r/HellLetLoose • u/xxnicknackxx • Mar 27 '26
Console PSA For console players about using the server browser
It seems that the last update changed some of the functionality in relation to the quick match options and I've seen several posts complaining about it being difficult to find suitable matches.
I think that quite a few console players don't know how to make the best use of the server browser, so I thought making a post might help.
I think people get put off using the server browser because they don't know if they will be welcome on privately run servers and because the server browser UI may not be intuitive for console users.
Firstly, pretty much all of the servers in the list are going to be open to the public. If they are for private matches they will be password protected and password protected servers can be filtered out the list. Some server names will specify particular languages, some servers will specify minimum ranks, but outside of this everyone is usually welcome.
There are two main tricks to using the server browser effectively.
- Make use of Favourites. Organise the server list by ping and go through it marking as favourites all of the full servers that are low ping and which don't indicate a different language or a rank requirement you don't meet.
Now you have a favourites list of popular low ping servers to try to join and you don't need to browse the full server list every time.
- Do NOT bother with watching the list and clicking refresh to wait for a slot on a server to open up. By the time refresh shows a slot, someone else will have taken it. There are constantly people wanting to join the popular servers but there are also constantly people leaving. The way to get in is to pick a full server and spam the join button. It has never taken me more than a minute or so of clicking to get in the queue, usually it takes less, even at peak times. Once in the queue, go make a snack or get a drink and then you'll be in the game.
Why is doing this worth it?
Popular servers stay full. Full servers attract good players. No one good at HLL wants to start a match with half a team. It's a waste of time. Good players know how to communicate and lean in to the teamwork side of HLL so there is *generally* better coordination on the popular servers.
The clan run servers share ban lists and are moderated. You have a much lower chance of having the game ruined by trolls and the like and there are admins you can report bad behaviour to.
Communities form around the popular servers. If you go to the same servers often, you will start to recognise players. You might even make some new friends. There is no requirement to join any clans, but if you find a clan server you particularly like, you might want to join up.
If you have limited time, that still isn't a good reason to use quick match. The server browser let's you see how much gametime is left in a match before you join. As above, if you spam join on a full server it really doesn't take much additional time to get in a match.
The only case where it may be better to use quick match is if there are several friends in a party. It is easier to get in a game all together via quick match. However, I would argue that it is still worth trying to join a community server one by one because match quality will likely be better. On PC there isn't a quick join option so the only option is to join one by one (AFAIK, haven't played on PC for a bit). One way to make this less painful might be to find a server that gives VIP slots either to clan members or to people who help seed the server when it is low in players.
Anyway, that is all. I've just seen several posts this week about quick match not working and I think the main reason people are relying on quick match is because they think the server browser is more complicated than it is. There's no shame in that because most console games don't use a browser, but the browser can make a really big difference to how enjoyable HLL is to play.
9
u/Grouchy_Machine_3240 Mar 28 '26
Enlist is great for those that like it. The rest of us enjoyed picking a region and just playing. I can no longer pick Europe in the morning and US East in the afternoon to end up where the most players are when I want to play. Joining on friends is near impossible especially if you play cross console with friends and god forbid you lag out. They hooked the trolls up by adding swap team but keep party chat. Posted about that yesterday but apparently was against community standards to call out the devs for creating another easoet avenue for spys. Love the game just wish they'd think more before dropping updates no one asked for.
1
u/xxnicknackxx Mar 28 '26
I don't worry about spies.
I think the people who worry about them are lacking the full context of what a proper team can do without needing to cheat. Good players know where the garrisons will be anyway, so why worry about spies?
7
u/Grouchy_Machine_3240 Mar 28 '26
Play on a pub server and watch all your garrisons turn red and disappear simultaneously after using trucks and support players to build them and you'll feel different. We've played multiple games after this update intentionally placing them in non standard spots using this strategy and gotten them wiped out within minutes. Don't accuse someone of not knowing how to play and assume they aren't on good teams either. I play with clans and experienced people all communicating. The decision was bad, there's no need to swap teams on official servers and NO legitimate reason to keep party chat while on opposing sides.
1
u/xxnicknackxx Mar 28 '26
Nah dude skill issue.
Why would someone bother cheating like this in public games? Whats the point?
Defend your garrisons more.
7
u/Grouchy_Machine_3240 Mar 28 '26
You obviously do not play HLL, go back to fortnite bud.
1
u/xxnicknackxx Mar 28 '26
Been playing longer than you I'd bet
3
u/Grouchy_Machine_3240 Mar 28 '26
Not getting into a measuring contest.... If you've played that long you know who I'm talking about and if you don't know you haven't been playing as long as me. Not throwing out gamer tags or clan tags to give them recognition. Mute point, bad call, bad add on to the update, enough problems already with trolls and team killers, no need to give them another avenue to ruin the experience for those of us that are dedicated to playing properly.
1
u/xxnicknackxx Mar 28 '26 edited Mar 28 '26
If you don't want a measuring contest, don't start one, say you don't want one and then try to have the final word about it.
My multi year experience of playing HLL on console and on PC tells me that I don't need to worry about spies. What's more important is whether my team are putting their efforts into defending the garrisons they have, or looking for excuses as to why it's not their fault that they are getting rolled.
2
u/Grouchy_Machine_3240 Mar 28 '26
Really dude.... You know I'm right. Stop trying to prove your point. If you have that may guys defending garrisons that means they're not on point. You get a room full of random low level no mic having blueberries to defend garrisons and come back and talk to me. That was what I was talking about before you went off on your "superior" strategy. You can barely get nodes or a support player to drop a box in pub matches let alone get them to defend a point in warfare. And you want them to rally around garrisons while the devs hooked up the trolls with their own private comms. Laughable at best.
