Tame the fog, muzzle the particles, and cut your input lag—without turning the war into a blur.
This guide avoids unverified tweaks, sticks to settings with repeatable gains, and flags any “try at your own risk” steps clearly.
If your heroic push for managed democracy keeps turning into a slideshow the moment the sky fills with explosives and spore clouds, you’re not alone. Helldivers 2 can be both GPU‑hungry (volumetrics, shadows, reflections) and CPU‑spiky (particles and AI chaos), which means smart settings matter more here than in many shooters.
Below is a battle‑tested guide that prioritizes frame‑gain settings (particle quality, fog, shadows), clarifies PC vs. console levers, and closes with input‑latency basics you can apply right now.
A quick reality check (as of September 2025): Arrowhead has said DLSS/FSR are “on the wishlist,” but the team is focused on deeper performance fixes first, so don’t count on modern AI upscalers in‑game yet.
TL;DR: 7 fast wins (PC)
- Lower Particle Quality to Low/Lowest. This stabilizes FPS during explosions and swarms (CPU relief).
- Volumetric Fog/Clouds: set Low/Lowest. Big FPS gains with limited visual loss in firefights.
- Shadow Quality: drop to Low/Medium for a chunky frame win.
- Reflections: avoid Screen‑Space Reflections; Low or Off is safer for FPS.
- Render Scale / Image Quality: if you need raw frames, use the game’s Render Scale options (e.g., Balanced/Quality/Ultra Quality). Upscaling here is basic, not DLSS/FSR.
- Free frames: turn Motion Blur/Depth of Field/Bloom Off.
- Latency basics: use Exclusive Fullscreen, match VRR/G‑Sync/FreeSync, and cap FPS a few frames below refresh to keep latency low without tearing.
Why Helldivers 2 feels different
Two things make performance volatile:
- GPU‑heavy cinematic effects. Volumetric fog/clouds and SSR are expensive; shadow cascades add up. (Think outdoors + explosions + fog = heavy.) Multiple third‑party tests show volumetric quality and reflections are among the biggest hogs.
- CPU spikes in combat. Particle systems and busy AI cause frame‑time spikes that even powerful GPUs can’t “brute force.” Turning down particle quality and some view/density sliders usually helps.
Also, Helldivers 2 still lacks built‑in DLSS/FSR/XeSS (the devs have discussed it, but prioritized other fixes), so the Render Scale / Image Quality slider is your main dial for big FPS jumps if you can tolerate a touch of softness.
The settings that matter (and why)
Below are the levers that consistently move the needle, grouped by what they primarily tax.
CPU‑leaning (stabilize during chaos)
- Particle Quality → Low/Lowest. The single best change for late‑mission stability. Lowering it reduces the CPU overhead of explosions and persistent effects.
- Render Distance / Object Detail (if present): Start at Medium and only raise if you’re GPU‑limited with lots of headroom.
GPU‑leaning (raise your average FPS)
- Volumetric Fog Quality / Volumetric Clouds → Low/Lowest. On most maps, low settings look surprisingly close, but cost far less.
- Shadow Quality → Low/Medium. A perennial FPS eater; “High/Ultra” rarely adds tactical value.
- Reflection Quality → Low (avoid SSR). Screen‑space reflections are costly; “Low” often swaps in cheaper probes/cubemaps with big performance savings.
- Ambient Occlusion / SSGI → Off/Low. Noticeable GPU cost; the mood boost isn’t worth lost frames during swarms. DigitalTrends flagged AO/SSGI among the heavier options.
- Lighting Quality → Medium/High. Going too low can crush visibility in dark biomes. (If you must gain frames, step down one notch.)
- Texture Quality → Match VRAM. Minimal FPS impact; just fit your card’s memory.
- Motion Blur, Depth of Field, Bloom → Off. Free clarity and a bit of FPS on every system.
Image clarity vs. speed
- Render Scale / Image Quality (sometimes labeled Quality/Balanced/Performance/Ultra Quality): this is a basic internal scaler, not DLSS or FSR2/3. Use it if you need frames fast—Quality or Ultra Quality are the least blurry presets. (Prefer Native on high‑end GPUs.)
Note: Multiple updates in 2025 focused on stability, but the game still sees performance swings—and the big “Into the Unjust” drop introduced fresh complaints that Arrowhead has acknowledged and is working to address. Expect patch‑to‑patch variance.
Recommended starting presets (PC)
Use these as starting points, then tweak particles/fog/shadows/reflections first.
Budget / older rigs (aim ~60 FPS at 1080p)
- Render Scale: Quality (or Ultra Quality if you can tolerate a bit more softness)
- Particles: Lowest
- Volumetric Fog / Clouds: Lowest
- Shadows: Low
- Reflections: Off/Low (avoid SSR)
- AO/SSGI: Off
- Lighting: Medium
- Textures: to fit VRAM
- Motion Blur/DoF/Bloom: Off
Mid‑range (aim 80–100 FPS at 1080p or 60–80 at 1440p)
- Render Scale: Ultra Quality (bump to Quality if needed)
- Particles: Low/Lowest
- Fog/Clouds: Low
- Shadows: Medium
- Reflections: Low
- AO/SSGI: Low/Off
- Lighting: High (drop to Medium if dark maps feel too dim)
- Textures: High (≥8 GB VRAM)
- Post‑fx: off
High‑end (chasing high refresh at 1440p or solid 4K60)
- Render Scale: Native (fall back to Ultra Quality if GPU‑limited)
- Particles: Medium (still consider Low to protect 1% lows)
- Fog/Clouds: Low/Medium
- Shadows: High → Medium if frametimes aren’t stable
- Reflections: Medium at most
- AO/SSGI: Low
- Lighting: High
- Post‑fx: off
Input‑latency basics (PC): the quick wins
Goal: keep frame times flat, avoid render‑queue build‑up, and prevent V‑Sync back‑pressure.
- Exclusive Fullscreen. Bypass the Windows compositor and reduce latency.
- VRR (G‑Sync/FreeSync) correctly configured.
- If you have VRR, keep V‑Sync On in the control panel and Off in‑game, then cap FPS a few frames below your monitor’s max (e.g., 141 on 144 Hz). This avoids hitting the VRR ceiling (where tearing/lag can creep in) while keeping latency low. Blur Busters’ long‑standing guidance applies here.
- Frame limiter: Prefer in‑game limiter if stable; otherwise RTSS/NVCP cap. (Still keep the cap a few fps under refresh.)
- Low‑latency features:
- NVIDIA: If the game doesn’t expose NVIDIA Reflex, set Low Latency Mode = On (not Ultra) in the driver to trim render queue latency; if Reflex does show up in a future patch, use that instead.
- AMD: Enable Radeon Anti‑Lag/Anti‑Lag+ in Adrenalin for similar benefits (works best when GPU‑limited).
- Windows basics: Game Mode On, use your display’s highest refresh rate, and ensure USB peripherals are at 1000 Hz polling if supported.
Console performance tips (PS5, PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X|S)
Even though you can’t tweak as many knobs, you still have useful levers.
1) Favor performance presets
On PS5, set a global preference that nudges games toward higher framerates where available:
Settings → Saved Data and Game/App Settings → Game Presets → Performance Mode.
2) Turn on VRR and 120 Hz output (system level)
- PS5: Settings → Screen and Video → Video Output → set VRR to Automatic; consider “Apply to Unsupported Games” if your display behaves well. Also enable 120 Hz Output if your TV/monitor supports it.
- Xbox Series X|S: Settings → General → TV & Display Options → set refresh to 120 Hz and check Allow variable refresh rate. Microsoft officially supports VRR/ALLM on Series consoles.
Why VRR helps here: Helldivers 2 targets 60 fps on consoles but can dip in heavy scenes; VRR hides small dips and reduces perceived judder and tearing. (On PS5 Pro, performance mode also benefits from a sharper 1440p image compared with the base PS5’s 1080p performance mode, according to third‑party testing.)
3) In‑game visual toggles
If the console build exposes Motion Blur / Depth of Field / Film Grain, you can usually disable them for cleaner presentation and a tiny bit of headroom.
4) Display hygiene
Use your TV/monitor’s Game Mode (low latency), ensure HDMI 2.1 ports/cables where needed, and keep the console well‑ventilated to avoid thermal‑induced throttling over long sessions. Microsoft’s own setup notes emphasize HDMI 2.1 for 4K120/VRR features.
A smarter way to tune (PC): diagnose the bottleneck first
Run a tough mission and watch GPU vs. CPU usage (afterburner/overlay):
- GPU pegged, CPU low → you are GPU‑bound. Lower: Volumetric Fog/Clouds, Shadows, Reflections, AO/SSGI, or Render Scale.
- GPU ~50–70% with drops → likely CPU‑limited or CPU‑spiky combat. Lower: Particle Quality (first), then Render Distance/Object Detail.
- 1% lows are bad → try lowering Particles and Volumetrics first, then reduce Shadows/Reflections.
Maintenance & troubleshooting
- Let shader pre‑compilation run on first launch after patches; it helps reduce traversal stutter later. (Skipping it can cause hitching early on.)
- If stutter appears after an update, clear the game’s shader cache (Windows):
C:\Users\<YourName>\AppData\Roaming\Arrowhead\Helldivers2\shader_cache\(the pipeline cache will rebuild next launch). - DX11 fallback (advanced, not officially supported): some players report gains by launching with
--use-d3d11. This can help on certain systems but may cause crashes (especially on some AMD cards). Test at your own risk and remove the flag if unstable.
Example “clean” configs you can try today (PC)
“Competitive Clarity” (1080p, ~60–90 FPS mid‑range GPU):
- Render Scale: Ultra Quality
- Particles: Lowest
- Fog/Clouds: Low
- Shadows: Medium
- Reflections: Low
- AO/SSGI: Off
- Lighting: High
- Textures: High (VRAM‑fit)
- Motion Blur/DoF/Bloom: Off
- Display: Exclusive Fullscreen, VRR on; cap at 141 on 144 Hz (or a couple FPS below your own max).
“Pretty but Stable” (1440p on strong GPUs):
- Render Scale: Native (fallback: Ultra Quality)
- Particles: Low
- Fog/Clouds: Low/Medium
- Shadows: High (drop to Medium if 1% lows suffer)
- Reflections: Medium → Low if frametimes wobble
- AO/SSGI: Low
- Lighting: High
- Post: Off
- VRR on; frame cap just under display refresh.
Why these recommendations track with testing
- Volumetrics (fog/clouds) are among the costliest toggles across portable and desktop testing—Lowest/Low is the sweet spot for FPS vs. clarity.
- Reflections (SSR) punish GPUs; “Low” (probe/cubemap) usually looks fine in the field.
- AO/SSGI cost is nontrivial; several PC analyses mark them as heavy relative to visual payoff.
- No built‑in DLSS/FSR yet, so the built‑in Render Scale is your main “big jump” lever.
- VRR/latency fundamentals (fullscreen, V‑Sync behavior, FPS capping) follow NVIDIA’s official latency guide and long‑standing Blur Busters best practices.
- On consoles, PS5/PS5 Pro/Xbox all benefit from VRR + performance mode; PS5 setup steps for VRR/120 Hz are documented by PlayStation and Microsoft.
- PS5 Pro: independent testing found performance mode rendering at a higher resolution (~1440p vs. 1080p on base PS5) with better stability—still targeting 60 fps.
Final checklist before you deploy
- PC: set particles low, volumetrics low, shadows/reflections modest, post‑fx off; match render scale to your target FPS; enable VRR and apply a frame cap just below refresh; use exclusive fullscreen; enable driver‑level low latency features if the game doesn’t expose Reflex/Anti‑Lag.
- Console: set Performance Mode in PS5 Game Presets, enable VRR (and 120 Hz output if available), and keep the console well‑cooled; if options exist, disable motion blur/film grain.
Spread democracy with smoother frame‑times.
