10. Tachanka (Anti-Entry, Crowd Control)
Area-denial is integral in Siege’s gameplay, and when it comes to denying area to enemies, Tachanka is one of the best, especially now that he’s been buffed. Before, it was almost a no-brainer for Tachanka players to use his DP27 as his primary weapon due to its heavy stopping power and very high destruction rate per shot which makes it not just a powerful weapon for fragging enemies, but a very useful utility for reworking the map as well. But now, his 9x19VSN has been made compatible to the scope 2.0x, giving defending players another viable option for Tachanka’s primary weapon.
With this recent buff, Tachanka joins the lineup of the very few defending operators that can use zoom as high as 2.0x. My take on this is that if the other defenders already have utilities for reworking the map, it’s going to be best for Tachanka to run with the 9x19VSN instead of his DP27. With the high powered scope of the 9x19VSN and the area-denial capabilities of the Shumikha Launcher, Tachanka is really far from the Siege community meme operator that he was years ago. Now, he’s a serious operator for competitive matches.
What Makes Tachanka a Great Defender:
- With his Shumikha Launcher, he can deny large areas to enemies by covering them with fire for long periods of time
- His 9x19VSN submachine gun has been recently buffed and is now compatible to the scope 2.0x which will allow Tachanka to target his enemies with great accuracy
- When other defending team members lack the utility to rework the map, Tachanka can fall back to his DP27 light machine gun which has great destruction power per shot
- His bearing 9 machine pistol is a powerful secondary weapon that will allow him to keep firing a fully automatic weapon when his primary needs to reload
Best Loadout for Tachanka:
https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/rainbow-6-siege-best-tachanka-loadouts
9. Kapkan (Anti-Entry, Trapper)
Following his Spetsnaz brother above, Kapkan is one of the best operators you could use for competitive games because his impact on the match is always hugely felt. That’s mostly because of his special gadget, the Entry Denial Device, or EDD for short. He has access to five EDDs per round and he can now put multiple of them in one entryway. This makes Kapkan a very dangerous defender because one EDD alone can halve an attacker’s health points, so two or three of them will surely result in death. This makes Kapkan a very troublesome defender for attackers and that’s why his ban rate is so high.
Even if he gets taken out early in the round, because of his EDD traps, he still can contribute a lot to the defending team. That’s because he would still be able to inflict a lot of damage or kills through the EDDs that he left behind, and even when the attackers are being wary and watching each entryway they go through for the EDDs, Kapkan is still affecting them. That’s because the threat of the EDDs alone is forcing them to slow down and check each entryway, effectively making them use more time than normal, and they could also leave themselves vulnerable to the remaining defender gunshots while checking entryways.
What Makes Kapkan a Great Defender:
- Even one of his EDDs can cause a lot of damage, and now that he can deploy multiple in one entryway, he’s become one of the operators that can kill with just one detonation of his special gadget
- The threat of his EDDs oftentimes forces attackers to slow down and check every entryway they’re going through, making them waste more time and they could leave themselves vulnerable while checking
- Kapkan is one of the defenders that is very convenient to use because of his impact grenades which are perfect for creating rotation holes, and in ranked, rotation holes are very important
- If the player excels in using shotguns, Kapkan has access to the SASG-12 which is one of the best shotguns in the game due to its low recoil and suppressor
Best Loadout for Kapkan:
https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/rainbow-6-siege-best-kapkan-loadouts
8. Alibi (Intel, Trapper)
Alibi is easily one of the most versatile defenders in the game, and for that, she’s really great for competitive matches. She’s one of the operators that can play the role of anchor and roamer really well, and her special gadget, the Prisma, can do a lot of things. The Prisma are basically three holographic copies of Alibi, and although they cannot move like Iana’s holographic clones do, in many aspects, Alibi’s Prisma holographic clones are better. That’s because when something from an attacker, be it their own body, bullets, drones, or projectiles, touches a Prisma, that particular attacker will activate a tracker.
That tracker is basically a ping that will last for five seconds, and that ping will be visible to all defenders. That's why Alibi’s Prisma holographic clones are great for ruining the momentum of the enemies, and when they’re placed right behind a window, it can even discourage them from entering. That’s because they know that if they vault through the window where a Prisma holographic clone has been deployed, they will automatically be pinged and all the defenders will be aware of their presence. Alibi is a very powerful operator that brings in heavy firepower as well as intel gathering capabilities.
