Rainbow Six Siege Operation Split Fire Adds New Operator Noor, Legend Division and Drone Racing

Ubisoft has unveiled Operation Split Fire, the next major season of Rainbow Six Siege, introducing a new Egyptian Operator, Ranked 3.0 changes, a high-level competitive playlist and even drone racing.

Operation Split Fire launches September 1, while players can get an early look when the Test Server goes live on August 17.  Headlining the season is Noor, a new Egyptian Defender designed specifically to disrupt shield-based pushes. The two-speed, two-health Operator carries the Horus Lance Launcher, which fires up to five projectiles that attach to shields or surfaces before drilling in and erupting into flames.

When fired directly at a shield, Attackers have to stop and remove the projectile, potentially leaving them vulnerable. Horus Lances can also penetrate destructible surfaces and work through floors, ceilings and adjacent rooms. They can even be attached to reinforced surfaces and gadgets such as Castle’s Armor Panels and Azami’s Kiba Barriers.

Ranked 3.0 continues to evolve

Ubisoft is making additional changes to Ranked 3.0 with Operation Split Fire. Hidden MMR is gone, while players now complete five placement matches at the beginning of the season. Wins award 100 RP and losses remove 50 RP during placements.

There’s also a soft seasonal reset, with the highest Champion players dropping back to Emerald 3. Base Rank Points are increasing from 25 to 30, which should help speed up progression.

Squad matchmaking is also being adjusted. Emerald players can still join Champion lobbies, but squads containing Platinum and Gold players won’t be able to queue into them. Ubisoft says it’s expanding the Diamond and Champion matchmaking pools in an effort to reduce the reliance on Emerald players when filling high-level matches.

Legend Division arrives mid-season

For players sitting at the very top, Ubisoft is introducing Legend Division, a new SoloQ-only playlist launching during the mid-season update. Access won’t be easy. Players must currently hold Champion rank, have reached at least Platinum during the previous season, maintain a positive reputation and meet Ubisoft’s security requirements.

Those requirements include two-factor authentication and ShieldGuard Secure Platform on PC, which verifies Secure Boot, Windows Memory Integrity and TPM 2.0.

Once the playlist opens, players lock themselves to a region and compete for placement on a public leaderboard. Top players receive a dynamic banner showing their position, while those finishing in the top 100 earn a numbered charm for the following season.

Siege is getting a drone racing mode

Operation Split Fire also gets considerably less serious with Wasteland Circuit, Siege’s first drone racing event. Running from September 23 through October 13, the three-week event pits drones against each other across multiple races. Players can grab item balloons to interfere with opponents or boost balloons to increase their own speed, with points awarded based on finishing position.

Before that, a limited-time 3v3 Arcade playlist runs from September 8 through September 22. It uses a faster version of Bomb with a 30-second Preparation Phase and Operator attrition. Once a team wins a round using an Operator, that character can’t be selected again for the remainder of the match.

Villa gets a significant mid-season overhaul

Ubisoft is also introducing what it calls Targeted Map Updates. Rather than waiting for full-scale reworks, the development team can make smaller but meaningful changes to specific portions of existing maps.

Villa is first up. Its Living Room/Library bomb site is moving into the basement, while the garage becomes an entirely indoor space. Surrounding areas are also being adjusted to create new attacking routes, defensive setups and droning opportunities. Stadium Alpha, Stadium Bravo and House are receiving visual updates this season as well.

Finally, several Operators and weapons are getting balance adjustments. Dokkaebi’s Jegeo Payload now requires a continuous connection, Kali’s sniper is receiving revised magnification and faster follow-up shots, and Lion and Echo are being tweaked. The SMG-12 and AR-15.50 are being nerfed, while the SPSMG9 receives a small damage increase.

With a new Operator, significant Ranked changes, and an entirely new competitive tier, Operation Split Fire is shaping up to be a substantial update for Rainbow Six Siege when it arrives September 1.