DBNO

DBNO (Down But Not Out) is a game mechanic in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege. It is a state in which an Operator has lost all 100 points of health but hasn't died. This state is achieved when an Operator:

• Isn't damaged beyond an extra 20 HP buffer,
• Is not rappelling.

The Operator will die instantly if any of the two conditions are not met. After being downed, the Operator can only take 20 more Hit Points of damage before dying. They will also slowly bleed out and eventually die regardless of any damage.

Outside of guaranteed DBNO attacks, each Operator can only be downed once in a round. The second time they enter the DBNO conditions, they will die instantly. In most cases, a melee attack or a headshot will override the DBNO state, instantly killing an Operator.

In most cases, when the last player on a team is downed, they will be instantly killed, ending the round with a victory for their opposing team. This instant kill does not happen if:

• The downed player can revive on their own (e.g. through Zofia's Withstand), or
• They are on the Attacking team on Bomb and the defuser has been planted (which overrides the team elimination win condition for the Defenders), or
• They are inside the objective room on Secure Area (as player characters can still contest the objective even when downed).

Overview

An Operator in the DBNO state is "downed" or incapacitated. They will be unable to stand or defend themselves and have to seek help from teammates before getting damaged again. Their vision is darkened, and cannot perform most actions such as viewing cameras, using weapons and gadgets, or the like but they can still manually ping.

DBNO players can perform two courses of action: hold down their wound with the Interaction button to slow down the bleedout timer by half or not hold down on the wound in order to grant themselves the ability to move around by slowly crawling. The bleed time is the same for all armor values. Moving also leaves a bloody trail on the floor.

Hostage

The Hostage also can go into a DBNO state, while having a slightly higher DBNO buffer than an Operator's. Although the purpose of this trait is to grant both Attackers and Defenders more time to revive the Hostage if necessary, this also makes it possible to make the game go into overtime by having the hostage in their DBNO state.

However, the Hostage's DBNO state will be overridden if they are killed by an explosive or are shot in the head.

Revival

With the help of teammates, a downed Operator can be revived from the DBNO state. By interacting on a downed teammate, the downed Operator will be provided with emergency treatment. During the treatment process, the bleed timer is paused. After the treatment process completes, the Operator returns to a non-downed state and regains some HP. The amount of HP gained differs by mode:

• Multiplayer: 20 HP
• Terrorist Hunt Normal: 20 HP
• Terrorist Hunt Hard: 15 HP
• Terrorist Hunt Realistic: 10 HP

By working around the set rules of DBNO, it is possible to do a "Reset". This unusual tactic involves shooting the Operator with a low damage weapon or with a throwable gadget – which usually does a small amount of damage, typically under 10, depending on the gadget used – if their health is low enough to allow a single shot or more, but high enough to not break the 20 health buffer. This way, these Operators can be revived with 20 HP, but can only do so once if they haven't encountered other lethal methods of getting down yet. One can also self-down through falling damage, as falling damage never counts as breaking the buffer, automatically putting all Operators in a DBNO upon hitting the ground if they fall from a high enough place.

Exceptions

Certain Operators have abilities that affect the DBNO state for themselves and/or others.

• Wearing one of Rook's Armor Plates will guarantee a DBNO state when the player's health becomes zero. The Bleed Out Rate is also halved if one was wearing one when they were downed.
• Doc can self-revive himself with his Stim Pistol at up to 75 HP. He can also revive other Operators, even Attackers, from a distance.
• Frost's Welcome Mats force Attackers into a variant of the DBNO state, where they are unable to either move nor slow their bleed rate. Welcome Mats are always non-lethal.
• Caveira's "Luison" will always guarantee the DBNO state when used to shoot a non-rappeling Operator, even with a headshot. Whilst using her Silent Step, Caveira's melee attacks are also non-lethal.
• Zofia is the only Operator who automatically presses down on her wounds and slow her Bleed Rate. That is because the button to press down is overtaken by her "Withstand" ability. By activating it, Zofia can revive herself, at the cost of having only 5 HP left.
• Ela has a reserve Grzmot Mine on her person at all times. She can activate this mine in an act of defiance, disorientating anyone who is within its blast radius.
• Finka can use her Adrenal Surge to revive any downed Attacker at any range. However, it only provides a temporary Health Boost, and Attackers revived this way will have only 5 HP left once it runs out or the Health Boost is taken out. She also cannot self-revive.

As a result, Doc and Zofia will not die immediately if they were downed as the last operator of their team as they are able to self-revive.

Gameplay Video

Down But Not Out (DBNO) & the Reset