What Makes Alibi a Great Defender:
- Her Prisma holographic clones are great for intel gathering because they will track an attacker who shoots them or touches them with their drones, their own body, or their projectiles
- Alibi has access to the very powerful ACS12 shotgun which has heavy stopping power, very low recoil, and is even compatible to the scope 2.0x
- Alibi can make it a challenge for attackers to vault through windows near or in the objective spots by deploying her Prisma holographic clones right behind them
- She can equip the bailiff 410 revolver shotgun as her secondary weapon which will allow her to rework the map to the defending team’s advantage
Best Loadout for Alibi:
https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/rainbow-6-siege-best-alibi-loadouts
7. Azami (Anti-Entry, Support)
Like Alibi above, Azami is known for her versatility, even though she reaches her full potential by anchoring. With her special gadget, the Kiba Barrier, she can provide five additional cover in the objective spot so she and her teammates can better protect themselves. Since the Kiba Barriers are bulletproof, she can use them to strengthen exposed areas in the objective spot, especially spots that need to be protected, like the spots where Bandit or Kaid prevents attackers from hard breaching. But that’s not all that Azami can do.
Azami can also use her Kiba Barriers for intel denial by using them to block drone holes in or near the objective spot. That way, attacker drones will have to find a longer path to get inside the objective spot and gather intel, effectively making the attackers use more time. As for her weapons, Azami also has the very powerful ACS12 shotgun, and while she can’t use the scope 2.0x with it, she has access to the scope 1.5x which is also a great scope for the ACS12. Azami can also bring two impact grenades per round which will allow her to quickly create rotation holes which are very important in competitive matches.
What Makes Azami a Great Defender:
- She can provide more cover on exposed areas through her special gadget, the Kiba Barrier, and they’re great for protecting spots that attackers usually pre-fire
- She can also use the ACS12 shotgun as her primary weapon which is great for fragging enemies due to its heavy damage, scope 1.5x, and very low recoil
- She can also use the AC12 shotgun for reworking the map to the defending team’s advantage by using it to create rotation holes and lines or sight
- If the player chooses the 9x19VSN submachine gun as her primary weapon, Azami can still create rotation holes with the use of her impact grenades
Best Loadout for Azami:
https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/rainbow-6-siege-best-azami-loadouts
6. Melusi (Intel, Crowd Control)
Melusi is a great defender for ranked games because when she’s around, it’ll be hard for the defenders inside the objective spot to be caught off guard. That’s because she has three Banshee Sonic Defense and each of those Banshees emit a distinct sound when an enemy enters their radius, making them great early warning devices. But the main effect of the Banshees is their slow effect, which is easily one of the strongest slow effects in the game, probably second only to Clash’s CCE-Shield. And since Melusi has three Banshee Sonic Defense, she can deploy them to three paths that attackers usually take, and that’s usually enough to cover most, if not all paths that lead to the objective spot.
Melusi’s Banshees are very troublesome for the attackers to deal with because for them to be disabled, the attackers will either have to use their explosives, or intentionally trigger them for them to open up their top area which is their non-bulletproof part. For her primary weapon, Melusi’s MP5 may not have the high-level scopes that Rook and Doc can use with the same weapon, but she can still benefit from its very manageable recoil and good amount of damage per shot. Melusi also has access to two impact grenades per round which as I’ve said before are the best utilities for creating rotation holes.
What Makes Melusi a Great Defender:
- Her Banshee Sonic Defense causes one of the strongest slow effects in the game to attackers who enters its radius, and its slow effects will be stronger the closer the attacker is to it
- When slowing down an enemy, the Banshee Sonic Defense will emit a distinct sound that is usually enough to warn defenders nearby
- The best way for the attackers to disable Melusi’s three Banshee Sonic Defense is to use their explosive utilities, however, that will also prevent them from using those utilities against other defender gadgets
- Melusi can bring two impact grenades per round and they’re always handy to have for creating rotation holes as well as countering Osa or for damaging enemies hiding in corners
Best Loadout for Melusi:
https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/rainbow-6-siege-best-melusi-loadouts
5. Valkyrie (Intel, Support)
While it could be a bit challenging to use her because her gameplay involves a lot of switching to and from her observation tool, once a player gets enough experience playing her, she can oftentimes be the main contributing factor to defenders winning the round. That’s because she’s the best at intel gathering on the defending side, and she gathers intel through her three Black Eye cameras. Each of Valkyrie’s Black Eye cameras can provide a 180-degree view of an area as long as their view isn’t obstructed from a particular angle.
