How to improve FPS in Dark Souls III (PC)
Dark Souls III runs on an evolution of FromSoftware's proprietary engine, the same lineage as Dark Souls II and, later, Bloodborne and Elden Ring. It's a lightweight game for current hardware: any mid-range GPU from the last few years runs it smoothly at a stable 60 FPS at 1080p and even 1440p. The real challenge isn't raw power, it's understanding the port's quirks: a hard framerate cap inherited from consoles, an undemanding fog and lighting system, and a peer-to-peer online mode that penalizes playing above that limit. This guide covers how to squeeze out Lothric, boss fights against the likes of the Lord of Cinder or the Dancer of the Boreal Valley, and PvP invasions without compromising stability or online compatibility.
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Calculations based on our FPS model combined with the % gain of each setting (measured in public benchmarks).
1. Quick wins (no visual loss)
Start here. Each one adds a little, but together they give +19% free FPS.
Render Resolution
DS3 has no dynamic resolution scaling or native upscaling. Playing at your monitor's native resolution avoids hardware rescaling by the panel, which on cheap monitors adds blurriness without saving much performance.
Shadow Quality
Dynamic shadows from torches and fire spells are among the most expensive things in the engine in areas like Irithyll or the Road of Sacrifices. Dropping them from Ultra to Medium is barely noticeable visually but reduces frametime spikes.
Motion Blur
Motion blur adds post-processing cost with no real benefit in a technical combat game where reading animations precisely is key to dodging and parrying.
Depth of Field
Depth of field blur softens the background in cutscenes and menus, and in some outdoor areas it also affects gameplay. Disabling it gives a sharper image and reduces post-processing load.
V-Sync + in-game FPS limit
It doesn't improve FPS, but it's critical: keeping the game at its native 60 FPS cap with V-Sync enabled avoids tearing and, above all, prevents the physics and desync issues that appear when forcing more than 60 fps via external software.
2. Medium impact settings
Here's where most of the FPS is. Minor visual impact, major performance impact.
Anisotropic Filtering
Dropping from x16 to x8 is barely noticeable on ground and wall textures at medium range, but it frees up some memory bandwidth on entry-level GPUs.
Texture Quality
Ultra textures demand more VRAM without a big visual difference from High in most areas. Especially useful on GPUs with 4-6 GB of VRAM to avoid poor streaming in Irithyll or Lothric Castle.
Reflection Quality
Water surfaces at Archdragon Peak and coastal areas use reflections with a cost disproportionate to their real visual impact; lowering them helps on mid-to-low-end cards.
Particle Effects (spell/combat FX)
In large-scale PvE fights (phase invasions, bosses with adds) or PvP with several sorcerers, spell particles spike CPU/GPU cost simultaneously. Dropping from Ultra to High smooths out frametime spikes without losing spell readability.
SSAO (ambient occlusion)
Ambient occlusion on High/Ultra adds depth to corners and nooks of Lothric, but it's one of the most expensive effects per FPS gained in this particular engine.
3. Upscaling (DLSS / FSR / XeSS)
The biggest gain in the game. Compatible with almost any modern GPU.
No native support (DLSS/FSR/XeSS)
+0% FPSDark Souls III is a 2016 game with no modern upscaling integrated, not even via official patch. There's no native DLSS, FSR, or XeSS, and forcing them via injection isn't viable or advisable in a game with active anti-cheat in its online mode. The only real "upscaling" route is lowering the native resolution and letting the monitor or GPU scaling rescale it, at the cost of sharpness.
4. Tips by GPU
NVIDIA
- •Force the power management mode to "Prefer maximum performance" in the NVIDIA panel for this executable, since DS3 is so lightweight some GPUs don't clock up by default.
- •Use Reflex/Low Latency Mode set to "On" if your GPU supports it: it doesn't gain FPS but reduces input lag in precision combat and parries.
- •Avoid forcing antialiasing via driver (DSR/DLDSR): the engine already uses its own AA and combining them generates double cost with no clear visual improvement.
AMD
- •Enable Radeon Chill with a reasonable cap (e.g. 55-60 FPS) to avoid the GPU working needlessly above the game's cap, saving temperature and noise.
- •Disable Radeon Image Sharpening if you notice odd artifacts in fog textures or magic particles, a punctual issue reported in older driver versions.
- •Keep Anti-Lag enabled to reduce input latency in PvP fights, especially in invasions with more than two players on screen.
Sistema
- •Keep the game updated to version 1.15 (the latest patched): it includes netcode security fixes that prevent exposure to the remote-execution exploit that forced the 2022 online shutdown.
- •If you use an SSD, install the game there: it reduces texture streaming hitches during zone transitions like the entrance to Irithyll or the alternate Anor Londo.
- •Avoid overlaying heavy overlays (GeForce Experience, Discord with active capture) during PvP: DS3 is sensitive to CPU-related micro-stutter in fights with several players and AI at once.
5. Known game issues
Hard 60 FPS cap and physics breaking when unlocked
The engine ties part of the movement, jumping, and falling physics to the internal 60 fps. Tools like Cheat Engine or third-party mods can force higher FPS, but this speeds up animations, alters dodge distances, and can desync the game in online mode, in addition to being detectable by the anti-cheat system.
Critical online netcode vulnerability (RCE)
In early 2022 a remote code execution exploit through the multiplayer mode was discovered affecting Dark Souls III and other FromSoftware titles, forcing official PC online to be disabled for several months until the security patch.
Estado: v1.15
6. Frequently asked questions
Is it worth unlocking FPS above 60 in Dark Souls III?▾
What GPU do I need for a stable 60 FPS at 1440p?▾
Why do I notice FPS drops during PvP invasions with several players?▾
Is there any kind of DLSS or FSR-style scaling in Dark Souls III?▾
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Calculate FPS for Dark Souls III →Calculations based on consensus of technical sources and our own FPS model. More about our methodology →