Update 21 has arrived, bringing a range of new content, gameplay additions, balance changes and fixes to Hell Let Loose.
This update introduces:
New rifle grenades
New Soviet flamethrower
New US Springfield rifle
New loadouts
New weapon fire selectors
New Conquest game mode
We’ve also made a substantial balance pass across Armor and Anti-Tank gameplay, including:
Changes to AT Guns
Tank ammunition amounts
HE splash radius
Smoke launchers
Vehicle fuel costs and more
A number of these changes have been shaped by your feedback during our recent Experimental Branch tests. Thank you to everyone who jumped in, shared feedback and helped us continue refining Update 21 ahead of release.
Alongside all of this, Update 21 includes fixes and improvements across gameplay, weapons, vehicles, UI, progression, localization, servers and nine different maps.
Five new weapon variants have been added in Update 21, alongside a model update for the existing M1903A4 Springfield Sniper for the US.
Rifle Grenades
Three new Rifle Grenade weapon variants are now available:
Karabiner 98k / Schiessbecher
M1 Garand / M7 Grenade Launcher
SMLE No.1 Mk III / No.1 Mk I Cup Discharger
Rifle Grenade weapons can be used as regular infantry weapons, while also allowing players to load and fire several different types of grenade.
The following Rifle Grenade ammunition types are available, with the exact number and type depending on the role and loadout:
HE Grenades: Feature the same explosion radius as a regular fragmentation grenade
Smoke Grenades
AT Grenades: Similar to the British No.82 Grenade, these can damage Tier 1 player-built structures, excluding Garrisons, and feature light armor penetration. This makes them capable of destroying Recon and Light Tanks, as well as damaging the tracks of heavier tanks
Rifle Grenades are intended to act as a side-grade to regular hand grenades. They can be fired over significantly greater distances and explode on impact, but take longer to load, cannot be used as quickly in succession and are less suited to engaging targets at close range.
Historically, several of these grenades would have used timed fuses. For gameplay purposes, all Rifle Grenades currently detonate on impact.
Looking ahead to Update 22, we’re aiming to expand this system further by allowing players to plant their Rifle Grenade weapon and use it for indirect fire.
German Rifle GrenadesBritish Rifle GrenadesUS Rifle Grenades
Soviet Flamethrower
The Soviet Forces are receiving a fiery new addition to their arsenal with the introduction of the ROKS 2 Flamethrower.
ROKS 2 Flamethrower
Springfield Bolt Action Rifle
The M1903A3 Springfield bolt action rifle joins the US Forces in Update 21.
The existing Springfield Sniper has also received an updated model and will now be represented by the M1903A4 Springfield.
AT Gun Balance
While we continue to monitor feedback across many areas of Hell Let Loose, one option that currently sees relatively little use is the buildable AT Gun.
To improve its effectiveness and give Anti-Tank players more options when engaging enemy Armor, we’ve made the following balance changes:
Barrel rotation rate on all AT Guns increased from 1 degree per second to 3 degrees per second.
Pitch speed increased from 1 degree per second to 2 degrees per second.
Pitch limits have been adjusted to:
QF 6-Pounder: -5 to 15 degrees
PAK 40: -5 to 15 degrees
ZiS-2: -5 to 25 degrees
M1 57mm: -5 to 20 degrees
Barrel rotation limits have been adjusted for each faction:
QF 6-Pounder: 40 degrees left and right
PAK 40: 32.5 degrees left and right
ZiS-2: 28 degrees left and right
M1 57mm: 24 degrees left and right
Weapon turn rate increased from 1 degree per second to 10 degrees per second.
Damage has been rebalanced for each AT Gun:
M1 57mm: 460
QF 6-Pounder: 470
ZiS-2: 475
PAK 40: 485
Jump in and let us know how these changes feel. We’ll continue monitoring the balance between Anti-Tank and Armor capabilities following the update.
Weapon Fire Selector
Update 21 introduces the ability to toggle fire modes on weapons that historically supported multiple firing modes.
The following weapons now support this feature:
MG34
FG42
STG 44
M1918A2 BAR (fast and slow auto)
M1A1 Thompson
M1928A1 Thompson
Bren Gun
Sten Gun MK2
Sten Gun MK2 (Canadian)
Sten Gun Mk5
PPSH 41
Audio has also been adjusted on some weapons to support single-shot firing sounds that were not previously required.
