PoE2 Guide - How to Fix Crashes & Freeze

[glytch]

Crashing and Freezing can be a problem with:

• Windows 11 24H2 Update
  
• Windows GPU Scheduling
  
• Nvidia Graphics Driver
  
• CPU 100% Load
  
• SSD High Disk Activity

---

Note: Press Alt + Tab to switch between Game and Windows/Programs.

---

Reverting Windows 11 24H2 to 23H2

See what version you are running currently by clicking Start Menu and type winver and press Enter.

You only have 10 days to revert before it is disabled.
Settings → Recovery → Go back

If you don't want to do this or are unable, try the steps below.

---

PoE Uncrasher

https://github.com/Kapps/PoEUncrasher
https://github.com/Kapps/PoEUncrasher/releases
VirusTotal Check[www.virustotal.com]
Run this program before launching the game. It will manage CPU resources by reserving cores during loading screens in case of freeze so you can exit out and sets them back during gameplay so you don't lose performance.

If you don't want to use this program but want to do it manually:
While game is running
Open Task Manager with Ctrl + Shift + Esc
Details Tab → Right Click PathOfExileSteam.exe → Set affinity → Uncheck CPU 0 and 1

BES Battle Encoder Shirasé

https://mion.yosei.fi/BES
Use this program alongside PoE Uncrasher. Limit your PathOfExileSteam.exe CPU process to -10%. Now Windows has some reserve resources to prevent freezing.

---

Windows 8 Compatibility Mode

In Steam Library, Right Click PoE2 Game → Manage → Browse local files

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Path of Exile 2

Right Click PathOfExileSteam.exe → Properties → Compatibility Tab → Compatibility mode: Windows 8
Do this for PathOfExile_x64Steam.exe also.
Screenshot[i.imgur.com]

Nvidia Graphics Driver Hotfix

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5608
You can try this new driver update v566.45 to see if it has any effect. Nvidia said they will release an update that fixes PoE2 crashes in January.

Disable Nvidia Threaded Opitmization

Nvidia Control Panel → Manage 3D Settings → Threaded optimization: off
Screenshot[i.imgur.com]

Turn Off Windows GPU Scheduling

Settings → System → Display → Graphics → Advanced graphics settings → Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling: off
Restart PC (Important)
Screenshot[i.imgur.com]

Turn Off Windows Auto HDR

Settings → System → Display → Auto HDR: off

Change Game Graphics Options

Options → Graphics Tab
Renderer: Vulkan (Switch back to DX12 if it causes performance problems)
Mode: Windowed Fullscreen

---

(Maybe) you won't crash.

[Mafo]

Originally posted by Slugimal:

this game is unplayable for me it just constanly keeps crashing loading into a new area i can play for max an hr and then load into new area it crashes, sick. the crash also locks up my entire pc and i am forced to hard reboot.

Same for me, so you have an AMD CPU? The x3D model specifically?

[ArcadeEnvy]

I updated my gfx drivers and the crashes started so I rolled back my nvidia drivers to 566.03 and it seems to be fine

[Capt`n Capitalism]

i have an easy solution, dont play the game right now, just wait, i have the freezing problem too btw

[TragicDelight]

I fixed the crashing, i went online and found the hotfix version of the nvidia graphics driver and installed it manually. Look for hotfix 566.45

[[:-:]]

I don't know if it's fixed or not in latest driver but on launch sometimes if you have integrated GPU (and it was picked in your video settings instead of dedicated GPU) you had to go to Start Menu -> Graphics Settings, find "Browse" down below, locate PoE2 executable and change priority to "High performance"

[Bob Evans]

Originally posted by Riukensei:

That's a lot of work to play a game, that is free, and that wants money from me. Maybe they should speed fix this issue and not make me jump thru hoops.

They are out on holiday egg head

[/dev/random]

Originally posted by Bob Evans:

Originally posted by Riukensei:

That's a lot of work to play a game, that is free, and that wants money from me. Maybe they should speed fix this issue and not make me jump thru hoops.

They are out on holiday egg head

The hippie died 2000 years and two weeks ago, so - get back to work.

[足の指良い匂いジュリ]

If you turn off the power when it freezes, damage will occur to both the C drive and the drive where POE2 is installed. Unfortunately, if a Windows system file becomes corrupted, your PC will no longer boot.This causes irreparable physical damage.

[kerrDOG]

Originally posted by devyntshark:

mine doesn't just crash the game mine completely crashes my computer, as soon as i hit like a major loading zone like logging in, going from hub to activity and back to hub loading screens my computer will freeze up and then just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ quit. and to me that makes no sense when i have more than qualified specs to run this game. so far the only fix ive found if playing on vulkan and even then it can still happen idk what it is that literally skull ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ my computer.

