Setting up Steelrising graphics for a weak (and not only) PC

 How to get a stable 60 FPS in the new souls-like from the creators of Greedfall

The new game from the Spiders studio turned out to be quite an exciting action game in the style of Dark Souls. Steelrising is set in an alternate Paris during the French Revolution. The main character - an automaton girl - must get to King Louis, making her way through the ranks of his robotic minions.

The game has many beautiful locations in the style of the late XVIII century, and in general, the graphics look simple but tasteful. However, with optimization, everything is rather sad - at maximum settings, even at 1080p Steelrising, only top-end video cards of the GeForce RTX 3080 level can pull out! The DLSS technology saves the situation a little, but it is available only on NVIDIA video cards of the last couple of generations. Everyone else will have to reset their settings or turn on AMD FSR upscaling, which significantly blurs the image.

In this article, we will try to figure out how to set up the graphics in Steelrising so as to get the maximum FPS, and the picture remains beautiful.

What kind of computer is needed for Steelrising (system requirements)

We studied independent tests of the game and came to the conclusion that the official system requirements are close to the truth. However, they are only rated for 1080p (1920x1080) resolution. Therefore, we have added recommendations for playing in 2K (2560x1440) and 4K (3840x2160), based on the tests we studied.

The game can efficiently use up to 12 processor threads. Therefore, processors not weaker than Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 of the last couple of generations are recommended. As for the graphics card, for a stable 60 FPS at maximum settings, even at 1080p, an adapter of the GeForce RTX 2060 or Radeon RX 5600 XT level is required. More details are below.

Official minimum system requirements (1080p @ 30 FPS, low preset):

• Operating system: Windows 10 (64-bit only!).
• Processor: Intel Core i7-3770 / Ryzen 5 1400.
• Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
• RAM: 8 gigabytes.

Official recommended system requirements (1080p @ 60 FPS, high preset):

• Operating system: Windows 10 x64.
• Processor: Intel Core i7-8700 / AMD Ryzen 5 3600X.
• Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super / RTX 3060 Ti.
• RAM: 16 gigabytes.

Computer for playing at 1440p @ 30 FPS (high preset, according to tests):

• Operating system: Windows 10 x64.
• Processor: Intel Core i5-10400 / AMD Ryzen 5 3600X.
• Video card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 / AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT.
• RAM: 16 gigabytes.

Computer for playing at 1440p @ 60 FPS (high preset, according to tests):

• Operating system: Windows 10 x64.
• Processor: Intel Core i5-10600K / AMD Ryzen 7 3700X.
• Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 / Radeon RX 6900 XT.
• RAM: 16 gigabytes.

Computer for playing 4K @ 30 FPS (high preset, according to tests):

• Operating system: Windows 10 x64.
• Processor: Intel Core i5-10400 / AMD Ryzen 5 3600X.
• Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 / Radeon RX 5700 XT.
• RAM: 16 gigabytes.

4K @ 60 FPS PC (high preset, DLSS/FSR, as tested):

• Operating system: Windows 10 x64.
• Processor: Intel Core i7-10700K / AMD Ryzen 7 5700X.
• Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti / Radeon RX 6900 XT.
• RAM: 16 gigabytes.

Graphics settings in Steelrising / how to increase FPS (frame rate) in the game

Next, we will analyze in detail all the Steelrising graphic settings. Where applicable, we have indicated in brackets the maximum impact on current performance as a percentage.

Testing was conducted on a GeForce RTX 3060 Ti graphics card in conjunction with a Core i5-10400F processor, the game was installed on an SSD.