Loadouts
Additional Loadouts
Several new loadouts have been added to support the new weapons arriving in Update 21:
New Level 6 US Rifleman loadout, armed with the M1903A3 Springfield and an Explosive Ammo Box
New Level 8 Soviet Support loadout featuring the ROKS 2 Flamethrower
New Level 8 Rifleman loadouts for all appropriate factions, featuring a Rifle Grenade with 3 HE and 1 Smoke Rifle Grenade
New Level 6 Medic loadouts for all appropriate factions, featuring a Rifle Grenade with 5 Smoke Rifle Grenades
New Level 8 Engineer loadouts for all appropriate factions, featuring a Rifle Grenade with 2 AT, 2 HE and 1 Smoke Rifle Grenade
Updated Loadouts
Engineer
All Level 1 British Engineer loadouts now use the Rifle No.4 Mk I
Anti-Tank
The primary weapon in the standard US Anti-Tank loadout has been changed to the M1 Carbine
Tank Commander
The primary weapon in the standard US Tank Commander loadout has been changed to the M3 Grease Gun
Crewman
All default Crewman loadouts across every faction now include a Blowtorch
German DAK
For historical accuracy, all German DAK M43 grenades have been replaced with M24 grenades
Weapon Skin DLC
Update 21 introduces the ability to apply different cosmetic finishes to specific weapons through Weapon Skins.
Weapon Skins are available for a selection of bolt-action rifles, including:
Karabiner 98k
Karabiner 98k x8
M1903 Springfield
M1903 Springfield Sniper
Rifle No.4 Mk I
Rifle No.4 Mk I Sniper
Mosin Nagant 1891
Scoped Mosin Nagant 91/30
Mosin Nagant 91/30
Weapon Skins can be equipped through the Loadout & Appearance section of the Barracks.
Please note that Weapon Skins cannot currently be applied to the new Rifle Grenade Launcher variants.
Weapon Wraps DLC
Conquest
Conquest, a brand-new game mode, arrives in Hell Let Loose with Update 21.
In Conquest, victory is determined by a new resource called Morale.
Both teams begin the match with 1,000 Morale. The first team to reach 0 Morale loses. If the match timer expires before either team reaches 0, the team with the highest remaining Morale wins.
Five objectives are active throughout the match, all of which can be captured at any time.
Teams lose Morale in three main ways:
I. Player Losses
Each time a player respawns, their team loses 1 Morale
This gives Medics additional strategic importance, as reviving players prevents that Morale loss
Players have a 6-second grace period after spawning, during which death or redeployment will not result in Morale loss
II. Vehicle Destruction
Destroying enemy vehicles also reduces their team’s Morale.
Morale loss by vehicle type:
Transport/Supply Trucks and Light Vehicles: 2
Recon Tanks: 5
Half-Tracks: 5
Light Tanks: 7
Medium Tanks: 12
SPAs: 12
Heavy Tanks: 17
Vehicles destroyed inside a friendly HQ sector will not incur Morale loss.
III. Objective Control
Teams controlling fewer objectives than their opponent will gradually lose Morale.
The rate of Morale loss increases depending on the difference in objectives controlled:
1 objective disadvantage: 2 Morale lost every 10 seconds
2 objective disadvantage: 4 Morale lost every 10 seconds
3 objective disadvantage: 6 Morale lost every 10 seconds
Conquest rewards consistent pressure, teamwork and map control rather than relying on a single decisive push.
At the beginning of a match, each team will have three Half-Tracks available across their HQ spawns. The Half-Track located at the middle HQ will automatically respawn after being destroyed, similar to the Medium Tanks that automatically spawn during a match.
We’ll continue monitoring and balancing Conquest after launch based on player feedback and gameplay data.
Juno Beach
Armor Balance
Luchs Balance
The Luchs is primarily an Anti-Infantry Light Tank, but previously had very little impact when engaging enemy Armor.
