Rainbow Six Siege’s Y5S1.2 Designer’s Notes explained the motives behind a series of balancing changes today but also heralded an upcoming nerf to Goyo. The operator will find himself rushing into combat with one less Volcán Shield.
The adjustment is “is directed towards the current Pro League META, which is currently utility heavy,” according to the Designer’s Notes. “We hope that it will alleviate some of the frustration stemming from his increased influence at a professional level,” Ubisoft said.
The blog post anticipated the nerf, which wasn’t listed in the Test Server Patch Notes from March 31. It’s possible that the Designer’s Notes were released in advance, though, since the official blog post is dated April 8.
Goyo is a divisive operator. He has a significant presence in professional play but remains one of the least successful operators in amateur game modes. His pick rate nears 10 percent, but he has one of the worst win deltas in the game—a combination of statistics that define him as both underpicked and underpowered.
Ubisoft calculates win delta based on “the average win ratio when an Operator is picked minus the average win ratio when an Operator is not picked.” The statistic can help gauge whether a character has a positive or negative impact on the team—and Goyo is a detriment to the defending team outside of pro play.
Goyo’s statistics in ranked matches contrast deeply with the level of utility he brings to the team. Commentator Parker “Interro” Mackay explained why Goyo has a low win delta in ranked matches and why he has such a tremendous impact in pro play.
“Goyo is not well suited for Ranked,” he tweeted. “He gets insane value out of his gadget at the Pro level where teams design intricate strategies to get the most out of him. In Ranked, Goyo seems weak because Ranked lacks the communication and teamwork needed for him to be used correctly. So while Goyo may be weak from your experiences I can promise you that he’s absurdly good in the right environment.”
The Volcán Shield nerf compounds with the firepower reduction in the TCSG12, a slug shotgun shared by Goyo and Kaid. The TS update decreased its damage to 55, a sharp contrast with the previous 84, to “even the odds during duels.”
To offset the change, players can carry an extra 10 slugs and the shotgun still packs decent firepower. “After this change, two shots will put any one and two armor Operators in a DBNO state and three armor Operators will require three shots to get in the same status,” Ubisoft said.
