Rainbow Six Siege: Basic Tips to Rank Up Playing Solo-Q

Are you tired of everyone telling you “you won’t rank up in Rainbow Six Siege unless you play in a five stack”? At some point in the game, you might feel frustrated because you feel like you’re so unlucky that you always get paired up with the most awful teammates in existence. However, getting friends that might like the game (or that may be actually good at it) can be a much more frustrating experience than playing the game solo. This guide will help you stop depending on others so much and start ranking up by playing on your own! The game might be intended to be a cooperative experience, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be useful to your team without having to hope they’ll listen to your commands.

Also, if you need help understanding the new ranking system of the game, make sure to read my Ranked 2.0 Guide to know every detail about it.

Practicing Your Aim

When you’re trying to rank up by yourself in Rainbow Six Siege, you will need to be the best player on the team. This is the number one rule you have to follow. Don’t expect your teammates to be better than you, because they’re usually not going to be. Assume your lone wolf role and practice to be the killing machine you should aspire to be instead of expecting that from others.

You can go to the training section inside the main menu to practice your aim.

Tips to Rank Up Solo in Rainbow Six Siege: Attackers

Attacking is probably the hardest part of the game. Here’s what to do in case you want to succeed as a lone attacker.

All attacking operators.

Know Your Role

The first thing you have to know before randomly trying to enter the buildings is knowing when and how you’re going to do it. There are two basic roles whenever you’re going to attack: Breacher and Support. Make sure to select a character that’s needed at the moment, so wait for your teammates to pick their operators before you do.

Breacher

Breacher characters are the ones that can open entries through reinforced walls or ceilings. There are not many characters that have this ability (only Thermite, Hibana, Ace, and Maverick). But these are very important to create a vulnerable entry point.

Thermite (a Breacher character) can open reinforced walls by blowing them up with his exothermic charge.

Support

Support characters are the ones that either actively protect the Breacher or attack the defenders from another entry point, weakening their defenses and creating distractions (thus passively supporting the Breacher as well).

Blackbeard (a Support character) can easily peek through windows and doors using his rifle-shield.

Drone Positioning + Spawning

As soon as you gain control of your drone,  you need to position it in a way that helps you in your infiltration. Don’t try to locate the bombs and defenders for the sole reason of getting more points. If you know (or at least have an idea) where the bombs are, don’t waste your drone and time. Go position it near the place you’re planning to enter the building. This will help you to clear the area and watch out for enemies more easily.

Also, take care of defenders trying to spawn-kill you. Avoid spending too much time near wooden windows and doors. Use covers to avoid getting shot at while you’re outside performing your entry.

Use drones to clear areas you’re planning to go through.

Entering the Building + Droning

The way you want to enter the building will highly depend on which role you’re playing in the current round.

In case you’re the Breacher, you’ll want to create an opening in the most vulnerable wall of the defending area. If you want to actively support the Breacher, follow them and make sure they don’t die. If you want to passively support the Breacher, enter from a far point where you’re sure defenders won’t expect you, try to surprise them, and kill them before they even know you’re there.

Also, use your two drones to clear areas before you start running around them. Make sure you’re not getting surprised by a sneaky Roamer or a very quiet Anchor.

Be careful when opening a door or a window, you never know when you might find a sneaky defender.

Positioning + Peeking

The most important thing for an attacker is to not be too exposed when they’re already inside the building. If you don’t use covers to your advantage, it could result in a defender killing you out of nowhere. If you use drones regularly, you shouldn’t have trouble finding enemies.

An important thing to always remember is that you must hold covers and stay behind corners to peek. Never stop aiming if you’re prepared to engage in combat. If you’re not aiming when you need to start shooting, you’re dead.

Use corners to peek and avoid exposing yourself too much.

Planting the Defuser

The attackers’ objective is to gain control of the bombs. The defenders will do anything to stop you from doing so. But, if the Breachers and Supports do their job correctly, the person who holds the defuser must do everything possible to plant it.

There are several known spots where it’s best to plant a defuser on each map, but the best way to describe it in a general way is to plant it where you can cover it where defenders can’t reach it so easily. Maybe a far corner where you can put a claymore. Or even better, plant it and cover it from outside (where defenders can’t reach you).

Before you plant the defuser, you must understand that this is something that you can do only when you already have full control of the bombs. The rounds usually end up in one team killing the other, but instead of trying to leave the bombs to go kill a roaming defender… focus on planting the defuser. Secure the win by completing the objective. The game is not only about killing the other team, so use that to your advantage.

Make sure you’re safe and covered when planting the defuser.

Protecting the Defuser

Once you’re in a situation where you successfully planted the defuser and managed to move to a location where you can easily cover it without having to worry about defenders surprising you out of nowhere, you’ll feel like the round is almost won. But not yet exactly. If you start peeking around the bomb rooms without being careful enough, you’ll end up getting dealt with by a smarter defender that will have plenty of time to deactivate the defuser, which is exactly what you don’t want to happen.