• Screen mode. It's usually better to choose full-screen mode. So the system will allocate maximum resources to the game itself, without maintaining the desktop. However, for streamers, the Borderless Windowed option is better suited - it is visually indistinguishable from full screen, but allows you to easily move the mouse cursor between two monitors.
• "Vertical Synchronization". Set a value equal to the refresh rate of your screen or exactly half. This will make the video sequence as smooth as possible. At the same time, input lag is not felt in third-person games. Disabling is only on the most powerful systems.
• "Line of sight". It is better not to change this value and leave the default 1.0. If you lower it, you will see little space around the character, and increasing it will reduce performance, as more will be removed into the frame. In addition, in both cases, the proportions of the image will suffer, and it will look distorted.
• "Scaling". Owners of GeForce RTX video cards (at least 2060) should enable DLSS in quality or balance mode. For everyone else, it’s better to set the basic scaling - FSR 1.0 works frankly badly.
• Resolution scale. This option is only available with basic scaling. It is better not to reduce the resolution scale so that all the graphics do not “blur” at once. It would be more reasonable to reduce the quality of individual resource-intensive options.
• "Detalization" (up to 30%). Responsible for the detail of the study of distant objects. In the game, distant plans are rarely seen - more often medium ones. For this reason, lowering the setting to medium quality will not make the picture much worse, but it will noticeably increase performance.
• "Animation of plants" (up to 10%). When there are a lot of plants in the frame, disabling their animation can add up to 10% performance. In other cases, no more than 5%. In any case, fixed greens look bad - it's better to turn them on.
• Texture Detailing (up to 14 GB VRAM). Steelrising has very "heavy textures" - at maximum settings and with maximum texture resolution, the game can consume up to 14 gigabytes of video memory! If your video card has less VRAM, then the missing gigabytes are taken from the slower main RAM. This significantly reduces performance and can cause friezes. Therefore, most of those reading this text will have to reduce the texture quality to medium, alas.
• "Anisotropic Filtering". Correction of the “blurring” of surfaces seen at an angle (a feature of rendering textures in 3D). The maximum value of 16 passes does not affect performance in any way, so it is better to choose it.
• "Shadow Resolution" (up to 10%). The density and detail of shadows, as well as the quality of drawing soft edges. Medium quality at screen resolutions up to 1440p looks acceptable and allows you to gain up to 10% performance, so it's better to set it.
• "Shadow range" (up to 10%). Responsible for the range of drawing shadows. It is unlikely that during fights you will care whether all the smallest objects in the distance cast shadows, so it is worth lowering it to medium quality.
• "Indirect lighting" (up to 30%). Apparently responsible for the density of the reflected rays of light. However, visually, the difference between half indirect lighting and full lighting is not very noticeable. Turn on half - FPS will increase fairly.
• SSAO (up to 15%). diffuse shading. Creates additional shadows at the junction of surfaces and in various depressions. Makes the picture more voluminous and natural. You shouldn't turn it off completely, but you can set the quality to medium, which will be enough at 1080p (and even 1440p).
• "Reflections" (up to 20%). There are very few reflective surfaces in the game. For this reason, it is better to set the quality to no higher than average, which will increase performance by 10 to 20 percent in different locations.
• "Ray tracing" (up to 20%). Turning on will allow the main character to appear in reflections. If you don't want to lose FPS in rare situations, it's best to turn it off, even if you have a GeForce RTX graphics card.
• "Refraction" (up to 10%). It is not very clear what this option is responsible for, since there are no reservoirs in the game (except for dirty puddles) or underwater levels. However, for the entire game, it reduces performance by 5-10% at full quality. Therefore, it is better to switch to half.
• "Particles" (up to 10%). Responsible for the quality of special effects like sparks, jets of flame, or explosions. During battles, high quality can "steal" the heels of frames. However, at medium quality, special effects do not look so saturated. Therefore, decide for yourself what is more important to you - beauty or performance.
• "Relief displacement" (up to 5%). Tessellation for the surface of the earth, which makes it more voluminous. Turning it off will do little in terms of performance on relatively modern video cards. But outdated models can cope with tessellation much worse.

The final optimal Steelrising settings for a weak (and not only) PC

IMPORTANT: All recommendations below are for 1920x1080 resolution.

Optimal settings for a weak PC (GTX 970 / RX 480):

• Screen mode: full-screen mode.
• Vertical sync: 30Hz / 72Hz.
• Field of view: 1.0.
• Scaling: basic.
• Resolution scale: 100.
• Detail: small.
• Plant animation: disable.
• Texture detail: medium quality.
• Anisotropic filtering: 16x.
• Shadow resolution: medium quality.
• Shadow range: medium quality.
• Indirect illumination: half.
• SSAO: medium quality.
• Reflections: low.
• Ray tracing: disable.
• Refraction: half.
• Particles: medium quality.
• Terrain Offset: Enable.

Optimal settings for an entry-level gaming PC (GTX 1660 / RX 590):

• Screen mode: full-screen mode.
• Vertical Sync: 60Hz / 144Hz.
• Field of view: 1.0.
• Scaling: basic.
• Resolution scale: 100.
• Detail: medium.
• Plant animation: enable.
• Texture detail: medium quality.
• Anisotropic filtering: 16x.
• Shadow resolution: medium quality.
• Shadow range: medium quality.
• Indirect illumination: half.
• SSAO: medium quality.
• Reflections: low.
• Ray tracing: disable.
• Refraction: half.
• Particles: medium quality.
• Terrain Offset: Enable.

Optimal settings for a mid-range PC (RTX 2070 / RX 5700 XT):

• Screen mode: full-screen mode.
• Vertical Sync: 60Hz / 144Hz.
• Field of view: 1.0.
• Scaling: DLSS (quality).
• Detail: high.
• Plant animation: enable.
• Texture detail: medium quality.
• Anisotropic filtering: 16x.
• Shadow resolution: medium quality.
• Shadow range: medium quality.
• Indirect illumination: half.
• SSAO: high quality.
• Reflections: medium.
• Ray tracing: disable.
• Refraction: half.
• Particles: medium quality.
• Terrain Offset: Enable.

Optimal settings for a pre-top PC (RTX 3070 / RX 6700 XT):

• Screen mode: full-screen mode.
• Vertical Sync: 60Hz / 144Hz.
• Field of view: 1.0.
• Scaling: DLSS (quality).
• Detail: high.
• Plant animation: enable.
• Texture detail: high quality.
• Anisotropic filtering: 16x.
• Shadow resolution: high quality.
• Shadow range: high quality.
• Indirect illumination: fully.
• SSAO: high quality.
• Reflections: medium.
• Ray tracing: disable.
• Refraction: half.
• Particles: medium quality.
• Terrain Offset: Enable.

That's all. Write in the comments if you have any questions about setting up graphics in Steelrising or if you have technical problems with the game - we will try to help you!