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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Start with the Low quality preset, enable a supported upscaler, turn ray tracing off, and lower shadows and effects before sacrificing texture detail. That is a sensible menu order for a weaker system, but it is not a guaranteed performance preset. The current PC targets published for Valor Mortis are a Ryzen 5 3600 or Core i5-10600K, 16 GB of RAM, an RX 5600 XT or GTX 1660 Ti, DirectX 12, and an SSD for the minimum target of 30 FPS at 1080p Low with upscaling. A PC below that tier may need compromises that the game’s publisher has not quantified.
The detailed control names below come from an unofficial reference to the demo menu. Your launch build may add, remove, or rename options, so treat the procedure as a starting point and confirm every setting in your installation.
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What “low-end” means for Valor Mortis
“Low-end” is relative to the game’s requirements. A computer that runs older games comfortably can still be below Valor Mortis’ current minimum. The publisher’s Steam listing gives two target tiers, and neither is an independent benchmark or a promise for every PC with similar parts.
| Tier | CPU | GPU | RAM | Storage | Resolution and preset | Stated target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or Intel Core i5-10600K | AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | 16 GB | SSD, 60 GB available | 1080p, Low, with upscaling | 30 FPS |
| Recommended | AMD Ryzen 7 5800X or Intel Core i5-13400 | AMD Radeon RX 6800 or Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 | 16 GB | SSD, 60 GB available | 1440p, Medium, with upscaling | 60 FPS |
These figures are the current storefront targets attributed to One More Level and Lyrical Games in 2026. They describe the hardware and image settings used for the stated targets; they do not establish how far below the minimum the game will run, nor do they guarantee a particular frame rate on your CPU, graphics card, power supply, cooling system, or game build.
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The listing was captured before launch, when it showed an October 13, 2026 release date, an approximately 14-hour countdown, and a “not yet available” status. Requirements and menu behavior can change around release. Check the specifications and options shown by the installed version rather than relying on an old screenshot or a demo guide.
Check your starting point before changing graphics
Settings changes cannot turn substantially below-minimum hardware into a system that meets the publisher’s target. Identify the limiting part first so you do not spend an hour lowering options that are not causing the problem.
- Compare your processor, graphics card, memory, and drive with the minimum table above. The GPU comparison is especially important for a 1080p target.
- Confirm that the game is installed on an SSD. The listing marks an SSD as required for both tiers. The evidence does not establish that changing from one SSD to another increases frame rate.
- Use 16 GB of system memory as the planning baseline. Having more memory may help overall multitasking, but the published target does not promise a particular gain from adding it.
- Note whether the problem is a low average frame rate, uneven frame pacing, hitching when entering new areas, blurry output, or an unreadable dark image. Each symptom points to a different control.
If your GPU is below the listed RX 5600 XT or GTX 1660 Ti class, regard the minimum target as a reference point rather than an expectation. The available evidence contains no controlled test for a specific below-minimum configuration.
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Use this cautious baseline in the graphics menu
The following procedure uses labels reported for the demo menu: Quality Preset, Resolution Scale, Upscaler, Frame Rate Limit, Ray Tracing, Shadow Quality, Textures Quality, Effects Quality, plus view-distance, anti-aliasing, post-processing, and material controls. If a label is missing in your build, skip it rather than assuming another control has the same effect.
- Select Low under Quality Preset. This gives you a known, repeatable baseline. Apply it, then inspect the scene instead of assuming the preset is perfectly balanced for every GPU.
- Choose an available upscaler. The demo inventory lists DLSS, FSR, TSR, and XeSS, although support depends on the hardware and the final build. Start with the option your GPU supports. If no suitable option is available, reduce Resolution Scale or output resolution.
- Set a practical output resolution. Begin at 1920×1080 if your display and performance allow it. If the game remains too slow, reduce the rendered resolution or scale in small steps. A lower internal render enlarged to the display can improve speed but may soften fine detail.
- Disable Ray Tracing when performance is the priority. The reference identifies ray tracing as requiring compatible hardware and DirectX 12. It is an optional quality feature, not a requirement for playing with the Low preset.
- Lower Shadow Quality next. The settings reference describes shadows as a large GPU cost. If Low already looks acceptable, leave it there; otherwise reduce shadows before making textures extremely blurry.
- Reduce Effects Quality for heavy encounters. Effects can be more demanding during large fights. If normal exploration is smooth but combat drops sharply, this is an earlier adjustment than view distance or texture resolution.
- Set Textures Quality to fit available VRAM. Keep textures as high as your graphics memory allows without texture streaming, pop-in, or hitching. Lower them when those symptoms appear; texture quality is not automatically the first setting to cut on every system.
