Delete your shader cache to stop crashing.

[Bill Waggoner]

I deleted it today, played for 3 hours, someone even picked up an ARC thrower off the ground, no crash. Others that have followed this advice reported no crash, hopefully it will be the same for you.

To do this, make sure you have "show hidden items" checked then go to C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Roaming\Arrowhead\Helldivers2\shader_cache

Delete the file in the shader_cache folder. When you start Helldivers 2 you will have a black screen for 1-2 minutes while the game rebuilds the shader library. Be patient, then go smash.

[AoD_lexandro]

AMD users can delete the shader cache in Adrenaline Software.

Gaming>Graphics> Reset Shader Cache (final option on page)

[XOLiD]

There's also the DS3Dcache that should be cleaned out at;
C:\Users\<name>\AppData\Local\D3DSCache

Additionally for Nvidia users you should clean out the cache in;
C:\Users\<name>\AppData\LocalLow\NVIDIA\PerDriverVersion\DXCache

[Restless Conversation]

Originally posted by Bally or Ballout:

Is anyone else's shader cache file no longer appearing?

same problem:(

[Vespertellino]

Originally posted by XOLiD:

There's also the DS3Dcache that should be cleaned out at;
C:\Users\<name>\AppData\Local\D3DSCache

Additionally for Nvidia users you should clean out the cache in;
C:\Users\<name>\AppData\LocalLow\NVIDIA\PerDriverVersion\DXCache

Oh! Thank you

[DarthPotato]

For cache cleanup convenience, here's my "clean_cache.bat" script I run to clean up everything in shader cache, D3DSCache, and NVIDIA DXCache folders. It summarizes the # of files deleted when it completes.

 
@echo off
setlocal ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION

echo Cleaning up shader cache, D3DSCache, and NVIDIA DXCache folders...


REM Initialize counters
set /a "helldiversCount=0"
set /a "d3dCacheCount=0"
set /a "nvidiaCacheCount=0"

REM Count and delete files in Helldivers2 shader cache
for /f %%a in ('dir "%APPDATA%\Arrowhead\Helldivers2\shader_cache\*" /a:-d /b /s 2^>nul ^| find /c /v ""') do set helldiversCount=%%a
if %helldiversCount% gtr 0 (
    del /s /q "%APPDATA%\Arrowhead\Helldivers2\shader_cache\*"
    echo Deleted %helldiversCount% files from Helldivers2 shader cache.
) else (
    echo No files found in Helldivers2 shader cache.
)

REM Count and delete files in D3DSCache
for /f %%a in ('dir "%LOCALAPPDATA%\D3DSCache\*" /a:-d /b /s 2^>nul ^| find /c /v ""') do set d3dCacheCount=%%a
if %d3dCacheCount% gtr 0 (
    del /s /q "%LOCALAPPDATA%\D3DSCache\*"
    echo Deleted %d3dCacheCount% files from D3DSCache.
) else (
    echo No files found in D3DSCache.
)

REM Count and delete files in NVIDIA DXCache
for /f %%a in ('dir "%LOCALAPPDATA%\..\LocalLow\NVIDIA\PerDriverVersion\DXCache\*" /a:-d /b /s 2^>nul ^| find /c /v ""') do set nvidiaCacheCount=%%a
if %nvidiaCacheCount% gtr 0 (
    del /s /q "%LOCALAPPDATA%\..\LocalLow\NVIDIA\PerDriverVersion\DXCache\*"
    echo Deleted %nvidiaCacheCount% files from NVIDIA DXCache.
) else (
    echo No files found in NVIDIA DXCache.
)

echo Cleanup complete.
echo Summary:
echo Helldivers2 shader cache: %helldiversCount% files deleted.
echo D3DSCache: %d3dCacheCount% files deleted.
echo NVIDIA DXCache: %nvidiaCacheCount% files deleted.
pause

 

[Skeibl]

Thanks, DarthPotato. Clean script and completes instantly. Game was running <100fps after driver and game updates. This brought things back to 120.

