Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Siege didn’t have the worst launch, but it wasn’t that great either. Players quickly found numerous exploits, Operators were poorly balanced, and not all of the game’s mechanics worked properly. It was a promising game that was rough around the edges.

Related: 10 Reasons You Keep Dying In Rainbow Six Siege

Now that it’s been a few years and the developers have remained faithful to the game it’s seen some significant updates. Whether it’s quality of life improvements, new Operators, game mechanic tweaks, or new tools to play with, Rainbow Six Siege feels like an entirely new game.

10 Shield Or Gun

In the beginning, it was quickly apparent that Shield Operators were overpowered. Ubisoft recognizing that Shield Operators didn’t have the best weapons and thought it would be a good balance to allow them to use sidearms while holding their shields.

This created unstoppable walls with teeth that proved to be an overpowered meta in competitive play. Ubisoft quickly realized their mistake and made it so that players had to choose between firing their weapon or holding their shield up. This incentivized more cooperative play and Shield Operators aren't unstoppable monsters anymore.

9 Renown System Fix

After numerous complaints from fans that various Operators were locked behind paywalls or too expensive, Ubisoft made tweaks to the Renown System that has made all Operators obtainable and more affordable.

It’s still a touchy subject with fans who feel they’re entitled to all of the game’s current and future content after purchasing it, but it did lessen the grind a little and make all Operators available to players willing to work for them. Ubisoft continues to tweak pricing and makes older Operators more affordable as time goes by.

8 Anti-Toxicity Tools

With any multiplayer game, there’s going to be trolls and hatemongers who stir the pot and cause problems. Ubisoft has been introducing a number of anti-toxicity tools to combat this problem and it’s been getting a lot better.

Players now have the ability to mute other players’ voice or text and the reporting system has been significantly improved. Interestingly the removal of the automatic banning system for using specific words has improved the situation as players were goading or tricking others into using offensive words to become banned. It’s impossible to create a multiplayer game that prevents players from offending other players, but Ubisoft has made great strides in resolving the problem fairly.

7 Weapon Sights Misalignment Fix

This was a stubborn bug that plagued competitive matches for quite some time. For whatever reason, there was a glitch with the weapons’ sights that caused bullets to miss their intended targets ever so slighty.

Many casual players probably never noticed this, but experienced veterans were noting that the sights weren’t functioning properly and it would cause misses and other accuracy problems through no fault of the player.

6 New Operators

Every season introduces a new set of characters in an effort to keep the game fresh, introduce new gameplay mechanics or to counter current standing metas. Rainbow Six Siege has consistently delivered innovative and popular operators with each major update that keeps the game interesting and engaging.

Related: Rainbow Six Siege: 10 Tips To Becoming A Better Attacker

Whether it’s anti-electronic operators like Vigil or Maverick’s near-silent ability to cut holes in walls, each new Operator challenges long-held strategies and tactics in new and exciting ways.

5 Holograms

One of the more interesting Operators that has been introduced since the game’s release is Alibi. This undercover operator introduced a fascinating new game mechanic that has caused players to become more cautious and calculating in their attacks.

With the use of Prismas Alibi can project images of herself wherever she throws the device down. This can be a handy way to distract attackers for an ambush, to buy some time, or to throw them off the real objective area. Players are continuing to find new and clever ways to use these devices and it’s making for interesting gameplay.

4 One-Way Mirrors

Mira is another operator who has dramatically shaken up the competitive world when she was introduced in the Operation Burnt Horizon update. Mira possesses the unique ability to deploy one-way mirrors on any surface to give her and her teammates a safe view from behind reinforced glass.

Related: Rainbow Six Siege: 10 Tips To Defending Better

With her introduction attackers are now much more cautious in their approach and her Black Mirrors are a sure sign that an area will be well defended. It’s often in the best interest of attackers to either find a way to take the mirrors out or give them a wide birth.

3 Hacking

Given the advanced technology present in Rainbow Six Siege it only made sense for Ubisoft to include a number of Operators who could hijack various devices and drones for their personal use. Dokkaebi can hack into opponents' phones and force them to ring noisily or she can hack into the network and gain access to CCTV cameras.

A really interesting hacker is Mozzie who can use his abilities to hijack other players' drones for his own use either to spy on or attack the enemies. It’s likely more hackers are going to be introduced in future updates and it’s causing some interesting gameplay and shaking up the metas.

2 Impact Grenades

When impact grenades were first introduced few players knew how to use them effectively in combat. Most assumed it was just another type of grenade they could lob at their enemies and knock out some health points.

Once players realized what they were for they’ve quickly become one of the most useful weapons in an Operators arsenal. Impact grenades can knock out holes and create entryways for Operators to quickly breach walls and take down defenders. Their introduction has made few hiding spots safe and defenders have been forced to adapt and play more strategically as a result.

1 Round Timer Change

Arguably the best change to Rainbow Six Siege since it’s release is the simple change Ubisoft made to it’s Round Timers. Instead of the typical four minutes, they dialed it down to three minutes. This doesn’t seem like a big deal, but that simple change has dramatically affected the pacing of the game.

This put a fire under attackers to get in and quickly take down the defenders. With the loss of a single minute, the gameplay became more action-packed and intense as attackers learned to plan on the fly and defenders felt the pressure of more aggressive assaults.

Next: Rainbow 6 Siege Is Going Full Cowboy For New Showdown Mode, Eliminating The HUD And Prep Phase