Looking for the best settings for Overwatch? We will cover every bit of details that you require for setting optimal Overwatch gaming setup.
Overwatch represents a multiplayer shooter combat system that is innovative and contains unique graphics. Due to its highly demanding eSports nature, it becomes vital to have perfect command over the game. There are tons of settings to tweak around and get the maximum performance out of gameplay. Like other FPS shooter games, optimum graphics settings are critical for the best experience.
This guide will guide through steps and tweaks that impact the gameplay. The goal is to set perfect game settings for optimal performance. In any first-person shooter game, the frame rate per second at a high level provides a significant advantage over opponents. There are no absolute best settings, and every character settings change, but the aim is to tweak the settings according to playstyle.
It doesn’t matter that the gaming setup contains a high-end monitor or mouse with high DPI unless they have the best settings. Let get straight to the guide.
Best Overwatch Video Settings for Higher FPS
In Overwatch, the leading performance indicator is its graphics quality. The more the frame per second, the more the competitive advantage players get from the game. There is a fine line where performance is maximum, and the game still looks good with some settings set to the low or minimum level. After much testing and research, we have finalized the best graphics settings for Overwatch, retaining maximum FPS and performance.
Every PC build has a different capacity to run Overwatch. A slight adjustment in the gaming settings efficiently runs the game with the best performance. To reach 60 FPS is essential, and a decrease in frame per second results in the average performance and graphics. Let us discuss Overwatch graphics settings in detail.
| Display Mode | Borderless Window or Fullscreen |
| Target Display | Custom |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 |
| Field of View | 103-105 |
| Aspect Ratio | 16 x 9 |
| VSync | Off |
| Triple Buffering | Off |
| Reduce Buffering | On |
| Display Performance Stats | Off |
| Display System Clock | Off |
| Limit FPS | Custom |
| Frame Rate Cap | 300 |
Display Mode: Although it is a matter of choice to choose the best display mode, full-screen mode runs the game better. This advantage may differ from PC to PC, so it needs to check whether borderless or fullscreen mode works better.
Target Display: Getting multiple displays helps multitask for most people, but gamers use screens for better gaming. Use this option only when using other displays.
Resolution: Almost all shooter games require balanced performance without lags. To fulfill the criteria, set the resolution to 1080p and get better performance.
Field of View: FOV or field of view determines the player’s vision when playing the game. Setting it to broader increase the visual aspect of the game.
Aspect Ratio: Field of view and aspect ratio works side by side. For getting a better and broader FOV, use a 16 x 9 aspect ratio. It displays the visuals better and broader.
VSync: Turning this parameter On causes screen tearing and performance issues. It is better to turn VSync off for getting stable FPS and more performance.
Triple Buffering: This parameter is responsible for smooth graphics and works in combination with VSync. So it is better to turn this setting Off to avoid screen tearing and getting maximum out of your hardware.
Reduce Buffering: It is better to keep this setting On as this setting ensures fewer lags in the game. Getting reduced or no lags ultimately increase the game performance.
Display Performance Stats: This setting is more of a monitoring tool than an actual setting. When On, it displays the stats but once the troubleshoot is complete, turn this setting Off to avoid any distractions.
Display System Clock: It is another distraction that hinders the gameplay. Keep this Off unless time monitoring is required.
Limit Frame Per Second: For getting better FPS set the custom value to the highest possible value. But doing so can cause performance issues on low specs hardware. Adjust the setting according to the PC hardware.
Frame Rate Cap: Set this to the highest possible value. Currently, the cap for FPS is 300 in Overwatch.
Advanced Graphics Quality Settings for Overwatch
In Overwatch, advanced graphics settings are the final decider of the gaming performance.
| Render Scale: | 100% |
| Texture Quality: Medium | Medium |
| Texture Filtering Quality: Low – 1X | Low – 1x |
| Local Fog Detail: Low | Low |
| Dynamic Reflections: Off | Off |
| Shadow Detail: Low | Low |
| Model Detail: Low | Low |
| Effects Detail: Low | Low |
| Lighting Quality: Low | Low |
| Antialias Quality: Low – FXAA | Low / FXAA |
| Refraction Quality: Low | Low |
| Screenshot Quality: 1x resolution | 1x |
| Local Reflections: Off | Off |
| Ambient Occlusion: Off | Off |
Render Scale: Never try to play with this setting below or above a hundred. In both cases, it causes issues in the game performance. Lowering the render scale below a hundred shows dull and pixelated graphics while using it above 100% causes a decline in FPS.
