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Ready to jump into Hell Let Loose? Welcome to bootcamp!
Everyone has those comfort games that they just keep coming back to. Maybe it’s your go to game when a couple of friends are online, or a personal favourite that you just love to revisit and unwind with. For me, over the past 2 years it has been Black Matter’s (and now Team 17’s) multiplayer WW2 shooter Hell Let Loose. Hundreds of hours spent leading squads through muddy trenches, ruined factories and scorching deserts have finally brought me here to teach YOU how to climb up this game’s steep learning curve and make yourself an asset to any team. The game was recently updated with a new map along with being added to Games Pass Ultimate meaning it’s a great time to jump in with all the other new recruits, so listen up private!
Communicate
First of all I strongly recommend you grab a headset to go with this game because no matter how many guides you read, communication is likely to be the number one thing that pops up throughout. Hell Let Loose is not won by the team with the best individual shooters, it’s won by the team that can work together the best. Half the battle as a new player is just knowing where the enemy is and a good trigger finger is not going to help you identify the rifleman lying prone in a bush across the other side of the field, but the eyes of your teammates might. As a squad member you can only talk to those in your proximity and the other 5 members of your squad. Your squad leader can then relay that information to all the other squad leaders and the commander to get a steady flow of key intel around the team.
Spotted an enemy tank?
Report it so your armour knows where to aim.
Seeing a concentration of enemies?
The soldiers manning the artillery would love to hear about it.
Shots coming from behind you?
Make sure your fellow soldiers are aware to avoid being flanked.
Get talking, sharing information, asking questions and you’ll get that squad camaraderie feeling in no time. Don’t be afraid to move squads until you find one that communicates well, it truly elevates the game.
There is no “I” in Team
If you have been playing shooters to try to climb the scoreboard and hit the best k/d ratio, then you need to unlearn these habits real quick jumping into matches of Hell Let Loose. Your kills are not even visible on the scoreboard to other people, just a rough offensive score that makes up a small percentage of your overall points for a match.
You win or lose this game as a team so don’t be afraid to adapt to what the team needs, listen to your squad leader and switch class if needed (more on that below). Be aware how your actions impact others. If you are sneaking up on a point and the enemy isn’t aware yet then don’t start taking potshots and giving away the whole squad's position, return fire only. The aim is to take the point, not increase your kill count. Be prepared to redeploy from an attack to help defend if the enemy is taking your point as losing it will immediately block you from capping the enemy teams’. Try and flank enemy squads, not to get kills, but to find where they are spawning from and destroy it. These are the actions that impact the match far more than any individual kill and the feeling of securing an objective for your team is great.
Angles, People, Angles
If you jumped into the game without any guides you are probably already sick of that “ding” sound and instant black screen signifying an enemy bullet found its way directly to your cranium. The number one cause of which is sticking your head out where it doesn’t belong. Always be looking for ways to minimise your profile against cover, aim for where the enemy is moving to rather than where they are currently so they run into your sights. Most shots are lethal in this game so the less of your body showing, the better.
“Bad” “Better” "Best”
In the example above, initially looking out over the path seems to give you the best view of any incoming enemies, however the house ruin acts as a giant “enemies probably here” marker for the other team and they have a whole lot more space to hide in than you. Hiding behind the lower point of the wall at least covers more of your body but anyone approaching still has a clear view (and more importantly shot) of your freshly issued helmet. Instead look to creep round the side wall so you can scan the area a little at a time while only exposing your shoulder.
Know Your Role
If you are new and especially if you are not using a headset, I strongly recommend you avoid leadership roles, below we’ll talk through the roles you SHOULD look to dive into as a new player.
Rifleman, Automatic Rifleman, Assault: These are your basic soldier classes, hold objectives, push points, shoot at enemies. The assault class does come with smoke grenades which can provide the vital cover needed to push across an open zone but broadly, no special knowledge needed here and they are great classes to play while you learn the game's mechanics.