Remember that before deactivating the defuser, the defenders must kill all the attackers to ensure that they can do so. So, in some kind of way, you become more important than the defuser itself once it’s planted. If you’re covering the defuser from a good spot, make sure to listen to it carefully instead of just staring at it obsessively. The defuser will do a distinctive noise when it’s being deactivated. The defenders need around 7 seconds to successfully deactivate it, so whenever you hear that noise is when you must jump out of your spot to start shooting at the defuser. If the defenders are experienced enough they’ll shoot back before you even jump out of your spot. So always remember that not dying is more important than killing the defenders.

Cover the defuser from hard-to-access points.

Tips to Rank Up Solo in Rainbow Six Siege: Defenders

Although defending is not as complicated as attacking, you’ll need to have certain coordination with your teammates as well anyway. However, here’s what to do if you’re playing on your own.

All defending operators.

Know Your Role

Just like when you’re attacking, you have to know how you’re going to defend the area where the bombs are. There are two main roles: Anchor and Roamer. Again, wait for your teammates to pick their operators so you can have an idea of what the team needs at the moment.

Anchor

Anchor characters are the ones that stay inside the bomb rooms and defend them until the very end. These characters usually have large health bars but they are very slow and loud.

Mute (an Anchor character) can place 4 signal disruptors that render the enemy drones completely useless.

Roamer

Roamer characters are the ones that go outside the bomb rooms trying to surprise enemies from unexpected spots. These characters usually have low health bars but they are very quick and quiet.

Caveira (a Roamer character) can run in complete silence by activating her silent step ability.

Securing the Bomb Rooms

Now that you understand your role, you have to make sure you’re making the bomb rooms as safe as possible. Reinforce the walls that separate potentially dangerous areas where enemies could come from. Don’t expect your teammates to reinforce them for you.

Also, never reinforce walls that separate the two bombs: Instead of reinforcing them, break them to have as much control as possible of both bombs. This strategy is called “opening a rotation” because it allows you to traverse and defend the two bomb rooms more easily.

Reinforce any potential entry points as soon as the round begins.

Watching Cameras

Since you don’t have a team you can always count on to give you indications, it is very important to watch the cameras as soon as the round begins. This is because you want to know where the enemies are coming from. Be aware of which cameras get destroyed first so you can have an idea of where the enemies spawned.

You can also use cameras to spot attackers when they’re already inside the building.

Spawn-Killing

If you’re experienced in the game, you should try to kill an enemy as soon as they spawn. This gives you a large advantage at the very beginning of the round. Doors and windows are the places where defenders can usually wait to perform an unexpected kill. Memorize as many of these spots so you can try to do this by yourself when you’re defending. Watch out though, experienced attackers could kill you instead if you’re not careful enough.

There are several places where you can perform unexpected spawn-kills in every map.

Positioning

Now that you know where the enemies spawned in, you have to make sure you’re well-positioned. This applies to both Anchors and Roamers.

As an Anchor, stay inside the bombs trying to not expose yourself too much. Try to cover doors, windows, or walls where you’re expecting enemies to come from. If you see danger coming from a specific area, use covers to your advantage. As a Roamer, stay in places where you’re almost certain enemies could come from and surprise them from behind before they get to the bombs. Watch out for drones though.

Don’t expose yourself too much. You can even choose to not peek in the first place.

Protecting the Bombs

If you get in a 2v2 or 1v1 situation, everyone must focus on protecting the bombs. Since you shouldn’t expect your teammates to understand this basic rule, you must do it by yourself if it’s necessary. Remember the bombs are the main objectives that determine if you win or lose the round. Use C4 explosives and impact grenades to slow down the attackers and force them to stop planting. Never lose control of the bombs or you will be allowing the enemy team to plant the defuser, which almost always translates to a lost round if it happens.

Stay inside the bombs and protect them whenever it’s necessary.

Disabling the Defuser

Let’s say you (unfortunately) allowed the enemy team to plant the defuser. You’re at a huge disadvantage here. Your heart will be racing and your palms will be sweaty, but don’t panic.

If you’re in a 1v1 or 1v2 situation, it will be hard to know where the enemies planted the defuser. You have to listen carefully and use covers to slowly secure the bomb room. Attackers usually plant in corners they can cover from the outside. Then again, use explosives to surprise attackers and force them to run away and reveal their location. If you don’t have explosives, you’ll have to make good use of your peeking and aiming techniques.

If you managed to successfully kill the attackers, look for the defuser in a close corner and disable it as fast as you can. Watch out for claymores though!

Those were all the basic tips to rank up more by playing Solo-Q in Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. The game is available for PC on Steam and Epic Games, Amazon Luna, PS4 & PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. The game is also available for free if you own a PlayStation Plus Extra/Premium or Xbox Game Pass subscription. The new operator “Brava” has just been added to the game along with the new season, so it’s a great moment to jump back into the game and start climbing up ranks again!