In this latest edition of Designer's Notes, we'll go into detail about the balancing changes that'll come with the Y10S4 update and give you some insight into the reasons behind them.

BALANCING MATRIX AND TOP OPERATOR BANS

WIN DELTA VS. PRESENCE

OPERATOR BAN RATE

OPERATOR BALANCING

THATCHER

Thatcher has gone through many different balancing states throughout his 10 years in Siege. Tweaking him individually has always been a challenge. A testament to this is that most of the changes he's undergone have come from modifying elements around him, such as the introduction of EMP Impact Grenades, or allowing Bandit to stack multiple batteries on a single wall.

His remaster is built on two key pillars: future-proofing Thatcher with new balancing levers, and raising his skill ceiling while maintaining the accessibility that made the old Thatcher so approachable for less experienced players.

Thatcher's new gadget is the E.G.S. Disruptor. Its core function remains the same: disabling enemy electronics - but it now introduces a layer of tactical depth. The E.G.S. is equipped with an electronic detection screen that allows Thatcher to scan his surroundings and aim the Disruptor Beam at selected gadgets. By default, gadget identities are hidden on the detection screen, but they can be revealed in two ways: by hitting them with the Disruptor Beam, or by pinging them (either by Thatcher himself, or a teammate). Once a device is hit, the screen displays how long it will remain disabled.

The E.G.S. Beam is a cylindrical volume of effect, 3.5 meters wide and 10 meters long (a shift from the old EMP Grenade's 5.2 meter spherical radius). The previous "toss-and-forget" approach offered limited room for creativity or player interaction. In contrast, the new gadget encourages players to explore enemy defenses, gather intel, and plan their approach, rewarding them with more strategic opportunities throughout the round.

Thatcher can still fulfill his traditional role, but now with added versatility. Imagine him roaming Clubhouse's rooftop, disabling Jäger's ADS units in Garage without exposing himself to throw an EMP, simply by scanning and aiming with the E.G.S.

The E.G.S. Disruptor introduces a suite of new balancing levers that allow for more precise tuning of Thatcher's impact in the future - from reload time, to beam range, to the available shots. These levers give us greater flexibility to respond to evolving metas and player feedback without needing to overhaul surrounding systems.

E.G.S. Disruptor

• Maximum resources: 6 charges

• Detection Range: 10 meters

• Beam Dimensions:

  • Width: 3.5 meters

  • Length: 10 meters

LOADOUT

• Primary weapons:
  • Added the PMR90A2

HIBANA

Hibana has a very tactical gadget that allows spending the right amount of resources for the right situation. However, it can leave her exposed for a long time, especially compared to her fellow hard breachers. The long range ability of the device is also among the unique perks of the X-Kairos; the addition of the PMR90A2 to her primary weapon loadout will allow players to dominate long ranges. We believe that with these changes, Hibana can better compete with Ace.

X-KAIROS

• Removed the handle pump between shots
• Reduced breaching time to 4 seconds (from 5 seconds)

LOADOUT

• Primary weapons:

  • Added the PMR90A2

• Secondary gadgets:

  • Added Claymore

MAVERICK

Maverick is currently very vulnerable when doing his best work. We have rearranged the resources in his main ability to make sure you can focus on cutting down walls and staying safe while doing so. We are also reintroducing frag grenades to the loadout. We believe this will increase the overall utility that Maverick can offer his team.

BREACHING TORCH

• Canister content has been condensed into two canisters, limiting the amount of reloads needed when using the Breaching Torch. It is still the same amount of fuel, just in larger tanks now.

LOADOUT

• Secondary weapons:

  • Added the Reaper MK2

• Secondary Gadgets:

  • Added frag grenades

THERMITE

Thermite is the hard breacher that must commit the most to do his job. Once he breaches, we want him to be able to deal as much damage as possible to the defending team. Additionally, we are adding a secondary shotgun to his loadout.

EXOTHERMIC CHARGE

• Increased the amount of charges to 3 (from 2).

LOADOUT

• Secondary Weapons:
• Added ITA12s

ACE

Ace is the golden pick for hard breach. The changes we are making to his stats and kit will allow for more wiggle room and variety between hard breacher picks while still acknowledging Ace's flashiness.

Following the changes for Hibana, Maverick, and Thermite, the goal is to make each hard breacher shine, avoiding ensuring that Ace is the best pick in every situation. We believe that this package will provide variety and more viable options in the field.

BASE STATS

• Speed: Reduced to 1 (from 2).
• Health: Increased to 3 (from 2).

LOADOUT

• Secondary gadgets:

  • Removed breach charges

  • Added stun grenades

MUTE

Mute will be taken out of the DSEG effect. His effect will no longer be a permanent EMP around the jammers. Instead, it will affect gadgets that have signals coming in or out of the radius.

