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Now in its seventh year, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege has quickly risen to be one of the most popular tactical shooter-style games in existence. It is easy to see why with a highly destructible and alterable map pool, unique defending and attacking operators, and almost limitless play styles, even if there ꧟is a common meta.
With over 65 playable operators in the game, knowing which operator is the right fit for you can take some trial and error. If you are looking into defending operators, Smoke is a solid choice wit൲h an impressive, versatile load out. As far as defending operators go, he is one of the most useful in the game for a variety of reasons. Using him both defensively and offensively can gain your team valuable time to win a round.
Choosing Your Load Out
Smoke is an interesting defending operator primarily due to the weaponry he comes with. When you unlock Smoke and begin customising, you’ll find that you’ll have two primary weapons to choose from:
- M590A1 Shotgun
- FMG-9 Sub-machine gun
Both are valid options for different play styles. If you are choosing to anchor a point or play on one of the two sites, then the M590A1 shotgun is the superior choice. It will give you ample firepower to handle anything that comes your way and has the added bonus of being able to create rotations on soft walls (or for the creation of murder holes).
The FMG-9 sub-machine gun is a less popular choice and only really works when roaming with Smoke. However, Smoke is generally only effective in a roaming role as a last resort or for dedicated strategies that use him for ground denial (more on that be🐼low).
For secondary weapons, you’ll have the option of:
- SMG-11 machine pistol
- P226 MK 25
You’ll always want to choose the SMG-11 machine pistol. There’s no situation where the pistol is superior unless you are very accurate and prefer a single-shot weapon. 💟Even then, the SMG-11 can be used in very short bursts with pinpoint precision.
For your gadget slot you’ll have the choice between:
- Barbed wire
- Deployable shield
Both are valid options for different Smoke strategies. The barbed wire is brilliant for use in ground denial strategies as we’ll explore below and is also useful for on-site holds.
The deployable shield is mostly picked and used as an anchoring tool and for site holds. What you choose for this slot will depend upon what play sty🦋le you int𓆏end on choosing.
Lastly, of course, his gadget is a deployable smoke canister that deals damage and can be lethal. Do note that Smoke is the only operator immune to the smoke from his canisters. Nobody else (attacker or defender) is immune to its effects.
Plant Denial
Smoke is most commonly used as a plant denial operator that will anchor on one of the sites that defenders need to hold. His smoke canisters make him an ideal choice to stall or outright prevent a plant from taking place.
They deal enough damage on a per-second basis that an attacking operator (even at full health) cannot plant in his smoke.
This makes him an ideal candidate to defend against shield operators such as Montagne or Blitz also.
Using Smoke for pl🐠ant denial usually works best when combined with his barbed wire. This slows attackers down and if they don’t destroy the wire it will impede their escape from his canister smoke.
The best way to deploy his smoke is to wait for an attacker to start planting and deploy it on the ceiling above the plant spot. If the ceiling is too high, then deploy it on the bomb itself – always aim for the top of the bomb to stop your smoke c𝄹lipping and being ineffective.
Close-Site Anchoring
Aside from a plant denial play style, close site anchoring is the second most common play style you can use for Smoke. This play style works the same way as plant denial, but rather you deny attacker's access to a strategic point close to a site.
This will depend on the site but can range from rooms adjacent to the sites, stairwells close to the sites, or rooms above one of the sites you are defending (particularly rooms with hatches).
Choosing to close-site anchor will help you waste vitꦑal round time while providing you with a fall back option if you can no longer hold your position.
The main downside to this play style is that it is easy to get singled out by multiple attackers. It can be risky to play this way, as you’ll seldom have the support of your other team members – aside from your team’s roaming operator (if your strategy uses a roamer). This is, however, assuming your roamer can♊ reach you to help you.
Ground Denial (roaming)
In some strategies and play styles, Smoke can be used as an effective roaming operator. However, this play style is very difficult to play correctly and there are a lot of risks associated with roaming as Smoke.
The principal of his play style stays the same. You’ll still use barbed wire and Smoke to deny a push or slow attackers down. The only difference is you&🌸rsquo;ll be doing this while roaming.
Much like other roamers like Vigil and Caveria, your main goal is to waste time and stall opponent advances – r🐷athe💙r than to get a frag. Smoke’s abilities make him a solid candidate to do exactly that.
Typical strategies for this kind of play style are to set up various traps to funnel or direct your opponents into an area where you can halt them – for example, a hallway or stairwell. Using barbed wire to try and direct the flow of the attackers into your s🍷moke canisters is the best way to accomplish thi꧂s.
An attacker that sees rand🐲om barbed wire blocking a hallway 🦩will know there’s a roamer nearby waiting to spring a trap. This will cause them to most likely avoid this area, and you can make educated guesses as to how they’ll go around.
Laying traps for them in these areas that they’ll use to circumvent what they think is a trap is how you can spring a real trap – using Smoke and his impressive loadout.
Again, the goal here is to slow them down – not get a frag!
Main Counters To Smoke
Just like every operator, Smoke has a few counters to consider. Glaz is a big one, as your smoke can help him push rᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚather than hinde👍r him (due to his thermal flip sight being able to see through smoke screens).
In term🦩s of other counters for Smoke, operators that can damage, deactivate,💦 or destroy electrical gadgets can counter Smoke. These are operators such as:
- Thatcher (and his EMP grenades). They will render any placed smoke canisters temporarily undeployable.
- Twitch (and her shock drone). Twitch’s drones can shoot and destroy any smoke canisters they see.
- IQ (and her electronics detector). IQ’s electronics detector can detect an electrical signature from a placed smoke canister.
Additionally, explosives can also destroy the canisters. Players that have quick reflexes can also shoot the canister to destroy it before activation.
In Summary
Smoke is a ౠvery useful and powerful operator to play on any defensive map if you know how to play him. He is best used in site holds. His shotgun and SMG combo are one of the strongest defensive loadouts in the game.
Try these strategies out in your games and seꦰe how you get on!