Rainbow Six Siege has three game modes that make up the experience: Hostage, Secure Area, and Bomb. While the main objectives are different, the core gameplay is largely the same: a team consisting of five attackers has to infiltrate a location and carry out their mission while the opposing five defenders have to stop their advance. The game is over when the attackers complete their mission objectives or when the defenders manage to prevent the attackers from completing their mission in the provided time. A Rainbow Six Siege team also wins if they manage to eliminate the opposing team before either can complete their objectives.
Two groups of specific operators make up the attacking and defending sides. Attackers come equipped with gadgets like drones, shields, and breach charges to help them break through the defenders' countermeasures. Defenders, on the other hand, have 45 seconds to reinforce walls, place traps, and modify the battlefield before the attackers go on the offensive. While Rainbow Six Siege is fairly balanced, the nature of the game tends to favor the defenders over the attackers for a few reasons.
Preparation Is The Key To Victory
Thanks to the 45-second preparation phase, defenders already have a big advantage over the attackers from the start of the match. While the time isn't much, it is more than enough for the defending team to set up wooden barricades, reinforce soft walls and hatches, make rotations, and place their Operator's utility in areas they think will be advantageous to them. Reinforced walls and hatches in particular are crucial, as they can funnel attackers into ambushes or force them to use their hard breach gadgets.
During the preparation phase, the attackers take control of their drones and survey the battlefield. The most important goal during this time is to find out where the objective (i.e. the bomb, hostage, or area to be secured) is. Secondary goals would be to find out which Operators the defending teams are using and what defenses they have put up. If they are lucky, the attackers would have found the objective within the time limit and hidden their drones in an advantageous position, thereby making surveillance during the match easier. Unfortunately for attackers, their drones can easily be destroyed by the defenders or (if the defending team has a Mozzie) repurposed for the defending team's own use.
Defenders Have The Home-Field Advantage
Once the prep phase is over, the real match begins. Attackers make their way into the building where the objective is located while defenders prepare to retaliate. Thanks to the home-field advantage and the attackers' fixed spawn points, it becomes easy for the defending team to find out where their enemies are approaching from. Defenders with good positioning and experience playing on Rainbow Six Siege's maps can easily spawn peek and kill attackers even before they get anywhere near the building, instantly decreasing the number of adversaries their team has to deal with.
When the attackers do manage to infiltrate the location, they are effectively entering the defending team's turf. Defenders both dead and alive can use fixed cameras dotted around the map to locate their enemies, while the traps and obstacles Rainbow Six Siege players have prepared impede the attackers' progress. It can be extremely daunting to play on the attacking team if the defenders managed to destroy all their preparation phase drones beforehand. Not only do the attackers have limited (and possibly outdated) intel on the battlefield, but now they have to be extra careful and use their drones to survey their surroundings during the match itself.
Attackers should survey their environment; because not only do they have to be on the lookout for the defenders, they also have to watch out for their traps. Kapkan's Entry Denial Devices, Frost's Welcome Mats, and Goyo's Volcan Cannisters are just a few of the many countermeasures the defenders can employ to keep attackers on their toes. When combined with the limited intel attackers generally possess as compared to defenders, this makes it easier for the defenders to kill time the attackers would otherwise spend completing their objectives.
This shouldn't dissuade Rainbow Six Siege players from playing the attacking side, however. Attackers have some really strong Operators in their roster who can change the battlefield just as much as any defender can. It just so happens that the combination of the preparation phase and the home-field advantage makes it easier for defenders to get the upper hand in a match. With enough practice, map knowledge, and preparation, any team can emerge victorious in Rainbow Six Siege.
Rainbow Six Siege is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.