Rainbow Six Siege Tachanka: what he can't do and why you shouldn't use him

Every game has their in-jokes and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege is no exception. Tachanka may very well "save us all", but be warned that he has by far the worst selection of guns and the worst single skill in the game. Should you not be deterred by this warning, this guide will explain just how bad Tachanka is and why you should never pick him, unless you really want a big challenge.

Tachanka operator guide

Even looking at our Rainbow Six Siege guide hub won't help you much in mastering Tachanka. He's really a bad character for newer and veteran players, outclassed by every other operative. With terrible guns, and gadgets that only marginally improve his chances of survival, below are the reasons why friends don't let friends pick Tachanka, not even as a joke.

Tachanka's Stats

Armour: 3
Speed: 1

Tachanka's Weapon Loadouts

Tachanka’s weapons aren’t great, but the SASG-12 is pretty terrible as it has a limited range and a huge spread for relatively low damage. The 9x19VSN is a little better as it allows for close to medium range combat. His handgun choices are the GSH-18 which has better recoil and ammo capacity than his other option - the PMM, at the cost of damage per shot.

Tachanka's Gadgets

He has access to barbed wire that slows down enemies, and a deployable shield that blocks crouch height weapon damage. It largely depends on where you want to dump your turret as to which gadget you use. For long corridors, the shield can provide a vital buffer. For short to medium range choke points, stick some barbed wire down a little bit of the way and ambush enemies from there.

Tachanka's Skill

Tachanka has a mounted LMG that includes a ballistic shield to protect the head from any frontal shots. It doesn’t however protect against low shots and he must be physically operating it in order to use it. There is only one real bonus to using the turret - Nomad's knockback grenades won't affect him while he's on the turret.

Should I pick Tachanka?

Just… don’t. Tachanka has become somewhat of a joke in Rainbow Six Siege, with many ironically nicknaming him as “Our lord and saviour”. However, realistically he’s not the best in any shape or form, mostly because his ability makes him a sitting duck. If you do use him, your best bet is to roam around close to the objective you’re defending and not be afraid to abandon your turret - which you should only deploy when the attackers are definitely coming to you as drones are your worst enemy. Any buffs he may have at the time of writing will likely be nerfed soon.

As objectively one of the worst operatives, it's highly recommended for newer players to head back to our main Rainbow Six: Siege operators guide that has links to every other operator, which are much more useful than Tachanka, as well as an overview on the more universally useful ones and which ones beginners should consider learning.