Patch 1.3 is live for Hell Let Loose: Vietnam. It doubles the NVA Tunnel placement cooldown from five to ten minutes, blocks travel to a hot Tunnel, lets tank drivers shift without throttle, improves console image quality, repairs several keybind and community-server problems, and adds more than 100 fixes across the six launch maps. It is not the promised fix for distorted robotic Proximity Chat: Team17 says that fix is being tested for Patch 1.4. AMD crashes also remain under investigation; disabling gore is the current official workaround for affected players.
Patch 1.3 status at a glance
| Question | Official answer |
|---|---|
| Is Patch 1.3 live? | Yes. The official changelog labels it live and covers gameplay, vehicles, controls, audio, tutorials, VOIP, servers and maps. |
| What is the largest balance change? | NVA Tunnel placement cooldown increased from five to ten minutes, and players cannot travel to a destination while that Tunnel is hot. |
| Does it fix robotic Proximity Chat? | No. A candidate fix has been identified with Epic Games and is currently targeted for Patch 1.4, subject to testing. |
| Does it fully fix AMD crashes? | No. Investigation continues. The official temporary advice is to disable gore if the crashes affect you. |
The changes most players will notice
- NVA Tunnels: their placement cooldown is now ten minutes rather than five, and a hot destination cannot be used for travel. Tunnel travel and Barracks performance also received improvements.
- Armor: tank drivers can shift gears without applying throttle. Tank Commander sensitivity now scales correctly at every zoom level.
- Helicopters: controller pitch inversion was corrected for Layout B, Co-Pilots retain control if the Pilot dies, and supplies inside helicopters now have bullet collision.
- Scoreboard and controls: the Scoreboard can be opened on the KIA screen. Players can reassign occupied keybinds, bind the right mouse button and change the Exit Vehicle key.
- Tutorial access: players with a colon in their username can now enter Tutorials and the Practice Range. A Recon Tutorial softlock and two training objectives were also fixed.
- Maps: the art team made more than 100 fixes across the six launch maps, including trapped spawns, collision, foliage, water and terrain seams, LODs and deployable placement.
Community server fixes
Patch 1.3 contains several practical repairs for owners and administrators rather than only client-side polish:
- VIP lists are retained when a community server is reset.
- Map Shuffle now randomises the selected content instead of repeating an unintended order.
- VIP comments now appear as intended.
- Servers no longer incorrectly report zero-millisecond ping.
AMD crash workaround: what the official update actually says
The development team is investigating several individual stability failures that appear more often on AMD GPUs and is working directly with AMD. Team17 does not claim that Patch 1.3 contains one universal crash fix. Its current workaround is:
- Open the game's graphics or gameplay settings.
- Disable gore if you are experiencing AMD-related crashes.
- Retest the same map and situation after applying the setting.
- If the crash continues, record the GPU, driver, map and repeatable steps for an official support report.
FSR 4.1 is currently targeted for Update 1.5 on supported AMD hardware. That is a future target, not part of Patch 1.3 and not a guarantee that every crash will disappear.
Audio and VOIP: fixed items versus open problems
| Status | Issue |
|---|---|
| Fixed in 1.3 | VOIP stutter or cut-out when moving to the KIA screen; Party Voice Chat mute input; a PS5 Proximity Chat loss after being kicked; several environmental and surround-sound effects. |
| Targeted for 1.4 | Distorted or robotic voices in Proximity Chat. The Epic Games-assisted fix is identified and undergoing larger-scale testing. |
| Ongoing | Wider audio directionality and battlefield sound balance improvements will arrive incrementally. |
Known issue introduced or exposed by Patch 1.3
The official changelog calls out one control regression: after the helicopter inversion correction, the tank gunner inversion setting is controlled by Vehicle Inversion rather than the intended Look Inversion setting. Team17 says this will be resolved in Patch 1.4. Until then, check Vehicle Inversion if the tank gunner view moves opposite to your expectation.
Other useful gameplay fixes
- NVA Mortars can be destroyed with the US M183 Demolition Charge.
- Friendly mines and enemy anti-tank mines can be destroyed with AA Guns.
- The M79 no longer leaves an oversized lingering smoke plume.
- Knife hit consistency, firing while vaulting and vehicle stability on steep slopes were improved.
- Garrison, Outpost and Tunnel sounds have better 3D positioning.
- The Radio HUD remains visible while travelling through Tunnels.
What to retest after updating
- Players: open the Scoreboard while KIA, retry custom keybinds and re-enter a tutorial if your Steam name contains a colon.
- Tank crews: test gear selection without throttle and verify gunner inversion before joining a live match.
- Pilots: confirm Layout B pitch inversion and Co-Pilot control after the Pilot seat changes state.
- Server owners: restart once, then verify the VIP list, comments and a genuinely random Map Shuffle.
- AMD users: do not assume all crashes are fixed; use the gore workaround and report a repeatable failure with hardware details.
Bottom line
Patch 1.3 is a meaningful balance and quality-of-life update rather than a universal repair. The Tunnel cooldown and hot-travel rule change the NVA's battlefield tempo, while the KIA Scoreboard, keybind, tank, helicopter, tutorial and server-admin fixes remove concrete friction. The safest reading of the official material is equally important: robotic Proximity Chat, persistent Recon markers, console image quality and AMD stability still have work ahead.