Dishonored 2 is now available on consoles and PC. The game is pretty much a smooth experience on consoles but the PC version has a host of different issues. Arkane is aware of many problems affecting the game at this time and is looking into developing an update. However, not every issue needs an update, some can be fixed or improved with minor tweaks and adjustments.
The following solutions, workarounds, and suggestings will help you improve your experience in Dishonored 2.
For more help on Dishonored 2, read our Runes Locations Guide, Safe Combinations Guide and Blueprints Guide.
Dishonored 2 PC Tweaks and Performance Improvement
AMD Hardware Low FPS Issue
While low FPS is a general issue for Dishonored 2, it is worse on AMD hardware in many cases. The most affecting solution we have is to turn down the setting to improve framerates. Even if you have a high-end card, try to lower the setting from Ultra to high or medium for a better frame rate.
Dishonored is not very well optimized for Ultra settings.
Remove Startup Videos
There are 30 seconds of unskippable footage after you launch the game. Removing this will improve your experience as you won’t have to watch the same footage over and over. You will have to replace arkbeth.bk2, legal.bk2, void.bk2, and warning.bk2 files with blank .bk2 files.
All files are located in steamapps\common\Dishonored2\base\video. You can download the replacement here.
Default Mouse Sensitivity Issue
Dishonored 2 default mouse seductively is tied to your framerates. Higher frame rates result in slower movement which means if you have a fluctuating frame rate, you are in for a very uncomfortable experience. You need to adjust the mouse sensitivity to your liking manually, find the sweet spot that works for you.
Dishonored 2 Frame Rate Stuttering and Low FPS
Dishonored 2 low framerate and stuttering is a common issue among Nvidia and AMD users. However, there is something you can do to improve the game’s performance. First, download Process Lasso and right click Dishonored2.exe in it. Adjust the watchdog rule in a way that if Dishonored 2 using more than 10 to 15% CPU for more than 5 seconds, it is automatically set to high priority.
Improve Input Delay
The game suffers from input delay due to a large number of pre-rendered frames, set pre-rendered frames to 1 or 2 to improve input lag. You can do this from the Nvidia Control panel through the “Maximum pre-rendered frames” option.
Stable Performance
Make sure your dishonored2Config.cfg, located in C:\Users\username\Saved Games\Arkane Studios\dishonored2\base is not set to “Read Only.” Boot the game and go into visual setting and turn Window Mode to Fullscreen, set Adaptive Resolution to 100. You can also turn off Vsync and Nvidia HBAO+ if that helps.
We will keep updating the Dishonored 2 PC Tweaks article with more performance fixes, and workarounds.
