Rainbow Six Siege: Why Was Clashed Banned?
Shield operators are a touchy subject amongst Siege players. It’s unlikely anyone can ever forget the controller-crushing agony caused by the Blitz Lion meta.
This feeling of rage towards shields has been around since Siege’s beginning. The overwhelming powerlessness as you get gunned down by Montagne’s pistol from behind his moveable fortress, again. Blitz’s utterly ridiculous rush tactics…these horrors keep Siege players up at night.
There is one shield operator, however, who for a time, was one giant ball of MMR sapping misery.
I am, of course, talking about Clash.
Who Is Clash?
For those lucky enough not to know, Clash (real name Morowa Evans) is a specialist belonging to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) of London, England. She was released during operation Grim Sky along with Maverick.
What Does She Do?
She was the first defensive shield operator to be released.
Fitting with that role, her primary use is as a line of sight denial. She also fits in as a support operator, for both roamers and anchors. As a support heavy operator, Clash does not perform well solo.
She has many counters, primarily flashbang users, as a result of her shield getting knocked away when stunned (a genius bit of balancing). For instance, Zofia is the smart player’s obvious counter. However, you do have other options. Capitao’s area of effect fire bolts can, and often does, utterly murder her health. IQ, another option, can track her while she is using her gadget, and Thatcher's EMPs disable her shields ability.
Her gadget allows her to zap foes with an electric current, which slows and damages them. To balance this, she cannot shoot with her shield out (thank you Ubisoft!)
Being the only operator with the restriction, you could be forgiven for writing Clash off as having been useless. Especially compared to her other shield counterparts.
You would be wrong. Oh, so wrong.
In fact, in her prime, Clash was so broken that Ubisoft had to remove her from the game.
To date, she is the only operator to have been honored with such treatment.
The cause you ask.
Well...
Why Was She Banned?
Because of an exploit.
If you are one of the lucky few who managed to avoid this dark period of Siege’s history, consider yourself lucky.
Players discovered a glitch that allowed her to fire her secondary while her shield was still fully deployed.
Yes, you read that right.
Clash users could run around to their heart’s content firing off shots. Free from the woes of rule respecting players. Things like getting shot at, health, and cover became non-existent for these mighty titans.
The worst part is that it was also extremely easy to do.
How was the Glitch Done?
- Make sure your gadget deployable option is set to toggle
- Equip barbed wire on your loadout
- Place the barbed wire
- With your shield on your back, pick up the barbed wire and activate your shield at the same time.
- Step 5: Diamond.
It’s worth being said that she has been fixed and re-introduced to the game since. Now a balanced and viable operator, Clash has a respectable place on any team. However, never let it be forgotten the sheer amount of pain that this single shield once caused.