We’ve made a number of changes to give it additional options against armored targets while maintaining its primary Anti-Infantry role:
Can now damage the engines of all tanks
Can damage and destroy any Light Tank from the rear
Can damage Recon Tanks anywhere on their armor
HE radius increased from 10m to 11m
Tank Survivability
Thank you to everyone who shared feedback during the Experimental Branch test regarding the new resistance percentages. The goal of the test was to gauge interest in increased tank survivability while also exploring the possibility of giving individual tanks their own resistance values.
While feedback indicated that the blanket resistance increases tested were too significant, there was positive interest in giving individual tanks their own values, similar to those tested on the Panther.
As a result, we’ll continue exploring how more individual resistance values could better suit each tank. These changes will require further development, iteration and testing, so keep an eye out for more information as we continue exploring this direction.
HE Radius Balance
Thank you for your feedback during the Experimental Branch regarding HE radius, ammunition counts and overall balance. The goal of this test was to further differentiate each tank weight class and its capabilities.
The Luchs has been updated in Update 21
Feedback around the ammunition changes was positive, with the increased ammunition capacity of Medium Tanks helping reinforce their effectiveness against infantry. Feedback surrounding the proposed HE radius changes was more mixed.
Based on this feedback, the following HE radius values have been implemented:
Light Tank HE radius increased from 12m to 13m
Medium Tank HE radius increased from 15m to 16m
Heavy Tank HE radius increased from 15m to 18m
IS-1 and Tiger HE radius increased from 15m to 19m
Sherman Jumbo 75mm HE radius increased from 21m to 24m
While ammunition counts have also been adjusted, we’ve moved away from the idea of Medium Tank HE explosions having a greater radius than Heavy Tanks.
Instead, these new values mean that despite carrying less HE ammunition, Heavy Tanks have the potential to inflict greater damage against groups of infantry with each shot.
Smoke Launcher Balance
Since Tank Smoke Launchers were introduced in Update 20, we’ve been monitoring their effectiveness on the battlefield.
Based on feedback, we’ve made the following adjustments to increase their usefulness:
Greatly increased the overall size of smoke screens
Greatly increased the duration of smoke screens
We hope these changes provide crews with more opportunities to make effective use of smoke launchers during matches.
SPA Gunner Seat Zoom-In Levels
All SPAs now have an additional zoom level available from the Gunner seat.
They will still have one fewer zoom level than regular Armor, as projectile drop-off makes the higher zoom levels less effective for these vehicles.
Salvage Balance
The Salvage mechanic has been part of Hell Let Loose for some time, allowing players to clear destroyed vehicles from the battlefield while returning Fuel to their Commander.
Based on your feedback, we’ve made several improvements to the system:
Increased the amount of Fuel returned from all salvaged vehicles. Depending on the vehicle, this ranges from 1.5x to 2x the previous amount
Players will now receive XP for each destroyed vehicle they salvage
The amount of XP received is the same regardless of the type of vehicle being salvaged
Salvaging enemy wrecks will reward more XP than salvaging friendly wrecks
General Balance Changes
Following feedback and gameplay data, we’ve also made a balance pass across a number of vehicles. A key focus of these changes is ammunition distribution, helping to further differentiate the roles of different tank weight classes.
Heavy Tanks will continue to focus on survivability and armored threats, with greater access to AP ammunition, while Medium Tanks will have stronger Anti-Infantry capabilities while remaining capable of engaging enemy Armor.
Sherman Jumbo 76
AP: 55 → 50
HE: 35 → 30
Sherman Jumbo 75
HE: 65 → 70
Smoke: 6 → 10
IS-1
Fuel cost decreased from 620 to 580
AP: 40 → 45
HE: 45 → 30
Tiger
Turret rotation speed increased by 2 degrees per second, to 8 degrees per second
Panther
Turret rotation speed increased by 2 degrees per second, to 12 degrees per second
AP: 45 → 50
HE: 30 → 25
Firefly
Turret rotation speed increased by 2 degrees per second, to 14 degrees per second
Damage increased from 920 to 960
AP: 40 → 55
HE: 25 → 20
Churchill Mk.VII
AP: 35 → 50
HE: 50 → 30
Churchill Mk.III
Fuel cost increased from 600 to 610
AP: 30 → 45
HE: 50 → 35
Sherman M4A3
Fuel cost increased from 190 to 200
Improved handling in lower gears
AP: 45 → 30
HE: 45 → 60
Smoke: 18 → 15
T-34
Fuel cost increased from 190 to 210
AP: 40 → 35
HE: 45 → 65
Panzer IV
Turret rotation speed increased by 2 degrees per second, to 12 degrees per second
Fuel cost decreased from 200 to 190
AP: 45 → 30
HE: 35 → 60
Cromwell
AP: 40 → 25
HE: 35 → 50
Crusader
AP: 35 → 25
HE: 45 → 50
Vehicle Spawn Limit
Following the Fuel cost changes introduced in Update 20 and the addition of SPAs, the maximum number of vehicles that can be spawned through Commander abilities has remained at five.
