CONFIG FILE TWEAKS / OPTIMIZATION / MODS

[mr pottuh]

PC users,

Hoping to give you guys some graphics customization and performance tips for Hogwarts Legacy.

* This game is RAM (32gb recommended) and CPU intensive. Use the HLOD tweak below to help resolve choppyness during gameplay. If you're using an upscaler, like DLSS, and it's not giving you any performance gains, this may mean your GPU isn't what's holding back more FPS and could be related to a CPU bottleneck or poor game optimization.

* No, you haven't completely lost your mind, the game does in fact suffer from a lack of developer-side optimization. The performance tips below are hopefully temporary until updates roll out in the future.

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Config File Tweaks

* Go to C:\Users\PCNAME\AppData\Local\Hogwarts Legacy\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor (you will need make sure your Windows settings allow viewing of hidden files) and open the Engine.ini file.

* Once the file is opened, scroll to the bottom and add the following:


[/script/engine.renderersettings]
r.DepthOfField= (0 = off, 1 = on)
r.DefaultFeature.LensFlare= (0 = off, 1 = on)
r.DefaultFeature.MotionBlur= (0 = off, 1 = on)
r.BloomQuality= (0 = off, 1-5 quality levels, 5 is default in the game, please note that this will reduce visibility of the stars in the Astrology puzzles)
r.DisableDistortion= (0 = off, 1 = on, this is the 'heat ripples' above fire, also applies to some spells)
r.VolumetricFog= (0 = off, 1 = on, distant fog over mountains, towns, and the school)
r.Fog= (0 = off, 1 = on, up close fog that can really haze over your image)
r.Reflections.Denoiser=50 (0-100, this provides higher clarity reflections with no impact to performance, 100 is too sharp, 50 is tested and recommended)
r.Streaming.HLODStrategy=0 (leave at 0, this is a setting I have personally found that Repairo'd stuttering issues and created a much smoother experience with no loss in visual fidelity, even at lower frame rates)


* Recommended to keep DepthOfField on if VolumetricFog or Fog are turned off as it softens the sharp textures in the distance.

* The DepthOfField setting listed above is more of a view distance DOF. The setting in the game is for the conversation DOF. Two different settings from what I’ve found. Disabling in-game will not disable the world DOF listed above.

* It's recommended to save a copy of your most recent/updated Engine.ini file to your desktop in case this file is overwritten in future updates. By forcing Read Only on this file, it may restrict new update features and changes.

* If you’d like to see the full list of Engini.ini tweaks available for the game (I brought over the basics), head here: https://pastebin.com/1jT29r47

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Optimization Tips

* Population Quality is the highest taxing setting in the game, put this to Low. You will notice no real difference in NPC quality.

* View Distance is the next most taxing setting. I'd recommend putting this to Medium as Low creates too close of pop-in and High eats another 15+ FPS from Medium, especially when flying around.

* Players report that dropping Texture Quality from Ultra down to Low has no real visual difference and helps resolve stuttering issues. This will lower your anisotropy though, you may want to force x16 in your GPU control panel.

* Due to reports of high RAM usage from players and forced Windowed Fullscreen mode (your computer treats it like any other basic application instead of Exclusive Fullscreen where it knows to allocate resources to a dedicated program), it is recommended to close as many, if not all, background applications you have running. Internet browsers, Spotify/iTunes, things like that. You should notice a smoother experience.

* There are reports that disabling CFG through Windows on DX12 games can resolve stuttering problems. I have personally tried this and I did notice a smoother experience:

1. In the Windows Search Bar, search and open Exploit Protection.
2. Click on the Program Settings tab.
3. Click on the + Add Programs to customize.
4. Click on Choose Exact File Path.
5. Find the file path executable of Hogwarts Legacy.
6. Programs settings for the game will open, scroll down to Control Flow Guard (CFG).
7. Put a check mark in Override System Settings and turn from On to Off and Apply.
8. Restart your rig and run the game.

* If you're a NVIDIA user, go to your Nvidia Control Panel and raise your Shader Cache Limit to 10+ GB. Make room for it in the same drive that your game is installed on if needed. This creates a smoother experience and may give you back some FPS gains.

* Note that with the newest NVIDIA driver update, despite a swarm of different opinions on it, yes, it did offer support for Hogwarts Legacy. You can now use the screen filter options in the Nvidia ShadowPlay bar by pressing Alt + Z. This gives you contrast/color/sharpening options and much more.

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Recommended Mods

Dot Reticle
This mod is fairly simple to download and changes your aiming dot reticle to a, well, an actual reticle. It will reduce the huge size of the spiraling circle that is the current reticle and replace it with a cleaner dot look.

Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/hogwartslegacy/mods/46

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HUD Toggle
A simple mod that allows you to keybind the on/off of full HUD features. Great for immersive play and taking screenshots/videos.

Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/hogwartslegacy/mods/137

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MiniMap Clarity
This mod clears up the visual fidelity of the MiniMap, making the map layout shown and the icons much clearer.

Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/hogwartslegacy/mods/155

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Infinite Broom Boost
Infinite yellow juice for your broom's boost meter (me likey).

Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/hogwartslegacy/mods/224

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Deek Silencio
Apply duct tape over Deek's mouth while you're in the Room of Requirement.

Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/hogwartslegacy/mods/398

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Room of Requirement Music Change
Replace the default Room of Requirement music with the Harry Potter theme song, the one with the cool sounding Christmas bells and theme.

Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/hogwartslegacy/mods/227

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I'll be adding/editing this list as time goes on. Hope you guys enjoy some of those config file edits, it really helped me once that weird layer of foggy film was removed from the game.

If some of these tweaks/tips worked for you, please comment with your results so we can keep this thread active and at the top of the Discussions page to help others.

[BehindTheAddiction]

Was just looking for a way to remove the fog! Cheers!

[WhIteDragem]

:) nice work (have a star)

[GummyBearGeek]

Thanks for the info

[gazepis2]

Great Optimization Tips! I can confirm that everything is true. The difference is night and day after all of them. Now it runs and looks very nice! Still there is the gpu utilization problem with nvidia in some places but its a good start!

[Artoria]

Absolutely god-tier contribution my guy

[wildmoose]

You sir, are a wizard

[Mythical Ostrich]

Neat, will check this out

[a4lawyers]

You can also clean up the image quality alot by enable DLDSR in Nvidia Control panel.

[slash1276]

Absolutely perfect! Great job! 👌👍

[Azno]

Nice

[TimmyP]

Originally posted by a4luthers:

You can also clean up the image quality alot by enable DLDSR in Nvidia Control panel.

How can you use DLDSR if you cant set the resolution? Are you changing it at desktop?

[brocx]

I turned CFG off and turned nvidia reflex off. Game went from unplayable stutters to nearly perfectly smooth. Everything else on ultra. RTX off, DLSS quality. So it had to be one of those for me.

R9 5900X + 3080. Thumbs up for bringing this to other people's attention =).

[Dee]

Thank you so much! This was needed so badly for my rig!

[Pappy Everidge]

QUALITY POST. VERY REFRESHING.

[Sulaco]

Thanks for this