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Use Balanced upscaling as the starting point. For most systems, the practical targets are 1080p at 30 FPS on Low, 1080p at 60 FPS on Medium, 1440p at 60 FPS on High, and 4K at 60 FPS on Ultra. Those targets are not native-resolution guarantees: the published requirements assume an upscaler running in Balanced mode.
Start with Frame Generation disabled, establish a stable base frame rate, then tune Shadow, Light, Foliage and Detail Quality in that order. On an RTX 4060, a small quality reduction averaged 62 FPS with a 46 FPS 1% low at 1440p, while the unmodified High preset with DLSS Balanced averaged 50 FPS and a 35 FPS 1% low in PC Gamer’s repeatable test route.
The recommended settings ladder
The table below converts the published Rebel Wolves targets reported by PC Gamer in 2026 into practical starting points. Every row assumes Balanced upscaling unless stated otherwise. A GPU listed for a resolution is therefore not proof that it can render that resolution natively at the same frame rate.
| Target | Preset | Published GPU examples | Video memory | CPU guidance | Upscaler | Frame Generation | 1% low data | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p, 30 FPS | Low | GeForce GTX 1060 or Radeon RX 580 | 6 GB or more | Not stated | Balanced | Off for the baseline | Not stated | Prioritize consistent frame times over effects quality |
| 1080p, 60 FPS | Medium | GeForce RTX 2060 Super, GTX 1070 Ti, Radeon RX 5700 or Intel Arc A750 | At least 8 GB | Not stated | Balanced | Off for the baseline | Not stated | A sensible mainstream target if the CPU keeps up |
| 1440p, 60 FPS | High | GeForce RTX 4060, Radeon RX 7600 XT or Intel Arc B580 | At least 8 GB | Not stated in the requirement row; PC Gamer tested an RTX 4060 with a Ryzen 7 7700X | Balanced | Add only after the base result is responsive | Not stated in the requirement row | Use a custom mix if the High preset misses your frame-time target |
| 2160p (4K), 60 FPS | Ultra | GeForce RTX 4070 Ti or Radeon RX 9070 | At least 12 GB | Ryzen 7 7800X3D or Core i7-12700K class | Balanced | Optional after a stable base result | Not stated | A Balanced-upscaling target, not a native-4K promise |
Across the tiers, plan on Windows 10 or later, DirectX 12, 16 GB of system memory and at least 60 GB of SSD space. The graphics requirements are sensitive to the game patch, display resolution, driver, upscaler mode and the scene being rendered, so treat the table as a starting classification rather than a guarantee of a locked frame rate.
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Before you tune: understand what the numbers mean
Balanced upscaling is part of the requirement
The final requirements matrix is explicitly based on Balanced upscaling. The game renders internally below your selected output resolution and reconstructs the image to the display resolution. A card that meets the 1440p High row may therefore be a good 1440p output-resolution choice while still being unable to render 2560×1440 natively at 60 FPS.
Native-resolution results should be considered a separate, more demanding goal. If you disable the upscaler, lower your expectations or move down a preset before assuming that a card is underperforming.
Average FPS is not the whole experience
Open-world traversal, weather, combat and nighttime scenes can produce very different frame times. PC Gamer’s RTX 4060 run averaged 62 FPS with a custom mix, yet a more demanding night fight averaged 53 FPS with the same settings. That is why a 1% low and the consistency of frame times matter more than a single peak or average number.
Low-end settings: 1080p at 30 FPS on Low
Who this target is for
The Low target is built around a GTX 1060 or RX 580 with at least 6 GB of VRAM, 16 GB of RAM and an SSD. Select 1920×1080 as the output resolution and Balanced as the upscaling mode. The objective is a stable 30 FPS, not a fluctuating 40 to 50 FPS average that feels uneven during traversal.
Recommended starting configuration
- Preset: Low.
- Output resolution: 1920×1080.
- Upscaler: Balanced.
- Frame Generation: Disabled while establishing the baseline.
- V-Sync: Use it only if you see tearing; test it after the base frame rate is stable.
- Texture quality: Keep it as high as available VRAM allows, then reduce it if you see texture pop-in or hitching caused by memory pressure.
If the frame rate is unstable, reduce Shadow Quality first. Shadows are expensive and their lower setting usually costs less image clarity than aggressively reducing the internal resolution. Next reduce Light, Foliage and Detail Quality. Low shadows can reveal more pop-in, and lowering foliage removes some ground clutter, but those compromises are preferable to repeated frame-time spikes on this class of hardware.
30-FPS frame-time checks
Enable an in-game or driver frame-rate limit at 30 FPS if the game cannot hold a higher cap consistently. A capped, even 30 FPS presentation is generally more comfortable than an uncapped result that swings between the mid-20s and 40s. Walk the same 60-to-90-second route through an outdoor area, enter a populated location and trigger one combat encounter before deciding whether the setting is stable.
Mid-range settings: 1080p at 60 FPS on Medium
Hardware class
The 1080p/60 Medium row includes the RTX 2060 Super, GTX 1070 Ti, RX 5700 and Arc A750, with at least 8 GB of VRAM and 16 GB of RAM. Use Balanced upscaling even though the output resolution is 1080p; it gives the GPU headroom for open-world scenes and lets you retain Medium-quality lighting and geometry.
