WARDOGS Best Settings
WARDOGS ships with three upscalers and a full graphics menu on day one. Here's how to pick the right upscaler for your GPU, which settings actually cost you FPS, and what to run at each of our three hardware tiers.
Pick your upscaler by GPU vendor, not by name recognition
WARDOGS supports DLSS, AMD FSR, and Intel XeSS. There's no reason to guess between them, your GPU vendor decides it for you:
| Upscaler | Runs on | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DLSS | NVIDIA RTX cards only | Generally the sharpest image-per-frame of the three; not available on GTX cards. |
| FSR | Any GPU (AMD, NVIDIA, integrated) | The universal fallback if you're not on RTX or Arc. Slightly softer image than DLSS at the same quality preset. |
| XeSS | Intel Arc (native path), others via a slower fallback path | Only worth using outside Arc if DLSS/FSR aren't available for some reason. |
Whichever one applies to you, start at Quality mode. It's the smallest resolution cut and the least visible image loss. Only step down to Balanced, then Performance, if you're still under your target frame rate after the changes below.
Which settings actually cost you FPS
Not every slider in the graphics menu costs the same. Across modern game engines, the settings below are consistently the most expensive to render, in roughly this order:
- Shadows & reflections , the single biggest FPS cost in most games with dynamic lighting. Drop this first.
- Global illumination / ray tracing toggles , if WARDOGS' menu exposes one on your system, it's the next biggest lever.
- View distance , matters more on CPU-bound systems (older CPU, strong GPU) than on GPU-bound ones.
- Effects & particle density , mainly costs FPS in busy firefights, less noticeable when exploring.
- Texture quality , usually the cheapest setting to run high, as long as your GPU has the VRAM for it. Don't drop this first.
This ordering is general graphics-engine behavior, not a WARDOGS-specific benchmark we ran ourselves, treat it as where to start experimenting, not gospel. Watch your own FPS counter as you go.
Settings by hardware tier
Match this to the tier your PC checker result put you in.
Minimum tier
GTX 1660 / RX 590 class. Priority is a stable 60fps, not visuals.
Upscaler on Performance mode, Shadows and Reflections on Low, View Distance Medium, everything else at your discretion.
Recommended tier
RTX 3070 / RX 6700 XT class. Room to balance visuals and frame rate.
Upscaler on Quality mode, Shadows and Reflections on Medium, Textures High, View Distance High.
Enthusiast tier
RTX 4070 Ti+ / RX 7800 XT+ class. Chasing max settings or a high refresh rate.
Upscaler on Quality (or native if your frame rate allows), everything on High or Ultra, drop only what your monitor's refresh rate demands.
Squeezing FPS out of settings has a ceiling
Once you've tuned the in-game menu, the next gains come from Windows and background processes, not the game itself. HD OPTI automates that layer: OS tuning, GPU driver settings, and network optimization for lower latency and steadier frame times.
Still short on FPS after tuning settings?
If you're on Low/Performance across the board and still not hitting a stable frame rate, that's a hardware ceiling, not a settings problem. Check exactly which component is holding you back on the WARDOGS requirements page, or run the PC checker for a verdict specific to your setup.