Mortal Shell 2 is a slow, deliberate game where a single mistimed input ends a run, so frame pacing matters more than raw fidelity. The PC version splits its options into a Display category and a Game category, and only a handful of the display entries actually move your frame rate in a meaningful way. The rest are largely taste.
Quick answer: Set Resolution Upscaler to DLSS (FSR on AMD cards), Render Resolution to Performance, Hardware Ray Tracing to Off, Shadows and Reflections to Medium, and leave everything else on High. If you still see uneven frame pacing, set a Framerate Limit of 60 and turn Motion Blur off.
The settings that cost the most frames
Render Resolution and Resolution Upscaler do the heavy lifting. Dropping Render Resolution to Performance and letting DLSS reconstruct the image gives your GPU a large amount of headroom while keeping edges clean, which is why it belongs above any other tweak on the list. On AMD hardware, pick FSR instead.
Hardware Ray Tracing is the single most expensive toggle in the menu. Turning it off frees up enough GPU time to stabilise the rest of your settings, and the lighting still holds together because Global Illumination can stay on High without the same cost.
After that, Shadows and Reflections are the two quality sliders worth stepping down to Medium. Both are expensive to render and neither loses much detail during combat, when the camera is moving and you are watching enemy animations rather than surfaces. Frame Generation is worth enabling if your GPU supports it, since it raises perceived smoothness without touching the underlying render load.
Recommended display settings for Mortal Shell 2
This configuration targets a mid-range gaming PC and keeps the game’s dark, torch-lit environments readable. Fullscreen gives the game priority access to your display, and running at your monitor’s native resolution avoids an extra scaling pass on top of the upscaler.
| Setting | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Window Mode | Fullscreen | Best display priority |
| Resolution | Native | Avoids extra scaling |
| Render Resolution | Performance | Largest GPU saving |
| Resolution Upscaler | DLSS | FSR on AMD GPUs |
| Vertical Sync | Off | Lower input latency |
| Frame Generation | On, if supported | Raises perceived smoothness |
| Scalability | High | Balanced base preset |
| Hardware Ray Tracing | Off | Most expensive option |
| Global Illumination | High | Cheap atmosphere gain |
| Shadows | Medium | Costly above Medium |
| Anti-Aliasing | High | Cleans jagged edges |
| View Distance | High | Minor cost |
| Textures | High | Low cost with spare VRAM |
| Visual Effects | High | Keeps combat effects intact |
| Reflections | Medium | Demanding above Medium |
| Post Processing | Medium | Good cost balance |
| Environment | High | Adds world detail |
| Seamless Dungeons Loading | On | Smoother area transitions |
| Brightness | 1 | Default baseline |
| Gamma | 1 | Keeps intended contrast |
| Sharpness | 0.1 | Subtle clarity only |
| Bloom | On | Glow on light sources |
| Chromatic Aberration | Off | Removes edge distortion |
| Film Grain | Off | Cleaner image |
| Lens Flares | On | Little performance cost |
| Motion Blur | Off | Clearer during combat |
| Vignette | On | Cinematic edge darkening |
Textures deserve one caveat. High costs almost nothing as long as you have VRAM to spare, but exceeding your card’s memory causes asset streaming stutter that no other setting will fix. If you have 6GB or less, step Textures down first.
Low-end configuration for minimum-spec PCs
If your machine sits near the minimum requirements, switch Scalability to Custom and push the individual sliders down rather than relying on a preset. Use Windowed Fullscreen only if you run multiple monitors, since it makes alt-tabbing between screens far less disruptive.
| Setting | Low-end value |
|---|---|
| Render Resolution | Performance or Ultra Performance |
| Resolution Upscaler | FSR |
| Framerate Limit | 60 FPS |
| Frame Generation | Off |
| Scalability | Custom |
| Global Illumination | Low |
| Shadows | Low |
| Anti-Aliasing | Medium |
| View Distance | Medium |
| Textures | Low, or Medium if stable |
| Visual Effects | Low |
| Reflections | Low |
| Post Processing | Medium |
| Environment | Low |
| Seamless Dungeons Loading | Off |
| Bloom, Lens Flares, Vignette | Off |
| Chromatic Aberration, Film Grain, Motion Blur | Off |
Tip: if a value on this list runs comfortably, test one step higher before settling. The gap between Low and Medium is usually cheaper than the gap between High and the top setting.
Framerate Limit and V-Sync for consistent frame pacing
A locked frame rate beats a higher but unstable one in a game built around Harden timing and parries. Capping the game with the Framerate Limit option at 60 removes most of the swing between quiet corridors and dense combat encounters, and 60 works as a sensible target across a wide range of hardware.
Leave Vertical Sync off by default. It costs input latency, which is the last thing you want when a dodge window is a few frames wide. Turn it back on only if you see screen tearing, or if you are getting stutter that the frame cap alone does not smooth out.
Post-processing toggles that hurt combat visibility
Three toggles are worth switching off for reasons beyond frame rate. Motion Blur smears the screen exactly when you need to read an attack, Film Grain adds noise over a game that is already very dark, and Chromatic Aberration softens edges with a lens-style distortion.
Bloom, Lens Flares, and Vignette can stay on if you like the look. They are inexpensive and they carry a lot of the game’s atmosphere. Keep Sharpness at 0.1 rather than raising it; higher values start to produce visible halos around character silhouettes, which is counterproductive when you are relying on those silhouettes to time a block.
Game settings for combat readability
The Game category does not affect frame rate, but several entries change how easily you can track enemies and how predictable your inputs feel. These values keep targeting consistent and reduce screen clutter.
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Auto Lock-On | Yes |
| Off-Screen Enemy Indicator | Yes |
| Damage Numbers | Classic |
| Target Steering | Default |
| Enable Free Aim | No |
| Aiming Input Style | Hold |
| Blocking Input Style | Hold |
| Auto Pick Up Gold | Yes |
| Gameplay Telemetry | No |
| Camera Style | Immersive |
| Auto Align Camera | Yes |
| Overall Camera Shake Strength | 0.5 |
| Sprint Camera Shake Strength | 0.4 |
Hold-style aiming and blocking are the two worth trying first if the defaults feel unreliable. They tie the action directly to how long you hold the button, so a block ends when you release it rather than on a separate toggle press. Camera shake at 0.5 keeps hits feeling weighty without the screen swimming during long fights.
How to confirm the settings took effect
Test in a busy area rather than a menu or an empty corridor. A room with several enemies and heavy particle effects is where frame rate actually drops, so that is where you will see whether Shadows, Reflections, and ray tracing changes did anything. If the number holds steady there, the configuration is doing its job.
If performance still looks wrong after applying everything above, there are only a few likely causes. The upscaler may not be applying because your GPU does not support the selected option, Textures may be exceeding your VRAM and forcing streaming stutter, or the frame rate may be uncapped and swinging wildly between scenes. Work through those three before touching anything else.
Mortal Shell 2 is still early in its life on PC, and patches are likely to shift how some of these options behave. Treat the High-with-Medium-shadows baseline as a starting point, then adjust one setting at a time so you always know which change caused the difference.
