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With seven years of continuous development as one of the best AAA shooters out there right now, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. With a creative roster of 65 playable operators in the game, it is easy t💮o see why it attracts and maintains a consistent player base.
Since his initial appearance as one of the first 16 playable operators in the game, Thatcher has been a meta mainstay and remained one of the highest-banned opera🀅tors ever during the ban phase – all due to his strength as an attacking operator. His popularity has also seen his character become a fan favourite, with various lore videos constructed ܫaround the character and a multitude of playable skins.
Choosing Your Load Out
Playing Thatcher right is all about how and when to use his ability – as well as having keen situational awareness of maps and defenders. You’ll find that Thatcher’s loadout is heavily skewed towards playing as a support operator on attack, rather than a flank watch or entry fragger. When you first unlock Thatcher, you’ll have a choice of three primary weapons to choose from:
- AR33 assault rifle
- M590A1 shotgun
- L85A2 assault rifle
Generally, these primary weapon options give Thatcher two main play styles. If you prefer to engage at closer range and opt to use Thatcher as a secondary entry operator, then the shotgun may be an option. However, this is rare and players seldom use his shotgun.
The L85A2 is a solid choice and a popular choice for players that like to use the SAS attacking operators. It is far better at long-range engagements, has a higher damage output, and a slightly higher magazine capacity that that of the AR33. In contrast, the AR33 is better at medium ranges, has less vertical recoil, and has a higher rate of fire than the L85A2.
Most players will opt to go for the L85A2 for its superior damage output and accuracy at longer ranges and will modify it with a muzzle break or compensator to reduce vertical recoil.
When it 🌠comes to secon꧑dary weapons for Thatcher, you’ll only have one choice:
- P226 MK 25 pistol
There’s not much to say about this pistol other than it works best with a muzzle break attached to reduce recoil. As a general rule of thumb, this should only be used as a last resort. Switching to your secondary is faster than reloading.
Thatcher’s utility slot is where he really shines aside fr♊om his special gadget. You’ll have the option of:
- Claymore
- Breaching Charge
Both are excellent options for Thatcher as they both support his play styles very well. What utility gadget you decide to use will depend on what you think will be most beneficial♚ to your team’s play style.
The claymore can help you protect flanks when attempting to hard breach a reinforced wall (for which Thatcher is essential for). The claymore can also help you set up traps in post-plant scenarios and set traps for roaming operators.
The breach charge is useful for opening up new angles of attack for a site – either through soft adjacent walls or ceilings. This can provide you with excellent lines of sight into key anchoring points on a defender site to help yꦚour team push.
Finally, Thatcher’s main gadget ability is his EG MKO-EMP grenades of which he has three. These grenades will deactivate defender gadgets for 10 seconds. This is ideal for countering reinforced walls that are electrified or jammed with Mute jammers. See Gadget Destruction below for more insight into everything Thatcher can counter.
Hard Breaching
Arguably, Thatcher’s main role is to assist hard breaching operators such as Thermite, Hibana, Maverick, Ace, or any operators carrying a hard breach charge. As reinforced metal walls can be fortified🐼 with:
- Mute’s jammers
- Bandit’s shock wire
- Kaid’s electroclaw
These gadgets above make the deployment of any hard breach charge impossible but Thatcher can temporarily disaಞble these gadgets (evenꦫ through walls).
When hard breaching with Thatcher it is imperative to time your EMP grenades well with your team’s hard breacher. Deploying one EMP grenade to disable any defending devices initially is the first step.
After this step, you should deploy a second EMP grenade when your hard breacher is deploying their gadget. Time it well as🍃 not to destroy their gadget but deactivate any defender counter gadgets being dꦺeployed.
If timed correctly, you should provide a short window your hard breacher can use to blow open a key reinforced wall.
Gadget Destruction
Gadget destruction is another common play style for Thatcher. If you are deploying against a gadget-heavy defending team, Thatcher may better be served to clear a key area of traps; such as mines deployed by operators such as Lesion or Ela. Valkyrie’s deployable black eye cameras are another key target for Thatcher as intel is wo🌟rth its weight in gold in both defending and attacking.
Currently, Thatcher can disable the following for 10 seconds:
- Kaid’s electroclaw
- Mute’s signal disruptors (jammers)
- Bandit’s shock wire
- C4 (from any defending operator)
- Melusi’s banshee
- Wamai’s Mag-Net
- Kapkan’s EDD
- Smoke’s Gas Canisters
- Ela’s Grzmot mines
- Valkyrie’s black eye cameras
- Jager’s ADS
- Mozzie’s pests
- Lesion’s GU mines
- Vigil’s ERC-7
- Echo’s Yokai Drone
- Alibi’s Prismas
- Clash’s shield taser
- Pulse’s cardic sensor
- Maestro’s evil eye
In addition to this huge list, Melusi’s banshee and Maestro’s evil eye will be vulnerable to destruction during the 10 second window for which they are affected by the EMP pulse.
Site Pushes
A less commonly known use for Thatcher is during site pushes. Devices like his claymore make him a good option to help cover flanks as a secondary objective after helping hard breach.
However, his EMP pulse from his grenades can also disable holo sights, red dot sights, and reflex sights on the defendi🦩ng team – making it harder to aim.
In addition, after serving his purpose of opening up a key reinforced wall, Thatcher can be used as a secondary entry operator or as a bait operator to force a frag trade. For example, Thatcher could take the risk and expose himself to a Mira window to bait out defenders from behind it – resulting in a one-for-one trade.
Main Counters To Thatcher
In most ranked lobbies, Thatcher is b✱anned during the ban phase🗹 due to his strength.
If he isn’t banned, these are key counters to note in playing as Thatcher or playing against Thatcher:
- Jager’s ADS can catch and destroy the EMP grenade before it detonates
- Wamai’s mag-net can also catch and destroy the EMP grenade before detonation
While only two direct counters exist, adept defenders playing against Thatcher will use a tactic called ‘device juggling’ to avoid gadget deactivation. This involves a defender picking up their gadget after they hear Thatcher deploying his grenade. After detonation, the defender will place the gadget back down to re-activate it.
However, this kind of tactic requires extreme patience and immaculate timing to pull🥀 off correctly.
Common ‘device juggling’ o🐷perators include:
- Bandit and his shock wire
- Jager and his ADS
- Mute and his jammers
- Wamai and his mag-net
- Kaid and his electroclaw (very hard to juggle his claw)
In Summary
Thatcher, while he remains one of the most powerful operators in the game, requires skill and timing to use correctly. The operator also helps to fill important secondary roles in an attacking team after his initia𒈔l purpose. We hope this guide gives you more information about his operator and we hope it h🌱elps!