What makes Valkyrie’s Black Eye cameras very troublesome to attackers is their small size. When they’re not being used, they could appear like just a speck of dirt or another little detail on the map’s backdrops. So when the Valkyrie player and her teammates are good at switching the Black Eye cameras on and off, it can really be hard for the attackers to find them. And since they can stick to most surfaces, Valkyrie can really get creative when it comes to their deployment and attach them to spots that are hard to find while also providing the best view of the surroundings.
What Makes Valkyrie a Great Defender:
- Each of her Black Eye cameras can provide a 180-degree view of the surrounding as long as their view is not obstructed
- Her Black Eye cameras are quite small and without the blue light that emits from them when they’re being used, they can be extremely hard to find
- Valkyrie has access to the nitro cell which she can effectively use in conjunction with her Black Eye cameras in a strat called c4-under-the-floor
- Because she usually has a good idea of where the enemies are through her Black Eye cameras, she’s one of the most effective defenders when it comes to roaming
Best Loadout for Valkyrie:
https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/rainbow-6-siege-best-valkyrie-loadouts
4. Rook (Support)
Rook used to be just another basic operator, but now he’s one of the most powerful, especially for ranked games. That’s because he’s been recently buffed, and his armor plates now don’t just make anyone who wears them tougher. Now, it also adds the ability to self-revive from a down-but-not-out state. So just think about it, if all five defenders are wearing Rook’s armor plates, then all five of them will have boosted health points, effectively making them much tougher to take down, and all of them will also have the ability to revive themselves from a dbno state.
This relatively new perk from Rook’s armor plates is the reason why Rook now has the best win rate among all defenders. On top of his armor plates’ enormous contribution to the defending team, Rook is no slouch when it comes to fragging either. That’s because his MP5 submachine gun can be equipped with a scope 2.0x, making him one of the very few defenders that can equip such a high-level scope. The scope 2.0x will allow Rook to target his enemies with great accuracy, and it really augments his already powerful spawn-peeking capabilities.
What Makes Rook a Great Defender:
- With his armor plates, he can boost the whole attacking team’s health points, effectively making them much tougher to take down with shots below the head
- Rook’s armor plates now add the ability to self-revive from a down-but-not-out state, so with Rook around, the defenders will always have a second chance when they get put in a dbno state
- Rook can attach the scope 2.0x to his MP5 submachine gun, and he’s one of the rare defenders that can use such a high-level scope
- He also has access to the impact grenades which are always great for reworking the map, countering Osa, and damaging enemies hiding behind cover
Best Loadout for Rook:
https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/rainbow-6-siege-best-rook-loadouts
3. Smoke (Anti-Entry, Trapper)
As mentioned in Tachanka’s entry, area-denial plays a huge role in Siege, and while Tachanka can deny area far longer than Smoke could, there’s one thing that Smoke’s area-denial gadget makes him so unique. That is because Smoke can enter the gas cloud from his Remote Gas Grenade without getting harmed by it, and because of that unique perk, Smoke can use his Remote Gas Grenade to quickly push enemies back from an area while simultaneously taking control of it. And since the Remote Gas Grenade lowers the visibility on the spot that it’s deployed to, it would be hard for enemies to see Smoke.
Smoke can use that move to surprise enemies and engage them in close quarters combat where his M590A1 shotgun will have the superiority. As for engaging enemies beyond the effective range of the M590A1, Smoke can equip the SMG-11 machine pistol as his secondary weapon. With the SMG-11, Smoke will have a rapid-firing fully-automatic weapon in his arsenal that is capable of hitting enemies at medium to long-range. Despite its rough recoil and small magazine capacity, the SMG-11 is a frightening weapon due to its very fast rate of fire.
