There's a lot about the next season of Rainbow Six Siege that scares me. It's two new operators include a defender with a Shield, a machine pistol, and electrical powers that would make Emperor Palpatine blush, and an attacker who can quietly carve holes in reinforced walls without being affected by Mute Jammers or Bandit Batteries. Both new ops sound downright terrifying on paper, but after a few hours playing with Clash and Maverick it’s clear the design team have learnt a great deal about launching new operators in a balanced state. You won’t find any SMGs that could pass as anti-aircraft weaponry or wall-hack enabling global abilities in Operation Grim Sky. Clash’s utility is her CCE Shield, it’s fully extended and boasts tasers that damage and massively slow down any nearby attackers when activated. It’s the perfect tool for either stopping rushers and supporting roamers, but Clash comes with plenty of drawbacks to balance out her formidable gadget. For example, while her secondary is a machine pistol, she can’t shoot while holding her shield, which severely limits her lethality. Likewise, anyone concerned that she’ll be as tough to root out of a corner as Montagne can rest easy, as she can be staggered with a single melee strike. Clash can’t melee enemies with her shield either. In fact, you’ll have to switch out to your secondary weapon first if you want to revive a teammate, pull down a barricade, reinforce a wall, destroy the defuser, or vault; even her shield’s tasers can overheat.