For example: Thermite will still not be able to trigger an exothermic charge inside the radius of one of Mute's jammers, but one of Ace's SELMAs will not be affected because it is automated.

This series of changes were made to make Mute easier to balance. As they exist right now, the zones of Mute's jammers cancel all electronics, leading to situations that were hard to grasp for everyone.

These changes will allow us to make Mute better against certain types of gadgets, while not affecting others. Since this will ultimately impact his gadget's performance, we revoked a previous nerf that was implemented when Mute was too dominant.

BASE STATS

• Speed: Increased to 2 (from 1).
• Health: Reduced to 2 (from 3).

SIGNAL DISRUPTOR

• Jams wireless signals (instead of disabling electronic gadgets).
• Range increased to 2.475 meters radius (from 2.225 meters).

CASTLE

We are adding a new interaction for Castle's barricades: Kaid's Electro-Claws will now be able to electrify them. Electrified Armor Panels will follow the same rules as Electrified Reinforcements; they will destroy electronics in contact with them (meaning that, for example, Fuze will not be able to deploy his gadget's charges without first dealing with the source of electricity).

ARMOR PANEL

• Can be electrified by Kaid's Electroclaws

ARUNI

Currently, disabling a Surya Gate is less effective than overloading it, which we believe may lead to unintuitive gameplay. This behavior encourages players to use the disabling utility in a way that doesn't align with its intended purpose. With the updated flow, the gate will transition to an overloaded state after completing its disabled phase. This means that using the utility correctly will result in the gate remaining inactive for a longer duration, reinforcing its proper use.

SURIYA GATE

• The gate switches to Overload state when the Disabled state finishes (instead of reverting to the previous state).

ASH

Ash is a powerful operator for clearing enemy utility and creating soft destruction. Her Breaching Rounds deploy and trigger quickly, making counters against them mostly limited to utility catchers like Wamai's MAG-NET System, Jäger's ADS, or Aruni's Suriya Gates.

To increase counterplay, we're expanding her vulnerability list. Electricity is a natural fit. Making Breaching Rounds susceptible to electrified surfaces will add new layers of strategy. Electrified Deployable Shields, Castle Barricades, and Mira's Black Mirrors will now pose a greater challenge for Ash players.

BREACHING ROUNDS

• Breaching rounds will be vulnerable to electricity

GADGET BALANCING

DSEG

While remastering Thatcher, we took some time to consolidate some behaviors tied to DSEG. DSEG is the effect caused by EMP Grenades, Thatcher's new E.G.S. Disruptor, and Bulletproof Cameras. These changes were made with rationalization and learnability in mind. It should be easier to understand what happens, and what you can and cannot do when affected with the DSEG affect.

CHANGES

• All Sights, Scopes, and Optics are now affected by DSEG. Previously only 1x were affected.
• You can reapply the affect to refresh the time disabled.
• When a character is affected by DSEG, they can no longer trigger their remote devices (breach charges, Exothermic charges, Smoke's canisters, Cluster charges, etc.).

REINFORCEMENT

The current threshold for the amount of reinforcement needing to be cut down to cause it to crumble has been changed. You need to cut a full line in order to cause the reinforcement to detach from the wall. The goal of this change is to make it easier to understand on both sides what is going on with the reinforcement. This allows us to have more agency when balancing hard breachers and deciding how these reinforcements behave.

WEAPON BALANCING

PISTOLS

The ADS (aiming down sights) animation has been reworked. The gun now stands further away from the camera. This affects pistols and should provide more comfort when using these weapons.

PMR90A2

The PMR90A2 is a new marksman rifle that prioritizes high precision above all else. Its inclusion is meant to offer a long-ranged option for operators that previously lacked one, but who still might want to hang back and hold long angles to support their team. It has a bit less stopping power compared to some of its contemporaries, but it makes up for it with top notch accuracy. The PMR90A2 can still be used comfortably with a suppressor, meaning it can also be a potent choice for players who want to take a stealthy infiltration approach.

OPERATORS AFFECTED:

• Capitão

• Hibana

• Nøkk

• Thatcher

TYPE-89

Hibana is receiving a new weapon and a lot of changes. To go along with these changes, we revisited the recoil of the Type-89. These changes should lead to a more comfortable experience using this weapon.

RECOIL ON PC AND CONSOLE

• Horizontal:

  • Reduced the recoil on all stages, making it easier to manage.

• Additional 3 bullets required before hitting the worst part of the recoil (from 12 to 15).

OPERATORS AFFECTED:

• Hibana

RANK DISTRIBUTION

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