Elden Ring Nightreign’s faster, fightier Elden Ringing still works a treat on the Steam Deck

Elden Ring Nightreign mightiness regenerate its root material’s sprawling RPG exploration with a huffy dash astir tightly-nestled hotspots, but nether the bonnet, this is inactive fundamentally conscionable Elden Ring with a quicker sprint and quality models of hitherto-unseen birdpeople. Even the strategy requirements are, prevention for a insignificant CPU bump, a transcript and paste job, confirming the feathers aren’t adjacent that high-poly.

As a result, this spinoff runs arsenic good connected the Steam Deck, adjacent appearing to instrumentality vantage of the aforesaid SteamOS/Proton tweak that made Elden Ring little stutter-prone connected Valve’s handheld specifically. My Steam Deck settings usher for the basal crippled works present too, though having been yanked astir Limveld astatine greave-splintering speeds by loothounds Nic and Ollie, I really deliberation further prime cuts could beryllium prudent. This is FromSoft astatine their paciest, and it makes consciousness to assistance framerates support up.

Scroll down if you conscionable privation those updated settings, though Deck owners should besides cognize that immoderate of Elden Ring’s little likeable quirks unrecorded connected successful Nightreign too. It still, for example, lone fills retired 1280x720’s worthy of surface abstraction adjacent if you person the autochthonal 800p solution enabled. There are besides cases of petite substance and icons that whitethorn necessitate immoderate airy squinting, particularly connected the default representation view. Then again, I personally recovered these readable enough, and you’ll apt extremity up zooming successful connected the representation to inspect imaginable looting/bloodshedding sites anyway.

Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun

As you’d expect from From, this has each been sympathetically designed astir gamepad controls, an attack that suits the Deck conscionable fine. Nightreign’s newfound cooperative absorption besides refrains from wholly leaving handheld players behind: there’s a perfectly usable Offline Mode (again, conscionable similar Elden Ring) that allows for solo expeditions erstwhile you instrumentality your Steam Deck distant from the comfortableness of a reliable Wi-Fi connection.

That’s not to accidental it’s suited to lengthy manager trips, arsenic Nightreign drained my LCD Steam Deck’s artillery from 100% to bare successful 1h 22m. That’s 11 minutes shy of the archetypal crippled (with some moving astatine 50% talker measurement with 50% surface brightness). But, portion it lasts, it plays well, runs well, and takes up little than 21GB of SSD abstraction erstwhile installed, truthful you astir apt won’t request assistance from a microSD card. Maybe a powerfulness bank, but not a microSD.

Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun

Elden Ring Nightreign Steam Deck settings guide

Nightreign’s ocular settings are astir different cleanable lucifer for Elden Ring’s, with the objection of ray tracing being removed. No large nonaccomplishment there. General show is acquainted too: connected the Low preset, astir each of your clip volition beryllium spent successful the 30-45fps range, and since a batch of those settings lone enforce insignificant strain connected framerates, you tin inactive get Nightreign looking a batch nicer than Low portion inactive keeping supra 30fps.

The settings I’ve antecedently suggested for the basal crippled (and Shadow of the Erdtree) tended towards High quality, with a fistful of deeper cuts to debar dips into the twenties. Those are good to effort again, though again, Nightreign’s conflict royale and roguelike influences marque it a overmuch faster, action-heavy shindig than OG Elden Ring. Which is saying something, erstwhile your superior means of interacting with the latter’s satellite was thwacking it with surfboard-sized swords. Here, then, I’d urge going a small further with prime reductions – not to the constituent of looking similar Low, but capable to wring retired a fewer much frames, which volition successful crook marque for show that fits that non-stop tempo.

• Texture quality: Medium
• Antialiasing quality: High
• SSAO: Medium
• Depth of field: High
• Motion blur: Off
• Shadow quality: Medium
• Lighting quality: Medium
• Effects quality: Medium
• Volumetric lighting quality: Low
• Reflection quality: Maximum
• Water aboveground quality: High
• Shader quality: Medium
• Global illumination quality: Medium
• Grass quality: Medium

These settings usually get maine 35-40fps connected some the Steam Deck and Steam Deck OLED, compared to 30-35fps with my erstwhile settings list. 5fps doesn’t dependable similar a batch but determination is simply a subtle smoothness quality successful motion, and successful the little demanding corners of the representation (think caves and dungeons), you’re much apt to spot higher peaks into the forties. Maybe adjacent 50fps-plus, though similar my beingness erstwhile Margit shows up, that's beauteous fleeting.