The PC launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows has had a rocky start, but a new mod of graphical presets has greatly improved the game’s visual and performance optimization. While the game has had the biggest launch in the franchise’s history, there are reports of PC players experiencing several bugs and issues, like stuttering, FPS drops, and hard crashes. This new mod aims to address a lot of issues, so players can jump back into beautiful Feudal Japan and experience it with the best performance possible.

Created by Velasquez over on Nexus Mods, this Assassin’s Creed Shadows mod contains five different presets that are targeted to easily optimize the game’s graphical options and performance settings, and also still allows users to select their preferred experience, like promoting graphic fidelity over high frame rates or vice versa or a balance of both. The creator has also included a full video on how to install the mod, which can also be found on their YouTube channel, VelasqueZ Z.

What This Mod Improves In Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Five Different Ways To Make The Experience Even More Impressive

This mod is designed for simplicity, changing in-game settings altogether to give the most optimal experience and streamline the tinkering for players. This is a demanding game, and the best PC settings for Assassin’s Creed Shadows can be a little tricky to get right. The five available mod presets are: Performance Mode, Balanced Performance Mode, Quality Mode, Maximum Quality Mode, and Maximum Quality with RT/PT Mode. This mod changes shadow effects, particles, vegetation, and several other graphic and performance settings.

Mod Preset
Explanation of Graphic and Performance Changes

Performance Mode
Graphic Changes: Operates at around 50 percent of maximum graphic capacity. Vegetation, shadows, particles are simplified. Functional visuals. No ray-tracing.

Performance Changes: Operates at 80–90 percent of maximum frame rate.

Balanced Performance Mode
Graphic Changes: Operates at around 70 percent of the maximum graphic capacity. Shadows, lighting, and textures are balanced. Medium settings for particles, volumetric effects. No ray-tracing.

Performance Changes: Operates at 70-80 percent of maximum frame rate.

Quality Mode
Graphic Changes: Operates at around 85 percent of maximum graphic capacity. Medium-high settings for particles, shadows, and vegetation. Ray-tracing is enabled with moderate settings.

Performance Changes: Operates at 50-60 percent of maximum frame rate.

Maximum Quality Mode
Graphic Changes: Operates at 100 percent of maximum graphic capacity. Textures, particles, and shadows set to the highest level. Ray-tracing is fully enabled, but no path-tracing.

Performance Changes: Operates at 30-40 percent of maximum frame rate.

Maximum Quality with RT/PT Mode
Graphic Changes: Operates at 100 percent of maximum graphic capacity. Ultra-detailed polygons with textures, particles, and shadows set to the highest level. Maximum density for vegetation. Ray-tracing and path-tracing are enabled at maximum settings.

Performance Changes: Operates at 15-30 percent of the maximum frame rate.

These mods are all different files, so players can download the one that best suits their needs and their PC rigs. It’s worth noting that the hardware required for each mod varies greatly and only top-of-the-line machines can run the two Maximum Quality modes.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Has Some Issues On PC

Stuttering, Crashes & Lighting Problems Are Still Around

The game has some pretty significant issues on PC right now. Several players have expressed frustration with stuttering, hard crashes, bugs, and other issues. In our Assassin’s Creed Shadows review, our reviewer noted some particularly poor lighting issues, saying, “Considerable lighting issues compromised my game’s nighttime darkness so, if some of the screenshots here appear a little scorched, the brightness setting had to be ramped up to accommodate.”

PC launches having issues is nothing new. More than likely, there will be more official patches to address the issues plaguing the PC version of the game, beyond just Assassin’s Creed Shadow’s day-one patch. Until then, these mods are at least a step in the right direction.