Your team is only as strong as the Operators in it. Rainbow Six: Extraction gives you access to 18 Operators, each with their own unlockable weapons and skills. The skills are what make them special. Operators can boost your team’s health, drop stick mines to stun enemies, or unleash a barrage of explosives. Not all Operators are created equal, and players are quickly figuring out which Operators are their favorites. Some Operators are just objectively better than others. At the very least, they’re a lot easier to learn. These are the Operators we keep finding online, the ones fans are using most to mash the alien menace.
More Rainbow Six: Extraction guides:
Beginner’s Guide | 10 Tips & Tricks | Protean Boss Tips | How To Turn Sledge Into A Tank | How To Play Solo | Giant Shark Easter Egg
Doc [Healer]
A straight-up healer. Once Doc is leveled up, he can carry 5 Stim Pistol shows that add scratch damage to the targeted player’s HP. If an operator is downed, Doc can revive at range. Very useful. Simple, straight-up choice for beginner teams. Unlike Finka, Doc’s healing does not degrade over time.
Rook [Armor Support]
Rook carries Armor Packs that can be critical for team survival. Armor Packs, when collected by players, provide damage reduction that can be critical to survival. As long as an Operator has armor, they will also not be KO’ed. Even if you’ve been downed once before, you can still survive a second down if you collect an Armor Pack. Added defense and KO protection makes Rook an easy early-game choice.
Ela [Trap Ambusher]
Ela comes equipped with proximity sticky bombs that stun high-level enemies. You can drop her traps in the path of an enemy or directly onto one. She can play offensively by sticking elites or drop a bomb on the ground to cover your movement. Her bombs are on a cooldown and she has unlimited uses.
Vigil [Stealth]
For Solo or stealth-focused players, Vigil is one of the best choices. Vigil’s skill turns him invisible for a medium duration, allowing you to safely recon ahead of your team or perform takedowns on elite targets for mission objectives. Very useful, and his skill recharges so you can use it in a tense situation. No need to save charges.
Upgraded Vigil can also cloak his entire time. That’s a good reason to level up in Solo before going online.
IQ [Support Scanner]
Comes equipped with a detector that scans through walls to reveal ammo, ability crates, health packs, or enemy traps. Leveling up enhances your detection range from 20m to 40m. A very good ability that makes recon easier on any map. While using the detector, IQ can use her secondary. She specifically targets items to support your squad. At Level 7, she can also scan for hidden enemies. At Level 10, her enemy scan becomes even better.
Smoke [Area Denial Smoker]
Combine Smoke’s gas grenades with Glue Traps to absolutely wreck hordes of low-level enemies. It even works well on powerful elites. Glue Trap equipment can slow down marauding hordes spawning from nests, and a remote-detonated gas bomb leaves a cloud of poison that rapidly wipes out aliens.
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Finka [Temporary Healer]
A combination of Rook and Doc, Finka can activate a HP buff before a fight, giving everyone in your team bonus HP. The bonus HP will slowly tick away over time, so use it right before a fight to prevent damage to your main HP. While the buff is active, you’ll also only get downed. Like Rook and his armor, Finka’s buff prevents going into a KO’ed state. She doesn’t have limited ammo on this ability. Just a cooldown, so you can use it before every major fight.
Pulse [Mission Recon]
Pulse is a lot like IQ, but his visor skill is even more powerful. Bringing up the scanning tool reveals VIPs, MIAs, and nests through walls. Unlock levels to gain more range, and more versatility — normally Pulse can’t use any weapons while the device is active. After gaining levels, you’ll be able to use a weapon at the same time. You’ll also unlock an ability to spot critical objects within 20m without even bringing up the visor.
Alibi [Crowd Control Decoy]
Leveling up Alibi adds some bite to her bark. This light Operator can unleash a swarm of holographic decoys that will distract enemies. Any enemies that encounter decoys will be scanned — and decoys distract low-level enemies with ease, making her a powerful crowd control Operator. When you’re forced to defend a location, Alibi becomes incredibly useful. Combine her with Gas Grenades from Smoke or Jager’s turret to funnel enemies into an easy killzone.
Hibana [Remote Bomb Expert]
One of the best Operators for dealing with high-level enemies. Hibana uses remote-detonated sticky bombs with armor penetration. That extra armor penetration makes her bombs incredibly useful for armored enemies, and she can lay multiple explosives down once. She can take out Tormentors and Smashers faster than any other Operator solo.
That covers all the Operators we think are great so far. The meta hasn’t fully coalesced in Rainbow Six: Extraction, so there might be some underdog Operators that become much more popular in the near future.
