Field manual
Voice chat, explained
Voice in the HLL series is routed by channel, not one big lobby: local proximity, your squad's radio, and a command net for leaders. That design is why the settings menu confuses everyone — and why "open mic" complaints dominated the beta.
The three channels
| Channel | Beta default (PC) | Who hears you |
|---|---|---|
| Proximity (local) | V | Friendly players physically near you — enemies never hear you |
| Squad / unit radio | C | Your ~6-player squad, anywhere on the map |
| Command radio | X | Squad leaders + Commander only (leadership role required) |
An on-screen indicator lights up per channel when someone transmits, with your own name shown while you broadcast (beta-era community documentation). This channel structure is carried over from the original HLL (HLL1 reference); exact Vietnam launch defaults get re-verified Aug 13.
Muting people & killing the open mic
- Mute one player: in the original HLL you open the scoreboard (Tab) and click the mute icon by their name — it silences voice and text. HLL1 mechanic — confirming at launch
- Turn a whole channel down: the series exposes separate volume sliders per chat type in Settings → Audio, so you can lower proximity without touching squad radio. HLL1 mechanic — confirming at launch
- Your own mic feels always-on? Two beta-confirmed causes: a stuck-transmit bug (a quick tap or overlapping keypress locks the channel open — clear it with a deliberate press-and-release), and controller Layout A, which uses voice activation instead of push-to-talk — switch to Layout C.
- The transmit keybind is mislabeled. There is no setting called "push to talk" — it hides under Controls as "Radio channel On/Off". Full walkthrough: push to talk "not working".
Console & crossplay voice
On controller you hold LB and pick the channel with the right stick (beta behavior; LB was also the default transmit key in the playtest PTT thread). Cross-platform squads are supported, so squad radio works across PC, PS5 and Xbox on crossplay servers — details on the crossplay page.
When voice just dies
The series runs voice through the third-party Vivox service, and most mid-match failures (a channel going silent, transmit keys ignoring you) are VOIP-connection drops, not keybinds. The beta-era fix order: Settings → Audio → VOIP Disconnect → Reconnect; if that hangs, leave the server and rejoin for a fresh handshake. The devs acknowledged VOIP-default complaints in the official known-issues thread, so expect launch-day changes here — we retest and update.
Sources: HLLVN voice guide (beta-era) · Steam "PUSH TO TALK" thread · official known-issues thread · HLL1 voice reference
Last verified Aug 8, 2026 (beta/playtest-era info; HLL1-inherited items badged) · full re-check against the launch build on Aug 13.