Tubarão, the last operator to be introduced in 2023, brings a unique freezing gadget to Rainbow Six Siege. Here’s a full guide on how to use his weapons and Zoto Canisters effectively.
Rainbow Six Siege, a tactical first-person shooter developed by Ubisoft, has experienced tremendous growth throughout the years that it has existed. The game is still receiving constant updates to improve the experience and change the meta to keep things fresh.
Tubarão: the 2-speed, 2-health defender was introduced in Y8S4 Operation Deep Freeze. This defender from Portugal is a versatile operator that can affect a wide range of gadgets, even friendly defender devices if you are not careful. So, when picking this operator, here are some of the things you should know.
Tubarão Operator Guide
Biography
“Acceptable casualties? Nah.”
A tumultuous childhood in the Açores archipelago where earthquakes and underwater eruptions often shook communities taught Nunes the value of mutual aid. He applied this lesson in all things, even as an amateur athlete in biking and kayaking where he often backtracked, at the cost of his own performance, to help his peers facing difficulties or injuries.
On boating trips with his father, Nunes found a connection to the ocean that would set a course for his career. He insisted on helping with the ship’s navigation and repairs, and discovered his sense of freedom through wakeboarding; a desire to be unmoored that could only be satisfied by leaving his home. His path forward was clear, and he went to the mainland to pursue a career in the marines.
While Nunes excelled at learning new skills and easily matched his peers in physical testing, he was highly regarded for his natural leadership and his insistence on civilian safety. After he transitioned and amassed enough experience, he entered selection training to join the DAE.
His humanitarian outlook was an asset as he often worked within civilian areas, sometimes returning to his archipelago home. The frost grenade Nunes created to halt the detonation of explosives caused a lot of buzz, leading Specialist Gustave “Doc” Kateb to recruit him into Rainbow.
Psychological Report
Volatile elements (explosives, disease, radicals…) are one of the biggest risk factors of our line of work. I know what it’s like to lose a friend to something I couldn’t control. You can’t wish for a different outcome. No prayer will stop the march of death. It’s people like Specialist Isaac “Tubarão” Nunes Oliveira who make the difference, by finding new ways to take control and make sure everyone gets to go home.
Nunes shares a lot of experience and interests with Specialist Craig “Blackbeard” Jenson, who he trained with years ago in one of their units’ many joint exercises. I’ve never heard two grown men laugh so much. I guess you could say similar people are led to similar careers. When I asked Jenson for his opinion on Nunes’ recruitment, his answer surprised me: “Every man’s different. Tubs is trans, so he had to fight twice as hard for his spot. You can’t break him. You just have to let him do his thing.”
— Captain Gustave “Doc” Kateb, Wolfguard Squad Leader
Best Weapon Loadout
- Primary Weapon: MPX (SUBMACHINE GUN), AR-15.50 (Single-Shot fire like DMRs)
- Secondary Weapon: P226 MK 25 (Handgun)
- Secondary Gadgets: NITRO CELL, PROXIMITY ALARM
- Unique ability: ZOTO CANISTER
Tubarão has two options for his primary weapon: the MPX Assault Rifle and the AR-15.50. The MPX is the same SMG Valkyrie and Warden possess on their loadout. While the MPX boasts lower damage statistics compared to other weapons in Siege, its recoil is nearly negligible. This SMG proves to be exceptionally user-friendly, making it an easy recommendation for beginners to use. Optimal attachments include the flash hider paired with an angled grip to enhance aiming down sights (ADS) speed. Tubarão doesn’t have the option for the 1.5x scope on his MPX.
On the other hand, the AR-15.50 is labeled as an Assault Rifle but it is a single-fire gun, meaning it works like most other DMRs in the game. However, unlike other DMRs, the AR-15.50 has a small magazine size that can only hold (10+1) bullets. Even though this weapon has access to the 1.5x scope, it is hard to recommend it to every player.
So which gun should you pick? I will strongly suggest going with the MPX as it will be more reliable and comfortable to use. Rainbow Six Siege has a one-shot head-shot mechanic, so even if you have potato aim, you might be able to land that headshot with the MPX more easily than the AR-15.50.
For his secondary weapon, Tubarão’s only option is the P226 MK 25, which should get the job done as a backup option. But it is only a single-firing pistol, so you will be at a disadvantage in a dual with someone using their primary weapon.
Secondary Gadget
Tubarão’s secondary gadget options are the Nitro Cell and Proximity Alarm. While the alarm is very useful to notify you of an attacker’s presence, I would recommend sticking with the Nitro Cell for most rounds, as it pairs better with Tubarão’s primary gadget that can slow down enemies and reveal their positions. So you can use the C4 to get some kills from below.
Unique Ability
Tubarão’s primary gadget is called the ‘Zoto Canister‘. The Zoto Canister is a throwable device that induces supercooling upon impact with a surface within its working range. Attacker gadgets that are present in the area of effect of the canister will be disabled until the cooling effect dissipates after 12 seconds.
Additionally, attackers moving within the supercooled zone of the Zoto Canister will experience a reduction in their movement speed. Not only that, the Attackers will also leave blue footprints when they walk in this cooled zone, making them easy targets to shoot from below.
Tubarão has four of these canisters in his pocket. You can use the primary gadget button to throw the Zoto Canister, which will then be activated on impact on any surface. Keep in mind that all gadgets, including defender devices like Kapkan traps, and Bandit batteries will get disabled if they are in the range of the Zoto canister.
Additionally, you cannot pick up the canister once thrown, but you can shoot it for the cooling effect to instantly stop. This method can be paired with Bandit to easily “Bandit-Trick” a reinforced wall.
To prevent hard-breaching the wall, you can throw the canister to freeze the attacker’s hard-breaching gadget like Thermite’s Charge or Ace’s SELMA. Then Bandit can start placing his battery on the wall that is being breached, but just before completing the animation of placing the battery, a defender needs to shoot the Zoto canister to stop the freezing. So the hard-breach charge will continue but will get electrified by the Bandit battery, which gets activated after it is placed.
Tubarão’s canister is very versatile, as it can affect almost every gadget. Even Maverick’s blowtorch needs more time when the wall is frozen by Tubarão, but directly melting the spot where the canister is located will destroy the gadget.
Tips and Tricks
- As mentioned earlier, the Tubarão and Bandit combination is highly effective in denying hard-breaching.
- Use the Zoto Canister from below, with the help of yellow pings from observation tools. Use the DMR or Nitro Cell to get kills from below.
- Tubarão can be most effective when playing with friends and coordinating, so as a solo operator, you might steer towards other operators.
How to counter Tubarão?
Tubarão’s canister can be destroyed with a single bullet if you have a line of sight to it. However, you won’t be able to see it directly most of the time, so some sort of explosive gadget will be the easiest way to get rid of it.
Zofia’s impact, Flores’s drone, or a well-placed Frag grenade can destroy the Zoto canister and clear the freezing effect.
Should you pick Tubarão?
Tubarão is a good defender that you can pick in most rounds; however, his effectiveness depends on how well you can use him. His Zoto canister can affect almost every other gadget in Rainbow Six Siege, so you should be able to get some use out of him if you play him.
However, Tubarão’s full potential can be maximized when playing in a coordinated squad. Better teamwork, like gathering intel with Solis and relaying it to Tubarão to freeze a gadget is a good example.