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Order of adjustments when 60 FPS slips
- Lower Shadow Quality one step.
- Lower Light Quality one step.
- Lower Foliage Quality one step.
- Lower Detail Quality one step.
- Only then test a more aggressive upscaler mode such as Performance.
This sequence preserves the overall image better than immediately reducing the reconstruction resolution. Keep Light, Foliage and Detail at Medium if your frame-time graph permits it. Foliage reduction removes small plants and ground clutter, while shadow reduction can make objects appear or disappear more abruptly at distance.
CPU limits at 1080p
At 1080p, the graphics card may finish its work quickly enough that the processor becomes the limit in towns, dense forests or combat involving many characters. If lowering visual settings barely changes the frame rate and GPU utilization falls well below full load, the bottleneck is probably CPU-side. A more aggressive upscaler will not solve that condition; use a frame-rate cap, close background workloads and check for shader compilation or streaming activity instead.
Upper-mid-range settings: 1440p at 60 FPS on High
Recommended hardware and baseline
The target class is an RTX 4060, RX 7600 XT or Arc B580 with 16 GB of system memory, at least 8 GB of VRAM and a 60 GB SSD. Select 2560×1440 output, the High preset and Balanced upscaling. Begin with Frame Generation off so you can judge the responsiveness of the actual rendered frames.
What the RTX 4060 test shows
In PC Gamer’s repeatable 1440p route on an RTX 4060 paired with a Ryzen 7 7700X, the High preset with DLSS Balanced averaged 50 FPS and produced a 35 FPS 1% low. Changing only the upscaler to DLSS Performance raised the average to 56 FPS and the 1% low to 37 FPS, at the cost of more aggressive reconstruction.
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| 1440p configuration on RTX 4060 | Average FPS | 1% low | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
| High preset, DLSS Balanced | 50 | 35 | Sharper reconstruction than Performance, but below a consistent 60-FPS target in the tested route |
| High preset, DLSS Performance | 56 | 37 | Closer to 60 FPS, with a softer internal render |
| Shadow Low, Light Medium, Foliage Medium, Detail Medium; DLSS Balanced | 62 | 46 | Best balance in that test, with limited visual loss from the four quality changes |
| High preset, DLSS Balanced, 2x Frame Generation | 73 | 42 | Smoother displayed motion, but generated frames are not equivalent to 73 FPS of base rendering |
The custom mix to try first
Set Shadow Quality to Low, and Light, Foliage and Detail Quality to Medium. Leave the other High settings unchanged, keep DLSS or your selected upscaler on Balanced, and repeat the same route. PC Gamer’s result was 62 FPS average with a 46 FPS 1% low, a meaningful improvement over the unmodified High preset with a limited visual penalty.
The largest visible compromise is shadow distance and stability: Low shadows can show more pop-in. Medium foliage removes some small vegetation, and Medium detail reduces distant object complexity. If those changes are unacceptable, restore one setting at a time and measure the resulting 1% low rather than changing several options together.
High-end settings: 4K at 60 FPS on Ultra
Hardware class and limits
The published 2160p/60 Ultra target names an RTX 4070 Ti or RX 9070, at least 12 GB of VRAM, 16 GB of RAM and a Ryzen 7 7800X3D or Core i7-12700K-class processor. It still assumes Balanced upscaling. Native 3840×2160 rendering has a substantially higher pixel workload and should be treated as a separate enthusiast target.
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How to approach Ultra
Start with Ultra plus Balanced upscaling and Frame Generation disabled. If the base frame rate is below your comfort threshold, lower Shadows first, then Light, Foliage and Detail. You can also move the upscaler to Performance, but compare fine foliage, hair and distant geometry in motion; a static screenshot can hide reconstruction artifacts.
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At 4K, GPU load is usually the dominant limit, but crowded settlements can still expose a CPU or streaming bottleneck. A high average with severe traversal hitching is not a successful 60-FPS configuration. Watch frame-time behavior while moving between indoor and outdoor areas, not only during a quiet camera pan.
DLSS, FSR, XeSS and Frame Generation
Choosing an upscaler
PC Gamer’s measured 1440p results use DLSS. AMD’s official game page confirms FSR support and lists the RX 580 as minimum AMD hardware and the RX 7600 XT as recommended AMD hardware. For a GeForce RTX card, start with DLSS Balanced; for a Radeon card, start with FSR Balanced; on Intel Arc, use XeSS if the option is available in your build and compare it against the other available modes. The supplied performance data does not establish a universal winner between DLSS, FSR and XeSS, so judge them at equal output resolution and the same route.
Balanced should be the default because it is also the mode used for the published hardware tiers. Performance can recover several frames, as the RTX 4060 test demonstrates, but it lowers internal resolution and can make foliage, thin geometry and motion detail look softer. Do not switch modes until the quality preset itself is stable; otherwise you cannot tell which change helped.