What Makes Smoke a Great Defender:
- The gas cloud from his Remote Gas Grenade damages enemies fast, and can down an operator with full health in just around three seconds
- Smoke can enter the gas cloud from his Remote Gas Grenade without being harmed by it, and he can use that unique perk to quickly take control of the area
- Because he has the SMG-11 for his secondary weapon which is fully automatic and can hit enemies at medium to long-range, the player is free to equip the M590A1 shotgun as his primary
- It takes ten seconds before the gas cloud from his Remote Gas Grenade dissipates, and since he has three of them, he can deny an area to his enemies for a total of thirty seconds
Best Loadout for Smoke:
https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/rainbow-6-siege-best-smoke-loadouts
2. Wamai (Anti-Gadget, Trapper)
Wamai is an almost essential defender for competitive matches because his special gadget, the Mag-NET, is very effective at neutralizing attacker projectiles. Without anything that can counter attacker projectiles, especially grenades, it could be quite easy for the attackers to push and take control of the objective spot. That’s because they can just easily pop off smoke grenades and flash grenades to limit the defenders’ vision. On top of that, experienced attackers know the usual angles that the defenders hold, so without a device that can counter grenades, they can also easily score kills after kills with their frag grenades.
That’s why if your team is serious about defending, one of you should really pick Wamai. With Wamai present in the defending team, it won’t be that easy for attackers to oppress defenders with grenades. As for his weapon, players will find him very easy to use for fragging enemies because his MP5K can be equipped with a scope 1.5x. That will allow Wamai to target his opponents with deadly accuracy. Another reason why Wamai is one of the most recommended operators for competitive matches is that he can bring in two impact grenades per round, and they’re always great to have for reworking the map to your team’s advantage.
What Makes Wamai a Great Defender:
- His Mag-NETs are great utilities for neutralizing attacker projectiles, especially frag grenades, and he can counter a total of six attacker projectiles per round
- His MP5K can be equipped with a scope 1.5x and the amount of zoom that it provides is perfect for the usual distances that Wamai operates in which is close to medium range
- He has access to two impact grenades per round and they’re always great to have for reworking the map or for countering shield operators
- He has the keratos .357 handgun as one of the choices for his secondary weapon, and it has heavy stopping power and high destruction rate, making it a good utility for creating lines of sight
Best Loadout for Wamai:
https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/rainbow-6-siege-best-wamai-loadouts
1. Kaid (Anti-Trapper, Anti-Gadget)
Another operator that is almost essential in ranked matches is Kaid. That’s because he’s now the best at preventing attackers from hard breaching, especially when Thatcher is banned. The radius of his Electroclaw is quite wide at 1.4 meters, and when deployed correctly, it can electrocute three reinforced walls. And since the effects of his Electroclaw passes through unbreakable surfaces like walls or brick floors, Kaid players can really be creative when it comes to their Electroclaw deployment. Some ways of deploying them are so tricky that even the impact EMP grenades can’t reach them.
To this day, Kaid is still the only defender that can prevent attackers from breaching reinforced hatches. That’s because his Electroclaw is the only hard breach preventing device that is capable of reaching them from below. For his weapons, Kaid can choose between the TCSG12 shotgun and the Aug A3 submachine gun and both are excellent weapons. The TCSG12 is a single-slug firing shotgun that is not just great at damaging enemies, it’s also great for reworking the map. On the other hand, the Aug A3 is fully automatic, has a good amount of damage per shot, and its recoil is very manageable.
What Makes Kaid a Great Defender:
- He’s the best at preventing attackers from hard breaching because his Electroclaw’s radius is wide and its effects passes through even unbreakable surfaces like cement walls or floors
- His TCSG12 is a single-slug firing shotgun that is capable of hitting enemies at long-range and is also a great utility for reworking the map due to its high destruction rate per shot
- If the player wants to use a fully automatic weapon for his primary, the Aug A3 is an excellent weapon with a good rate of fire, high damage, and very manageable recoil
- Kaid has access to the nitro cell which is great for countering shield operators or defuser plant attempts. Alternatively, he can also run with the barbed wires which he can electrocute with his Electroclaw
Best Loadout for Kaid:
https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/rainbow-6-siege-best-kaid-loadouts
Attention operator, please be advised. There is a new directive from Six. Read up on these related articles, and prepare for deployment:
