Welcome to the guide for The First Descendant! If you’re playing on a lower-end system, we’ve got you covered. Here, you’ll find essential fixes and optimizations to ensure a smooth and enjoyable gaming experience. Let’s enhance your journey through this captivating world together!
Fix For Lower-End Systems In The First Descendant
Fine Tuning Your Settings
Firstly, adjust your settings to a lower level. While this may seem obvious, ensure that if you’re using a less powerful system, set your graphics to the Low preset. Use this as a starting point for all other adjustments. If another fix in this guide proves more effective, gradually increase the graphics settings until you strike the right balance between visual appeal and performance.
Additionally, disable Motion Blur and VSync (unless you’re experiencing severe screen tearing, in which case enable VSync). Ensure all forms of DLSS or upscaling are turned off as well. I found that enabling these features drastically reduced both the visual quality and the speed of my PC.
Moving To SSD
Next, transfer it to an SSD. This step made the most significant difference for me, and the improvement was striking. Despite the minimum requirements not explicitly specifying the need for an SSD, it’s essential. Moving the game eliminated frame drops and random freezes entirely. Loading times, which were previously around 110 seconds, now rarely exceed 10 seconds.
Mouse Adjustments
Thirdly, adjust your mouse polling rate. This is a common issue that affects several games, including this one. The polling rate determines how frequently your mouse sends data to your computer per second, typically set at around 1000Hz for modern gaming mice, depending on the model. You can adjust this setting using software like iCUE, GHub, Synapse, or the manufacturer’s software that comes with your mouse. Alternatively, you can adjust it through the Control Panel in Windows.
I suggest reducing the polling rate to 500Hz and testing whether this resolves any frame drops when you move the mouse to look around in the game.
Anti-Aliasing
Fourthly, disable Temporal AA in the Engine.ini file. This step might sound complex, but it is straightforward.
- Close the game.
- Navigate to your \AppData\Local directory (you can do this by typing %localappdata% into a Run prompt).
- Go to \AppData\Local\M1\Saved\Config\Windows and open Engine.ini with Notepad.
- Add the following lines to the bottom of the file:
[/script/engine.renderersettings]
r.TemporalAA.HistoryScreenpercentage=200
r.BasePassForceOutputsVelocity=1
r.DefaultFeature.AntiAliasing=2
r.TemporalAAPauseCorrect=1
r.TemporalAA.Upsampling=0
r.TemporalAACatmullRom=1
r.TemporalAA.Algorithm=0
r.PostProcessAAQuality=6
r.AntialiasingMethod=2
r.TemporalAA.Quality=2
r.VelocityOutputPass=1
foliage.DitheredLOD=1
r.TemporalAACurrentFrameWeight=0.40
r.TemporalAAFilterSize=0.1
r.TemporalAASamples=1
[/script/unrealed.cookersettings]
+VersionedIntRValues=r.VelocityOutputPass
- Save the file and then launch the game. Ensure the contrast in the display options is set to 5.
This adjustment can help optimize performance and visuals by tweaking the Temporal AA settings directly in the configuration file.
Optimize Your PC
Lastly, ensure your PC is optimized for peak performance. Here are some steps to consider:
- Enable XMP/DOCP in your BIOS: Check your BIOS settings and enable XMP (for Intel) or DOCP (for AMD) to optimize your RAM performance. This setting is often disabled by default and can significantly improve gaming performance.
- Adjust Power Settings to High Performance: Navigate to your power settings in Windows and select the High-Performance Power Plan. This ensures your PC is maximizing performance rather than conserving power.
- Monitor and Close Background Apps: Use Task Manager to identify and close any unnecessary programs running in the background that may be consuming CPU or RAM resources. This can free up resources for your game.
Bonus Tip:
- Consider Lossless Scaling on Steam: Explore the app called Lossless Scaling on Steam, which allows you to run games at a lower resolution and upscale them to your native resolution. This can improve performance without sacrificing too much visual quality.
By following these steps, you can help ensure that your PC is running at its best when playing games, optimizing both performance and stability.
Conclusion
If all else fails, consider the game’s optimization issues. It’s evident that this game may not be well-optimized. There’s a possibility that developers will release updates to address these issues, so it might be worthwhile to wait for improvements. However, if these improvements never materialize, it might be best to consider other games.
Games like Warframe or Destiny 2 offer similar third-person co-op looter shooter experiences and are generally well-optimized. If you’re looking for something new, Outriders could also be a viable option, despite its own performance quirks.
Ultimately, exploring alternatives can help fill the gap if the current game continues to present technical challenges.
Last Updated on March 11, 2025
An avid listener of music from a number of countries. Writing is his hobby and passion. A follower of all the latest android and PC games. Not to mention his favorite: Mobile Legends!