How to improve FPS in Stellar Blade (PC)
Stellar Blade is SHIFT UP's action hack-and-slash that originally launched as a PlayStation 5 exclusive and arrived on PC in June 2025 with a port considered one of the best of the year. Built on Unreal Engine 4, it combines very technical melee combat with precision dodges and parries, semi-open exploration, and a highly polished visual style for characters, cloth, and effects. Unlike so many recent ports plagued by shader compilation issues or erratic performance, Stellar Blade on PC launched with simultaneous support for DLSS 4 with Frame Generation, FSR 3, and XeSS, plus solid ultrawide monitor support, which makes it a rarity: a port that scales well from modest hardware all the way up to high-end rigs.
This is what you'd gain with a NVIDIA RTX 3060
Want the RTX 3060 at the best price?
Check the current price on Amazon.
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 +41% free FPS.
Shadow Quality
Unreal Engine 4's dynamic shadows are recalculated every scene, both in ruined urban environments and in nature areas invaded by sand, and their cost grows noticeably on High/Ultra. Lowering them to Medium keeps combat contrast without penalizing the GPU as much.
Effects Quality
Controls the particle density of Eve's combos, the Naytiba explosions, and parry effects, which is precisely where GPU load spikes concentrate during the most frantic combat. On Ultra the engine draws extra particle layers that are rarely distinguishable at combat speed.
Reflection Quality
Reflections on Eve's metal armor, puddles, and polished facility surfaces have a noticeable GPU cost that's barely noticed during combat in motion, where the camera rarely stops to show them off.
Motion Blur
Motion blur makes it harder to read the dodge and perfect-parry windows that are the core of the combat system, on top of adding a small per-frame post-processing cost.
Chromatic Aberration
Chromatic aberration distorts the edges of the screen during critical hits and perfect dodges, and its post-processing cost is small but adds up when combined with other full-screen filters.
2. Medium impact settings
Here's where most of the FPS is. Minor visual impact, major performance impact.
Texture Quality
Textures for Eve's outfit, hair, and environments mostly consume VRAM rather than compute power, so High is usually sustainable on most GPUs with 8 GB or more without hurting framerate.
Post Processing Quality
Groups bloom, vignetting, and color corrections applied full-screen after each frame; on Ultra the cost rises more than it adds to reading combat.
Ambient Occlusion
Reinforces the visual contact between Eve, enemies, and the environment, but at its highest level it doubles the cost without a noticeable improvement during combat in motion.
View Distance
Controls the environmental detail of the semi-open exploration areas, where the engine renders ruined structures and vegetation at a distance; on High/Ultra the cost rises mainly in wide outdoor areas.
Foliage Quality
The vegetation that has overtaken the ruined city renders fairly densely in outdoor areas, and its cost grows when simulated wind moves each plant individually.
3. Upscaling (DLSS / FSR / XeSS)
The biggest gain in the game. Compatible with almost any modern GPU.
NVIDIA DLSS
+32% FPSStellar Blade supports DLSS 4 with Frame Generation since its PC launch, allowing a notable FPS jump at 1440p and 4K with barely any loss of sharpness, especially useful in boss fights with heavier particle load.
AMD FSR
+24% FPSFSR 3 works on any GPU and is the recommended alternative for those without a recent NVIDIA card, with its own Frame Generation included and good image quality in Quality mode.
Intel XeSS
+20% FPSXeSS is available as a third scaling option, with better performance on Intel Arc GPUs but also compatible and usable on NVIDIA and AMD hardware.
4. Tips by GPU
NVIDIA
- •Enable DLSS in Quality mode together with Frame Generation at 1440p/4K to absorb boss fight load spikes without touching more graphics settings.
- •Keep Game Ready drivers updated; NVIDIA released specific optimizations coinciding with the PC port's launch.
- •Enable Reflex from the game's options or the NVIDIA panel to reduce input latency, especially noticeable in perfect-parry windows.
AMD
- •FSR 3 in Quality mode with Frame Generation enabled is a solid combination on mid-range Radeon GPUs for playing at 1440p without sacrificing smoothness.
- •Enable Radeon Anti-Lag to offset the extra latency from Frame Generation, especially if combat feels less precise when it's on.
- •Check that Smart Access Memory (Resizable BAR) is enabled in the BIOS; Stellar Blade benefits from good CPU-GPU bandwidth in areas with more texture detail.
Sistema
- •A 6 GB GTX 1060 is enough for the minimum, but to keep a stable 60 fps at 1440p Medium you should aim for an RTX 2060 Super or equivalent, as the recommended requirements state.
- •Install the game on an SSD; it reduces texture streaming hitches when entering new areas and speeds up shader compilation on first launch.
- •Close third-party overlays (Discord, capture software) during the first sessions, since background shader compilation already consumes CPU on its own.
5. Known game issues
Occasional hitches from shader compilation at start
On some setups, especially with older CPUs or when changing graphics settings, you may notice occasional hitches during the first minutes of play while the engine compiles new shaders; behavior improves after the first few sessions.
FPS drops in combat with many simultaneous effects
In the most frantic combat, when Eve chains combos against several Naytiba at once with overlapping skill effects, some setups with a tighter GPU can experience occasional framerate drops that are fixed by lowering Effects Quality.
Latency with Frame Generation and VSync
Combining Frame Generation (DLSS or FSR) with VSync enabled or a poorly configured high-refresh-rate monitor can introduce noticeable input latency in technical combat; it's recommended to disable VSync and manually cap the frame rate if using Frame Generation.
6. Frequently asked questions
Is Stellar Blade on PC a good port?▾
Which setting gives the most FPS with the least visual loss?▾
Is it more limited by CPU or GPU?▾
What GPU do I need for 1440p at 60 fps?▾
Want to know exactly how many FPS YOUR PC will get?
Enter your GPU and CPU in our calculator and measure the real impact of each setting.
Calculate FPS for Stellar Blade →Calculations based on consensus of technical sources and our own FPS model. More about our methodology →