Valkyrie - Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege Guide - IGN (2024)

Valkyrie is a defending operator with the Navy SEALs. She was released on May 10, 2016 as part of Operation Dust Line, the second season of the first year of Rainbow Six: Siege. This guide covers everything you need to know about Valkyrie’s weapons, gadgets, synergies, counters and lore, with some tips and tricks to help you get the most out of her.

TEAM – Defender / ARMOR – 2 / SPEED – 2 / DIFFICULTY – 2

Valkyrie is equipped with 3 deployable cameras called Black Eyes, which can be thrown and stuck to almost any surface. The Black Eye cameras are small, lightweight spheres which Valkyrie can throw with an arc similar to Smoke’s Gas Grenades or any defenders Impact Grenades.

Once deployed, the entire defending team can access and use the Black Eyes as they would a regular camera, complete with 360 degree turning, color, and the ability to scan for enemies. Like a regular camera, Black Eyes shine a bright light when in-use that highlights their positions to attackers.

If the Black Eyes are within reach, Valkyrie can also pick up and redeploy them elsewhere at any time.

Valkyrie is an intel-gathering operator, meaning her gadget—the Black Eyes—are used for the benefit of the whole team and that good communication and teamwork is important to get the most out of their utility. Valkyrie is an “easy to learn, hard to master” operator, as there is no poor placement of her cameras; any additional cameras anywhere on the map have the potential to be beneficial, but learning placements that maximize her benefit is the difference between using and mastering her.

Black Eyes should be placed in areas with high potential for activity, either by friendly or enemy operators. An simple yet effective placement is within objective rooms, but because often rounds will end before much activity can take place within the objective, this can be a waste of utility. Depending on the rooms being defended, a better strategy is to place your Black Eyes in areas just outside of objective; this will let your team see attackers who are sneaking up to the room, or pushing the objective during a fight.

If it’s safe to do so, throwing a Black Eye out of a window or doorway into the exterior of a map can provide some very valuable intel both early in the round, and at more pivotal times. The risk comes from not being able to do this during Preparation Phase, so a quick-thinking attacker can either rush your position and get the jump on you, or make note of your position and easily find and destroy your camera after you’ve thrown it.

Good Black Eye placement can easily be made moot by overuse of tagging attackers. If your cameras are well-hidden and not yet spotted, the enemy may not know to look for the Black Eyes unless they’re getting tagged.

*Suppressors dampen a weapons sound at the cost of reduced damage.

The MPX is a stable, but very weak SMG. As Valkyries only mid-range primary, it’s the best choice for most situations. It’s stability and average clip size make it a decent weapon in most encounters. The damage leaves a lot to be desired however, so it’s best to avoid long range fights.

The SPAS-12 is a pump-action shotgun but can fired very quickly compared to other pump-action weapons. This makes it devastating at very close range. The SPAS-12 is also useful for destroying walls or objects to make room for Black Eye cameras. Its destructive capability can be combined with her cameras to achieve more visibility.

Valkyrie’s only sidearm is the formidable D-50—or Deagle. It’s an extremely powerful weapon, but has a small magazine and high recoil. If you haven’t equipped the SPAS-12 on her loadout, the D-50’s destructive power can also be useful for opening up new lines of sight or gaps for Black Eye placement.

A choice of Deployable Shield or Nitro Cell round out her loadout. The Nitro Cell is generally the better choice, as good Black Eye placement can give you intel to toss a Nitro Cell for a kill. Otherwise, the power of the C4 is still a good compliment to any operator, and can still be useful for easy kills.

Who Valkyrie Counters

• Rushing Attackers (Soft Counter): good Black Eye placement can make it difficult for attackers to spot them. This is especially true for attackers who are rushing or pushing on objective. They often have tunnel vision for the objective and will neglect to spot Black Eyes.

