Rainbow Six Siege Y11S3.1 explained: Buck ammo, Sledge swing speed, and a Horus Lance bug sweep
Ubisoft published Rainbow Six Siege Y11S3.1 on 22 September 2026 — the first mid-season refinement pass for Operation Split Fire. Softcap’s reading of the Ubisoft primary is blunt: this is not a meta rewrite. Ubisoft labels the Operator sheet Refinement Changes — small ammo, timing, and damage polish meant to keep pace without shifting overall power. The other half of the post is a long bug-fix list, most of it aimed at Noor’s Horus Lance interactions with shields, gadgets, and animation cancels.
Primary sources: Y11S3.1 PATCH NOTES on Ubisoft and the matching Steam News mirror (app 359550). Softcap does not invent rollout windows beyond those posts.
At a glance
| Beat | Published detail |
|---|---|
| Build | Y11S3.1 (console builds reported as 3.49 / 1.000.154 in secondary storefronts; Softcap cites Ubisoft’s named pass) |
| Date | 22 Sep 2026 |
| Label | Refinement Changes — polish, not a power rework |
| Attacker ammo | Buck Skeleton Key 31 → 36 total |
| Destruction | Sledge hammer swing 1.0 → 0.8 s; Castle Armor Panel melee HP 9 → 10; Thermite Exothermic Charge 200 → 220 hp |
| Gadget timing | Fenrir F-NATT gas max range 2.0 → 1.9 s; Maestro Evil Eye battery 8 → 9 s |
| Shotguns | M1014 28 → 30 hp; SPAS-15 24 → 26 hp |
| Bug sweep | Heavy Noor / Horus Lance fix list + map / UX cleanup |
What Ubisoft means by “refinement”
Ubisoft’s own framing: these adjustments do not aim to alter an Operator’s overall power level or flexibility. The desk’s job is polishing consistency and quality-of-life while major updates carry the bigger swings. Softcap reprints the published numbers; Softcap does not invent win-rate charts or ranked pick rates for this pass.
Operator refinements
Buck — Skeleton Key ammo
| Stat | Was | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Skeleton Key total ammo | 31 | 36 |
Ubisoft’s note: more presence for vertical play and longer utility usage through the round.
Castle — Armor Panel durability
| Stat | Was | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Melee hits to destroy Armor Panel | 9 | 10 |
Published intent: more time and commitment to clear barricades, slowing Attacker advances.
Fenrir — F-NATT Dread Mine
| Stat | Was | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Time for gas to reach maximum range | 2.0 s | 1.9 s |
Ubisoft frames this as improving responsiveness when triggering zones — gas fills faster, not slower. Softcap follows the Ubisoft primary here; some secondary write-ups reverse the direction.
Maestro — Evil Eye battery
| Stat | Was | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Evil Eye battery life | 8 s | 9 s |
Thermite — Exothermic Charge damage
| Stat | Was | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Exothermic Charge damage | 200 hp | 220 hp |
Published intent: more lethality when charges detonate in contested space near reinforced surfaces.
Sledge — Breaching Hammer swing
| Stat | Was | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Time to swing Breaching Hammer | 1.0 s | 0.8 s |
Ubisoft wants destruction to apply more fluidly — Softcap does not invent new hammer damage values beyond that timing change.
Shotgun damage bumps
| Weapon | Damage was | Damage now | Operators affected (published) |
|---|---|---|---|
| M1014 | 28 hp | 30 hp | Ace, Castle, Pulse, Thermite |
| SPAS-15 | 24 hp | 26 hp | Caveira, Thunderbird |
Ubisoft’s copy: closer-range consistency without extending effective range. Softcap does not invent pellet counts, spread, or ADS times.
Noor’s Horus Lance: the real bug floor
Y11S3.1’s longest section is Operators bug fixes, and most of the list names Noor’s Horus Lance. Softcap reprints Ubisoft’s published fixes without inventing reproduction steps that are not in the notes:
| Fix (published wording, condensed) |
|---|
| Montagne’s Le Roc Shield no longer auto-retracts when hit by Horus Lance |
| Operators can no longer remove Horus Lance while holding a secondary gadget |
| Shield Operators can throw devices again after a Horus Lance hit |
| Shield Operators take Horus Lance damage correctly when pressing an embedded Lance against a wall |
| Players can no longer swap to a secondary gadget while affected by Horus Lance |
| Horus Lance flame direction fixed on Blackbeard’s H.U.L.L. Adaptable Shield while rappelling |
| Ying’s Candela deploys correctly if hit by Horus Lance flames |
| Montagne can retract Le Roc after crouching while removing Horus Lance |
| Immediate remove-from-back-shield via animation cancel fixed |
| Flames damage opponents when deployed on top of a door frame |
| Operators no longer keep moving when hit by Horus Lance |
| Flame VFX plays when the top of a prone Opponent’s shield is hit |
| Alibi Prisma decoys face the correct direction more reliably |
Gameplay and UX cleanup
Outside the Operator sheet, Ubisoft also lists:
Gameplay
- Random “Remove Horus Lance to perform action” tip during matches — fixed
- Attacker spawn icons on the House tactical map — alignment / scale fixed
- Blank end-of-round camera at Villa Basement bombsite — fixed
- Compass mislabel (Consulate 2F Break Room vs Manager’s Office path) — fixed
- Team Deathmatch kill feed showing a question mark instead of Operator icon — fixed
User experience
- Match Replay no longer resets custom team colors
- C4 Detonator color respects custom team colors
- Shooting Range teammates follow Squad Leader into Custom Online Lobbies
- Squad reconnect after disconnect restored
What Ubisoft did not publish
The Y11S3.1 post does not publish ranked distribution shifts, a full Operator win-rate table, Horus Lance damage numbers, or a new map. Softcap does not invent those. Softcap also does not fold the separate Wasteland Circuit drone-race event (live from 23 September per Ubisoft’s season calendar) into this patch sheet — that is a different Confirmed primary.
Who this hits
Hard breach and soft destruction players on Buck, Sledge, Thermite, and Castle get the published ammo, swing, damage, and panel changes. Fenrir and Maestro get gadget timing / battery polish. Shotgun users on Ace / Castle / Pulse / Thermite (M1014) and Caveira / Thunderbird (SPAS-15) get the damage bumps. Anyone running into Noor — especially shield stacks — is the audience for the Horus Lance fix floor.
Why it matters
Y11S3.1 is Softcap’s first Siege desk ship, and it is a clean mid-season refinement story: six Operator gadgets, two shotguns, and a Noor interaction sweep. The playable flag is Ubisoft’s published number sheet; the systems flag is the Horus Lance bug list. Softcap reprints those Confirmed lines and leaves the ladder meta off the page.
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