How to improve FPS in Slay the Spire 2 (PC)
Slay the Spire 2 is the sequel to MegaCrit's roguelike deckbuilder that redefined the turn-based card game genre, and technically it has barely moved from the original's philosophy: hand-painted 2D art, a fixed camera, and turn-based combat with no physics or 3D geometry. The engine barely has to draw sprites, card icons, and a handful of particle effects when you cast a spell or deal massive damage. There's no open-world streaming, no complex dynamic shadows, no geometry to calculate: it's, by far, one of the least demanding games you'll install this year, and its performance ceiling sits almost always in the hundreds of FPS.
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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 +23% free FPS.
V-Sync
With a game that renders effortlessly at hundreds of frames per second, V-Sync only introduces unnecessary input lag while waiting to sync with the monitor's refresh rate — irrelevant in a turn-based game but noticeable in cursor and card-animation smoothness.
Frame Rate Limit
Even though the game can exceed 500 FPS without breaking a sweat, leaving it uncapped on a laptop spikes power draw and temperature with no real gameplay advantage in a turn-based title. Capping it at 60 (or 90-120 if your screen supports it) reduces fan noise without losing any perceived smoothness.
Card/Effect Particle Density
Particle effects when casting area spells or massive-damage combos with many enemies on screen are the only moment where the 2D engine has to work a bit harder, though it's still a minimal load for any modern GPU.
Fullscreen Mode
Exclusive fullscreen mode prevents Windows' compositor from rendering an extra layer over the game, irrelevant to raw FPS but reducing input latency when clicking on cards.
UI Scale
Doesn't affect framerate, but on 4K or ultrawide monitors the default UI scaling can leave card text tiny or disproportionate; adjusting it doesn't gain FPS but it's the most-consulted setting for those playing on large screens.
2. Medium impact settings
Here's where most of the FPS is. Minor visual impact, major performance impact.
Texture Quality
Being hand-painted 2D art rather than high-resolution 3D textures, this setting barely moves VRAM usage or framerate in any reasonable configuration.
Background Animation Detail
Controls the number of parallax layers and ambient animations in the Spire's background (towers, background creatures, atmospheric particles), a marginal cost even on Ultra.
Screen Shake / Camera Effects
Doesn't affect FPS, but reducing screen shake on critical hits improves visual comfort in long sessions and avoids distractions when reading the combat board.
Background Apps / Overlays
Even though the game itself needs barely any resources, having Discord, browsers with many tabs, or capture software open in the background can introduce occasional micro-hitches, especially on laptops with integrated hardware.
3. Upscaling (DLSS / FSR / XeSS)
The biggest gain in the game. Compatible with almost any modern GPU.
4. Tips by GPU
NVIDIA
- •Don't enable any 'maximum performance' profile in the NVIDIA panel for this game: the extra GPU power draw doesn't translate into any perceptible improvement in such a lightweight 2D title.
- •If you're playing on a laptop, force the game to use power-saving mode or the integrated graphics from the NVIDIA panel; the dedicated GPU is unnecessary here and only adds heat and fan noise.
- •Keep drivers reasonably updated only for general system stability, not because Slay the Spire 2 needs specific GPU optimizations.
AMD
- •Disable Radeon Chill or any aggressive dynamic clock limiter; with such low GPU load they can cause erratic clock behavior with no real benefit.
- •On laptops with hybrid graphics, check in Adrenalin that the game runs on the iGPU instead of the dedicated GPU to save battery at no cost to smoothness.
- •No special driver tweaks are needed: any AMD GPU from the last 10 years runs this game effortlessly at its max framerate.
Sistema
- •On laptops, enable the 'Balanced' or 'Power Saver' power plan instead of 'High Performance'; a turn-based card game doesn't need the CPU/GPU at max clock, and you'll gain hours of battery life without losing smoothness.
- •Close third-party overlays (Discord, GeForce Experience, capture software) if you notice any occasional micro-hitch; on such a lightweight game, any poorly optimized background process can matter more than the hardware itself.
- •Install the game on any storage device, including a traditional HDD: the small size of the 2D assets means loading times barely differ from an SSD.
5. Known game issues
Occasional stuttering from third-party overlays
Some players report brief micro-stutters when several overlays are active at once (Discord, capture software, third-party launchers), something that stands out more than usual in such a lightweight game because there's no load headroom to mask it.
CPU spikes when generating the procedural floor map
When starting a new run or advancing a floor, the algorithm that generates the Spire's procedural layout and events can cause a brief CPU usage spike, perceptible as a hitch under a second, especially on very old CPUs or ones with low-performance cores.
Higher-than-expected battery consumption on laptops
By default the game doesn't always properly cap the framerate in menus and pause screens, which can spike consumption on laptops if a reasonable FPS limit isn't set manually.
6. Frequently asked questions
Do I need a powerful GPU to play Slay the Spire 2?▾
Why does my PC heat up playing such a simple game?▾
Does it have DLSS, FSR, or XeSS?▾
What setting should I touch if I notice an occasional hitch?▾
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Calculate FPS for Slay the Spire 2 →Calculations based on consensus of technical sources and our own FPS model. More about our methodology →