Rainbow Six Siege has been around for over 5 years now during which it has developed a sizeable, dedicated playerbase. At the same time, there are over 50 Operatives to choose from and 11 maps to play in. All in all, the game isn’t a picnic to get into at this point but that shouldn’t discourage you from diving in. R6 Siege is an intense and rewarding game that becomes incredibly fun to play the more you learn its ins and outs.

For the absolute beginner, we’ve got 5 tips to help you get started whether you’re just dipping your toe or looking to dive in headfirst.

Do the Content

Even though Rainbow Six Siege isn’t going to win any awards in the single-player department, it does pay off to go through some of its content when you’re just figuring out where is up and where is down. Kick your journey off by watching the Tutorial section. It’s not the greatest ways to teach people how to get started and you’re surely not expected to assimilate everything you’re going to be shown. You will, though, receive a nice chunk of Renown, the game’s currency, which you can save up towards a DLC Operative down the line. The Tutorials will give you an overview of the game so be sure to use this chance to get familiar with the general spirit of it.

Situations are another mode we recommend you spend some time in as it will help you learn one of R6 Siege’s most important skills: peeking. This technique involves learning to one side, providing you with a good angle with minimal exposure. Compared to other FPS’s, aiming isn’t so much about godlike quick-scope jump shots as it is about positions and angles. Mastering the art of peeking as quickly as possible will ensure a solid start. After Situations, you can start building up your teamwork skills by playing Terrorist Hunt. You’ll be part of a 5-player team going up against the AI. Use this mode to get accustomed to communicating with others and practising your aim and peeking, as well, as slowly learning the maps.

Starter Operatives

A surefire way to find yourself overwhelmed is by picking Operatives that are too advanced or situational to start off with. Fortunately, R6 Siege has a few Operatives that are straightforward to use and will teach you the ropes without expecting too much from you. In terms of defence, there’s only one chap you should be going for, and that is Rook. The reason is simple. When on the defending team, you want to outlast your opponents as much as possible. Rook’s ability grants him 5 armor plates that will reduce the wearer’s received damage by 20%. You can greatly help you team by dropping them at the start of the round for your team to gather. After that, feel free to focus on learning as your job is already done.

When on the attacking side, you’ve got a bit more variety. Sledge is a breacher with a good chunk of tools that you’ll rarely run out of and a solid assault rifle that balances out damage and accuracy nicely. Thatcher has EMP grenades that will disable all enemy gadgets in a 5-meter radius so your mission is also quite straightforward. Finally, Fuze has 5 puck-shaped explosives that will deal fatal damage to anyone near their explosion radius. You can grab a few quick, cheeky kills by fusing a room or two at the start of the round.

Play Around with Attachments

You might already be familiar with gun modding if you play FPS’s regularly. Rainbow Six Siege offers up its own set of cool ways to customize the way your guns work and behave. Scopes can change the way you aim down sights, muzzles can reduce recoil, suppress sound or enhance damage at longer ranges, lasers affect your hip firing accuracy, and grips can tune your recoil. The general idea when you’re starting out in Casual mode is to try out as many combinations of attachments as you can until you find setups that you’re at home with. Give yourself a few games before deciding a certain mod isn’t for you, though.

Drop the Defuser

There are three game modes in R6 Siege. There’s Secure Area, where you have to capture and guard a specific point on the map, Hostage, where you have to prevent the enemy team from getting away with an NPC hostage, and finally, Bomb, where you have to defend two bomb sites. The first two are quite straightforward and require no additional actions beyond following your team’s lead. In Bomb, however, a random team member is given a Defuser. We recommend dropping this for another more experienced teammate to use. Figuring out where and when to plant the defuser can be a tough one to make when starting out so leave it to the pros until you’ve got a few Bomb games under your belt.

Leave the Haters Behind

This one is quite obvious but it bears repeating as Rainbow Six Siege is a team game with plenty of experienced players. As such, they’ll likely get easily frustrated and sometimes even use voice chat to be toxic towards new players. Some will even straight-up player kill you. Don’t let that get under your skin. Ignore, report and leave the match. As with all online games, it’s important to remember that you are in control of your experience. You will find friendly players that will be more than happy to show you the ropes.

There you have it! These are our 5 tips for kicking off your Rainbow Six Siege as a beginner. Now go out there and let your legend begin!