- Set a Frame Rate Limit if it improves consistency. Use a cap your PC can sustain in the scenes you care about. A stable lower cap can feel better than an uncapped rate that repeatedly rises and falls, but the appropriate number is machine-specific and is not established by the published targets.
- Change one control at a time. Revisit the same area, encounter, or camera angle after each change. No controlled low-end benchmark was identified, so this repeatable comparison is more reliable than assuming a percentage gain from a particular option.
How to choose an upscaler and resolution scale
Upscaling renders the game internally at a lower resolution and enlarges that image for your display. The demo reference lists four families: DLSS, FSR, TSR, and XeSS. The final game may not expose every family on every graphics card.
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When an upscaler is available
- Try the supported option at its clearest available mode first, then move toward a more aggressive performance mode only if the frame rate remains inadequate.
- Look at thin geometry, foliage, distant enemies, and motion. If those become unstable or unreadable, move back toward a higher internal resolution or reduce a different quality control.
- Do not assume that the name of an upscaler alone predicts performance. Implementation, GPU support, and the game build determine the result.
When no suitable upscaler is available
Reduce Resolution Scale gradually or lower the display resolution. Keep the interface and combat cues legible. An extremely low scale can make the game harder to read even when the frame counter improves.
Frame generation
The demo inventory also lists FSR frame generation. Use it only if the option is present and your hardware supports it. Compare responsiveness as well as displayed frames, and turn it off if controls feel delayed or visual artifacts interfere with play. The available material does not provide a measured frame-rate or latency result for this feature on a low-end PC.
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Once Low and an appropriate render scale are selected, tune individual options in an order that reflects the costs described by the menu reference.
Ray tracing
Keep Ray Tracing disabled for a performance-focused setup. It requires supported hardware and DirectX 12 in the referenced menu, and there is no evidence that enabling it is practical on a system already struggling with the minimum target.
Shadows
Shadow Quality is a strong next candidate because the settings reference characterizes shadows as a large GPU cost. Lowering it can change contact detail and scene definition. Check whether enemies, ledges, and interactable objects remain easy to distinguish.
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Effects
Effects Quality matters most when many particles or combat effects are visible. If slowdowns occur mainly during large fights, reduce this setting before making every other option minimal.
View distance
Lower view distance after shadows and effects if distant geometry is the remaining problem. The trade-off is earlier detail reduction or pop-in. Test an outdoor route and a combat area rather than judging only an interior room.
Anti-aliasing and post-processing
These controls affect edge stability and image treatment. Reduce them only as far as needed to preserve readable silhouettes and text. An aggressive reduction may make motion shimmer or make the scene look harsher without solving a CPU-limited slowdown.
Materials
Material quality can be reduced after the larger GPU-cost controls. Inspect surfaces at close range and during movement; if the visual loss is obvious but performance does not change, restore the previous value and adjust a setting that matches your bottleneck.
Textures
Textures primarily determine surface detail and memory use. Keep them at a level appropriate for your available VRAM, and lower them when you see texture streaming problems, missing detail, or hitching associated with memory pressure. Do not lower textures by habit if the issue is a low frame rate during effects-heavy combat.
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Build a repeatable tuning loop
Because the available menu guide describes a demo and no controlled low-end test is available, use a simple loop instead of changing ten options at once.
- Write down your current resolution, scale, upscaler, preset, cap, and individual quality values.
- Choose one repeatable location: the same room, route, or type of encounter. Use the same camera direction and allow the scene to settle.
- Change exactly one option, apply it, and repeat the same movement or encounter.
- Record whether the problem improved, stayed the same, or changed into blur, pop-in, stutter, or reduced visibility.
- Keep the change only when it improves the symptom without making the game harder to read. Otherwise restore it and test the next control.
This approach cannot produce a universal “best” preset, but it prevents a change to an unrelated option from being mistaken for the solution.
Visibility checks after lowering quality
A lower preset can create a visual problem even when performance improves. An official pre-alpha announcement listed an issue in which the Low visual-quality preset could appear darker than intended. That was a historical issue and may not exist in the release build, but it is a useful reason to inspect brightness and readability after applying Low.
- Check dark corridors, shadows, and interiors for lost silhouettes.
- Confirm that enemies and attack cues remain distinguishable during effects-heavy fights.
- Verify that subtitles, menus, and interaction prompts are readable at the selected render scale.
- If the image is too dark or too soft, raise the relevant quality or scale one step rather than lowering every other setting.
