Why does my PC shut off during shader compilation in Valor Mortis?

Shader compilation pins every CPU core at 100% for a sustained burst, which is one of the heaviest power/thermal loads a game ever places on a system. A PC that hard-powers-off during it is almost always hitting a power-delivery or cooling limit rather than a game bug — an ageing or under-spec PSU, a CPU power/thermal trip, or an unstable overclock/undervolt. Let the one-time compile finish on a cool system, update GPU drivers, reset any CPU overclock to stock, and make sure case airflow is clear.

Does Valor Mortis have DLSS or FSR?

Yes — despite a common assumption otherwise, the demo's Video settings already include NVIDIA DLSS (with DLAA), AMD FSR 3 with Frame Generation, Intel XeSS, and Unreal's own TSR, alongside FXAA and TAA. Pick your upscaler under Video → Upscaler. DLSS needs an NVIDIA RTX GPU and an up-to-date driver; ray tracing requires the game to be running in DirectX 12 mode.

How do I fix stuttering in Valor Mortis?

Most early stutter is shader compilation and traversal hitching common to UE5 titles. Let the initial shader compile finish completely before playing, cap your framerate a little below your monitor's refresh, enable upscaling, and turn off any third-party overlays. The first run through an area is always the worst; it smooths out once shaders are cached.

Performance & Settings

Valor Mortis is a demanding Unreal Engine 5 game and the demo is an early build. This is a practical guide to running it smoothly — what to change, what the known issues are, and what's still unconfirmed.

This is the demo build

Everything here is based on the Alpha demo (Chapters 1 & 7). Graphics options, upscaler support and optimisation will change before the full release — we'll update this page as the developers confirm details.

“My PC shuts off during shader compilation”

This is one of the more alarming issues players hit, and it's frightening — but it's almost never a corrupt install. Shader compilation drives every CPU core to 100% in a sustained burst, which is one of the most extreme power and thermal loads any game produces. A machine that hard powers-off is tripping a protection limit, not crashing the game.

The usual culprits, in order of likelihood:

Power supply — an ageing or under-spec PSU can't hold up the transient load. This is the most common cause of a full shutdown.
CPU thermals / power limit — let it run on a cool system; clear dust and check airflow.
Unstable overclock or undervolt — reset CPU and RAM (XMP/EXPO) to stock and retest. An undervolt that's “stable” in light games often fails under an all-core shader compile.
GPU drivers — update to the latest, then let the one-time compile finish before you start playing.

The big compile happens once and is then cached, so you only have to survive it a single time per driver/version. If your system is stable in other heavy UE5 games, focus on the PSU and any overclock first.

Stuttering & hitching

Early UE5 games are prone to two kinds of stutter: shader compilation stutter (first time an effect appears) and traversal stutter (streaming new areas in). Both improve a lot after a first pass through a location. To minimise them:

Let the initial shader compilation finish completely before playing.
Cap your framerate slightly below your monitor's refresh rate for more consistent frame pacing.
Enable upscaling (see below) to give the GPU headroom.
Disable third-party overlays (Discord, RTSS, GeForce Experience) if hitching persists.
Install the game on an SSD — traversal stutter is worse from a hard drive.

Best-settings starting point

There's no single “correct” preset — it depends on your GPU — but these are the highest-impact dials in a UE5 Souls-like and a sensible order to tune them. Start from your hardware's auto-detected preset and adjust from there.

Setting	Guidance
Upscaling / Resolution Scale	Your biggest FPS lever. Set quality-mode upscaling first before lowering other settings.
Frame-rate cap	Cap a few FPS below your refresh rate. Smoother pacing matters more than peak FPS in a parry-timing game.
Shadows	High → Medium is a large GPU saving with little visual loss in this art style.
Effects / Post-processing	Lowering helps in heavy blood-magic moments; also reduces some of the bloom/vignette intensity.
Anti-aliasing (TSR)	Leave on — turning it off causes heavy shimmering on the period detail.
Motion blur	Personal taste; off gives a crisper read on enemy wind-ups.

