Hello Everyone,
Welcome back to our next Dev Brief. This time, we are diving into the upcoming changes to the Armour class, which will make their first appearance alongside the Stalingrad refresh in Update 18.
This rework has been a much-requested feature from the community and something we have been eager to improve for quite some time. We are excited to finally share some details on what you can expect, and we hope to see many of you in our first Public Testing Environment (PTE) session for the updated Stalingrad on Friday 15th August.
Upcoming Events
Update 18 PTE - Friday 15th August
As mentioned in last week’s Dev Brief #206, this PTE will be focusing on Update 18. Make sure to mark your calendars and join us on the frontlines in Stalingrad.
Friday 15th August: 8am PST | 11am EST | 4pm BST | 5pm CEST
As normal with our PTE’s we have a feedback form and bugs reporting form for those who participate to complete. These will be linked at the bottom of the dev brief and we cannot wait to hear back from you about the upcoming changes. In particular we will be extremely interested to hear feedback on everything new coming to Stalingrad including new additions, performance, and more. We also are adding other changes such as the ability to pick up supplies, and of course what you came here to read about; Update 18’s Armour Rework.
Known Issues
You may experience some issues with the prone system during the PTE, including restrictive movement when prone.
We're currently working on a rework for the prone system that currently causes issues such as:
Peoples legs popping through walls
Going under the map when bipoding on inclines
And other frustrating prone bugs
What you will see is a work in progress version of the prone rework.
Stalingrad PTE takes place on Friday 15 August
Future Games Show - Wednesday 20th August
Before we go into details on the upcoming armour rework, we must inform you that Hell Let Loose will be making an appearance at the Future Games Show starting at 11am PDT | 2pm EDT | 7pm BST | 8pm CEST. Don’t miss it!
"The future of Hell Let Loose will be at the Future Games Show"
Hell Let Loose will be featured at the Future Games Show 2025
Armour Rework
In reworking the Armour class, we set out to deliver a more balanced and immersive tank experience. The changes include a refined tank profile system, improved overall balancing, the brand-new ‘Tinkerer’ loadout, and deeper immersion for every member of the Tank squad.
A T-34 rolls into Stalingrad
Tank Balancing
The first major element of this rework is a comprehensive overhaul of tank balancing. To enhance immersion, gameplay variety, and strategic decision-making, every tank in Update 18 has undergone an individual stat rework and balance pass. Our aims with these changes are to:
Emphasise the unique performance characteristics of each tank.
Encourage strategic diversity and highlight faction-based asymmetry, reflecting the nature of real-world historical warfare.
Reinforce the role of tanks as powerful, game-changing tools suited to a wide range of battlefield scenarios.
Improve the viability of Medium and Light Tanks, increasing their relevance and usage during matches. This change will complement the upcoming Heavy Tank Limitations, which we will cover later in this brief.
The aim of these changes is to create a clearer, more strategic comparison between tanks by emphasising their unique strengths and weaknesses. This system encourages players to consider a tank’s specific combat role and capabilities, promoting more varied and tactical gameplay.
By breaking down stats for example into three distinct, adjustable stat groups, we can better balance the tanks and provide players with meaningful choices based on their preferred playstyle and battlefield needs.
One of these stat groups focuses on a tank’s offensive capabilities. Each tank will now have specific stats assigned to its weapons, including muzzle velocity, shell drop-off distance, reload time, damage output for both armor-piercing (AP) and high-explosive (HE) shells, turret speed, depression and elevation angles, and the power of its coaxial machine guns.
Light and medium tanks will have their viability increased in Update 18
Other Tank Changes
In addition to stat balancing, we are also updating and refining the following systems:
Tank Traversal
We are also improving how tanks interact with their environment. This includes enhancements to hit detection, the impact on objects, and most notably, better traversal over trenches. These changes aim to create a smoother and more immersive experience when navigating the battlefield.
Condition-Specific Behaviour
Another major addition in this update is the introduction of condition-specific behaviour for tanks. Tanks will now respond dynamically to the surface they are driving on, with performance changing depending on terrain types such as muddy ground, urban streets, or open fields.
We are excited to see the tactics that emerge as Tank Commanders choose between the speed advantage of staying on roads or the element of surprise that comes with slower, off-road movement.
In addition to tanks reacting more dynamically to terrain, players will now have the ability to adapt their vehicles mid-match through Tank alterations using the new ‘Tinkerer’ tool.
Condition-specific behaviour will impact all tanks in Update 18
Tinkerer Loadout (Work in Progress Title)
We are introducing a new interactive match mechanic that gives the Armour class, specifically the Crewman, access to a powerful new tool at higher levels: the Tinkerer Loadout (Work in Progress Title).
