Rainbow Six Siege Gridlock: what she can do and how to use her

Gridlock's been out for a few weeks now and players have been able to get lots of data on how good she is. This operator is the bane of any roaming defenders, thanks to her little presents - her Trax Stingers. Gridlock does have more to offer however for players new to the game, and those who have been veterans for the entire four years of updates to this strategic shooter.

With effective use of our Rainbow Six Siege guide hub, you can get the most out of using Gridlock. You can also head back to our Rainbow Six: Siege operators guide, which has links to each individual operator, as well as an overview on the more universally useful ones and which ones beginners should consider learning.

Gridlock operator guide

In our guide, we'll be going over the stats, weapon loadouts, gadgets, and her ability to see how useful she is, as well as some tips for using her, which operators she's good against, and counters to her abilities.

Gridlock's Stats

Armour: 3
Speed: 1

Gridlock's Weapon Loadouts

Gridlock's weapons has the F90 assault rifle and the M249 SAW LMG. Don't pick the F90. It can equip plenty of scopes and attachments, but it has one of the worst attacking damage for an AR, and the recoil veers off to the right with a prolonged burst. The M249 SAW has better damage, and worse fire rate, but is also a much better weapon, and even comes with a side-mounted magazine for faster reload. She's still one of the weaker attackers, but the LMG makes things a little better for her. It also comes with a really nice scope that's a variant on the ACOG, so make sure you slap it on the LMG.

She also has a choice of secondary weapons between the Super Shorty and the SDP 9mm. The Super Shorty makes a bit more sense for her, given that she can use this to breach through walls, though it does have only 3 shots per reload and a massive recoil - though attaching red dot sight is a nice touch. The SDP 9mm pistol has better damage and recoil, but this semi-automatic pistol doesn't add much to her kit.

Gridlock's Gear

Gridlock has a choice between either the smoke grenade or the breaching charge. If you suspect that there is a roamer nearby or another defender in the area you're attacking, smoke grenades can help disguise the fact you have some Trax Stingers out. Breaching charges do help your team a fair bit, but the combination of her gadget and the smoke grenade is too tempting to pass up.

Gridlock's Skill

The Trax Stinger is a thrown gadget that sticks to the ground, before deploying more Trax around it. It goes a fair distance away from the centre, around three Trax thick in total, so it is very obvious when fully deployed. You can throw it through holes blown in the floor with a shotgun, or above a reinforced wall that you've blown a hole through. However, destroying them or accidentally walking into them will make a big noise, which can alert you to an incoming enemy player. Explosives will clear most, if not every single Trax Stinger. Defenders will take 10 points of damage per Trax Stinger stepped on, no matter if they're armoured, blown into it via Nomad's gadget. Even if it is a tiny Trax Stinger, it still deals 10 damage.

Should I pick Gridlock?

Gridlock is a little slower than most attackers, sharing the three armour and one speed stats to shield users. Her gadget makes up for lousy weapon choice, but it depends on your play style and game mode as to how good she is. Certain objectives such as Secure Objective and Bomb are great for Gridlock as she can deploy Trax Stingers to prevent defenders from retaking the objective. As a counter though, aside from destroying them, Defenders can just sit there and take the damage, since it will only deal 10 for every stinger they step on, meaning you'll have some idea of where they are, but not a full confirmation.

Caveira is the obvious main target for the Trax Stingers as her ability turns off when she steps on them, but Gridlock also  makes any roaming defender's life a misery. Vigil will also need to reveal himself in order to pass the Stingers, even if he just walks through them.  Clash can also not deal with the devices with her shock shield and must put her shield away to shoot them out - if she can't find another route. Mute's jammers and Jager's grenade ordinance gadget aren't a counter either. Bandit's shock wires also don't destroy them, with the two actually being able to coexist - meaning it's an obstacle for attackers and defenders. Maestro can occasionally take them out with his Evil Eye lasers, but he may not be able to destroy all of them. This could be to do with how the Trax Stingers are deployed, with the laser not able to penetrate part of the floor to get rid of them. It's unclear if this is intentional at this point.

That's it for our Gridlock guide. While you're looking at the new stuff for Rainbow Six Siege, it may even be worth checking out the new map. Go to our Rainbow Six: Siege Outback guide to learn more about the Australian map introduced in Year 4 Season 1.