What is Maelstrom Protocol in Rainbow Six Extraction?

To retain players, Rainbow Six Extraction will have to have a gameplay loop that is rewarding and fun enough that people will want to come back to it. With that in mind, Ubisoft is introducing Maelstrom Protocol. Here is what you need to know about it going into Rainbow Six Extraction.

Maelstrom Protocol is Rainbow Six Extraction’s most challenging test, an endgame challenge mode that will turn up the intensity with nine difficult objectives for you to conquer at one time. These nine tasks will also have mutations that change the criteria for completion from the usual objectives. After completing three objectives, the difficulty will be turned up, your time limit will be cut down, and health and ammo refill stations will become scarce.

These tasks will require your most kitted out Operators that you feel the most comfortable using because they are made with the more skilled players in mind. Running a lower-level character that you are relatively new with will likely end in you being trapped by the enemy and needing to free them in the core game. That being said, by taking on these challenges, you only will have access to six Operators that the game chooses for you. The challenge changes weekly, so you and your friends have a limited time to overcome the Maelstrom Protocol, but the parameters stay the same during that time so you can plan out how to beat the challenge.

For completing the Maelstrom Protocol challenges, you get many experience points for your Operators, REACT credits to spend on cosmetics in the in-game store, and seasonal headgear that will vary upon the rank you got for completing the challenge. That headgear will be lost at the end of the season, though, so you need to play Maelstrom Protocol to get it back.