Let’s not beat about the bush here – Bloodlines 2 doesn’t run well on PC right now. Even if you follow our advice and use the best Bloodlines 2 settings, the chances are that your gaming PC or laptop will still struggle to run the game smoothly. We’ve encountered many performance issues that, at times, make the game difficult to play, with more than a few frustrating bugs present that also need to be squashed.
The Bloodlines 2 system requirements are fairly low and don’t call for any of the best graphics card picks from our buying guide, unless you’re aiming for 4K ultra gameplay. This makes the poor performance we’ve experienced so far in Bloodlines 2 all the more disappointing, and even the inclusion of tech such as Nvidia DLSS 4 with multi-frame gen can’t save it, at least not yet.
Best Bloodlines 2 settings on PC
- VSync: On
- Frame Rate Limit: Unlimited
- Nvidia Reflex Low Latency: Enabled + Boost
- Nvidia DLSS: Quality (AMD FSR options available for incompatible GPUs)
- Nvidia DLSS Frame Generation: 4x for RTX 5000 cards; 2x for RTX 4000 cards
- Global Illumination: High
- Shadows: High
- Anti-Aliasing: High
- View Distance: Far
- Texture Quality: High
- Effects: High
- Reflections: High
- Post-Processing: High
Using the above settings on our GeForce RTX 5070 machine but without frame gen, we were able to achieve an average frame rate of 61fps with 1% lows of 34fps at 1,920 x 1,080. Moving up to 2,560 x 1,440, this dropped to an average of 52fps with 1% lows of 24fps. Finally, at 4K, this dropped further to an average of 21fps with a 1% low of 12fps.
One clear sign of the inconsistent frame rates we experienced at all resolutions is the fact that the minimum frame rate for each resolution is also 1fps. Even when lowering the graphics settings, the performance never magically jumped to a point where it was stable, and based on the system requirements, the GPU in our test rig should be more than capable of hitting 60fps at 1440p using the ultra graphics preset, even if our test CPU doesn’t quite hit the mark. Instead, we are running a slightly modified version of the high graphics preset, and our results were still poor.
When enabling multi-frame gen, a feature only available on the RTX 5000 cards, the average frame rate would hit 190fps at 1080p, 157fps at 1440p, and 85fps at 4K, but the 1% lows remained similar, and performance was still noticeably janky. As we’ve experienced in other game tests, frame gen can be a useful tool to smooth out your frame rate if you have a good enough starting point, but the 1% lows aren’t high enough to make it realistically useful in this game.
Bloodlines 2 issues
We encountered a multitude of performance issues during our time testing Bloodlines 2, including consistent frame rate drops, severe frame stuttering, synchronization issues, and additional quirks such as the Enter key reshaping the game window every time it was pressed.
While multi-frame gen does make Bloodlines 2 look a bit smoother in action, there is still evident clunkiness in the gameplay that never goes away, leaving us feeling that there is still a ton of optimization for the developer to do in Bloodlines 2.
As for the other issues, every time I’ve booted Bloodlines 2, the mouse has been completely out of sync with the screen, meaning I have to move the mouse around, trying to figure out where the game thinks my cursor is positioned, versus where I can actually see it.
As for the Enter key issue, this is a less consistent bug that I’ve managed to avoid with game restarts, but at times, I’ve found that hitting the Enter key would change the game from fullscreen mode into windowed mode. This was particularly frustrating, as you need to hit the Enter key to progress through character dialog choices.
Bloodlines 2 presets
Bloodlines 2 comes with four graphics presets in total.
There’s also an auto-detect graphics tool, which will pre-determine the best settings based on your gaming PC specs. Each setting also comes with a long explanation about what it impacts in-game, although there is no VRAM calculator or indication of how settings affect specific resources, as we’ve seen in other games, such as Black Ops 7.
How we tested Bloodlines 2
At PCGamesN, we use dedicated gaming rigs to test the best settings for performance and gameplay in the latest releases. The test rig used to play Bloodlines 2 includes the following components: Intel Core i7-11700F, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070, 32GB of DDR4 3,200MHz RAM in dual-channel configuration, and an MSI B560 motherboard. We also test using Windows 11 64-bit.
We always run our testing first at 1,920 x 1,080 to identify the best settings for this entry-level resolution, then again at 2,560 x 1,440 using the same setup to gauge the difference in performance. Finally, we also test in 4K. We use CapFrameX to capture frame data and compare testing sessions.
Does Bloodlines 2 need an SSD?
Bloodlines 2 does not require the use of an SSD, according to the system requirements. This means the game can be downloaded and booted from a traditional hard drive, but if you want to get the fastest game-loading times, we still recommend upgrading to an SSD.
If you are interested in upgrading from an old-school mechanical drive or just need some extra storage space, you can find our current SSD recommendations in our best gaming SSD guide.
How to monitor performance in Bloodlines 2
If you want to keep an eye on performance in Bloodlines 2, we have an easy method that works whether you’re using an Nvidia or AMD graphics card.
For Nvidia cards, ensure you have the Nvidia App installed and the in-game overlay enabled, and then hit ALT + R in-game to bring up your performance monitor. With AMD cards, you can enable performance monitoring via the Radeon overlay using the shortcut CTRL + SHIFT + O.
Alternatively, you can download free software such as CapFrameX or Nvidia FrameView, to get a cleaner, more simplified benchmarking tool that works with any graphics card.
With handheld gaming PCs, most will have a dedicated button to access a quick menu from which performance monitoring, sometimes called real-time monitoring, can be accessed.
We’ve also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.
