Siege Fan shares how to set up your new ADS sensitivity in Operation Shadow Legacy

Sadnan Nafis
By Sadnan Nafis
8 Min Read
Image: Ubisoft

Ubisoft recently announced the latest season update to Rainbow Six Siege titled ‘Operation Shadow Legacy’, which features Sam Fisher, Chalet rework and many new optics for the operator’s guns.

Along with the new optics, came a new ADS system in the game, which includes customizable sensitivity for different magnifications and the zoom levels are no longer based on a FOV ratio.

All these changes might seem a bit overwhelming at first, so to make your transition easier Redditor iFluvio has shared a detailed explanation on how to use this new sensitivity system.

HOW THE OLD SYSTEM WORKED

So, in the old system, when you ADS’d, your sensitivity used to be affected by a multiplier that was hardcoded within the game that you could not change.

OpticFOV ModifierSensitivity Modifier
1x (Holo, Red Dot, Reflex)0.9*0.6*
ACOG0.35*0.35*
Glaz0.3*0.3*

What you will notice here, is that ACOG and Glaz scale proportionally for the FOV decrease (they have the same multiplier), this means that by running the default 50 ADS, you will in fact have a 1:1 FOV conversion between your Hipfire sensitivity and ACOG/Glaz sensitivities. But, as you can also see, the 1x FOV modifier and it’s sensitivity are not the same. This means that you are forced to choose between having your muscle memory translate perfectly between Hipfire and 1x, or Hipfire and ACOG. But never both, and that is what this new sensitivity system changes.

You can find more information about the old system here.

Related topic: All new sights/scopes introduced in Operation Shadow Legacy

WHAT THE NEW SYSTEM DOES

What the new sensitivity system changes is that instead of it using FOV to adjust sensitivities at ranges. It now uses Focal Length, specifically, it uses a method called Monitor Distance.

Now I’m not going to get into the specifics of Focal Length/Monitor Distance, but here’s the guys over at Mouse-Sensitivity explaining it.

The maths behind it is convoluted and you don’t need to know it. Basically, if you imagine cutting your monitor in half vertically, the system picks a point on your monitor from the centre upwards and it matches all of your scopes sensitivities so that your physical movement to get to that that point is equal across all the scopes.

In other words, it’s really good for getting 1:1 muscle memory across hugely different FOV’s.

Where is this useful you might ask? Why would I use Monitor Distance instead of 360 distance?

Well, simply put, using 360 distance across large FOV changes, doesn’t actually work. You will not maintain any actual muscle memory really. You’ll just learn the two sensitivities independently and that’ll be that.

Muscle Memory you see, isn’t actually your muscles remembering anything, it’s your brain learning how to instruct your muscles to move from point A to point B in order to line up a target. Field Of View, is actually a fairly large part of that.

If you used 360 distance to transfer your sensitivity from 1x to ACOG for example, it would not translate your muscle memory and the ACOG would feel way too fast. Why? Because the focal length is so wildly different due to the FOV difference.

So using Monitor Distance to match 1x sights to your scoped sensitivities. Is actually incredibly useful for maintaining muscle memory.

Is there any evidence backing this? Absolutely. Monitor Distance is already a staple in modern FPS games. Some examples of games that possess this already are:

  • Battlefield’s “Uniform Soldier Aiming” option (It was also the default in BF3, not sure about the rest)
  • Call Of Duty’s “Relative” Aiming option.
  • Apex Legends default ADS settings.
  • CSGO’s default zoom sensitivity
  • Valorant’s default zoom sensitivity

So in other words, trust the new system, it’s really good once you get used to it. Now, onto how to use this new thing.

You can find more information about the new system here.

HOW TO USE THE NEW SYSTEM

Well, the technical best way to use the new system, is to keep it at 50 ADS on standard. What this does, is it actually, by default, makes EVERY sight 1:1 by Monitor Distance compared to your Hipfire, so every sensitivity translates from the Hipfire’d sensitivity. So as you increase magnification, it scales proportionally and you in turn, maintain absolute muscle memory across absolutely everything.

However, as most players likely didn’t use monitor distance 1:1 previously, and have no intention of starting. How do we use it to get our old sensitivities back?

Well, you’re gonna need to do a little maths, but, I have a handy table to help you.

SightWhat To DoMy example
1x ScopesOld ADS * 0.7 = New 1x50 ADS * 0.7 = 35
2.5x / ACOGOld ADS * 1.2 = New ACOG50 ADS * 1.2 = 60

I confirmed this using Mouse-sensitivity.com‘s calculator as well which has been updated to accompany the new test server’s system.

And that’s all you need to do. Find both of those values, and copy them across to every sight you’d like to feel the same.

If I want my 2.0x and my 2.5x to feel the same, I’d set them both to 60.

If I want my 1x and 1.5x to feel the same, I’d set them both to 35.

This looks un-intuitive, but remember, the game automatically adjusts the sensitives for Focal Point at 50 ADS, meaning they always scale proportionally. So setting them to the same value, will make them the same Focal Point and in turn, maintain muscle memory.

In conclusion, the new sensitivity system is sick, and is actually incredibly useful if you know what you’re doing.


Rainbow Six Siege Operation Shadow Legacy is now on the Test Server. So try out the new ADS system for yourself before it launches on the Live servers.

Read More: Rainbow Six Siege: Operation Legacy Full Balancing changes and Patch notes

By Sadnan Nafis Senior FPS Writer
Sadnan Nafis is a Senior Esports Writer at GameRiv. Sadnan has a love-hate relationship with Rainbow Six Siege. He loves to keep himself updated with new tech videos and is always ready to help others.