The Tool Desk
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Tune one option at a time while watching the in-game performance overlay. It separates CPU-Game, CPU-Render and GPU limits, which matters because lowering visual quality cannot solve every kind of slowdown. The settings below are practical community guidance, not an item-by-item configuration officially certified by Embark.
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Start with this balanced baseline
The table is a sensible first pass for a normal play session. Apply it, play in the same type of encounter for a few minutes, and then change only the setting related to the problem you actually see.
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| Platform or area | Starting setting | Why it is a useful baseline |
|---|---|---|
| PC FOV | 80 | Broadens peripheral awareness without immediately creating the distortion or aiming discomfort that can come from an extreme value. |
| NVIDIA upscaling | DLSS Quality; try Balanced if the GPU is the limit | Preserves text and distant geometry better than an aggressively low render resolution while giving you a performance adjustment. |
| AMD upscaling | FSR Balanced | Offers a practical performance/clarity compromise for a GPU-limited system. |
| Frame generation | On for supported NVIDIA hardware | Can raise displayed smoothness when the underlying frame time is already reasonably stable. |
| Global illumination | Static | Reduces lighting workload and keeps the scene more predictable than a fully dynamic option. |
| Volumetric fog | Low | Removes some atmospheric clutter that can obscure players and landmarks. |
| Foliage | Low | Reduces visual obstruction and the amount of vegetation the system must draw. |
| Post-processing and effects | Low | Limits blur, glow and other screen-space distractions that can make movement or targets harder to read. |
| View distance | High or Epic | Helps prevent distant targets and structures from appearing too late, even while nearby effects are reduced. |
| PS5 or Xbox Series X|S | Highest comfortable FOV, motion blur off, conservative brightness | Consoles expose fewer individual graphics controls, so these are the most useful clarity and comfort adjustments. |
Do not assume that every PC option has the same cost on every graphics card or processor. The baseline is a starting point, not a promise of a particular frame rate.
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Choose a frame-time target before lowering quality
A stable frame time usually feels better than a high counter that repeatedly falls during combat. Pick the highest target your hardware can hold through ordinary traversal, firefights and busy extraction moments. If your system fluctuates between a high peak and a much lower floor, cap it at a level that remains steady.
Some competitive guides use a 144–200-plus frames-per-second target. That is aimed at competitive play and is not a requirement for a casual player returning to the game. A consistent lower target with a clear image is a better trade than sacrificing visibility to chase a number you cannot sustain.
Use the performance overlay to find the real limit
The in-game overlay distinguishes three useful causes of a hitch: CPU-Game, CPU-Render and GPU. Read the label that remains the limiting bar while you reproduce the problem.
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- Open the game’s settings and enable its performance overlay.
- Enter a repeatable situation, such as the same area or a short route, instead of judging a setting from a single quiet menu.
- Watch whether CPU-Game, CPU-Render or GPU is the active limit during movement and combat.
- Change one graphics option, or the frame-rate cap, and repeat the same route.
- Keep the change only if the limiting bar and the actual feel improve without making distant geometry or text unreadable.
When GPU is the limit
A GPU limit is the case in which lowering rendering resolution or other GPU-heavy options can help. Move from DLSS Quality to Balanced, or keep FSR Balanced and reduce the most expensive visual options one at a time. Volumetric fog, foliage, post-processing and effects are the visibility-oriented reductions in the baseline; preserve view distance if distant pop-in is more distracting than a little extra detail nearby.
When CPU-Render is the limit
A CPU-Render limit means the renderer, rather than raw pixel shading, is holding the frame back. Resolution changes may produce little improvement. Test the individual scene and effect options available in your menu, then use a stable frame cap if the limit persists. Avoid changing several settings simultaneously, because you will not know which option affected the result.
When CPU-Game is the limit
Lowering graphics quality will not fix a CPU-Game limit. Keep the image settings that make targets easiest to read and concentrate on a sustainable frame-rate cap and reducing other system or game load. The overlay is valuable here because it prevents you from degrading the picture while the actual bottleneck remains unchanged.