Why Frame Generation comes last
Frame Generation inserts interpolated frames between traditionally rendered frames. It can make camera motion look smoother, but it does not remove a CPU bottleneck, shader compilation hitch or slow input response caused by a low base frame rate. Dave James of PC Gamer described the interpolated frames as “simply smoothing out your experience to make a lower frame rate feel far more comfortable,” rather than equivalent extra rendering performance.
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In the RTX 4060 test, High with DLSS Balanced and 2x Frame Generation reached 73 FPS average and a 42 FPS 1% low. The base result was still the High/Balanced configuration, so the generated 73-FPS display should not be compared directly with a native 73-FPS render. Add Frame Generation only after the non-generated frame rate feels responsive, then check for ghosting, UI artifacts and input lag.
A repeatable tuning procedure
- Update the game and graphics driver. Record the patch number and driver version so later comparisons are meaningful.
- Select the output resolution. Choose 1920×1080, 2560×1440 or 3840×2160 before changing quality settings.
- Disable Frame Generation. This gives you a truthful base result and exposes CPU or shader limitations.
- Choose Balanced upscaling. Select DLSS, FSR or XeSS according to the options available for your GPU, then leave the mode unchanged during the first pass.
- Run one repeatable route for 60 to 90 seconds. Use the same outdoor path, a populated area and a short combat sequence. Include a demanding night scene if that is where you normally play.
- Log average FPS and the 1% low. Also note visible hitching, texture streaming and input response. A higher average with a worse 1% low may feel slower.
- Reduce Shadow Quality first. If needed, lower Light, Foliage and Detail one step at a time, measuring after each change.
- Test Performance upscaling only after the preset is stable. Compare moving foliage, hair, thin branches and distant objects rather than judging a paused frame.
- Add Frame Generation last. Keep it only if the base frame rate is responsive and the visual artifacts are acceptable.
- Save the final profile and retest after patches. A hotfix, driver update or changed scene can alter frame times without any hardware change.
Diagnosing poor performance
The GPU is at or near full load
Lower Shadow, Light, Foliage and Detail in that order. If the image remains acceptable, move from Balanced to Performance upscaling. At 4K, this is the most common path to recover headroom because the GPU is processing many more pixels.
The GPU is underused but FPS is low
The processor, asset streaming or shader compilation may be limiting performance. Lowering the upscaler will not help if the GPU is waiting. Close background applications, use an SSD, cap the frame rate to the level the CPU can sustain and repeat the route after the first traversal has completed its shader work.
Average FPS looks good but motion feels uneven
Check the 1% low and the frame-time graph. A 60-FPS average can hide repeated drops into the 30s. Disable Frame Generation while troubleshooting, keep the cap below the worst spikes and test V-Sync only after frame pacing is otherwise stable.
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Record the new patch, driver and upscaler mode before changing settings. A settings guide summarizing the official hotfix notes reports FSR Frame Generation and V-Sync fixes in Hotfix 1.0.4, plus shader-compilation improvements in Hotfix 1.0.5. Those changes can reduce specific problems, but they do not guarantee that every system will be stutter-free. Allow the game to complete its initial shader work, then rerun the same route.
Visual trade-offs worth understanding
- Shadow Quality: Usually the best first reduction for performance. Low can increase shadow pop-in and make transitions more obvious.
- Light Quality: Affects the cost and richness of dynamic lighting. Medium is often a useful compromise.
- Foliage Quality: Lower values remove some ground clutter and vegetation density, which is noticeable in forests and fields.
- Detail Quality: Controls distant geometry and scene complexity. Medium can improve frame time without changing the overall color or lighting style.
- Upscaler mode: Balanced protects detail better; Performance trades reconstruction quality for additional GPU headroom.
- Frame Generation: Raises displayed smoothness after interpolation, but does not raise the underlying base-render responsiveness by the same amount.
How to choose a target for your own PC
Use the tier table as a classification, then validate it with the route test. If your card is close to a listed model but has less VRAM, start one tier lower and raise settings gradually. If you have more CPU performance but the same GPU, expect better behavior in crowded scenes rather than a guaranteed increase in GPU-limited averages. If your monitor runs at 120 Hz or higher, do not chase a high displayed number with Frame Generation until the base frame rate and 1% low are comfortable.
For a 30-FPS target, a stable cap and consistent frame times are more valuable than Ultra effects. For 60 FPS, the 1% low should be close enough to the average that traversal and combat do not feel like separate modes. For 4K, remember that every published tier assumes Balanced upscaling; native rendering demands a separate test and a larger performance budget.
Bottom line
Start at the tier that matches your output resolution, but keep Balanced upscaling enabled because that assumption is built into the published requirements. Disable Frame Generation, run a repeatable route, and lower Shadow, Light, Foliage and Detail Quality before switching to a more aggressive upscaler. The strongest evidence for a practical 1440p High setup is the RTX 4060 custom mix—Shadow Low with the other three settings at Medium—which averaged 62 FPS and a 46 FPS 1% low in PC Gamer’s route. Treat every result as scene-, patch- and driver-dependent, and use the 1% low to decide whether the game actually feels stable.
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