Rainbow Six Siege is a strategic and ingenious game. But the roles can often get muddled or confusing for anyone not experienced. This guide will help clear that up for you.
For anyone picking up Rainbow Six Siege, whether after a long break or for the first time, you will often hear people using terms to describe roles that need to be filled. If you aren't familiar with any of the characters and the roles they can fit into, those terms can seem almost useless.
All of the characters in this game have roles in which they loosely fit, and although you can play any character in almost any way, certain characters have gadgets and weapons that fit these roles better than others.
On offense, you will sometimes hear Breacher, Fragger, and Support(Anti-Roamer, Breach Support). On defense you will hear Anchor, Roamer, and Intel(Cams). Among those roles, there are further sub-roles that get more detailed, but for now these are the roles you will hear most often.
Attackers
Breacher
Thermite, an operator that is guaranteed to cause a bang
This role is necessary on probably 95% of the maps in this game. A breacher is somebody who opens up either reinforced walls and hatches, unreinforced walls, or plays vertically using their gadget. There will be important reinforced walls to destroy on every site, and there will be good opportunities to play vertical on almost every site. Being able to effectively use breachers will give you an advantage that the defenders will have difficulty dealing with.
Breacher Responsibilities
- Opening up reinforced walls and hatches to create pathways, angles and opportunities against the defenders.
- Playing vertically from above or below to destroy gadgets and harass or kill anchors.
- Opening up unreinforced walls and hatches of strategic value to flank and surprise defenders.
Tips for Playing Breachers
- Make sure you stay alive until the first push, at least. You have an important role on your team. If you die early the push can be stalled indefinitely or slowed down.
- Try to open up strategic walls and hatches fast, but bring a teammate to help you.
- Make sure to bring a Thatcher and communicate effectively when bringing down reinforced walls and hatches
- Have an idea of where you are going before you go there so you can leave your first drone to watch for roamers.
- When playing vertically as a Buck or a Sledge, make sure to open up multiple holes before peeking. If you have made only one hole and peek it, you will probably get shot.
- Throw grenades through the floorboards you opened up, as Buck or Sledge, to damage and harass anchors.
3 Best Operators for Breaching
- 3. Hibana
- 2. Sledge
- 1. Thermite
Fragger
Ash, the rushing players operator of choice
After making sure you have good breachers picked, make sure there are 1-2 fraggers on your team. This is a very loosely defined role, but generally it is an attacker whose focus is to kill enemy opponents and create opportunities that way. You will have gadgets, not related to fragging oftentimes, but your main job is to drone ahead, push the defenders and get a kill or two. Now, literally anyone can be a fragger, but some operators are simply more effective. Whether it is because of a great primary weapon or because their gadgets guide them towards fragging, it will become clear soon enough who should frag.
Fragger Responsibilities
- Make sure you get one or two kills before you go down or end the round. Your primary goal is to push the defenders to the point where they make mistakes. Oftentimes your push will cause them to flee from you and find themselves in someone else's crosshairs.
- Make the enemy uncomfortable by pushing them and harassing them.
- Watch for flanks when your team is planting or is in a room with lurkers nearby.
Tips for Playing Fraggers
- Drone ahead to get an idea of what rooms will look like and who is lurking there, better yet have a teammate come with you or drone ahead for you. If you know where the enemies general location is, you will be able to do your job better
- Make sure to play smart, going for kills is your job, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't help your team or use your teammates to your advantage.
- Practice your operator and getting headshots with their weapon in T-Hunt.
- Don't be afraid to push, if you are scared of an enemy holding an angle, go around, you have to put pressure on defenders for the rest of your team to be effective.
- Find good angles to hold and have your team pressure enemies so they run into your crosshairs. A defender sandwiched between two fraggers is generally not getting out of there.
3 Best Operators for Fragging
- 3. Blackbeard
- 2. Zofia
- 1. Ash
Support
Nothing makes enemies upset like a well thrown EMP Grenade
This is another broad term that can be many things. Because of the growth of the game, in regards to gadgets, operator count and strategic value, each of these roles has sub-roles. Support generally means a Breach Support, or a Anti-Roamer. There are many characters which can fit into any of these roles, but their jobs are always important for pushing safely. Whether it be disabling Bandit and Mute gadgets, or finding that sneaky Caveira lurking around, a Support character will always be important when attacking and pushing.
Support Responsibilities
- Disable any gadgets stopping your breachers from doing their jobs, whether it be Kaid, Bandit or Mute.
- Find Roamers using gadgets made for seeking them out, like Dokkaebi or Jackal.
- Stop Flankers from ending your teams push by watching flanks and placing down gadgets like Gridlocks Trax Stingers
Tips for Playing Support
- If you are breach support, stick to your Thermite or Hibana and follow their direction, or have them follow yours. Communicating effectively is key in this game, especially when you are in a support role.
- Make sure you are focused on allowing the Breacher to do his job, that means covering flanks and watching for run outs.
- Learn good placements for Trax Stingers which make it impossible for roamers and flankers to run in without making a lot of noise.