Tune for readability, not screenshots

This is a precise melee game. A stable, well-paced 60 with motion blur off will win you more fights than a stuttering ultra-preset.

DLSS, FSR & frame generation

They're already in the demo

A lot of players (“No DLSS no buy”) haven't found the option: Valor Mortis already ships a full upscaler menu. Open Video → Upscaler and choose one.

The Upscaler dropdown offers, straight from the demo's settings:

Upscaler	Notes
NVIDIA DLSS	Modes from Ultra Performance up to Ultra Quality, plus DLAA. Requires an RTX GPU and a current driver.
AMD FSR 3	Includes FSR 3 Frame Generation and AMD Anti-Lag 2. Works on most GPUs.
Intel XeSS	Ultra Performance → Ultra Quality, plus a Native Antialiasing mode.
TSR (Unreal)	Vendor-agnostic temporal upscaler; a safe default on any GPU.
FXAA / TAA	Anti-aliasing only, no upscaling.
Off	Native rendering, no AA — expect shimmering.

Frame generation is available through FSR 3 (and on the DLSS path for supported NVIDIA cards). It multiplies smoothness but doesn't reduce input latency, so pair it with Anti-Lag / Reflex and a base framerate that already feels responsive.

Two gotchas

DLSS only appears as usable on an NVIDIA RTX GPU with a recent driver (the menu tells you if the driver is outdated). Ray Tracing requires launching in DirectX 12 mode.

FOV, vignette & HDR

Several players note the default first-person field of view feels narrow and the screen edges carry a strong vignette. If a FOV slider is exposed in your build, nudging it up widens your peripheral read on flanking enemies — useful given the lock-on debate. Lowering post-processing also tones down the vignette and bloom.

HDR has been reported as looking washed out or mis-calibrated for some players. If it looks off, playing in SDR is currently the safer bet, and re-check after each demo update.

Steam Deck & handhelds

It's a heavy UE5 title, so on the Steam Deck and similar handhelds plan on quality-mode upscaling and a lower framerate cap for a stable, battery-friendly experience. Official Deck-verified status isn't confirmed. Cloud streaming (e.g. GeForce Now) has also been requested as an alternative for lower-end hardware.

Performance FAQ

Why does my PC shut off during shader compilation in Valor Mortis?: Shader compilation pins every CPU core at 100% for a sustained burst, which is one of the heaviest power/thermal loads a game ever places on a system. A PC that hard-powers-off during it is almost always hitting a power-delivery or cooling limit rather than a game bug — an ageing or under-spec PSU, a CPU power/thermal trip, or an unstable overclock/undervolt. Let the one-time compile finish on a cool system, update GPU drivers, reset any CPU overclock to stock, and make sure case airflow is clear.
Does Valor Mortis have DLSS or FSR?: Yes — despite a common assumption otherwise, the demo's Video settings already include NVIDIA DLSS (with DLAA), AMD FSR 3 with Frame Generation, Intel XeSS, and Unreal's own TSR, alongside FXAA and TAA. Pick your upscaler under Video → Upscaler. DLSS needs an NVIDIA RTX GPU and an up-to-date driver; ray tracing requires the game to be running in DirectX 12 mode.
How do I fix stuttering in Valor Mortis?: Most early stutter is shader compilation and traversal hitching common to UE5 titles. Let the initial shader compile finish completely before playing, cap your framerate a little below your monitor's refresh, enable upscaling, and turn off any third-party overlays. The first run through an area is always the worst; it smooths out once shaders are cached.
Can you play Valor Mortis on Steam Deck?: It's a demanding UE5 first-person Souls-like, so on handhelds expect to lean on upscaling and a lower framerate cap for a stable, battery-friendly experience. Official Steam Deck verification status has not been confirmed.