Rainbow Six Siege Tier List: Best R6 Operators for Attack and Defense

The number is continually changing, but at present, the official website confirms there are over 70 operators to choose from. You will usually find a new operator added to those already available each season. The game releases a new operation every three months, with a new operator (or a remastered one) along with upgrades and other new additions to the game.

Yes - there are two basic types of operator you’ll come across:

• Attackers - these assault the selected map location
• Defenders - these will defend the selected location

If you’re playing the game, you can choose to play as an attacker or a defender, and go through all of the options in turn as you gain more experience.

Yes, you can choose an operator based on their specialty. For example, some attackers may be good at providing intel or breaching points of entry. Front line attackers take up position at the front of the attack, breaking through and using gadgets to help other players on their team to access the location.

Operators that specialize in intel and support are equally useful as attackers or defenders. However, some defenders may provide skills and weapons to prevent entry to a location - thereby making it harder for the attackers to achieve their objectives. You can see, though, that it isn’t just down to weapons and how many an operator has - their skills and abilities matter too, and can determine which tier they might land in on a list.

Yes, you will find two kinds of Rainbow Six Siege operator tier list options online, covering the best operators for attacking purposes and the best ones for defending purposes, since the operators that fall into each category will have different skills to consider.

Once you’ve played the game for a while, you may find you prefer choosing attackers rather than defenders, so you may want to develop your own list of suitable candidates. Doing this will help you to compare different attackers or defenders, and know which to choose in the future.

Nothing can replace gaining knowledge by immersing yourself in the game, and exploring different maps or locations, like Nighthaven Labs, Emerald Plains, and even the eerie Theme Park. It's handy to make notes as you go too. With over 70 operators already and rising, you’ll likely forget which ones you found useful in certain scenarios if you don’t start compiling a potential R6 tier list from the start.

Some operators are easier to manage than others and are therefore ideal for beginners. For example, if you want to be an attacker who can easily breach a location, Ash is a good pick thanks to his supply of breaching rounds and charges. Among the defenders, Rook is a great choice thanks to his R1N Rhino Armor. This protects both him and his teammates, so while he’s not the fastest operator around, he does have a far better health rating than many other operators, thanks to that armor.

In the above examples, you can see they don’t necessarily need to be sharpshooters. Those are great to use, but they do require more experience to manage them. If you’re not a good shot, or you’ve only just started playing the game, you’re better off picking an operator who doesn’t rely on those skills to make progress.

Each operator has a primary weapon, along with secondary weapons. Some of those weapons are easier to handle than others, so if you try a range of them by choosing different operators, you can begin to see which weapons you personally prefer. Some weapons have a higher rate of fire than others, while some have more recoil, which makes them harder to manage, especially as you’re getting used to the game mechanics.