How each PC graphics choice affects play
FOV
Use 80 as a starting point on PC, then adjust for comfort. A wider field of view shows more of the sides of the screen, which can help awareness, but it also makes objects appear smaller and can introduce a stretched feeling at the edges. If you lose track of targets or feel eye strain, step back toward the default instead of treating a wider value as automatically better.
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Choose the highest quality mode that keeps lettering, weapon outlines and distant structures legible. DLSS Quality is the first NVIDIA test; Balanced is the next performance step. FSR Balanced is the AMD starting point. If an upscaler creates shimmering, trails or unreadable fine detail, return to the more conservative quality mode before lowering other settings.
Frame generation is most useful when the base render is already reasonably consistent. It can make camera movement look smoother, but it does not remove the underlying input or simulation delay of a low base frame rate. If controls feel uneven or artifacts appear around moving objects, compare a short session with it enabled and disabled rather than assuming the higher displayed number is automatically better.
Global illumination
Static global illumination is the balanced recommendation because it reduces lighting work while retaining a coherent scene. Dynamic lighting can be attractive, but it is a poor first place to spend performance when your priority is stable traversal and readable targets.
Volumetric fog, foliage and post-processing
These three options have an unusually direct effect on visibility. Fog can veil silhouettes and landmarks; dense foliage can hide movement; post-processing can add blur, bloom or other image treatment between you and a target. Lowering them is therefore both a performance choice and a clarity choice. Make sure you test in the environments where you normally lose sight of players, not only in an empty interior.
View distance
Keep view distance high or Epic when possible. A high setting helps stop targets, buildings and other important geometry from popping into existence as you approach. If the GPU is still overloaded, lower another expensive option first and compare the result; a small gain that causes distant pop-in can make navigation and scouting harder.
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Console settings for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S
The console versions provide fewer individual graphics controls than PC, so use the controls that are actually exposed rather than searching for hidden presets or commands.
- Set FOV to the highest value you can use without edge distortion, nausea or uncomfortable aiming. The best value is personal; there is no requirement to copy the PC starting point exactly.
- Turn motion blur off. Removing camera smear makes panning and quick turns easier to read, especially during close encounters.
- Raise brightness only until dark areas contain usable detail. Stop before black levels become gray and bright surfaces lose contrast.
- Play a few matches and judge consistency during action, not just the appearance of the main menu.
ARC Raiders is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, with cross-platform social play. Because the console menus do not expose the same per-option controls, a comfortable FOV, clear brightness and blur-free motion carry more weight than trying to imitate a PC graphics list.
Set up audio for information, not just loudness
In the Audio settings, verify the output device first. The game exposes Stereo/Headphones output and separate controls for effects, music, dialogue, party chat and proximity chat. Effects should remain loud enough to identify movement and combat; music can be reduced independently if it masks those cues.
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Night Mode compresses dynamic range: very loud sounds such as gunshots and explosions become quieter, while softer sounds such as footsteps become louder. That can make low-level movement easier to hear at a modest volume.
The trade-off is positional information. Compression can muddy the apparent distance and direction of a sound and can raise the perceived level of ambient noise. A footstep that is easier to hear is not necessarily easier to locate. Treat Night Mode as a personal test, not a universal competitive advantage.
- Use the same headphones or speakers you normally play with.
- Compare standard audio and Night Mode in a quiet area, then in a busy encounter.
- Listen for both detection and direction: can you tell whether a sound is above, behind, near or far?
- Keep the mode that gives you better decisions at your usual volume. If it makes the scene loud but vague, turn it off.
For a returning player, keeping effects audible and configuring party chat and proximity chat separately is more important than copying another player’s slider values. Your room, headset, hearing and volume level change the result.
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Controls and accessibility options worth checking
Accessibility settings are not mandatory competitive tweaks; they are ways to make information readable and reduce discomfort.
