The official launch guide names four modes: Warfare, Offensive, Conquest and Domination. Warfare is a five-sector tug of war; Offensive is a one-way attack-and-defend sequence; Conquest opens several points at once and adds a shared Morale pool; Domination starts around three central points, then unlocks the enemy HQ. Separate official product copy says the game has six distinct modes, but it does not currently name or explain two additional modes.
Four named modes at a glance
| Mode | Battle structure | Primary win condition |
|---|---|---|
| Warfare | Linear tug of war across five sectors | Capture the enemy HQ sector, or hold the majority when time expires |
| Offensive | Attackers advance through five points; defenders fall back | Attackers take all five, or defenders hold an active point for 30 minutes |
| Conquest | Multiple points can be attacked in any order; teams spend Morale | Hold the majority when the opposing team's Morale reaches zero |
| Domination | Control two of three central points to unlock the enemy HQ | Capture the enemy HQ, or hold the majority when time expires |
Terms that apply across the rules
- Hard Cap: the marked circle directly around a capture point.
- Soft Cap: the surrounding four-grid-square, 2-by-2 area.
- Sector: a 2-by-8 section of the map containing one of the five capture points in the linear modes.
Capture contribution changes by mode. In Warfare and Domination, a player inside the Soft Cap contributes one unit of capture power while a player inside the Hard Cap contributes three. Offensive is stricter: only players inside the Hard Cap contribute.
Warfare: the five-sector tug of war
Both teams begin with their half of the map while the middle sector is neutral. After taking the centre, a team pushes through contested sectors toward the opposing HQ. A completely uncontested capture takes three minutes.
You win immediately by capturing the enemy HQ sector. If the 90-minute limit expires first, the team controlling the majority of sectors wins. The three-times Hard Cap weight means bodies on the actual objective can overturn a wider enemy presence in the surrounding Soft Cap.
Offensive: attack versus defence
One team attacks and one defends. Attackers have 30 minutes to take the active point. Every successful capture moves the front forward and resets the timer to 30 minutes; defenders cannot retake a sector once it has been lost.
Attackers win by capturing all five points and reaching the defending HQ sector. Defenders win the whole match by holding any active point until its timer reaches zero. Because only the Hard Cap counts, the final metres around the circle matter more than merely occupying the wider sector.
Conquest: multiple points plus Morale
Conquest removes the fixed frontline. Its capture points can be attacked in any order, so squads must decide whether to defend current territory, reinforce a contested point or open pressure elsewhere.
Each team also has a finite Morale pool. Redeploying spends Morale, and the team that controls fewer capture points suffers additional Morale bleed. The normal win occurs when your team controls the majority as the opponent reaches zero Morale.
There is one important overtime rule: if the team currently holding the majority runs out of Morale first, the match continues. The other team must take the majority before its own remaining Morale is exhausted; failing to do so gives the win back to the side that first reached zero.
Domination: control the centre, then attack HQ
Three central capture points begin active while both HQs are locked. Holding at least two of the three unlocks the opposing HQ, creating a second phase in which your team can push for an immediate win.
If your team loses its central majority during that push, the enemy HQ locks again. If neither HQ falls before the 90-minute limit, the team holding the majority of capture points wins. Like Warfare, Soft Cap players contribute one capture unit and Hard Cap players contribute three.
Which mode should a beginner learn first?
- Start with Warfare to learn sectors, capture weight and the basic frontline shared with the series.
- Try Offensive when you want a clearer direction of travel, while remembering that the Hard Cap is the only place that captures.
- Move to Domination once you can read multiple active points and recognize when the HQ unlocks or relocks.
- Learn Conquest last if you are new, because the Morale economy makes redeployment and map control part of the same decision.
This order is our learning recommendation, not an official difficulty ranking. Server availability and map rotation may decide what you encounter first.
Why do official pages say six modes?
The main Hell Let Loose: Vietnam page says there are six distinct gameplay modes and refers to Warfare, Offensive and four alternating new modes. The developer's dedicated launch-day mode guide, however, names and explains only Warfare, Offensive, Conquest and Domination.
Those two official descriptions do not currently reconcile the remaining count. Until Team17 publishes two more names and rules—or explains whether variants are counted separately—the reliable public list is the four modes above. We will update this page rather than turn an unexplained number into invented modes.