Rainbow Six Siege – Operation Deadly Omen Operator and Gadget Guide

Operation Deadly Omen is kicking off Year 9 of Rainbow Six Siege by bringing the menacing masked antagonist, Deimos, on board as an attacking Operator. His DeathMark gadget can pinpoint and track a Defender's position, and his powerful Vendetta revolver with a unique scope ensures he has the power to take down his prey. Among the big updates coming this season is an extensive rework to the shields wielded by Montagne, Fuze, and Blitz, as well as an ADS update and corresponding changes to attachments and scopes. Plus, a new Locker menu for better management of cosmetic items, a balancing change for Azami's Kiba Barriers, and more.

A New Unique Sidearm

Deimos joins the Attackers as a 2-health, 2-speed Operator armed with either the sturdy AK-74M assault rifle or the burly M590A1 shotgun. His secondary weapon is .44 Vendetta revolver that sports a one-of-a-kind magnified scope. One shot from this new weapon will open up a slug-sized hole in a destructible wall, and two shots will be enough to take down an Operator. He'll also have frag grenades or hard breach charges to help him pursue his objective.

The DeathMark Tracker gadget

Deimos' unique gadget is a small flying probe that he can release into the air to target a specific enemy. Deimos must select a particular enemy to seek out, but if a Defender hasn't been revealed, they can't be targeted. Avoiding scout drones and utilizing Operation Dread Factor's observation blockers will be helpful for Defenders looking to stay off Deimos' radar.

Once Deimos picks his prey and releases the DeathMark, it flies to its target and provides a constant live marker for Deimos to see. While the tracker is active, Deimos can't use his primary weapon, and automatically pulls out his .44 Vendetta revolver for the duration. Deimos can then move in for the kill or relay the tracker's intel to his teammates - note that they won't be able to see the live marker, so Deimos needs to communicate to make the most of his gadget.

The tracker lasts for a set period of time, but will stop early if the target is dead or if Deimos cancels the ability and calls off the hunt. Then there's a cooldown before he can deploy another, providing he has one available - he starts the round with none and gains a few of them slowly over time, like Lesion and his Gu mines. Each DeathMark tracker is a critical intel-gathering device, whether Deimos is closing in on roamers or pinpointing exactly where an anchor is positioned on-site.

But Deimos isn't the only one who gets intel from the DeathMark. When Deimos deploys a tracker, all players are alerted with an on-screen message as to who Deimos is targeting. During the short deployment period, he can be spotted by Solis and her SPEC-IO Electro Sensor, but that stops once the tracker arrives at its target. During the tracking period, the target themselves will see steady pings of Deimos' position and be able to react and inform their teammates of his movements. With this information about what Deimos is up to, clever Defenders can try to set up a crossfire to catch the hunter in his own trap.

Denying the DeathMark

Though DeathMark trackers can't be destroyed, they can be denied or disabled. Hitting Deimos with a bulletproof camera EMP temporarily stops him from using his gadget and disrupts any tracking in progress. Mute's Jammers and Tubarão's Zoto Canisters create areas of denial inside of which a DeathMark can't function, and Vigil's Electronic Rendering Cloak makes him untrackable. If any of these counters is active on an Operator when Deimos attempts to track them, he won't be able to; he simply can't send a DeathMark after a cloaked Vigil, for example.

Furthermore if a targeted Operator uses a counter (e.g., enters the freezing effect of Tubarão's Zoto Canister) in the few seconds between the "Deimos is tracking..." alert on-screen and the time the DeathMark actually finds them, the DeathMark will be canceled and refunded. However, if a Defender is tracked and then activates the counter by, say, stepping into a Mute jammer's radius, the DeathMark will only be paused. If the target, say, leaves the jammer's radius, or Tubarão's freeze wears off, and the DeathMark still has tracking time left, the tracking will resume. 

It's tenacious, a lot like Deimos himself, and one can only imagine how the DeathMark's tracking ability might pair with other intel-gathering Attackers. Siege has always been an intel game, and with the arrival of Deimos, the stakes are higher than ever before.

Shield Operators as Tanks

Operation Deadly Omen is bringing new power and functionality to shield-wielding Operators Montagne, Blitz, and Fuze through the new shield rework. They can now sprint with their shields and burst through barricades swiftly, as well as throw grenades, reload, or activate their gadget without lowering their shield. Plus, the new free look ability lets them observe their surroundings to ping gadgets or watch for threats without moving their shield out of position. These three can now lean further into their roles as tanks - and deadly ones at that - who can melee with their shields to knock down and eliminate enemies. Defenders will want to take advantage of the new suppressive fire mechanic to slow the advance of a shield player and obscure their vision while figuring out how to take them down. (Note that Osa and Clash are not affected by this rework.)

More Operation Deadly Omen Updates

• The speed of aiming down sights is slowing down slightly and sights themselves are adjusting accordingly. Sights will now be grouped into four categories: iron sights, universal (1x), magnified, and telescopic (not available for Defenders). Notably the 1.5x magnification level is being removed, and the one-time fan-favorite combo of an ACOG sight (magnified) on the R4C assault rifle is returning. Furthermore, new and re-balanced attachments will accompany this change, so players should be sure to adapt their loadouts accordingly. 

• Azami's Kiba Barriers will now be destructible with bullets; the faster the damage stacks up, the quicker the barrier comes down.

• More maps, more Operators, and more AI improvements are coming to Versus AI and Training modes.

• A menu called the Locker will give players a new way to peruse, sort, equip and manage their cosmetic collections and cosmetic packs.

• The animation and smoothness of rappelling will be improved, fueled in part by new motion capture.

• LMGs will receive a balancing pass to generally make their recoil easier to control and to make players slightly slower when using the powerful support weapons.

• Further changes, including updates to ranked mode requirements and anti-cheat measures, can be found on the official Rainbow Six Siege website.

Operation Deadly Omen is coming soon, and Deimos will available at launch as part of the Premium Battle Pass and unlockable two weeks later with Renown or R6 Credits. Catch up on the current season's news with our Operation Deep Freeze Operator and Gadget Guide.