock nearly half the operators in just an hour or two. Some folks might skip right to the multiplayer, but the Situations mode rewards 200 Renown for completing a bonus objective. With three bonuses in each of the 10 Situations, that's 6000 Renown. Watch the tutorial videos in the main menu to nab 600 more easy Renown for 6600 total. That's at least eight operators unlocked, right out of the gate.

Page 3 of 8
Page 3 of 8
​Spray and pray is okay (through windows and walls)

​Spray and pray is okay (through windows and walls)

Sometimes, when you think an enemy is hiding behind a wall or on the other side of a barricaded window, they are. Try to think of where you might hide were you on the opposing team, and trust your intuition from time to time.

Firing wildly can also be a good distraction. Several times, I've rappelled down the outside edge of the objective room while on offense and set up breach charges, fired willy-nilly into every window I could, just to mess with the opposing team. Meanwhile, my buddies were entering from the opposite side. It pays to be an annoyance in Siege.

Page 4 of 8
Page 4 of 8
​Slow your fire rate with shield characters (and don’t forget about melee)

​Slow your fire rate with shield characters (and don’t forget about melee)

Above: I unloaded a magazine into a fence at full speed. Not the most accurate.

Turns out, holding a massive, bulletproof shield with one arm makes it hard to aim a pistol with the other. Shield characters are super handy for leading the charge or forcing other players out of cover, but they're certainly not known for their accuracy. When I first started playing as them, I would walk up to enemy players and shoot rapidly, figuring I'd hit them enough times within my wide crosshairs to take them out.

Bad idea, actually. You'd be surprised just how inaccurate shield-bearer pistols get, even at point blank, if you're too triggerhappy. Better advice: slow down and let the crosshairs rest before taking another shot. Like old fable The Thermoplastic Composite SWAT Tortoise and the Hare goes, ‘slow and steady wins the race.’ And if you get close, don't forget to smash the bad guys with that heavy metal thing you're carrying. Works pretty well, big surprise.

Page 5 of 8
Page 5 of 8
​Drone it until you own it

​Drone it until you own it

While on offense, if you don't find the objective during the recon phase, reconnect to your drone or throw another one out if it's been destroyed. You'll waste more time and resources trying to find the objective with your big, clunky human body than you would with a sleek RC robot carapace. And once you find the objective, try to hide your drone somewhere handy.

Think about advantageous viewing angles. Are there hallways you'd like to check in with? Roaming enemies you need to keep tabs on? Drones should be used throughout the entire match, not just for the first minute or so. And if you’ve been eliminated, you can still cycle through the available drones, calling out enemy locations to your teammates.

Page 6 of 8
Page 6 of 8
Use cameras on defense

Use cameras on defense

On defense, you may not have drones, but all the maps are outfitted with a few cameras to help you see where infiltrators might be coming from. Using these correctly can be a huge advantage. Be careful before you mark enemies though. They'll get an indication when they've been spotted, and usually destroy the cameras soon after. And if you’ve been eliminated, you can still cycle through the available cameras, calling out enemy locations to your teammates.

Page 7 of 8
Page 7 of 8
​Redeem your Uplay rewards

​Redeem your Uplay rewards

I know, I know. Uplay. It's not great, but we're stuck with it. I try to avoid interfacing with it whenever possible, which made it easy to nearly miss the Free Stuff™ redeemable via Uplay points—some are free at the outset, some may take some unlocking. You'll need to hit up the Rainbow Six Siege game page within, then click on the Rewards section. Among the freebies are 200 Renown, a few skins (if you own the associated games), and a 24-hour Renown booster.

Page 8 of 8
Page 8 of 8
James Davenport
James Davenport
Social Links Navigation

James is stuck in an endless loop, playing the Dark Souls games on repeat until Elden Ring and Silksong set him free. He's a truffle pig for indie horror and weird FPS games too, seeking out games that actively hurt to play. Otherwise he's wandering Austin, identifying mushrooms and doodling grackles. 

