Thorn: counters, combos and tips

Q: Who counters Thorn in Rainbow Six Siege?

Thatcher, Twitch, Brava, IQ and Zero. Thatcher: EMP disables shells. Twitch: darts destroy shells. Brava: Kludge turns a shell on the defense.

Q: What does Thorn counter?

Blitz. Blitz: damaging gadgets get round his shield.

Q: What is Thorn's gadget?

Razorbloom Shell. Four sticky proximity blade-bombs (since Y10S4.2) that arm in 1 s and burst 1.35 s after an attacker enters 4 m (up to 125 damage within 1 m); survivors limp for 10 s (since Y11S2.1). A reactive trap that works mid-round, not only from prep.

Defender · Redhammer · trapper, anti-entry, flank watch

Thorn is countered by Thatcher (EMP disables shells), Twitch (darts destroy shells) and Brava (kludge turns a shell on the defense). Thorn counters Blitz (damaging gadgets get round his shield). Thorn pairs best with Frost.

Thorn's gadget: Razorbloom Shell

Four sticky proximity blade-bombs (since Y10S4.2) that arm in 1 s and burst 1.35 s after an attacker enters 4 m (up to 125 damage within 1 m); survivors limp for 10 s (since Y11S2.1). A reactive trap that works mid-round, not only from prep.

Who counters Thorn?

ThatcherStrongEMP disables shells.
TwitchStrongdarts destroy shells.
BravaSituationalKludge turns a shell on the defense.
IQSituationalspots shells.
ZeroSituationallasers destroy shells.

What does Thorn counter?

BlitzSituationaldamaging gadgets get round his shield.

Best Thorn combos

FrostRazorbloom and mats.

Key Thorn facts (Y11S3)

Rework: trigger time after detection 1.35 s (was 2.9), max damage 125 (was 180), arming time after throw 1 s (was 5), detection/explosion range 4 m, 15 s slow-and-bleed debuff on survivors, 4 shells (was 3). (since Y10S4.2 (patch 10.4.2, Jan 20 2026))
Limp after a hit cut to 10 s (from 15) because the Y10S4.2 changes 'significantly increased her win rate and presence'. (since Y11S2.1 (patch 11.2.1, Jun 23 2026))
Electronic: destroyed from range by gunfire, explosives, Twitch's darts and Zero's lasers; seen by IQ; disabled by Thatcher's EMP and Impact EMPs; Brava's Kludge hacks it so it blows up on defenders.
Razorblooms catch Nokk like other traps (HEL doesn't hide her from them).

Sources

More defenders

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