New Rainbow Six Siege defender Noor torches shields — attackers get a nasty surprise

Ubisoft has unveiled Operation Split Fire, the Year 11 Season 3 content update for Rainbow Six Siege, and the headline addition is Noor, a new defender built to punish shield-wielding attackers. The operator's gadget, the Horus Lance Launcher, sticks to a surface and vents fire from its rear — or from both ends when it pierces a destructible wall.

The key trick: landing a lance on a shield operator gives them about a second before the flames start cooking them. Removing the gadget becomes urgent, but doing so drops the shield for a few seconds, leaving the distracted attacker wide open for Noor or a nearby teammate to finish the job.

The author of the piece got hands-on time with Noor ahead of launch, playing both with and against him. Even without shields in the enemy lineup, Noor proved excellent at area denial — five projectiles in the launcher are enough to lock down a freshly breached wall for a considerable stretch. Watching shield players panic and scatter when they realize what's coming is a fresh sight, though a direct hit doesn't guarantee an easy kill: a determined opponent can eat the burn and retreat to safety.

Beyond the new operator, Operation Split Fire introduces a dedicated division for the game's top-tier players, map tweaks, and other quality-of-life changes. The update is slated to roll out to live servers soon, continuing Ubisoft's steady cadence of post-launch support for the tactical shooter.