- Make sure you are actively searching for flankers and roamers, especially if you are a character which has a device to find them, such as Lion, Jackal, and Dokkaebi.
- Once you have used your gadgets, don't be afraid to get more aggressive and push
3 Best Support Operators
- 3. Twitch
- 2. Jackal
- 1. Thatcher
Defenders
Anchor
Running into a room and seeing Mira's Black Mirror looking right at them is a feeling no player forgets.
The defenders roles are generally more easily defined because you are reacting to the attackers more often than you are creating situations. The anchor is, generally, a slower character who will sit on site or close to site. You are there to make sure no one can sneak on or push on to site easily without getting shot by you. Their names are a description of what they do, they hold down the site as an anchor holds a boat in the water.
Anchor Responsibilities
- You are there to make sure no one gets on site easily.
- Stop the attackers from planting the bomb.
- Holding angles to prevent the attackers from getting kills and penetrating the site.
Tips for Playing an Anchor
- Make sure to find a spot with an advantageous angle for you. Holding site doesn't just mean sitting in a corner. You have to be proactive if possible, before you have to be reactive.
- Make sure to communicate where the attackers are breaching from.
- Using a character with an ACOG will give you an advantage because not only will you be able to defend from an advantageous spot, but you can also see them as well as they can see you.
- If they are on site but you can't seem to hit them, just waste time by prefiring in their direction, the fear that you are going to shoot them will often prevent them from planting.
- Don't be afraid to run off of site if you are overwhelmed. Just regroup and flank them from another direction.
- Learn good Mira placements on maps, she is one of the most powerful defenders in the game, but only if used correctly. A badly placed Mira will be the bane of all defenders.
3 Best Anchor Operators
3. Smoke
2. Rook
1. Mira
Roamer
A team with a Jager will rarely do well. Between his gadget and his rifle, he is truly one of the best operators.
A roamer often has a tougher job. You have to have good map knowledge to roam effectively, especially if you are deep roaming. A roamers primary job is to engage the attackers in areas where they are breaching into the building. You are not going to be on site, but you should be aware of where the attackers of breaching from and confront them. Your job is to get a kill or two, and harass them while they try to get on site. You can deep roam, which means you are going to be close to the other side of the map as opposed to close roaming, which is a couple of rooms away from the site.
Roamer Responsibilities
- Harass the enemy team and disrupt any strategies they have for taking site.
- Getting a kill or two before the enemy team starts their main push.
- Generally making sure the enemy never feels safe and is always watching their back.
- Flanking if your anchors are getting overwhelmed and picking off as many attackers as possible.
Tips for Playing a Roamer
- Take a 3 speed character, literally anyone can roam, but 3 speeds are able to be the fastest and quietest flankers.
- Have good map knowledge before you deep roam, when playing ranked for a long time you start to know where most teams will try to push from. Go there and get a good angle, or hide until they push in a little bit and flank them.
- Don't find a corner to sit it on the far side of the map until your team is whittled down. You are supposed to confront the attackers before they push onto site, not get easy picks while they are planting.
- Learn good flanking routes and make sure to harass the enemy team.
- It is ok to fall back if they are getting the best of you, find another route back and get them when they least expect it.
- Make sure to utilize the crouch walk mechanic. When crouching, hold left alt while walking to be very quiet. You will be very slow, but they will hear you a lot less, allowing you to sneak up on them.
3 Best Roamer Operators
3. Pulse
2. Bandit
1. Jager
Intel
The Yokai Drone and Echo, the banes of any bomb planter on the attacking side.
The info gathering operator has a unique role on defense. They are mostly based on gathering intel by using their gadgets and map cameras. Each of these operators is specifically suited for gathering intel and should always focus at least half their energy on finding enemies and calling them out. The static cameras in this game will get destroyed fast, especially if someone is spotting on them rather than using call-outs. These operators have extra cameras which can be hidden well or take an extra step to destroy.
Intel Responsibilities
- Place your cameras in sneaky and advantageous spots to allow them to survive longer and get good intel.
- Going on camera and giving callouts to roamers and anchors so they can use the information against the attackers.
- Letting your team know that the cameras are up, and reminding them to use them when they die.
Tips for Playing an Intel Operator
- Look up guides or find sneaky places to put them, especially as an Echo, Mozzie or Valkyrie. Good camera placement can be the difference between a loss and a win. Hiding them high up or in like-colored items can help.
- Make sure to tell your teammates not to spot on cameras unless absolutely necessary, this will only make the opponents look for the camera and destroy it.
- As a Maestro, try not to zap your opponents too much, unless they are distracted by something.
- Use your Maestro and Echo as another sub-role, the plant denial. When someone is trying to plant, zapping them with the Maestro camera or hitting them with Echo's Yokai will make them rethink their plan fast.
- Learn callouts, if you don't know them try your best. If you are still hitting a blank, then you should spot with the camera. Learning the callouts will help keep your cameras hidden and secure because the enemy won't be on the lookout for them.
3 Best Intel Operators
3. Valkyrie
2. Maestro
1. Echo
