How to play Thunderbird in Rainbow Six Siege: gadget, weapon, and more

Of the game’s latest operators to join the fray, Thunderbird is a medic-based character powered with the ability to heal teammates effectively and consistently. Her weapons may not be top tier, but the defender is a counter to opposing teams looking to rush the objective and eliminate your squad. Here’s how you’ll get the most success from this crucial team member.

Main ability and gadget

The character’s greatest chance to change the outcome of a match is through her Kona Stations, deployable systems that heal operators within its range. More specifically, they shoot healing darts every 38 seconds worth 30 additional health. However, you can avoid this cooldown time simply by picking it up and placing it down again, arguably making Thunderbird the best healer one can buy.

The healing dart is limited to a range of about three feet, so teammates will need to run over to the device if they seek medical aid. It is most beneficial to have a Kona Station set in a secure corner of an objective’s room. You or your teammates can then use this position as a shooting angle, while gaining back health in a gunfight. As this device provides several opportunities to keep your team at max health (and even beyond max health), check out our additional tips below.

For Thunderbird’s additional gadget, we cannot stress the Impact Grenade enough. This can be used to explode breakable walls and invite enemies into your area. For a defending team, this may not make sense, but with the Kona Station deployed, fire fights should be much more of a breeze.

Weapon loadout

The best primary weapon in Thunderbird’s arsenal is the Spear .308, an assault rifle with little recoil and respectable damage. It isn’t the greatest gun in the shooter, but is far better than the underperforming SPAS-15 shotgun. For the Spear, attach the Reflex scope, Muzzle Brake, and Vertical Grip, lending you the best setup for headshot accuracy.

Sporting 60 damage a shot, your choice of secondary weapon should go no further than the Q-929. The pistol does bear a wild kick, but it will only take landing two shots to put an enemy down. To calm the recoil the most, make sure the Muzzle Brake attachment is applied.

Best tricks for succeeding as Thunderbird

With Thunderbird able to drop up to three Kona Stations a round, it is wise to drop all of these together at a beginning of a match. If each of these have cooled down, this will let a nearby player collect up to 90 additional health. If they are already at 100 health, the systems will cap them out at 140 health. Furthermore, if you avoid the cooldown by continuously picking up and placing these back down, you should be able to max out each teammate’s health within a minute.

However, Thunderbird does reward selfish players more than anything. If you opt not to heal teammates, going on the offensive with the operator and keeping a Kona Station on you can be very deadly. One of the best tactics is to wait for enemies at a popular entrance away from the bomb with the Kona nearby. As opponents won’t expect to be so far from the objective, catching them by surprise while you’re at max health makes for a quick kill.

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