Texture Quality: For a 60 Hz monitor getting 60 FPS and 144 Hz monitor getting 144 FPS is the goal when selecting texture quality. Lowering the texture quality value to low can help towards the more FPS but low-quality gameplay. Similarly, setting it to high value can result in inconsistent FPS throughout the game.
Texture Filtering Quality: Having a high-end GPU gives liberation of setting many parameters to higher-end, and texture filtering is one of those settings. But if the GPU cannot handle higher settings, keeping it to the low have a minimal impact on graphics quality.
Local Fog Detail: Having fog in the game distracts the player’s attention and causes visibility issues. To get over this, keep this setting value too low. By tweaking it to low settings cause more FPS and better performance.
Dynamic Reflections: Turning this On does not improve the graphics, so keep this setting to Off.
Shadow Detail: In Overwatch, shadow detail player an essential part in the graphics quality. Shadows of enemies hiding in corners and other places give an advantage. But setting this parameter low gives good FPS.
Model Detail: This setting impacts the game graphics that handle the details of the model. At Low level, it helps to boost FPS.
Effects Detail: A significant performance gain results after turning effect details to a low value.
Lighting Quality: Lighting plays a vital role in the game visuals, but an excess of everything is terrible. That is why keeping the lighting quality low works best in most cases.
Antialias Quality: Setting it to Low – FXAA gives you smoother edges of the object in Overwatch with a slight drop in the FPS. But turning this Off produces edges of the objects that look bad.
Refraction Quality: To get the most out of refraction quality, keep this to Low settings. It helps in the optimal gameplay because it monitors the quality of light that passes through the objects.
Screenshot Quality: This is the resolution of the screenshots taken in the game, and set it to 1x is enough.
Local Reflections: Optimal setting for Local reflections in Overwatch is at Off because no significant changes happen when turning this On. By keeping it disabled, FPS improves and smoothens the gameplay.
Ambient Occlusion: This setting improves shadows and provides more depth to light in Overwatch. Turning it Off works towards better FPS and gameplay.
Overwatch Optimal Settings For NVIDIA
These are additional settings that can significantly improve the performance of Overwatch over NVIDIA graphics cards. First thing first, make sure that the video card drivers are up to date. Bear that in mind that these settings may improve performance significantly for some users but can cause no or minimal changes for others. But give them a try to see the changes as trying them cannot hurt you.
- Open the NVIDIA Control Panel directly or right by clicking on the desktop and choose it from the context menu.
- Open Manage 3D Settings from the main windows of the control panel.
- From there, go to the Program Settings tab and search there Overwatch. Some users get trouble seeing the game in that menu as the value doesn’t exist. To overcome this, click on Add and then browser for game executable and select it.
- Once done with the above step, set the Maximum Pre-Rendered Frame value to 1.
- Now set Multi-Display (Mixed GPU Acceleration) to Single Display Performance Mode in the settings.
- Go and disable Vertical Sync.
- Then prefer to set Power Management Mode to Maximum Performance to ensure better results.
- In Refresh Rate settings, set the value to the highest settings for your setup.
- Enable Threaded Optimization by selecting the option.
Best Mouse Settings For Overwatch
Gaming in Overwatch with an ordinary computer mouse gives a minimal performance. For getting over this situation, buying a good gaming mouse is the perfect solution. Crosshair movement in the game needs to match with the pace of the game perfectly. Setting DPI sensitivity at high causes the crosshair challenging to control, and it jumps over the places. Simultaneously, setting the DPI to a lower level causes splitting adjustment when moving fast-paced, driving situation handling issues. So getting the suitable DPI for the game is always recommended, and in Overwatch, it needs more precision.
In this age of Twitch and Youtube, many content creators give their DPI settings to the audience. All of these settings may be perfect for their situation and can cause issues on your side. There is no setting that is 100% perfect until you give it a try yourself and calibrate according to your experience.
Characters in Overwatch define the fate of mouse settings. It takes time to master the mouse settings in Overwatch, but you get used to change the settings according to the characters. For example, when playing the game with a healer or DPS character, you may lower the DPI as these characters’ movement is fast in the game. And when playing with a tank or slower character, DPI needs an increase as they move slow. This means that mouse settings keep changing from situation to situation and hero to hero.
The optimum DPI of the mouse in Overwatch usually lies between 400-1200 value. A tank hero in the game needs somewhere between 400 to 600 DPI range. A healer or DPS needs a DPI value between 600-800.
