Dark Souls 3 is a visually demanding game that requires you to maintain a solid 60 frames per second to get the best experience. On older PCs, it pushes your hardware to the limit, and most times, you will face a performance drop. However, with some tweaking, you can get the best settings on the PC, enabling you to unlock the full potential of Dark Souls 3.
This wide range of optimization techniques, from in-game settings adjustments to external tweaks, will enable you to prioritize maximizing visual fidelity or achieving a silky smooth frame rate; this guide will show you how to strike the perfect balance for your system.
Anti-Aliasing
AA or Anti-Aliasing essentially smooths the image and eliminates jagged edges. The effect on performance is minor, so we recommend you leave it on. You will, at best, suffer a loss of 1 or 2 frames.
Shadow Quality
Shadow quality increases the quality of the shadows and enhances the visibility and fidelity of distant shadows. Going with the highest setting will cost you between 5-7 FPS. So better to turn it off, if you need performance. But if you can afford it, leave it on.
Reflection Quality
This setting deals with the reflection quality of characters, scenery, and other objects scattered around the world, which are reflected from various reflective surfaces. This setting ensures a high image quality. Turn it to its lowest setting.
Water Surface Quality
As the name suggests, this option determines the quality of the water surface in the game. To experience a better overall image, it is a good idea not to turn off this option, as it only costs a single frame per second.
Depth of Field
The DoF in Dark Souls 3 adds out-of-focus blur and some other hard-to-notice effects during cutscenes. Since there is no noticeable difference in DoF, it is a good idea to stick with the medium setting for a balanced experience.
Texture Quality
The Texture Quality settings in Dark Souls 3 dictates how the player, enemy, and world models look in the game. Go for the medium setting for a balanced approach. You will still enjoy stunning detail but it won’t completely choke out system.
Motion Blur
The option can cost you about 4-5 frames per second and should be turned off. There is no benefit of having this setting on and it can also make certain people dizzy, especially in high octane fights.
Shader Quality
While the Shader Quality somewhat enhances the images to some extent, if you can bear a couple of frame rate costs, by all means, go with it. Otherwise, turn it off.
Lighting Quality
As the name suggests, this effect determines the overall lighting quality in the game, vastly enhancing the overall image quality. It costs a single frame per second, so you must turn it on and choose a lower setting.
Overclock Your CPU and GPU
Overclocking your CPU and GPU sends your hardware into overdrive and use it to its full potential. However, it may reduce your hardware life. If no other settings in Dark Souls 3 make your experience better, then consider overclocking your hardware.
Disabling Auxiliary Software
Before running the game, disable anything that is consuming your PC resources in the backend, like Steam, Discord, or Nvidia overlay.