Exactly what is happening to me......

[ɐɯq-]

Originally posted by kerrDOG:

Originally posted by devyntshark:

mine doesn't just crash the game mine completely crashes my computer, as soon as i hit like a major loading zone like logging in, going from hub to activity and back to hub loading screens my computer will freeze up and then just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ quit. and to me that makes no sense when i have more than qualified specs to run this game. so far the only fix ive found if playing on vulkan and even then it can still happen idk what it is that literally skull ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ my computer.

Exactly what is happening to me......

for me switching to Vulkan helped with those crashes, but it slightly increased loading times and rare loading glitches like no ground texture for half a second might occur

[Two Cats On Board]

Originally posted by glytch:

Crashing and Freezing can be a problem with:

• Windows 11 24H2 Update
  
• Windows GPU Scheduling
  
• Nvidia Graphics Driver
  
• CPU 100% Load
  
• SSD High Disk Activity

---

Note: Press Alt + Tab to switch between Game and Windows/Programs.

---

Reverting Windows 11 24H2 to 23H2

See what version you are running currently by clicking Start Menu and type winver and press Enter.

You only have 10 days to revert before it is disabled.
Settings → Recovery → Go back

If you don't want to do this or are unable, try the steps below.

---

PoE Uncrasher

https://github.com/Kapps/PoEUncrasher
https://github.com/Kapps/PoEUncrasher/releases
VirusTotal Check[www.virustotal.com]
Run this program before launching the game. It will manage CPU resources by reserving cores during loading screens in case of freeze so you can exit out and sets them back during gameplay so you don't lose performance.

If you don't want to use this program but want to do it manually:
While game is running
Open Task Manager with Ctrl + Shift + Esc
Details Tab → Right Click PathOfExileSteam.exe → Set affinity → Uncheck CPU 0 and 1

BES Battle Encoder Shirasé

https://mion.yosei.fi/BES
Use this program alongside PoE Uncrasher. Limit your PathOfExileSteam.exe CPU process to -10%. Now Windows has some reserve resources to prevent freezing.

---

Windows 8 Compatibility Mode

In Steam Library, Right Click PoE2 Game → Manage → Browse local files

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Path of Exile 2

Right Click PathOfExileSteam.exe → Properties → Compatibility Tab → Compatibility mode: Windows 8
Do this for PathOfExile_x64Steam.exe also.
Screenshot[i.imgur.com]

Nvidia Graphics Driver Hotfix

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5608
You can try this new driver update v566.45 to see if it has any effect. Nvidia said they will release an update that fixes PoE2 crashes in January.

Disable Nvidia Threaded Opitmization

Nvidia Control Panel → Manage 3D Settings → Threaded optimization: off
Screenshot[i.imgur.com]

Turn Off Windows GPU Scheduling

Settings → System → Display → Graphics → Advanced graphics settings → Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling: off
Restart PC (Important)
Screenshot[i.imgur.com]

Turn Off Windows Auto HDR

Settings → System → Display → Auto HDR: off

Change Game Graphics Options

Options → Graphics Tab
Renderer: Vulkan (Switch back to DX12 if it causes performance problems)
Mode: Windowed Fullscreen

---

(Maybe) you won't crash.

Why go through such hassle when simply switching to Vulkan is enough to resolve the crashes and most likely all of the issues?

Any other issues are on you (each specific user/player and the state of your OS, drivers, and updates – so no excuse there).

Nice try at being helpful, though.

[CpTTryHard]

Originally posted by CpTTryHard:

Originally posted by 足の指良い匂いジュリ:

If you turn off the power when it freezes, damage will occur to both the C drive and the drive where POE2 is installed. Unfortunately, if a Windows system file becomes corrupted, your PC will no longer boot.This causes irreparable physical damage.

(FOR ANYBODY CAN READ THIS IF UR HAVING HARD LOCK UPS STOP PLAYING UNLESS U WANT RISK UR PC)

250 hours logged into game 20 hard lock ups 20th one my PC doesn't even power on anymore last thing i seen was my CPU sitting at 100% load and 100c and poof gone so i will sit here and agree with ya on this one thank god i got brand new pc last week and THAT EVEN CRASH'S TOO i refuse play this game anymore till something gets fixed not risking my 3,000$ PC

my specs for both pc's
i7-1200KF with 32gigs ram RTX 3070
running on windows 10

my brand new pc that also locks up
Ry-zen-7800x3D with 64gigs ram and RTX 4080
running on windows 11 24h2

i also did all the steps to the work around's
BES- lowered all my cores cap to -10%
Laso- for settting affinity's and disabling cores 1-2-4
PoE uncrasher did seem work but after all this stress i just gave up uninstalled it ( it did seem to work tho )

