Dragon Age: Veilguard has (so far) been a very average AAA release, garnering critical “acclaim” from the highly biased journalist base, and a mediocre “72% positive” on Steam. Earlier this month, we analyzed the game’s performance across multiple GPUs, including VRAM usage and CPU requirements. Our optimization guide contains the ideal settings for low and high-end PCs. This mini-guide is for Steam Deck users looking to play Dragon Age: Veilguard on their favorite handheld.
Performance and FPS
Dragon Age: Veilguard is among the best-optimized games of 2024. Obtaining a stable 30 FPS average on the Steam Deck requires switching to the “Low” quality preset and some upscaling. The game delivers consistent frametimes at the default 800p resolution.
The refresh rate needs to be set to 90 Hz. You can squeeze out up to 40 FPS if you prefer performance over visuals, but that may not be ideal for everyone.
Graphics Settings
Dragon Age: Veilguard runs best with all the graphics settings set to “Low.” Terrain Decoration can be increased to “Medium” for increased ground cover at a minimal cost, and Texture Filtering should be set to “Medium.”
Hair Strand drastically impacts performance but can be enabled if you don’t mind switching to the “Performance” quality upsample preset. AMD FSR works best on the Steam Deck, though Intel XeSS can produce superior image quality at lower framerates.
Battery Life & Visual Quality
Dragon Age: Veilguard looks gorgeous on the Steam Deck with FSR upscaling set to “Balanced” mode. HDR works wonderfully, significantly improving the visual fidelity in bright areas. Like most low-end consoles, the game runs locked at 30 FPS with consistent frametimes.
Dragon Age: Veilguard lasts up to 2 hours on the Steam Deck battery after a full charge.
Dragon Age Veilguard: Best Steam Deck Graphics Settings
| Optimized Settings | Low-end PC |
|---|---|
| Resolution | 1280×800 |
| Upscaling | AMD FSR 2 Balanced|Performance |
| Frame Generation | Off |
| FPS Target | 30 FPS |
| Ray Traced Reflections | Off |
| Ray Traced Ambient Occlusion | Off |
| Ultra Ray Tracing | Off |
| Texture Quality | Medium |
| Texture Filtering | Medium |
| Lighting Quality | Low |
| Contact Shadows | Off |
| Ambient Occlusion | Off |
| Screen Space Reflections | Off |
| Volumetric Lighting | Low |
| Sky Quality | Low |
| LOD | Low |
| Strand Hair | Off|On |
| Terrain Quality | Low |
| Terrain Decoration | Medium |
| Visual Effects | Low |
| Post Processing | Low |
| Depth of Field | Off |
| Motion Blur | Off |
| FOV | 90% |