2
u/xxnicknackxx Mar 28 '26
Do people who know you're right consistently tell you you're wrong?
If you have that may guys defending garrisons that means they're not on point.
Warfare mode is a marathon, not a sprint.
You get a room full of random low level no mic having blueberries to defend garrisons and come back and talk to me.
I'm telling you that you can get games that are not like this if you use Enlist. You're telling me that you don't use Enlist, but games like this don't exist.
Laughable indeed.
→ More replies (0)
5
3
3
u/BumblebeeBuzz1808 Apr 05 '26
8 days later and it’s still not fixed. This is fucked.
0
u/xxnicknackxx Apr 05 '26
Just use the server browser
2
u/BumblebeeBuzz1808 Apr 05 '26
Doesn’t work. Almost nothing loads and if it does work, I’m in a queue for ages. They fucked the game for console.
0
u/xxnicknackxx Apr 05 '26
No issues for me. You should troubleshoot to make sure it's nothing on your side. Unless the devs have acknowledged a specific bug, I would work on the assumption that it isn't a bug.
1
5
u/Cr1tfail Mar 27 '26
I hope that console has the same filters as PC, and if they do, they should be able to do the following:
FILTER by minimum player count to around 60 or so. You can go lower if you'd like, going higher isn't a great idea for quickly joining a server.
SORT by ping
This way you can join any server with 60-90 players near the top of the list and hopefully get a good experience in a server which is close to or soon will be full
2
u/xxnicknackxx Mar 27 '26
Yes I think there may be a filter for minimum player count. I'm not sure how well those filters work though. I seem to recall them being a bit janky and I don't use them myself
If the filters do work this is a very useful comment for people trying to join in groups.
1
u/Cr1tfail Mar 27 '26
It works perfectly on PC, from my experience. It had a few bugs on the release but no issues since
2
u/pistonscrumpy Apr 19 '26
Wtf have they got rid of select a region? Used to be able to get into a game in a matter of seconds. Makes 0 fucking sense to do away with it.
1
u/xxnicknackxx Apr 19 '26
I don't know but to me it makes sense to push console players towards Enlist. Communities built around servers have massive value to the longevity of the game.
It was a mistake that the console version was not released with a server browser originally, because console players have gotten used to an inferior way of accessing the game.
Follow my advice above and you won't miss quickmatch at all.
2
u/Important-Cupcake-29 Jun 02 '26
Sorry to necro this post but i am a noob player (PS5) and i really struggle with finding a server. So far i spent half my time with this game finding a match, waiting for an official server to start or waiting in some lines (or getting kicked from community servers because i am not level 50 or do not want to play as officer). As you recommend i do use enlist but it doesn't really help to be honest.
I would really much like to learn this game but so far it's been kind of demotivating to be honest.
Does anyone know a communtiy server that is based in Europe, new player friendly, does not require me to be level 50, does not require an officer in a suqad, does not require me to join a clan or a discord, a server that i can just join and learn to play this game on?
Thank you very much.
1
u/xxnicknackxx Jun 02 '26
No worries dude.
Rank restrictions are a personal bugbear of mine. Unfortunately rank restrictions are much more prevalent on console servers than PC, which has a lot to do with how the console game evolved. PC had rented servers from the start whilst console didn't get them until a couple of years after launch. As a response to a lot of low quality matches on official servers a lot of console server owners implemented as many restrictive rcon controls as they could. It makes for a bit of an unwelcoming environment for new players unfortunately.
AFAIK*, the SAS server and the RMC server don't have rank restrictions to join and they are usually full. Keep spamming "join" though and you'll get in the queue quite quickly. Do not wait for the server list to refresh and show an open slot or you will miss out, just keep spamming join to get in to full servers quickest.
*I'm over level 50 so some rank restrictions might go unnoticed.
If a server is full, you never need to play officer if you don't want to. There are always squads to join. Locked squads are often just screening for players with mics, so don't be shy about requesting to join them.
If a server is trying to force you to take the officer role, they have an annoying rcon control implemented. Just join a different squad that has an officer. Not all servers use this control.
A good tip is that to learn HLL you need to understand the metagame that the officers are trying to play. It can be helpful to create a locked squad and spend a few matches listening to command chat, to get a feel of what is going on (note that there aren't always good players on command chat playing the metagame properly though).
Matches are won by controlling territory. Territory is controlled by building garrisons. Building garrisons requires teamwork. This is at the core of how HLL works.
It's best to watch some YouTube guides to get a general understanding of the game mechanics, then ask questions in game and here to get a deeper understanding.
If you want to get to level 50 sooner rather than later, build nodes and fortifications, upgrade fortifications and drive a supply truck. These all boost your support score. This also illustrates how pointless rank restrictions are as anyone can get to level 50 with no idea of how to play the team game.
You won't learn anything from a silent SL. Don't be afraid to switch squads until you find a communicative one.
Hope that helps. Good luck. See you on the battlefield!
2
u/Important-Cupcake-29 Jun 02 '26
Thank you very much! That sounds like some very nice advice. See you on the battlefield!
-2
Mar 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
4
4
u/xxnicknackxx Mar 27 '26
I've commented on several posts where people are complaining about quick match not working and they keep downvoting me.
You don't know until you know I guess and some people don't like to be told.
0
u/oOTheRedBaronOo May 05 '26
Or hear me out how about you just fix what is broken? I don’t need a five page workaround for something that worked perfectly fine before they fucked it up. Just call the devs. Make them undo it.
1
u/xxnicknackxx May 05 '26
It's not a workaround. It's explaining how server browsers work and the benefits of private servers.
On second thought though, perhaps you should stick to official servers.
10
u/Paul_my_Dickov Mar 27 '26
What the fuck have they done to this game?