-Re installing gpu drivers even tried 566.45
-cleared cashes on steam and gpu aswell
-Set gpu shadder limit to 100g
-deleted 24h2 bugged updates- Kb(random numbers) theres info on it
-disabled auto HDR
-disabled gamebar mode
-disabled GPU scheduling windows (alot people saying this was the problem) still crashed lol

as you can see ive done tons stuff and nothing has fixed my problem at least for me it could be different story for you.
Hopefully this helps someone

[Capt`n Capitalism]

Originally posted by The Based Department:

Originally posted by glytch:

Crashing and Freezing can be a problem with:

• Windows 11 24H2 Update
  
• Windows GPU Scheduling
  
• Nvidia Graphics Driver
  
• CPU 100% Load
  
• SSD High Disk Activity

---

Note: Press Alt + Tab to switch between Game and Windows/Programs.

---

Reverting Windows 11 24H2 to 23H2

See what version you are running currently by clicking Start Menu and type winver and press Enter.

You only have 10 days to revert before it is disabled.
Settings → Recovery → Go back

If you don't want to do this or are unable, try the steps below.

---

PoE Uncrasher

https://github.com/Kapps/PoEUncrasher
https://github.com/Kapps/PoEUncrasher/releases
VirusTotal Check[www.virustotal.com]
Run this program before launching the game. It will manage CPU resources by reserving cores during loading screens in case of freeze so you can exit out and sets them back during gameplay so you don't lose performance.

If you don't want to use this program but want to do it manually:
While game is running
Open Task Manager with Ctrl + Shift + Esc
Details Tab → Right Click PathOfExileSteam.exe → Set affinity → Uncheck CPU 0 and 1

BES Battle Encoder Shirasé

https://mion.yosei.fi/BES
Use this program alongside PoE Uncrasher. Limit your PathOfExileSteam.exe CPU process to -10%. Now Windows has some reserve resources to prevent freezing.

---

Windows 8 Compatibility Mode

In Steam Library, Right Click PoE2 Game → Manage → Browse local files

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Path of Exile 2

Right Click PathOfExileSteam.exe → Properties → Compatibility Tab → Compatibility mode: Windows 8
Do this for PathOfExile_x64Steam.exe also.
Screenshot[i.imgur.com]

Nvidia Graphics Driver Hotfix

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5608
You can try this new driver update v566.45 to see if it has any effect. Nvidia said they will release an update that fixes PoE2 crashes in January.

Disable Nvidia Threaded Opitmization

Nvidia Control Panel → Manage 3D Settings → Threaded optimization: off
Screenshot[i.imgur.com]

Turn Off Windows GPU Scheduling

Settings → System → Display → Graphics → Advanced graphics settings → Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling: off
Restart PC (Important)
Screenshot[i.imgur.com]

Turn Off Windows Auto HDR

Settings → System → Display → Auto HDR: off

Change Game Graphics Options

Options → Graphics Tab
Renderer: Vulkan (Switch back to DX12 if it causes performance problems)
Mode: Windowed Fullscreen

---

(Maybe) you won't crash.

Why go through such hassle when simply switching to Vulkan is enough to resolve the crashes and most likely all of the issues?

Any other issues are on you (each specific user/player and the state of your OS, drivers, and updates – so no excuse there).

Nice try at being helpful, though.

OMFG

[Bamesy]

Originally posted by Riukensei:

That's a lot of work to play a game, that is free, and that wants money from me. Maybe they should speed fix this issue and not make me jump thru hoops.

Did you read this after you typed it. These problems are not easy to identify and fix, you sound like a whiney child.

[jjguzzardo]

I have an NVIDIA 4090 and have been experiencing crashes during boss fights where I generate a lot of lightning particles or during the death effects after killing a rare. I can confirm in my case that the video drivers are crashing. I experience 2 crashes per map and the game has been largely unplayable due to this. I did achieve some level of success by disabling multithreading but milliseconds per frame was at 40ms, which was unplayable. I also tried Vulkan and no luck.

So what I did was install this nividia hotfix that is intended to fix similar issues with other games. POE2 is not specifically mentioned but installing this hotfix has worked for me. Not only does the game run more smoothly than it did before, but I've also completed 5 maps with no crashes after experiencing 1 to 2 per map previously.

Keep in mind, this is a driver hotfix so use at your own risk, but in my case it definitely fixed my CTD issues:

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5608/~/geforce-hotfix-driver-version-566.45

I also want to stress that no other changes to my system or game settings were required. I installed this patch and can no run the game at the highest settings (DX12 + DLSS/DLAA)