Read more
Rainbow Six Siege X
Rainbow Six Siege is more popular and better than ever. That's one point for 'make something actually unique and stick with it,' zero points for 'give up and lay everyone off'
rainbow six siege sledge
Rainbow Six: Siege X is out today, meaning one of the best tactical shooters ever made is now free-to-play
Expedition 33 tips - Maelle fighting a Nevron
10 tips to conquer the continent in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Elden Ring: Nightreign
12 Elden Ring Nightreign tips to get a head start hunting Nightlords
rainbow six siege thorn
Rainbow Six Siege X director says free currency gain has been 'buffed' after complaints: 'The goal wasn't to make it a harder grind for players'
Rainbow Six Siege X Paragon bundle
Ubisoft slows free currency gain in Rainbow Six Siege X to a pathetic crawl, then immediately drops its most expensive skin in 10 years
Latest in Action
Limbo screen detail - the Limbo boy running through shadowy grass
Playdead's classic minimalist platformers Limbo and Inside are being pulled from GOG next week, so grab 'em while you can
Ghost of Yotei
Ghost of Yōtei's big gameplay showcase had new weapons, smoother exploration, and a 'lo-fi beats' mode from Samurai Champloo director Shinichirō Watanabe
An edited image of Nosk from Hollow Knight with the Silksong cover art in place of its head.
Silksong subreddit hallucinates an analog horror called Snosk, ritually sacrifices a mod to be their very own Hollow Knight, continues to have a normal one, nothing to see here
Exo throws an identity disc in the key art for Tron: Catalyst.
John Wick Hex and Tron Catalyst dev Mike Bithell thinks licensed games have evolved past 'lunchbox tie-ins' because 'the people who played licensed games are now bosses in the companies that are licensing IP'
GTA 6 trailer
GTA 6's server player count rumour could be great news for GTA Online 2.0
Monster Hunter Wilds
Capcom cancels a presentation on Monster Hunter Wilds performance at CEDEC 2025 amid ongoing developer harassment
Latest in Features
Player doing a kickflip in the waterpark map in Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 + 4
I would've loved Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 a lot more if it hadn't made the mistake of rolling out time limits for every level
Lea, from Lies of P: Overture, clutches a locket to her chest and tries to maintain her composure.
Lies of P isn't my favourite soulslike, but Overture is one of the best DLCs in the whole genre
Marvel Rivals Season 3 customisation issues: An upper-body shot of Phoenix with her arms out to the side.
If Marvel Rivals doesn't want to reward me with fancy skins for my hard work, then I hope it'll at least give me some of Season 3's new customisation features
Can you guess the PC game based only on the health bar?
A cyberpunk city with the PC Gamer logo
This brilliant dark and moody cyberpunk city builder is my kind of cosy game—and for less than $7 you might as well see if it's yours too
Phoenix screenshot
Marvel Rivals' next hero is the complete package, as Phoenix packs enough firepower to cut through any Strategist backline
  1. Nvidia RTX 5090 and XFX RX 9070 graphics cards
    1
    Best graphics cards in 2025: I've tested pretty much every AMD and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today's top cards
  2. 2
    Best gaming laptop in 2025: I've put the best of this new generation head-to-head and we have a winner
  3. 3
    Best gaming chair in 2025: I've tested a ton of gaming chairs and these are the seats I'd suggest for any PC gamer
  4. 4
    Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
  5. 5
    Best graphics card for laptops in 2025: the mobile GPUs I'd want in my next gaming laptop
  1. A Mecha Break pilot in a white and pink suit standing before the head of her mech of the same color
    1
    Mecha Break review – Mech fans deserve better than this
  2. 2
    Mycopunk Review: Long live wacky co-op shooters.
  3. 3
    Persona 5: The Phantom X review – More of the same, for better or worse
  4. 4
    NZXT N7 Z890 review
  5. 5
    NZXT N9 X870E review

PC Gamer is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...