6,500-hour Rainbow Six Siege veteran shares 5 tips every new player ne | Gaming | Entertainment

Rainbow Six Siege X is about to head into its eleventh year of content, kicking off on March 3 with a particularly exciting crossover collaboration. That’s right – Metal Gear’s Solid Snake is arriving as his own Operator, now completely canon to the Tom Clancy universe.

With such a huge event likely to entice both new and lapsed players to the tactical online shooter, we thought we’d provide a little refresher on what the game is and how it’s changed since its launch over a decade ago. 

Siege has evolved massively since 2015 with the game soon to be home to 76 Operators and 25 maps with 16 of those in the competitive pool. Since Operator and map knowledge are key to winning matches, it can be a daunting title to sink your teeth into – but it doesn’t have to be.

In a video shared with Express Online, Rainbow Six Siege content creator ‘alyttleton’, who has over 6,500 hours in the game, provides his top five tips players need to know to get good at the game quickly. We’ll highlight those tips below, as well as provide a full rundown of what exactly to expect from Rainbow Six Siege in 2026.

What is Rainbow Six Siege X?

Rainbow Six Siege X is a 5v5 online shooter that focuses on grounded, tactical gameplay. Matches are asymmetrical, with defending Terrorists taking time at the start of a round to set up defences inside a building while the Counter Terrorists scout it out with drones.

Once defences are set, the Counter Terrorist team must advance on the building, using the gadgets at their disposal to gain entry, create lines of sight, and either capture the objective or eliminate all remaining Terrorists.

Each Operator has a range of different gadgets that can be used to their advantage. For example, Thermite on the attacking team has a powerful explosive charge that can blast through defensive walls. Meanwhile, Kapkan on the defending team can arm traps at infiltration windows to catch enemies off guard.

What separates Siege apart from other online shooters is its innovative destruction system. Plenty of walls, doors, and even floors and ceilings can be destroyed with pin-point accuracy, opening up unique lines of sight to spot enemies in other rooms when used tactically.

The competitive mode of Siege X uses the Bomb gamemode, which tasks the Counter Terrorists with defusing a bomb armed by the Terrorists before a timer runs out. Other modes like Secure Area and Hostage are available in casual matchmaking – although a competitive rework of Hostage is planned for later in the Year 11 pipeline.

Is Rainbow Six Siege X free to play?

Rainbow Six Siege underwent a bit of a change last June when it rebranded to Rainbow Six Siege X. The game remains the same, but it’s now ‘free to access’. This means players can try parts of the Siege experience for free before forking out for the full package.

The free version of Siege X grants access to the Quick Match, Unranked and Dual Front game modes, as well as a selection of Operators to get started with. Jumping up to the £17.99 Elite Edition grants access to 16 more Operators, as well as the competitive Ranked mode – this is currently on sale for £8.99 ahead of Year 11’s start on March 3, 2026.

It’s worth bearing in mind, though, that Operators can be unlocked via gameplay and don’t necessarily need to be purchased. You can get away with just playing the free version of Rainbow Six Siege X if you’re not fussed about playing competitive just yet.

5 tips to get good at Rainbow Six Siege X

Now that you’ve got the basics of Rainbow Six Siege X down, how do you actually get good at it? For that, we’ll pass on over to alyttleton, who shares his top five tips you need to know to get good at this tactical shooter.

This includes how to best set up your site as a defender, how to use map destructibility to your advantage, and the best crosshair placement to get more eliminations.

If you’re looking for more tips to take your knowledge of Rainbow Six Siege X even further, alyttleton has hundreds more videos diving deep into Operators, strategies and gameplay tips on his YouTube channel.

Which Operators should you learn first?

So, you’ve got the gist of what to do in Rainbow Six Siege, and you’ve got a few tips under your belt to get a leg up over other newbies – but which Operators should you start to learn first? I’ll give you my best choices for both the attacking and defending teams.

Best Defending Operator to start with – Rook

If you just want to get stuck into learning the basic mechanics of Siege without worrying about another layer of gadgets on top, I’m a big fan of Rook. His gadget puts down a bag of armour plates for your team to equip, meaning as long as you remember to place it down at the start of a round, your job is done.

From there, you can focus all your efforts on learning the maps and figuring out the intricacies of Siege’s tactical gameplay. That’s all while having a few extra hit points under your belt, allowing a little more forgiveness for sloppy aim while you’re still learning the ropes.

Best Attacking Operator to start with – Thermite

Thermite is one of the most simple Operators to get your head around in Rainbow Six Siege, making him a great starting point for new players. His breaching charge gadget allows him to blast huge holes in reinforced walls, making him a great counter to enemy teams who have done their due diligence in setting up their defences well.

He relies a lot on the rest of his team mates, which means you’ll likely need to stick with the other players on your team while playing him. This is also great as a newbie, as it should let you observe how others play the game and get you to grips with popular strategies more quickly.

As a reminder, Rainbow Six Siege Year 11 starts on March 3, 2026. If you want to learn more about how the Solid Snake collaboration came together, I spoke to developers are both Ubisoft and Konami to find out.