Diagnose stutter and first-launch problems separately from graphics quality
The 2025 pre-alpha announcement warned that the game did not automatically detect hardware, so players might need to adjust presets manually. It also mentioned shader compilation or PSO behavior that could cause poor performance on first boot. Those are dated notes from a pre-alpha build, not confirmed behavior of the current release.
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Allow the game to finish any visible shader or pipeline preparation, then revisit the same area. If the behavior persists across later sessions, use the one-setting-at-a-time loop to determine whether the issue is a quality setting, a memory problem, or a build-specific hitch.
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If the game selects an unsuitable preset
Open the graphics menu and set Low or the individual values manually. Do not assume automatic detection reflects your actual performance target; the historical warning specifically says hardware was not automatically detected in that pre-alpha build.
If lowering settings does not change the symptom
A setting may not be the limiting factor, or the slowdown may be caused by a game-build issue. Compare a GPU-heavy scene with a quiet scene, check whether only combat causes drops, and restore options that reduce image quality without helping. Avoid treating a dated pre-alpha warning as proof that the same fault exists today.
What to expect below the minimum requirements
The current minimum GPU comparison point is an RX 5600 XT or GTX 1660 Ti, paired with a Ryzen 5 3600 or Core i5-10600K and 16 GB of RAM. If your graphics card is below that tier, Low plus upscaling is still the logical first experiment, but the publisher has not stated a below-minimum frame-rate target.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsAn upgrade may be necessary when resolution scale is already too low to read comfortably, all major GPU-heavy controls are minimized, and the frame rate remains unacceptable. The listed RX 5600 XT and GTX 1660 Ti are reference points, not guarantees: your CPU, cooling, power supply, driver state, memory configuration, and the eventual game version all affect results. The evidence does not justify promising a particular FPS after buying either card.
The SSD requirement should be treated as an installation and platform requirement. No supplied evidence shows that replacing one SSD with another is an FPS upgrade.
Do not mix the 2025 pre-alpha profile with the current target
An official 2025 pre-alpha playtest profile listed a different combination: 8 GB of RAM, an RTX 2070 or RX 5700 XT, an SSD, and Low at 1080p with an expected 60 FPS average. The announcement explicitly said performance and optimization were known improvement areas and that the game would not release until the following year.
| Profile | GPU | CPU and RAM information | Resolution and target | How to use it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 pre-alpha playtest | RTX 2070 or RX 5700 XT | 8 GB RAM was listed; the profile is historical | 1080p Low, expected 60 FPS average | Useful only as a record of that test build |
| Current storefront listing | RX 5600 XT or GTX 1660 Ti minimum; RX 6800 or RTX 3070 recommended | 16 GB RAM for both tiers | Minimum: 1080p Low at 30 FPS; recommended: 1440p Medium at 60 FPS, both with upscaling | Use for present-day planning, while checking for launch changes |
The historical announcement included the sentence: “The game won’t be releasing until next year and we admit that the performance and optimization isn’t that great right now.” It describes the pre-alpha stage only. It should not be read as a current assessment of the released build.
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Quick Recap
A practical decision tree
- Below 30 FPS at 1080p Low: verify that an upscaler or lower Resolution Scale is active, disable Ray Tracing, then reduce shadows and effects.
- Mostly smooth exploration but combat drops: reduce Effects Quality first, then Shadows Quality and view distance if needed.
- Acceptable FPS but blurry output: raise Resolution Scale or use a clearer upscaler mode, and lower a different quality option instead.
- Texture pop-in or hitching: lower Textures Quality to fit VRAM, then retest the same location.
- Uneven motion despite a high counter: try a Frame Rate Limit your PC can sustain consistently.
- Image too dark after selecting Low: inspect brightness and readability; the documented low-preset darkness issue was historical, so confirm whether it exists in your build.
- No meaningful change after multiple reductions: compare your hardware with the current minimum and consider that the cause may be CPU-limited or build-specific rather than a graphics-quality setting.
Final checklist for a low-end setup
- Confirm your hardware against the current minimum table and install the game on an SSD.
- Select Low under Quality Preset.
- Use a supported DLSS, FSR, TSR, or XeSS option, or reduce Resolution Scale.
- Disable Ray Tracing.
- Lower Shadow Quality, then Effects Quality, when performance is insufficient.
- Keep Textures Quality as high as your VRAM and image stability allow.
- Set a sustainable Frame Rate Limit if it improves consistency.
- Test one change at a time in the same scene or encounter.
- Check dark areas, combat readability, distant detail, and texture streaming after every major reduction.
- Recheck the installed build’s menu and system requirements because the detailed control list comes from a demo reference and the storefront information was captured around launch.
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