Updated October 31, 2026. This guide applies to Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege during Year 11 Season 3 (Operation Split Fire), ahead of Y11S4. The TCSG12 change is announced, not live.
Quick answer: Ubisoft will cut the TCSG12 from 75 to 50 damage when Y11S4 launches. It is not in the game yet. At full damage, the slug shotgun drops from a two-shot body kill on every operator to three shots on 2-health and 3-health attackers, which is 27 of the 39 attackers. Only 1-health attackers still fall in two. Kaid, Goyo and Sentry all carry it. Ubisoft says a second, systemic change follows in Y12S1.
The TCSG12 nerf was confirmed on the October 30 Community Checkpoint, and most of what you will find about it right now is a Reddit thread or a 30-second clip. This page covers the exact number, what it does to shots to kill, who it hurts, and what to run instead. The nerf itself and the loadouts come from Ubisoft's stream and operator pages. Fire rates and the other gun stats come from the R6 Wiki, and anything from the community is labeled as such.
Is the TCSG12 nerfed yet?
No. The gun is still 75 damage in your matches today. Despite the "officially nerfed" posts doing the rounds this weekend, the change arrives with Y11S4, and the smaller Y11S3.3 update does not include it.
Here is how Creative Director Joshua Mills put it on the October 30 Community Checkpoint:
"This thing is receiving a nerf in season four. So we're taking it from I think 75 down to 50 damage." — Joshua Mills, Creative Director, Rainbow Six Siege
Note the "I think". It was said live, and Ubisoft has not published patch notes for it yet, so treat 50 as the announced number and check it against the Y11S4 notes. Ubisoft has also not given a date for Y11S4. The full season reveal is set for November 15 at the Osaka Major.
Which operators have the TCSG12?
Three defenders have it, all confirmed on Ubisoft's operator pages:
| Operator | TCSG12 slot | Other primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaid | Primary | AUG A3 | .44 Mag Semi-Auto or LFP586 |
| Goyo | Primary | Vector .45 ACP | P229 |
| Sentry | Primary | Commando 9 or M870 | C75 Auto or Super Shorty |
Sentry matters more than it looks. Sentry has no unique gadget, but gets access to the defenders' secondary gadgets instead, so losing a gun hurts more when the gun is a big part of the pick. SiegeAcademy threads are already asking why Striker and Sentry are picked so much.
How many shots does the TCSG12 take after the nerf?
Operators have 100, 110 or 125 HP depending on their health rating, so a 25-point damage cut lands right on the breakpoints.
| Attacker health rating | HP | Attackers in this group | Shots now (75) | Shots in Y11S4 (50) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 health / 3 speed | 100 | 12 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 health / 2 speed | 110 | 19 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 health / 1 speed | 125 | 8 | 2 | 3 |
This table assumes full damage on torso shots to down or eliminate. Zofia is counted as 2-health after her Y11S2 change, even though her operator page still shows the old rating. Slugs lose damage over distance and limb hits count for less, and Ubisoft has not shared the new falloff, so long-angle fights will take more shots than the table shows. Players already reading it the same way expect long angles to need one more shot even against fast operators.
Three numbers sum up the change:
- 33% less damage per shot, from 75 to 50.
- 69% of attackers (27 of 39) move from two body shots to three.
- About 0.13 seconds added to each of those kills in theory, at the R6 Wiki's quoted fire rate of roughly 450 RPM. That sounds small until the attacker gets to shoot back during it.
Ubisoft did not say anything about headshots, magazine size, recoil or sights, so assume those stay as they are until the notes say otherwise. That is the main complaint from the "it does nothing" side of the community: as one player put it, the ACOG stays on the gun, so you just fire one more time. The other side points out that a two-shot gun becoming a three-shot gun removes the worst of it, and we agree with them. The TCSG12's problem was that a defender could win a long trade with two body shots.
Why did Ubisoft nerf the TCSG12?
Because players moved to it after the DMR nerfs instead of moving to utility. Y11S3 cut the AR-15.50 from 67 to 59 and the MK14 EBR from 60 to 56 and took the Muzzle Brake away from Tubarão and Aruni. Mills called those changes successful, but said the team hoped players would pick utility operators next:
"Siege is about gunplay and utility. Yeah, no, they just went for the gun." — Joshua Mills, Community Checkpoint, October 30, 2026
He was also clear that 50 damage is only part one: "There is more that we are planning on. It's systemic stuff that'll be coming in 12.1." Ubisoft would not say what that means. You will see claims that every DMR and slug shotgun is being reworked, but nothing on the stream confirms that. Treat it as speculation until Y12S1 is revealed.
How does the TCSG12 compare after the nerf?