[pRaX]

This never seems to work for me and I never have to wait 2 minutes or anything.
It seems to grab the shader compilation from somewhere else on my end.
It's definitely is not actually recompiling them anew.

[Skeibl]

When I checked before deletion, my last helldivers cache was 185mb and looking now at the new compilation its only 79mb. I only had the black screen for a couple seconds. That might not be unusual.

[CRISS9000]

here's a suggestion: make a backup folder for each of the folders you intend to delete the contents of, and then instead of deleting the contents, just rightclick-drag the files to the destination backup folder and select "move here" from the context menu.

MAKE SURE THE BACKUP FOLDERS ARE APPROPRIATELY NAMED SO YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHERE TO PUT STUFF BACK TO IF SOMETHING FAILS.

[MeGa]

Originally posted by DarthPotato:

For cache cleanup convenience, here's my "clean_cache.bat" script I run to clean up everything in shader cache, D3DSCache, and NVIDIA DXCache folders. It summarizes the # of files deleted when it completes.

 
@echo off
setlocal ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION

echo Cleaning up shader cache, D3DSCache, and NVIDIA DXCache folders...


REM Initialize counters
set /a "helldiversCount=0"
set /a "d3dCacheCount=0"
set /a "nvidiaCacheCount=0"

REM Count and delete files in Helldivers2 shader cache
for /f %%a in ('dir "%APPDATA%\Arrowhead\Helldivers2\shader_cache\*" /a:-d /b /s 2^>nul ^| find /c /v ""') do set helldiversCount=%%a
if %helldiversCount% gtr 0 (
    del /s /q "%APPDATA%\Arrowhead\Helldivers2\shader_cache\*"
    echo Deleted %helldiversCount% files from Helldivers2 shader cache.
) else (
    echo No files found in Helldivers2 shader cache.
)

REM Count and delete files in D3DSCache
for /f %%a in ('dir "%LOCALAPPDATA%\D3DSCache\*" /a:-d /b /s 2^>nul ^| find /c /v ""') do set d3dCacheCount=%%a
if %d3dCacheCount% gtr 0 (
    del /s /q "%LOCALAPPDATA%\D3DSCache\*"
    echo Deleted %d3dCacheCount% files from D3DSCache.
) else (
    echo No files found in D3DSCache.
)

REM Count and delete files in NVIDIA DXCache
for /f %%a in ('dir "%LOCALAPPDATA%\..\LocalLow\NVIDIA\PerDriverVersion\DXCache\*" /a:-d /b /s 2^>nul ^| find /c /v ""') do set nvidiaCacheCount=%%a
if %nvidiaCacheCount% gtr 0 (
    del /s /q "%LOCALAPPDATA%\..\LocalLow\NVIDIA\PerDriverVersion\DXCache\*"
    echo Deleted %nvidiaCacheCount% files from NVIDIA DXCache.
) else (
    echo No files found in NVIDIA DXCache.
)

echo Cleanup complete.
echo Summary:
echo Helldivers2 shader cache: %helldiversCount% files deleted.
echo D3DSCache: %d3dCacheCount% files deleted.
echo NVIDIA DXCache: %nvidiaCacheCount% files deleted.
pause

 

This seems very useful now that performance gone worse for many and we have new assets to load

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by MeGa:

Originally posted by DarthPotato:

For cache cleanup convenience, here's my "clean_cache.bat" script I run to clean up everything in shader cache, D3DSCache, and NVIDIA DXCache folders. It summarizes the # of files deleted when it completes.

 
@echo off
setlocal ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION

echo Cleaning up shader cache, D3DSCache, and NVIDIA DXCache folders...


