Rainbow Six Siege Bandit Tricking Complete Guide

by ItsClaii

Hi, I’ve been a plat player for 5 seasons now and sat 160 away from diamond soloqueueing. After picking the game back up and climbing in low elo, I’ve realized low elo players have very little knowledge on Bandit tricking, so I’m gonna break down everything you need to know!

About Bandit Tricking:

Bandit tricking, put simply, is the art of “juggling” bandit’s charges on a reinforced wall. By using aural and visual cues, bandit can bypass the attacker’s denial, and either keep the wall electrified by wasting all denial, or actually zapping enough/all hardbreacher equipment so that the wall cannot be opened.

However, bandit tricking isn’t just about actually tricking the wall. A lot of prep work can be done before the game even starts to greatly increase your chances of denying a key wall.

Picks and Bans:

If you’re new to tricking, Thatcher is an extremely useful ban, even when you aren’t tricking it can be game-changing. Thatcher’s EMPs are virtually guaranteed to land (yes, ADS and Wamai can destroy EMPs, but Thatcher can literally use an EMP to remove the ADS). His gadget destroys almost every defender gadget and has no real counter. Removing him from the game means the enemy team has to get creative in how to deny bandit (as well as other gadgets), and these creative counters have counterplay themselves. More on that later.

Maverick is also a good ban for tricking, but means that thatcher will be open. Removing Mav means you (or your bandit) can trick the wall without threat of kill holes, but will have to be good enough to actually trick against a thatch. However, it is worth noting that Mav holes are 2 way, and can pose just as big a risk to a tricking bandit as they can to the enemy hard breach.

Thermite is a wonderful ban for new Bandit trick players, as it will force Hibana, which means you’ll have more time to hear/see the charges going off. it also means that a single missed charge will only give a killhole and a sightline, but not direct access to the site you’re protecting.

The Ins and Outs of Tricking

Firstly, certain sites will be easier/harder than others. Consulate basement, for example, can be one of the hardest sites to trick, and usually requires multiple breach denial or just giving up the wall flat out. With piano floor being soft, yellow stairs door giving an angle on the bandit, as well as 3 walls instead of 2, it can get extremely rough to keep that wall up. However, on sites like Chalet basement, it can be very easy to deny the wall and force a different take and wasted time for the attackers.

Commonly, you’ll see Bandits shoot out holes in the walls they’re going to trick, or request a shotgun user to create holes for them. 10 melee holes, or 1 shotgun blast from Smokes shotgun, will create enough of a space for sound to travel through better. Since you’ll be tricking, the sound will make it easier to hear Thermite placing charges outside.

If Thatcher is banned, there are a few common ways (as well as a few sneaky ways) to get the bandit charges out of the way. Common methods include Twitch drones, grenades through drone holes, soft floor destruction above wall, mav holes, and kali charges. However, these all have obvious countermeasures. Ash trying to destroy piano floor? challenge her with a roamer or challenge her under the floor. Twitch drones? ask a teammate to watch drone holes. you can counter nades through a drone hole with ADS or wamai, but there is a cheesy setup that defeats this and capitao bolts.

Lets set the scene. Youve just won kitchen/trophy, and youre moving to basement. Thatcher is banned, and youre team is setting up to trick. NOTE: this only works on walls that have a drone hole directly to the side of them.

Ask a teammate for a deployable, and position it perpendicular to the drone hole, flush against the wall. This will make life a living hell for your opposing low elo therms and hibanas. The deployable can protect against nades, capitao bolts, flashes, zofia charges, and smokes. The ONLY way to bypass this setup is to blow the floor out, or get in site and kill bandit. Otherwise, the wall stays closed. If they do bring a maverick, as soon as the holes start forming, pick up your charges on whatever wall is being mav’d, and simply lay down. If thermite ever tries to open the wall, merely shoot his feet. Only Mav + hibana can beat this setup, but with a well coordinated team, you can actually switch to impact tricking and use the mav hole as a place to throw the nades.

As far as actually tricking, its fairly simple. Some things to keep in mind:

Thatchers most commonly throw their EMPs at the wall, and you can actually see the glow of the EMP before it goes off. Usually, when tricking, you’ll want 1 charge down at either end of the wall. As soon as you see the EMP glow or hear it, pick up your charge and place it back down. You’ll only want all 3 charges down when you know thatcher is out of EMPs, or if no attempt is made at the wall after a significant amount of time.

With Kali, same thing but mainly sound based. If you hear the sound of kalis charge, pick it up and put it back down.

If Thermite starts placing a charge and then picking it up again, hes likely trying to bait out charges for a thatcher or kali. Remember, you should always have only 1 charge left down on the wall, with your others being placed and dropped as you need them. This makes it to where the enemy thatcher/kali can only use one of their charges for one of yours, and since you have more charges (4 to 3 EMPs/kali shots), you’ll still be able to trick after they’ve lost bandit denial.

The tricking itself really comes down to practice and comfort. After a while, you’ll learn better which wall thermite is attacking through sound, and tricking will become second nature, like a chore, rather than a difficult or key task. At higher elos, you’ll see teams tricking walls whenever they come up, as well as more thatcher bans. With this guide in mind, you should have no issues dealing with those pesky hard breachers, even up to gold/plat.

The game is still evolving, so i’m sure new ways to beat/strengthen bandit tricking will develop, and i’m sure there’s some strats/tactics i’ve missed. And remember, this is mainly theory, and in the heat of a match things can change or become dynamic rather quickly. Use your intuition in these moments and outbrain your opponents. i hope this guide helped !

EDIT: This guide was for beginner players to learn the basics, and be able to trick as well as possible in low elo. Some people have pointed out that maverick is a better ban, especially in higher elo. This is true, as maverick is naturally a thorn in the defenses side, and a well seasoned bandit can trick into a Thatcher with no issues. However, low elo players that havent even attempted it will find their best success tricking without a thatcher, as dealing w kali or twitch drones is much easier. low elo maverick players also tend to make awful killholes, that are just as dangerous inside as they are out.

If you’re just starting, ban thatcher and learn the basics. When you get to an elo where you find mavericks ruining your tricking, switch the ban to maverick and continue to climb !