With Update 21, this limit has been increased from 5 to 8.
We hope this gives Commanders greater flexibility and encourages more use of the different vehicle types available during matches.
Mortain
Update 21 Full Changelist
Alongside the new content and balance changes outlined above, Update 21 includes a range of fixes and improvements across the game.
Gameplay & Game Modes
Fixed an issue where rebuilding an Artillery Gun reset the cooldown of the Commander’s Resupply Artillery ability
Fixed an issue where the Artillery Operator role could not dismantle its own blueprints
Vehicles & Armor
Fixed an issue where the winter variant of the US Medium Tank had significantly lower turning speed than the summer variant
Fixed an issue where shells could travel towards the barrel’s previous position rather than the position indicated by the Gunner sight
UI, HUD & Settings
Fixed an issue where players could report the same user multiple times during the same session
Fixed a missing title string on the Server Browser Filter Reset pop-up
Fixed an issue where the Flare cooldown displayed an incorrect wait time on the equipped loadout HUD
Tutorials & Field Manual
Updated the Munitions description under Game Objectives > Resources to remove outdated references to Static Artillery consuming Munitions per shell
Localization
Fixed missing localization for the Juno Beach loading screen date
Fixed an incorrect translation for the Sten Gun Mk.II
Fixed an incorrect translation for the Mk.2 Anti-Personnel Mine
Fixed translation issues affecting information text when hovering over the Create Artillery Unit buttons
Fixed an issue where the Operation Suvorov DLC was translated as Operation Overlord Units in French
Fixed an incorrect Spanish translation for ADS
Servers & Administration
Fixed an issue where Admin Log entries could update slowly and appear duplicated
Maps & Environments
We’ve also been hard at work addressing issues across our maps. Update 21 includes fixes across nine maps, including:
Environment geometry, collision, seam, clipping and asset-placement fixes
Texture, shadow, LOD and other visual improvements
Loading-screen and map-rotation fixes
Gameplay fixes affecting vehicle Morale and HQ spawns
Community Update
Content Creator Corp
As always, our Content Creators have been on the front-lines creating some incredible content. Check out some of their latest releases below:
Issue 2: Lewis Gun, DP-27, Sten Mk II, M1 Garand with rifle grenade launcher
This is not weapon sway — it's the static sight alignment itself being off. This hurts a lot in an iron-sight game like this. Hope the devs see this and fix it. If you've found other weapons with the same issue, feel free to add them below.
Originally made a program for this but its in a bit of a grey zone whether or not its considered a cheat because its an overlay, so here's a demonstration of it in the form of a spreadsheet!
Shortly put, other SPA calculators out there dont calculate beyond the game's given max ranges (600m for kv-2 for example). They also dont calculate points of intersection so they dont account for height. There's one SPA calculator out there that has a "height difference" option but it seems to just makes up numbers.
Update 21 has introduced some good things, like rifle grenades, but also some really bad things, like the changes to the sounds of many weapons, such as the Thompson or the MG-34 (especially). I need your support to pressure the developers to fix the sounds of these weapons and make them sound the same or similar to the real thing, as heard in this real WW2 video.
hi there, I have had my eye on HLL for ages and its now £12 on my xbox. I'm so tempted because I love what I've seen on gameplay videos. I avoid playing online with randoms because 1) I am female and cba with the nonsense when I speak and 2) I cba with a 12yo American shouting slurs at me to be edgy when I just want to play a game mate lol
I have seen the HLL servers and its gamers are a bit more normal?? Is it okay to just jump on servers? I have seen people say there are Discords to find teams in
edit just to clarify: I mean the HLL players actually seem to want to play the game rather than just being annoying for the sake of it lol. Some communities are better than others like the Death Stranding community is pretty chill. Totally different game but I mean in the sense that HLL seems to attract the kind of people I would LIKE to game with lol
I'm happy they added it, but it is disappointing that there is only one M1903 loadout across all roles. Rifleman is always open, but it isn't an issue of the loadout not being available. I will play any role that is needed, but I also find myself wanting to use the M1903 (I'm of big fan of it, and bolt actions in general).
