You’ve answered the call to battle in The First Berserker: Khazan, only to be met with an infuriating slideshow of stutters and frame drops on your otherwise capable mid-range PC. You know your rig has the power—but unlocking it feels like solving an ancient riddle.
The good news? You don’t need a mythical relic or a GPU upgrade.
Built on the latest community performance data and real-world testing, this 2026 optimization guide reveals the exact settings that can boost your FPS by up to 30%—without sacrificing the brutal, cinematic dark fantasy atmosphere that defines Khazan. This isn’t about nuking visuals; it’s about smart, surgical tweaks that turn a choppy experience into a smooth, responsive power fantasy.
Why This Guide Works for Your Mid-Range PC
The First Berserker: Khazan is a welcome surprise in today’s performance-heavy gaming landscape. Powered by Unreal Engine 4, it’s a well-optimized title that respects your hardware—meaning strong performance is achievable without a flagship GPU.
The key is knowing which settings are performance vampires and which ones are essentially free visual upgrades. This guide is built entirely on community-tested configurations, not generic advice, ensuring maximum FPS while preserving the game’s gritty, high-impact aesthetic. What follows is a focused blueprint designed specifically for mid-range systems.
The Foundational Setup: Prep Your PC for War
Before touching in-game settings, take a few minutes to lock in system-level optimizations. These steps prevent stutters, crashes, and inconsistent frametimes.
Embrace the Day-One Patch
Ensure the game is fully updated via Steam or your launcher of choice. Post-launch patches significantly improve stability and performance across a wide range of systems.
Update Your GPU Drivers
This is non-negotiable. Install the latest NVIDIA Game Ready or AMD Adrenalin drivers, which include specific fixes and optimizations for new releases.
Enable Hardware-Accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS)
Found under Windows Settings > System > Display > Graphics Settings.
Enable it to offload scheduling tasks from your CPU to your GPU, often improving frame pacing and reducing latency.
Set a Clean Stage
Close background applications before launching the game. Browsers, Discord (or disable its overlay), RGB software, and launchers quietly drain CPU and RAM—causing micro-stutters when combat gets intense.
The Community-Tested Graphics Preset for Maximum FPS
This is the heart of the guide. These values represent the best performance-to-visual balance for mid-range PCs.
| Graphics Setting | Recommended Value | Why This Is the Sweet Spot |
|---|---|---|
| Shadow Quality | Medium | #1 FPS saver. Dropping from Ultra delivers massive gains with minimal visual loss in fast combat. |
| Anti-Aliasing | Max (TSR / Temporal AA) | Smooths jagged edges with low performance cost on modern GPUs. |
| Texture Quality | High | Ideal for GPUs with 6GB+ VRAM; boosts detail without FPS loss. |
| Post-Processing | High | |
| Effects Quality | High | |
| Vegetation & Shading | High | These are the “free visuals” group—minimal performance impact in Khazan. |
| Volumetric Effects (Fog/Mist) | Medium | #2 FPS saver. Keeps atmosphere while freeing major resources. |
| Ambient Occlusion | Medium | Best balance of depth and performance. |
| Motion Blur | Optional (Off recommended) | Disable for clarity in combat; purely stylistic otherwise. |
Pro Tip (NVIDIA Users):
In NVIDIA Control Panel → Manage 3D Settings → Program Settings, set Low Latency Mode to On for reduced input lag.
Mastering Upscaling: DLSS, FSR, and XeSS Explained
Upscaling is your biggest FPS multiplier.
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NVIDIA RTX (20/30/40 Series): Use DLSS – Quality mode
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AMD GPUs (RX 5000/6000/7000): Use FSR – Quality mode
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Intel Arc GPUs: Use XeSS, optimized for Intel hardware
These technologies render the game at a lower internal resolution and upscale it intelligently, saving massive GPU resources.
⚠️ Important 1080p Warning
At 1080p, upscaling can look slightly soft since it’s upscaling from a very low base resolution.
Try native resolution first. If FPS is still low, enable upscaling starting at Quality, only dropping to Balanced or Performance if absolutely necessary.
Advanced Tweaks and Troubleshooting
Frame Generation: Use With Caution
Available on RTX 40-series and RX 7000-series GPUs.
Only enable it if your base FPS is already 55–60. Using Frame Generation on low base FPS increases input lag and makes combat feel sluggish.
Eliminating Stutters
Khazan compiles shaders on first launch, reducing in-game hitching.
If stutters persist, the cause is almost always:
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Background applications
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Outdated drivers
Revisit the Foundational Setup section.
In-Game Frame Cap
The built-in 120 FPS cap offers excellent frame pacing.
You can safely:
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Leave it enabled
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Or cap FPS slightly above your monitor refresh rate using your GPU control panel for lower input latency
Your Step-by-Step Optimization Battle Plan
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Complete all Foundational Setup steps
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Apply every setting from the Community-Tested Graphics Preset
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Enable DLSS, FSR, or XeSS in Quality mode
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Test performance in a combat-heavy area, not menus
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Fine-tune:
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Need more FPS? Lower Shadows or Volumetrics
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Plenty of headroom? Raise Textures if VRAM allows
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Final Verdict
By following this data-driven guide, you’re not just tweaking sliders—you’re commanding your PC’s resources with purpose. The First Berserker: Khazan rewards precision, timing, and responsiveness, and your mid-range PC is more than capable of delivering that experience when configured correctly.
6. Community Support & Resources
When optimizing your gaming experience, it helps to have support from the community. Here are some resources you can check out:
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Reddit Communities: Subreddits like r/pcgaming, r/pcmasterrace, and r/firstberserker can provide tips, settings, and troubleshooting advice from other players with similar systems.
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Gaming Forums: Websites like Tom’s Hardware, Overclock.net, and Steam Community offer discussions on the best settings and performance tweaks.
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Discord Servers: Many games, including The First Berserker: Khazan, have official or fan-made Discord servers where you can ask for help and get advice on settings.
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