Rainbow Six Siege's Operation Crystal Guard update is live now, bringing Croation operator Osa into the fold along with a new battle pass, a number of map reworks, and a major change to the game's armor system.
Osa, an attacker and the game's first transgender operator, carries the versatile new Talon-8 shield. Made out of a transparent, bulletproof material, Osa can carry the shield for personal defense, or plant it to grant protection to her team. Osa is available for use immediately for players who purchase the Year 6 Season 3 battle pass, or can be acquired for free starting September 21 either with in-game currency or Rainbow Six Siege's premium currency.
Major map changes have come to Coastline, Bank, and Clubhouse as part of the update, with each map receiving more destructible elements, new bomb placement sites, and more modifications. Several operators will be receiving updates too, with significant changes to operators including Fuze and Twitch. Fuze, for example, can now deploy his cluster charge through reinforced surfaces (albeit at a slower speed), while Twitch's shock drone is now only usable during a match's action phase but comes with the ability to destroy, rather than simply disable, enemy gadgets.
The map and operator updates come alongside a major change to how the game's armor system works--it's actually being removed. Operators that previously sported higher armor will now have that armor converted into additional health. Players will also have more personalization options when it comes to Elite skins, which will now allow players to mix-and-match uniforms and headgear from Elite sets as long as they are both owned and able to be equipped by the same operator.
For a full breakdown of all the new additions and changes, be sure to check out the complete patch notes. Rainbow Six Siege will be free-to-play from September 9 to September 12 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and on PC via the Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Connect.