Who Counters Valkyrie

• IQ (Hard Counter): IQ’s scanner will detect any Black Eye placements, whether they’re being actively used or not. IQ can counter any Black Eye placement, no matter how good it might be.
• Nøkk (Hard Counter): Nøkk's HEL Presence device allows her to mask her appearance on all cameras. When in use, she is completely invisble on Valkyrie's Black Eye Cameras, unless she sprints, takes damage, or walks through barbed wire. In these situations, her gadget will "glitch" and show a distorted view of her.
• Dokkaebi (Soft Counter): Dokkaebi’s Logic Bomb will disrupt any operator using cameras. But it’s her ability to hijack cameras after hacking a dead defenders' phone that makes her powerful. Once the attackers access the camera network, they can freely use Black Eyes as their own.
• Thatcher (Soft Counter): Thatchers EMP grenades disable Black Eye cameras for a limited time, during which they will spark and be easily detectable. It’s good practice to not place your cameras close to any other gadgets which might warrant Thatcher's focus, such as electrified reinforcements or other cameras.
• Twitch (Soft Counter): Twitch’s Shock Drone can destroy Black Eye cameras with one zap. It’s range is limited however, so it won’t be able to destroy cameras placed high. It will also require Twitch to spot the cameras with her naked eye.

• Echo: Pairing Echo and Valkyrie together will give the defending team a great deal of intel-gathering cameras. Together with Valkyrie’s ability to hide her Black Eyes or to place them outside (which is impossible for Echo), and Echo’s ability to safely move his Yokai while stationary, you can effectively cover entire areas of a map. To a lesser extent this will also work with Maestro, however the movement restrictions of the Evil Eye means this isn’t as effective.
• Roaming Defenders: Black Eyes can be placed in high-activity areas around the map, and then used to provide intel to roamers such as Caveira, in order to let them close in for an unsuspecting kill.
• Anchoring Defenders: when placed in and around objective sites, Black Eyes can provide essential intel to any anchors inside objective. Knowing where the enemy is coming from is a great advantage and can turn the tides of a battle, even when outnumbered.

Tips and Tricks

The key to a good Valkyrie is finding good Black Eye placements. Well known placements, even if they give excellent lines of sight, may be easily found and destroyed. Try to experiment with your placements, find your own spots and never use the same one twice during a match. Here are some tips to think about when placing your Black Eyes.

Use map details to your advantage. Black Eye cameras are noticeable when placed directly onto a wall or ceiling. Try throwing them onto solid, non-destructible objects which are present on the map.

A key example is light fittings; these are often protruding, bright, small spots that Black Eyes blend into. The light that comes from these sources will often obstruct view of your Black Eyes even if an attacker is looking directly at them.

And most importantly, lights cannot be destroyed like wooden structures or objects on most bookshelves. Lights will often give you wide movement too, not being restricted by walls or ceilings.

Hide your cameras from typical lines of sight. Place them on the underside of tables, or desks, to get a wide view of a room while staying hidden from any operator not explicitly looking for your camera.

There is generally no reason to look under tables, chairs or desks, so your camera will remain hidden.

Many objective sites have some form of connection to the exterior of a map, be it soft walls, doors or windows. These areas are common for attackers to try to push from, so additional intel there can offer an advantage. Valkyrie is unique in that she has the only cameras which can safely be placed in the exterior; any other operator will either be spotted and vulnerable while placing, or in Echo’s case, their gadget simply won’t work while outside.

Many reinforced walls have a gap at the top of the wall which remains soft. This can be destroyed—cue SPAS-12 or D-50—and have a Black Eye placed in a way that allows it to cover 2 or more rooms or hallways.

The downside to this kind of placement is that they’re very common, and easily able to be spotted. While you may get some good lines of sight, your Black Eye won’t survive long in these positions.

Valkyrie Background & Lore

• Real Name: Meghan J. Castellano
• CTU: Navy SEALs
• Birthday: July 21, 1986
• Place of Birth: Oceanside, CA
• Height: 1.70m
• Weight: 57kg

“While serving as a Naval Intelligence Officer, Castellano was chosen to be one of the first women admitted to SEALs training. Singularly focused and driven, she will do whatever it takes to accomplish the mission in the most seamless and effective way possible.” – Valkyrie in-game bio