To Tinker means to augment an existing trait of a tank, allowing the crew to adapt or improve its performance based on the needs of the Tank Commander. This mechanic empowers armour squads to respond to:
Map-specific challenges
The current match state
Enemy behavior or gathered intel
The Tinkerer system supports a more dynamic and adaptive tank experience, where tanks are no longer locked into a fixed stat loadout for the entire match. Instead, crews can make real-time adjustments, enabling more strategic decision-making and greater battlefield flexibility.
Below are some examples of potential Tinker types and their effects and trade-offs:
Mobility Upgrade
With this upgrade, you will remove the heavy loads or armour to improve mobility. This will increase acceleration and faster turning speed, however in turn the tank will have decreased deceleration along with reduced armour and health.
Turret Tuning
Tuning the electronics or hydraulic systems will allow for faster turret movement including rotation speed and damage. By enacting this Tinker however you will trade speed for slower reload times and potential jamming, as the increased speed is temporary.
Armour Bracing
If you are under heavy fire, you may feel that applying additional armour or reinforcing existing armour plating will be your best move. In this approach you will gain increased armour on the front, side, or rear of the tank, however will give up on you speed with a decrease in top speed as well as slower turning.
Panzer IV surveys the battlefield
Heavy Tank Limitations
Rather than balancing all tanks into a uniform meta to match the power of Heavy Tanks, we are embracing their role as the strongest, but rarest and most impactful assets on the battlefield. In Update 18, Heavy Tanks are intended to be high-impact, game-changing power plays rather than early-game tools.
To achieve this, we will be increasing the cooldown period for spawning a Heavy Tank, with the timer now beginning only after the vehicle has been destroyed rather than when it is first deployed. In addition, the number of Heavy Tanks available in a match will be capped at two active units at any given time. We will closely monitor community feedback after release to determine whether this limit should remain in place or be adjusted in future updates.
The Panther and other heavy tanks will see limitations in Update 18
Immersion Improvements
Alongside numerous mechanical changes and updates, we are exploring ways to enhance immersion as part of the Armour Rework.
As a deliverable for Update 18, we aim to update tank audio dynamically based on various factors, including the map currently being played. This will create a more immersive experience and requires close collaboration with the Audio team.
Keep your ears open when the update launches later in the year!
M4A3E2 76mm Sherman ready for a fight
Other New Update 18 Features
Alongside all the updates to Stalingrad, as well as our extensive Armour upgrades, we are also adding a host of other features and changes to Update 18. We cannot wait to get your feedback on the following in this week’s PTE:
New Feature: Picking up Supplies (Support Role)
Players who are playing as the Support role can now pick up and redistribute their supply box should they wish to be relocated. Once a supply box is placed down and the cooldown has started, the player can interact with the box to resupply them back into their inventory. The cooldown the supply box will also be reset.
Note:
Only the player who placed down the supply box can pick them back up
Other team members cannot pick up friendly supply boxes
The supply box cannot be picked up if any of the supplies have been used (subject to change)
This does not affect Commander supply drops or Supply Truck drops
PTE Feedback Forms
As always, please send your PTE feedback via the below forms:
Feedback Form
Bug Reports Form
Future Armour Additions
Something new is rolling onto the battlefield later this year...
Introducing the Self-Propelled Artillery vehicle. Think of this new vehicle type as artillery on wheels, this is also just the first step towards the overall artillery rework coming to Hell Let Loose in 2025 which will allow squads of two to take the functionality of artillery and move it around the battlefield relatively freely.
SPAs will be the newest vehicle coming later this year
Community Updates
Hey everyone, Ben back with some community updates. The first is regarding our PTE this weekend!
War Correspondent Takeover Livestream - Friday 15th August 2025
Our incredible War Correspondents will be taking over our Hell Let Loose Official Twitch on Friday.
As the PTE kicks off at on Friday 15th August at 8am PST | 11am EST | 4pm BST | 5pm CEST, DasAltberg will be live with a livestream, admin-camming around the map and showing off everything new coming to Stalingrad.
Then at 2pm PST | 5pm EST | 10pm BST | 11pm CEST, RazBora and TheFreshBakedGoods will be diving deep into the armour rework with some tank gameplay!
Be sure to join the lobbies, tune into stream, and enjoy what’s coming in our new update.
Best of the Community - Episode 4 - VOD
Last week I was joined by the incredible SoulSniper as my co-host for Episode 4 of our Best of the Community series. If you missed the stream, there is no need to worry as the full VOD is now up on our YouTube channel!
Make sure you don't miss out on any future streams by following the Hell Let Loose Official Twitch channel.
If you would like to be featured in future episodes, be sure to submit your videos, artwork, or clips via our Discord at https://discord.gg/HellLetLoose