Medic: Everybody’s best friend, you come with a lower amount of clips for your rifle however have the ability to revive your teammates (at least those who haven’t been shot in the head or turned into giblets). Allies can see how close you are as a medic when they go down, so if you plan to revive someone make sure to let them know to wait, otherwise they may opt to give up and take the normal respawn. Give them both their morphine shot to revive them as well as bandaging their wounds to prevent further bleedout. As a medic you are able to bandage faster than any other class and come with smoke grenades to cover downed allies so be a Good Samaritan and help your teammates out!
Support: You get one box of supplies every 5 minutes… Doesn’t sound like much does it but I cannot overstate how important those little boxes are. They can be used to build resource generating nodes, fortifications to help bulk up a point or most importantly a garrison which acts as a spawn point for the whole team. Games are won and lost off the back of spawn points and the support is vital in quickly getting them to needed points. There is no penalty for swapping class so if in need, hop to support, throw your supplies down and go back to what you were doing. Your squad lead (and team) will love you for it.
This is what a garrison (team wide spawn) looks like. Making sure the enemy does not reach these is often a top priority. Even enemies being too close will stop it working.
Engineer: The support has just thrown down supplies? You are the one (along with squad leads) who can turn it into something useful. Resource nodes are top priority as they allow your commander to use more abilities however you can also build barricades and bunkers to fortify choke points. Use the wrench to put down some blueprints and hammer away to build them. Need more supplies? Get a request up to the commander who can give you a supply drop or truck. The class also spawns in with both AP and AT mines and you will get points for throwing them down even without some poor sap stepping on them, so don’t be afraid to plant them on key pathways and roads. The enemy will have to slow down their push to avoid a well hidden bomb sending them back to spawn.
Machine Gunner: Fire support and suppression. Running and gunning with an MG in Hell Let Loose is intentionally slow and unwieldy because instead your job is to find a spot and be an absolute menace to infantry within your vision. With your bipod deployed your burst accuracy is high even at long range. Enemy infantry anywhere near your stream of fire will have their vision blurred and accuracy reduced so don’t be afraid to let loose at a manned enemy trench just to pin them down and allow your team to push in. You also have the ability to destroy enemy trucks with sustained fire, watch for the ones with canvas backs which hold supplies and are especially worthwhile targets. Just be aware that you are not exactly stealthy and you will be a priority target for enemy sharpshooters so move position every now and then.
Anti Tank: No prizes for guessing your job here, but what I need to stress is the dedication required from a good AT soldier. I don’t care if that tank is 200m away through a crater ridden field, Your job is to crawl over and disable that armour! I want their tank commanders to be scared that every unchecked bush has you waiting for them to roll by so you can punch a rocket through that weak rear plating. The bigger and scarier the tank looks, the more likely that it needs to be hit in the side or back to do any notable damage. You only have two shots each life and your rockets have quite a downward arc, so aim high if firing over distance! Rockets are not particularly useful at flushing out infantry but can be used to destroy enemy spawn points in a pinch.
If you don’t have an anti tank rocket or satchel charge you better lay down in a bush and hope the tank doesn’t notice you.
Tank Crewman: Maybe being infantry isn’t for you. Can’t say I blame you for wanting to put 5 inches of armour plate between you and the enemy fire. Unlike the other classes this crewman does not find his home in a standard squad, instead he will be in a three man vehicle crew controlling the team’s heavy firepower. In many other games one person can utilise all functions of an armoured vehicle while with Hell Let Loose each offensive vehicle has individual seats for a driver, gunner and spotter. Gunner is the most friendly role for a new player and will see you commanding the tanks main gun and coaxial machine gun. You will need to juggle ammo types between armour piercing (for tanks) and high explosive (for infantry) for maximum effect. If in doubt, keep the AP loaded as enemy tanks are your main threat. Just remember to listen to the tank commander so you know where to aim and manually reload after every shot, as it is not automatic.
Have Fun
The Hell Let Loose community on the whole is great and will try and immerse you into the experience but it can be frustrating to die repeatedly while you are learning the ropes. Take breaks and have a laugh with your squad mates because if you can push through and get involved with this game, I promise you will leave with stories you will remember for the rest of your gaming career.
See you on the battlefield soldier!