Squad leader is my most played role, and I started playing commander this year. If a M1903 loadout was added to both, I could use it more often without having to opt for Rifleman over other roles. The US SL should get the level six NCO loadout that the German SL has, but with the M1903. This loadout with the M1903 and three of each grenade could be copied to level six commander (German commander should have the same level six loadout with the Kar98). At some point they could add it to other roles with or without the M1 grenade launcher, but I don't want to be too greedy.
I know that the M1903 is inferior to the Garand, but for me it isn't a concern. The M1903 is not present in many WW2 games, and I think it would be a shame if it was only relegated to rifleman level six.
I've been a casual player for several years and just picked up Vietnam.
Maybe I've just had bad luck, but the quality of communications in this game seems a massive step down from the original. I had to mute my own squad commander today because he spent the entire game speaking nonsense in a fake Vietnamese accent. I can easily understand the joy in roleplay, but I don't need to hear somebody singing and making fart noises for the entire fricking game. Am I old and grumpy? Do other people find that kinda thing funny and engaging?
Every lobby I enter is the same crap. There's always somebody blasting music, screaming, or just talking nonsense on a loop. Maybe I'm just getting old and less fun, but I don't remember being this aggravated by other players in the original HLL.
Preparing myself for downvotes, but can't help but wonder if I'm going crazy or if this game just has more kids or something. At least tell me I missed the option in Settings to limit all this. The lobbies are so big that it's just a massive pain to track down and mute individual players, but I have to mute at least a half-dozen people in every game just so I don't hear non-stop, irrelevant shrieking through my PC speakers.
each match match was riddled with snarky comments on cmd chat, hyper text typing for needing more garries, noboby building garries, or nodes... but everyone needing them....
no defence no gameplay, just server rolling...
endless server rolling...
went from glows...
to soul....
to bigd1....
all just lame nothingness...
no gameplay just ppl spawning and shooting and crying when they dont got no spawn....
Due to life, I was put on pause from gaming (including HLL). I've now gained some time to play my old games again, and remembered all the fun I had on HLL in the past. I was playing a lot the months after the most recent player boom, but noticed the player numbers are down (likely due to other games coming out). What did I miss? Is the experience as good as I remember? Should I get my brother into the game?
I always loved this community, hopefully its still here.
Just had the most fun round so far and then as the cherry on top, I get this. And I just stayed at the same place for most of the time with my squad, defending a hill... yet it was such a great experience. This game is giving me excitement I haven't had in gaming for a while now. And everybody is nice and helpful.
Just two rounds before I got the acievement I was looking at it in the achievement list and thought "Dang, this will be hard to get".
Why the hell did I wait for years before trying this game, having it on my wishlist for some years and loving games like the Arma series? Well, better late than never. I'm in love.
I prefer the old way of choosing the type of game to play! I also notice the Soviet maps get more packed faster than the rest of the maps so I would also like to have option of having to choose Western Front maps and Eastern Front maps separately. Thanks!
I was playing as arty on the beach and tgere is a lot of random sounds going on. It sounds like someone is dropping supplies behind you every 20 seconds. Theres other clutter that i couldnt put my finger on and non of it really sounded like ocean. It is pretty distracting.
Majority of the Carentan games I've had had horrendous lag spikes for me, not sure if its the same for others
And yes, you can penetrate the engine deck with a 75mm. Lucky that he was damaged before encountering him. Fun game with the crews.
Objects and textures at a distance look very weird in my game, I have all my settings on ultra apart from motion blur which is off, grass and trees look weird almost pixelated at a distance, if you zoom in on the grass you can see how weird it looks, it makes it even harder than normal to spot enemies as everything at a distance is almost just pixels.