At 50 damage the TCSG12 falls below the guns it replaced. The table uses Ubisoft's Y11S3 figures for the DMRs and R6 Wiki figures for the ACS12 and Commando 9, again for full-damage torso shots against 100 / 110 / 125 HP.
| Weapon | Who runs it on defense | Damage | Shots (1 / 2 / 3 health) |
|---|---|---|---|
| TCSG12 today | Kaid, Goyo, Sentry | 75 | 2 / 2 / 2 |
| ACS12 | Azami, Maestro, Alibi | 69 | 2 / 2 / 2 |
| AR-15.50 | Tubarão | 59 | 2 / 2 / 3 |
| MK14 EBR | Aruni | 56 | 2 / 2 / 3 |
| TCSG12 in Y11S4 | Kaid, Goyo, Sentry | 50 | 2 / 3 / 3 |
| Commando 9 today | Mozzie, Sentry, Noor | 36 | 3 / 4 / 4 |
| Commando 9 after Y11S3.3 | Mozzie, Sentry, Noor | 38 (reported) | 3 / 3 / 4 |
The ACS12 is the obvious winner on paper. It keeps a two-shot body kill on all three health ratings, though it fires at about 300 RPM against the TCSG12's 450. That is why "ACS12 new DMR meta" threads have started already. We would not rush to lock that in: if the Y12S1 change really is systemic, the ACS12 is an obvious place for it to land.
The Commando 9 row is the sleeper. On the stream the developers confirmed "the commando is getting a damage buff" in Y11S3.3, and community notes from the stream put it at 38, up from 36. Ubisoft has not published that number yet. If that holds, it crosses a real breakpoint: 2-health attackers go from four body shots to three at about 780 RPM.
What should you use instead of the TCSG12?
You have one more stretch of the season to keep using it, since it stays at 75 until Y11S4. After that, this is what we would run:
Kaid: keep the TCSG12 if you set up the site yourself. The slug's real value on Kaid is opening walls and hatches from a distance, which matters most in solo queue, where nobody else is making rotates. Ubisoft did not mention destruction in the announcement, so check that in the Y11S4 notes. For straight gunfights, try the AUG A3.
Goyo: move to the Vector .45 ACP. This is the easy call. Goyo's value is the Volcán Canister, and the Vector is a far better close-range gun than a three-shot slug. See our best loadout for every operator for attachments.
Sentry: switch to the Commando 9 once Y11S3.3 lands. Sentry gets the buff directly and keeps the same pick of gadgets. The buff arrives in Y11S3.3, before the TCSG12 nerf in Y11S4, so you can test the swap early.
If you just want a long-range defender: try Azami or Maestro with the ACS12. Azami is already an S-tier pick in our Y11S3.2 operator tier list, and her Kiba Barriers are worth bringing even if the gun gets changed later.
The Y11S3.3 update also touches other operators, covered below. Our weapon tier list will be rebuilt around these numbers once the patch notes ship.
How does the nerf change ranked for attackers?
Long angles get safer, mostly for your 2-health and 3-health entry fraggers. Kaid was banned in 50% of Platinum-and-above PC ranked matches in Ubisoft's Y11S3.1 data, second among defenders behind Mira at 89%. The Electroclaw is probably the bigger reason, but if the gun falls off, some of that ban pressure may move. If your squad has been spending a ban on Kaid purely for the shotgun, it is worth revisiting in Y11S4 with our best operators to ban guide.
Don't expect the defensive meta to get slower, though. One player summed up the prediction well: people will crutch something regardless, and the next targets are the fast SMGs. Ubisoft's stated plan is more impactful balance changes from Y11S4 onward, so this probably won't be the last gun to take a hit.
What else did Ubisoft announce with the TCSG nerf?
The same stream carried several changes that affect your next two seasons:
| Change | When | What was said |
|---|---|---|
| Denari, Jackal, Commando 9 | Y11S3.3 | Denari's lasers get "a little bit more of a sting", Jackal gets more scan range, the Commando gets a damage buff |
| Refinement patches | After Y11S3.3 | Y11S3.3 is the last round of tiny tweaks. Later updates aim for changes more players will notice |
| Attacker bulletproof drone | Cancelled | The secondary gadget planned for Season 4 was stopped: "this thing was not serving the game" |
| Half reinforcements | Y11S4 | Coming to Testing Grounds |
| Quick Match modes | Y11S4 | Bomb, Hostage and Secure Area all enter rotation |
| 3v3 Arcade | Y11S4 | Returns with updated maps |
| Operator Mastery | Y12S1 | Delayed a second time |
| Competitive Hostage | Y12S1 | Arrives on Testing Grounds first |
| Ranked map pool | Ongoing | Stays at the same 15 maps until a new map is added |
If you want the current balance baseline before all of this, our Y11S3.2 patch notes explainer covers the live state of Noor, Tachanka and Solid Snake. Your rank target for the season is in the R6 ranked guide.
FAQ
When does the TCSG12 nerf go live? With Y11S4. Ubisoft has not confirmed a launch date yet, and the season reveal is on November 15 at the Osaka Major. Until then the gun stays at 75 damage.
How much damage will the TCSG12 do after the nerf? 50, down from 75, as stated on the October 30 Community Checkpoint. Mills prefaced the number with "I think", so confirm it against the Y11S4 patch notes.
Who has the TCSG12 in Rainbow Six Siege? Kaid, Goyo and Sentry. All three are defenders, and it sits in the primary slot for each of them.
Is the TCSG12 getting removed? No. Ubisoft announced a damage reduction for Y11S4 and further systemic changes for Y12S1. Nothing on the stream says it is being taken off any operator.
Will the TCSG12 still be good after the nerf? It stays usable, especially on Kaid if you want it for site setup, but it stops being the best gun on defense. Without a headshot it needs three body shots on 69% of attackers at full damage, and more at range.
Is the ACS12 getting nerfed too? Ubisoft has not said so. It only named the TCSG12, plus unspecified systemic changes in Y12S1.
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