Year Two Season Three of Rainbow Six: Siege, titled “Operation Blood Orchid”, is almost upon us, scheduled to launch next week on September 5th.  Due to the shakeup in content releases caused by last season’s Operation Health, Blood Orchid will be adding three new operators to the game, as opposed to the standard two, alongside the usual additions of a new map, new weapons, and loads of new cosmetics.

The new operators come from two different CTUs (Counter-Terrorism Units).  Two of the operators come from the Special Duties Unit (SDU) of Hong Kong, while the third is a member of GROM, the CTU of Poland.

The first operator is Ying, one of the Hong Kong operators and the sole attacker of the group.  Ying is a medium-armored operator, who can be armed with either an LMG or a shotgun alongside a pistol side-arm.  She is equipped with a special cluster-flashbang called the Candela, as well as special goggles that render her invulnerable to her own stuns, although still susceptible to enemy flash grenades.

The Candela is an explosive cluster of 6 individual flashbangs, which can be thrown into an enemy position like a standard grenade to set off a barrage of flashes, leaving the entire room blinded and dazed for you to swing in and mop up.  Candelas can also be “cooked” by holding the button down, giving it a longer delay before activating for you to roll the device through a drone hole or under a doorway for more tactical insertions.  The device can also be used like a Fuze Cluster Charge, able to puncture through any breachable wall or surface to then shoot out the flash grenades on the far side into an enemy-held room.

The second Hong Kong operator is Lesion, Ying’s defender counterpart who is also medium-armored and can wield either a shotgun or SMG.   He also rocks board shorts, some killer Nike shoes, and a toothpick just for chewin’.  Lesion’s special gadget is the Gu Mine, a special mine that is thrown onto the floor and is virtually invisible to any attackers.  The mine contains a poison dart that is shot into the leg of any enemy who steps near it, puncturing their skin and delivering a deadly toxin that impairs their vision and does low damage over time.  The attacker will have a button prompt to remove the dart from their leg and halt the effects, but this action takes a precious few seconds, leaving them vulnerable to attack.

Lesion can deploy up to 7 of these mines during a round, but only starts with one; he then acquires additional mines slowly over time, on a 35 second counter.  The player controlling Lesion can see a glowing icon on their HUD where each mine is deployed on the map, and when one is activated it disappears, signalling to them that it is time to move on that location and shoot the unfortunate attacker who is busy tugging the poison needle from their calf.

The final operator of Blood Orchid is Ela, another defender and the sole representative of GROM for the season.  Ela is a light-armor high-speed operator, and can be equipped with a shotgun or SMG as well as a special side-arm pistol that has a built-in red dot sight, the only pistol in the game to offer something other than standard iron sights.  For her gadget, Ela brings the Grzmot Mine, a proximity mine that gives off a concussive sound blast that temporarily disorients affected enemies, knocking out their hearing entirely as well as reducing their peripheral vision and removing their ability to sprint.

Grzmot mines can be stuck to walls, floors, and ceilings, and will automatically detonate when an attacker comes too close to one.  In addition to the 4 standard mines that she can deploy around the map, Ela always carries a special extra mine on her person, which can be activated if any enemy reduces your health to the down-but-not-out state, hopefully stunning your adversary long enough for a teammate to rush in and finish them off, and be able to revive you.

These three Blood Orchid operators are playable now on the Rainbow Six: Siege Technical Test Server, and will be available in the main game starting September 5th.