REM Initialize counters
set /a "helldiversCount=0"
set /a "d3dCacheCount=0"
set /a "nvidiaCacheCount=0"

REM Count and delete files in Helldivers2 shader cache
for /f %%a in ('dir "%APPDATA%\Arrowhead\Helldivers2\shader_cache\*" /a:-d /b /s 2^>nul ^| find /c /v ""') do set helldiversCount=%%a
if %helldiversCount% gtr 0 (
    del /s /q "%APPDATA%\Arrowhead\Helldivers2\shader_cache\*"
    echo Deleted %helldiversCount% files from Helldivers2 shader cache.
) else (
    echo No files found in Helldivers2 shader cache.
)

REM Count and delete files in D3DSCache
for /f %%a in ('dir "%LOCALAPPDATA%\D3DSCache\*" /a:-d /b /s 2^>nul ^| find /c /v ""') do set d3dCacheCount=%%a
if %d3dCacheCount% gtr 0 (
    del /s /q "%LOCALAPPDATA%\D3DSCache\*"
    echo Deleted %d3dCacheCount% files from D3DSCache.
) else (
    echo No files found in D3DSCache.
)

REM Count and delete files in NVIDIA DXCache
for /f %%a in ('dir "%LOCALAPPDATA%\..\LocalLow\NVIDIA\PerDriverVersion\DXCache\*" /a:-d /b /s 2^>nul ^| find /c /v ""') do set nvidiaCacheCount=%%a
if %nvidiaCacheCount% gtr 0 (
    del /s /q "%LOCALAPPDATA%\..\LocalLow\NVIDIA\PerDriverVersion\DXCache\*"
    echo Deleted %nvidiaCacheCount% files from NVIDIA DXCache.
) else (
    echo No files found in NVIDIA DXCache.
)

echo Cleanup complete.
echo Summary:
echo Helldivers2 shader cache: %helldiversCount% files deleted.
echo D3DSCache: %d3dCacheCount% files deleted.
echo NVIDIA DXCache: %nvidiaCacheCount% files deleted.
pause

 

This seems very useful now that performance gone worse for many and we have new assets to load

It is not bad. Just seemingly overly complicated. I am just using a script which is on autostart - that way it gets cleanup automatically whenever you start your PC.

@echo off

del /q C:\Windows\Temp\*.*
del /q C:\Temp\*.*
del /q "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp\*.*"
del /q "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Arrowhead\Helldivers2\shader_cache\*.*"
del /q "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Larian Studios\Baldur's Gate 3\LevelCache\*.*"

for /d %%d in (C:\Windows\Temp\*) do rd /s /q "%%d"
for /d %%d in (C:\Temp\*) do rd /s /q "%%d"
for /d %%d in ("%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp\*") do rd /s /q "%%d"

exit

Just put the stuff in the text editor and save it as e.g. autoclean.cmd then put it in your Windows' autostart folder. You can designate any folder you need for it - as you can see in the example above I am also using it for Baldur's Gate 3. Just add the Nvidia / AMD cache folder line (unless you already linked it like I did with the temp folder).

[Hantah]

Originally posted by Bill Waggoner™:

I deleted it today, played for 3 hours, someone even picked up an ARC thrower off the ground, no crash. Others that have followed this advice reported no crash, hopefully it will be the same for you.

To do this, make sure you have "show hidden items" checked then go to C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Roaming\Arrowhead\Helldivers2\shader_cache

Delete the file in the shader_cache folder. When you start Helldivers 2 you will have a black screen for 1-2 minutes while the game rebuilds the shader library. Be patient, then go smash.

Man I found this discussion exactly 1 year when it was posted

[Tipper117]

Originally posted by XOLiD:

There's also the DS3Dcache that should be cleaned out at;
C:\Users\<name>\AppData\Local\D3DSCache

Additionally for Nvidia users you should clean out the cache in;
C:\Users\<name>\AppData\LocalLow\NVIDIA\PerDriverVersion\DXCache

Now when you say "clean out", you mean everything inside the folder? Because there's ALOT of folders with random numbers/letters for the file name.