RuneScape Dragonwilds Optimization & Performance Guide

RuneScape: Dragonwilds is the latest MMO to grace Steam. Launched in early access, the game is set in the Runescape universe with a focus on crafting, grinding, and survival elements. It’s built on the Unreal Engine 5, leveraging much of its GPU-bound pipeline to upgrade mediocre visuals at the cost of poor performance. The game runs like garbage and there’s little you can do to improve it. Here’s our optimization guide for RuneScape: Dragonwilds.

Windows/System Settings to Optimize

• Enable Resizable BAR.
• Turn on Game Mode.
• Enable Hardware-accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS) and Windowed Optimizations.
• Use the Windows “High Performance” power profile and set your GPU power management mode to the same.
• Overclock your GPU if you’re narrowly missing the 60 FPS mark.
• Ensure you use the proper XMP/EXPO memory profile (if available).
• Here’s a guide with more detailed instructions.

RuneScape: Dragonwilds System Requirements

RuneScape: Dragonwilds Resolution Scaling

RuneScape shows moderate performance scaling across resolutions, indicating considerable pre-raster shading. The game averaged 45 FPS at 4K, 57 FPS (+27%) at 1440p, and 67 FPS (+49%) at 1080p using the Epic quality mode plus DLAA.

Test Setup

• CPU: Intel Core i9-12900K @ 5.3 GHz.
• Cooler: Arctic Liquid Freezer III 420.
• GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4090 FE.
• Motherboard: MSI PRO Z790-P WIFI.
• Memory: 16 GB x2 @ 6000 MT/s CL30.

Graphics/Video Quality

RuneScape: Dragonwilds doesn’t expose the individual graphics settings in its current state. Instead, you are only allowed to set the global graphics preset, upscaling, and frame generation method.

Dragonwilds uses the full set of Unreal 5 technologies, including Lumen global illumination, Nanite geometry, and Virtual Shadows. Much of the lower preset performance gains come at the cost of lowering or disabling them.

Epic->High

• Lumen GI quality is sharply lowered. Light bleeding is less prominent.
• Ambient Shadow quality also takes a hit due to a reduction in Lumen parameters.
• Shadow penumbra quality is scaled down.
• Foliage density and distance are reduced.
• Object LOD and character detail are decreased.
• Water and reflection quality deteriorate slightly.

High->Medium

• Lumen GI range is reduced.
• Lumen Reflections are disabled in favor of screen space reflections.
• Shadow render distance is substantially lower.
• Foliage density and distance are further reduced.
• Vegetation geometry is downgraded.
• Terrain geometry, including tessellation and bump/displacement mapping, is lowered.
• Water quality, including ripples and waves, is much worse.
• Particle Effects, including smoke and embers, are less detailed and dense.

Medium->Low

• Lumen GI is completely disabled in favor of screen space and distance field ambient occlusion.
• Virtual Shadow quality is drastically lowered or completely disabled.
• Foliage density and distance are reduced.
• Character detail is decreased.
• Particle Effects, including smoke and embers, are lowered.

Low->Very Low

• Global Illumination is limited to low-res screen space ambient occlusion.
• Screen Space Reflections are greatly lowered or disabled.
• Foliage density and distance are reduced.
• Character detail is lowered to the bare-bones minimum.
• Water quality is reduced further.
• Particle Effects, including smoke and embers, are the least detailed.
• Post-Processing filters, including motion blur, depth of field, and tonemapping, are disabled.

The Epic quality produces the worst frame times. High is a step in the right direction, with medium likely the sweet spot for midrange and entry-level PCs.

Upscaling & Frame Generation

RuneScape: Dragonwilds features NVIDIA DLSS 4 and AMD FSR 3.1 upscaling technologies. NVIDIA NIS is also included, but we’d recommend against it. DLSS quality-mode upscaling averages 57.5 FPS, a sizable 28% improvement over native 4K (and =native 1440p).

Balanced upscaling is only a smidge faster (+3%), while performance mode produces 64 FPS, a 42% uplift over native 4K. Limited upscaling gains indicate heavy pre-raster workloads.

Frame Generation grants massive frame rate boosts, ranging from 58% at native 4K to 70% when paired with performance-mode upscaling. At this point, it’s essential for playable frame rates across a range of PC configurations.

RuneScape: Dragonwilds VRAM Usage

RuneScape: Dragonwilds uses up to 11 GB of graphics memory at 4K “Epic” quality. Upscaling eases it down to 9 GB, while 1440p and 1080p utilize between 8 and 8.5 GB.

Lowering the graphics quality reduces the VRAM usage to 9.2 GB and 8.22 GB at the medium and lowest options, respectively.

RuneScape: Dragonwilds CPU Bottlenecks

RuneScape: Dragonwilds is predominantly GPU-bound with a busy deviation of 0% across all our benchmarks.

Optimized Settings for RuneScape: Dragonwilds

RuneScape: Dragonwilds Settings for Low-end PC: RTX 3060/RTX 4060/RTX 3060 Ti

RuneScape uses 6-7 GB of graphics memory at 1080p using the abovementioned settings. Frame generation pushes it a bit above 7, but well under 8 GB. The game is mostly GPU-bound.

Use DLSS 4 with FSR 3-based Frame Generation

• Upgrade to DLSS 4 using our guide. Should be a straightforward switch from the NVIDIA app after the latest drive update.
• Download the Universal version of the Nexus mod.
• Copy the files from the dll_version folder to the Win64 folder in the Binaries folder within the RS directory.