When talking about the Overwatch mouse sensitivity setting, the perfect value usually ranges between 30-50. Please start with the lower sensitivity and move towards a higher value. Calibrate it according to the hero type and its movement.
Keyboard Key binds Settings
For most cases, the key binds for the keyboard remain the same in all situations. It may differ slightly from the hero and personal preference perspective. Pro players use these key binds to get the maximum out of the game and remain consistent throughout the game journey.
| Directional | WASD |
| Jump | Space Bar |
| Crouch | L CTRL |
| Toggle Crouch | Off |
| Interact | F |
| Equip Weapon 1 | 1 |
| Equip Weapon 2 | 2 |
| Next Weapon | Scroll |
| Primary Fire | L Click |
| Secondary Fire | R Click |
| Reload | R |
| Quick Melee | V |
| Ability 1 | L Shift |
| Ability 2 | E |
| Ability 3 | Q |
Controller Settings
Overwatch offers excellent controller integration into the game, and it is diverse according to the hero’s nature and abilities. Most of the time, the setting remains to default with slight changes in the sensitivity and key binds.
Horizontal sensitivity links directly to the movement speed inside the game. Increasing the sensitivity ultimately increases the hero’s speed. Vertical sensitivity works similar to horizontal sensitivity, and increasing its value improves the speed and movement sensitivity. Both of these are more visible on the console as compared to PC.
Aim assist strength makes it easy to compete during the early days in the game. Keep switching the settings to find out the best one. Try to switch it off to improve the skills and avoid relying solely on the aim assist.
| Aim Assist Strength | Custom |
| Horizontal Sensitivity | 60-70 |
| Vertical Sensitivity | 75-80 |
Overwatch Controller Keybinds for PC
Keybinds in Overwatch differ from hero to hero and player to player. Aside from personal preference, these are the basic settings that equally suit beginners and pros.
| Ability 1: L1 | L1 |
| Ability 2: R1 | R1 |
| Ability 3: Y | Y |
| Jump: A | A |
| Toggle Crouch: B | B |
| Quick Melee: R3 | R3 |
| Interact: L3 | L3 |
| Primary Fire: R2 | R2 |
| Secondary Fire: L2 | L2 |
| Next Weapon: Right D-Pad | Right D-Pad |
| Reload: X | X |
Ultimate Audio Settings for Overwatch
Audio settings in Overwatch need a quality headset and configurations that hit the right place. Unlike any other shooter games, audio settings in Overwatch carry environmental noise. Configure the audio settings according to the given values.
For the last settings, a compatible Dolby Atmos headphone is a game-changer. It perfectly works for detecting the spatial movements inside the game. Thus, it enables the players to hear clear sounds and know their enemies’ or teammates’ positions.
| Music Volume | 0 |
| Master Volume | 60 |
| In-Game Voice Volume | 100 |
| Sound Effects Volume | 70-80 |
| Voice Chat Mic Volume | 80 |
| Voice Chat Volume | 100 |
| Match Voice Chat | On |
| Team Voice Chat | Auto Join |
| Group Voice Chat | Auto Join |
| Sound Plays While In Background | On |
| Subtitle | None |
| Voice Chat Devices | Custom |
| Voice Chat Mode | Push to Talk |
| Playback Device | Custom |
| Dolby Atmos for Headphones | On |
How to Remove the Overwatch Frame Rate Cap?
Sometimes making adjustments alone in the video settings does not improve the frame rate. By default, Overwatch has placed a cap over the frame rates. To ensure maximum out of the changes, you need to remove the cap. These are the easy steps to do the task.
- Go to the path: Documents/Overwatch/Settings in the PC.
- Look for Settings_v0.ini and open it.
- Locate the string FrameRateCap=” 300″ and change the value to FrameRateCap=” 400″
- Having done that, save the file and launch the game.
Note: Do not make any changes to VSync, display mode, limit FPS, and resolution after adjusting the frame rate cap settings. Once you change the value of any parameter mentioned above, you need to change the frame rate cap as the value ho back to 300 frames.
Conclusion
Overwatch is a pretty basic game when it comes to graphics settings. Compared to Call of Duty Settings, it doesn’t require taking care of any custom radar options. Make sure to follow the guidelines mentioned above and keep watch on frames per second and the mouse and controllers’ sensitivity. Make sure to get the full benefit of this guide and grind up to top players.
