Baldur’s Gate 3 is a fantastic role-playing game that lets you create your own character and embark on an epic adventure in the Forgotten Realms. However, to enjoy the game’s stunning graphics and smooth gameplay, you need to adjust some settings to suit your PC’s capabilities. Here are some tips on how to optimize your Baldur’s Gate 3 settings for higher FPS and better performance.

baldurs_gate_settings_guide

  • First of all, you need to choose the right API for your graphics card. API stands for Application Programming Interface, and it is a software layer that allows the game to communicate with your hardware. Baldur’s Gate 3 supports two APIs: DirectX 11 and Vulkan. DirectX 11 is the default option, and it works well with most Nvidia and AMD cards. Vulkan is a newer and more advanced API that can offer better performance and stability, but it is still experimental and may cause some issues or crashes. If you have an Nvidia RTX card, you can also enable DLSS, which is a feature that uses artificial intelligence to upscale the resolution and improve the image quality. To change the API, go to Options -> Graphics -> API and select the one that works best for you.
  • Next, you need to tweak the model quality, detail distance, instance distance, texture quality, and texture filtering settings. These settings affect how detailed and realistic the game world and the characters look. The higher the settings, the more beautiful the game will be, but also the more demanding on your system. If you have a powerful PC, you can set them all to high or ultra for the best visual experience. However, if you have a lower-end PC or want to boost your FPS, you can lower some of these settings to medium or low. A good balance between performance and quality is to set model quality and texture quality to high, detail distance and instance distance to medium, and texture filtering to anisotropic x16.
  • Another important setting is animation level of detail. This setting affects how smooth and realistic the animations of the characters and creatures are. The higher the setting, the more fluid and natural the movements will be, but also the more CPU-intensive. If you have a strong CPU, you can set this to high or ultra for more immersion. However, if you have a weaker CPU or want to save some resources, you can set this to medium or low.
  • Finally, you need to consider the slow HDD mode setting. This setting is designed for players who are running the game on a hard disk drive (HDD) instead of a solid state drive (SSD). HDDs are slower than SSDs in loading data, which can cause long loading times and texture pop-in issues in Baldur’s Gate 3. The slow HDD mode setting helps reduce these problems by pre-loading some data in advance. However, this also increases the RAM usage and may cause stuttering or lagging if you don’t have enough memory. If you have an SSD or enough RAM (16GB or more), you can turn this setting off for faster loading times. If you have an HDD or less RAM (8GB or less), you can turn this setting on for smoother gameplay.
These are some of the best settings for Baldur’s Gate 3 that can help you improve your gaming experience. Of course, you can always experiment with different settings and find what works best for your PC and preferences. You can also use the built-in benchmark tool in Options -> Graphics -> Benchmark to test your performance and see how your settings affect your FPS