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- Enable colorblind mode when its palette separates important indicators more clearly for you.
- Try flash-color inversion if bright effects cause discomfort or make it hard to keep track of the scene.
- Use subtitles when you need dialogue context without raising the dialogue slider over effects.
- Check that the selected output device is the one you are actually wearing or listening through before changing individual volume sliders.
There is no universal “best” accessibility profile. The correct setting is the one that improves recognition without introducing new visual noise.
A returning-player setup routine
Use this order when you have not played for a while. It prevents a hardware problem, an audio-routing problem and a preference change from being mistaken for one another.
- Confirm that the game is running on the intended platform and that your display or television is using its normal gaming mode.
- Apply the balanced graphics baseline for your platform.
- Enable the performance overlay on PC and identify the active limit during a repeatable route.
- Set a frame-rate cap your system can hold instead of pursuing the 144–200-plus competitive target.
- Verify Stereo/Headphones output and test effects, party chat and proximity chat independently.
- Compare Night Mode with standard audio for both loudness and direction.
- Adjust FOV, subtitles, color options and flash-color options for comfort.
- Change one setting at a time, replay the same type of encounter and keep notes of what actually improved the experience.
Troubleshoot the most common problems
The game looks smooth in menus but stutters in fights
Menus are not a useful workload test. Reproduce the issue during traversal and combat while watching the overlay. If GPU is the limit, reduce rendering resolution through the upscaler or lower GPU-heavy effects. If CPU-Game is the limit, graphics reductions will not solve it; keep a sensible cap and investigate the non-GPU workload instead.
Targets are hard to see through the environment
Check the visibility priorities in the baseline: low foliage, low volumetric fog, restrained post-processing and high view distance. Test them in the exact environment where you lose silhouettes. Raising brightness alone can wash out the entire image without restoring contrast.
Distant objects shimmer or text is blurry
Use the higher-quality upscaler mode and compare a short, repeatable route. An aggressive render scale may produce a higher counter while making distant geometry and small text harder to read. Frame generation cannot restore detail that the base image never rendered.
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Footsteps are louder but impossible to place
That is the central Night Mode trade-off. Compare it with standard audio at the same volume and keep the mode that preserves directional information. Also confirm that effects are not being drowned out by music, dialogue or chat.
The image feels washed out after changing brightness
Lower brightness until highlights regain contrast, then raise it only enough to reveal detail in dark areas. Make the adjustment while looking at both a dark scene and a bright exterior; optimizing for one can damage the other.
Motion feels uncomfortable on console
Keep motion blur disabled and reduce FOV from the maximum if edge distortion or rapid camera movement is uncomfortable. A slightly narrower, comfortable view is preferable to a wider setting that makes aiming unpleasant.
Voice chat is masking game audio
Use the separate party-chat and proximity-chat controls rather than lowering effects. This preserves combat and movement cues while allowing you to set each voice channel to a usable level.
Do not use hidden commands as a settings strategy
Do not build a normal configuration around undocumented console commands or configuration edits. A hotfix removed the NewConsole command after Embark said the feature was never intended to be player-facing and that it was investigating related reports to protect fair play and game integrity. Unsupported visual changes can break after updates, create inconsistent results and put an otherwise ordinary settings guide outside the game’s intended rules.
What is confirmed, and what remains guidance
The platform and cross-platform social-play information is confirmed by the official ARC Raiders site. The exact PC combination in this guide comes from current community guidance because Embark has not published a complete official, item-by-item PC graphics breakdown. In particular, guides may state precise upscaler, ray-tracing, frame-cap or texture-tier behavior that is not established in the official documentation.
Use the menu labels and behavior on your own version as the final check. Updates, hardware differences and display characteristics can change which option is the best trade-off, while the core method remains the same: identify the bottleneck, protect frame-time stability, preserve distant readability and test audio direction rather than loudness alone.
Quick Recap
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