Rainbow Six Siege is approaching Season 3 of Year 6 and with it comes the Rainbox Six Siege Crystal Guard update. In it, you’ll receive all the expected changes for balancing, in maps and of course a brand new operator. There are currently 60 operators to choose from in the Rainbow Six Siege universe. Earlier this year we were introduced to Flores in Crimson Heist and Thunderbird in North Star. Now we have Osa from the Crystal Guard update.
Osa falls squarely into the attack operator category, with her main abilities encompassing her deployable shield gadget – Talon Shield. Rainbow Six Siege is one of the more complex FPS games out there and with the introduction of this new operative you should be getting ready for some changes. Osa is expected to join the ranks sometime in September but there has been no exact release date yet. She’ll be playable in the test servers on August 18th.
In this guide, we’ll give you everything we know about Crystal Guard’s new operative – Osa. Do you think she’s going to be changing up the meta? We’ll leave that to you to decide.
Some Facts About Osa
Anja “Osa” Janković, is an engineering genius from Croatia. She’s the Head of R&D at Nighthaven and the first trans character to join the roster.
Born with a passion for creation and technology, she studied military engineering at the University of Zagreb. She found herself isolated due to her unorthodox approach and others’ attitudes towards her transition, so she focused on her work. Her unique perspective and raw creative ability set her apart from her peers and got her the attention of Kali, who was in the country looking for recruits. An offer followed, and Janković joined Nighthaven.
Her primary weapon choices are between a powerful if somewhat slow assault rifle, and a rapid-firing SMG that doesn’t do much damage per bullet.
Her gadget, which we’ll get more into later is the Talon Shield. A re-deployable, transparent, waist-high bulletproof shield that can attach to windows, doorways, or anywhere on the ground. Its exceptional manoeuvrability and defence will be able to flip the power balance of a choke point or turn a fatal funnel into a defensible stronghold.
Osa’s Stats and Loadout
- Armour rating – 2
- Speed rating – 2
- Primary weapons – 556XI Assault Rifle or PDW9 Submachine Gun
- Secondary weapon – PMM
- Secondary gadgets – Smoke Grenades or Claymore Mines
Osa’s Gadget – Talon Shield
Osa’s gadget, the Talon Shield has two charges per round. It seems odd having an attacker with deployable shields, but for Team Rainbow’s 31st attacker Osa, it makes sense.
The Talon Shield is a transparent version of the deployable shield, though it’s slightly larger, enabling it to cover a single doorway or half a double doorway. You can even place the shield on windows at an angle. Holding the shield protects Osa from head-on enemy fire, though she can’t sprint, hold a weapon, or go prone, and she can’t be hit while deploying the shield.
As expected the Talon Shield is a fair bit fragile, as it is made of bulletproof glass rather than metal. So do expect it to break after some bullet time. It also has a canister that faces the attackers, which can be shot to shatter the entire shield. It’s also vulnerable to explosives such as impact grenades and C4, so defending teams should have some in their loadout.
How To Use The Shield
As Osa, you should look to get onto site first and drop your shield down so your allies can plant behind it in a safe spot. Use the shield to cover your blind spots such as from windows or angled off entryways. It’s not dissimilar to how Castle is used on defence, but Osa can use her shields aggressively as well.
You also can’t plant like a Montagne or Blitz can either, spinning around to protect yourself from defenders. This is because Osa doesn’t store her shields on her back. Therefore it’s better to whip out a shield and stand in front of a planting ally or deploy it entirely, to keep them safe. Try not to die early on to make the most of your Talon Shield ability.
Variations like being able to place these shields in windows or use them on rappel create slightly new roles. Unlike a standard deployable shield, the Talon completely protects Osa from the front while she’s deploying it. Without much risk, she’s free to repel up to a window, install a Talon, and start calling out what’s on the other side. Osa carries two Talons and can reposition them freely. When attackers need to quickly drop the window, a red canister on the back of the device (same as Mira’s one-way windows) can be shot to make it fall apart.
Alternatively, she can walk around while holding a Talon as a shield to peek corners and give callouts like a mini Clash. It’s an exceptionally flexible gadget but has a few weaknesses that will theoretically keep it from being too powerful. The Talon Shield can either be oppressive or flimsy depending entirely on what kit the defenders have brought along to the fight.
Osa’s Counters
Before any chatter of this being overpowered gets thrown around, it’s worth flagging that there are plenty of counters to Osa.
Defenders can destroy these shields outright with either an impact grenade or C4. Or you can straight up melee the glass if you get close enough, rendering the shield opaque. The gas canister at the bottom of Osa’s shields is also vulnerable to the opposing side. It can be popped with a shot from Maestro’s laser turret or from any crafty angle you’re able to open up through the floor.
Osa will likely have the greatest impact on window and rappel play. By mounting a shield in a window, especially over one half of a large window, any attacker holding this position can hang around near its middle. Seems minor, but it’s a huge boon when rappelling. Sitting on a rappel near the middle of a window gives you the best vision and more angles to play with. However that the defending team can target your whole body, suspended like a Piñata from halfway across the map. Osa’s shields change that, allowing attackers to breathe down the necks of any defenders stuck on-site, feeding intel back to their team the whole time.
Overall Thoughts On Osa
Bundle all of Osa’s abilities together and you have an operator with the potential to change the default attacking stats for some of Siege’s most defender-sided sites. Bulldozing onto site with a barrage of flashes and smokes will also be a lot easier with Osa in your line-up.
But while all of this sounds promising on paper, it only takes a single impact grenade to bring a shield down. So actually executing a strategy around Osa’s clear shields hinges more on luck than judgement.