Stalker 2: Heart Of Chernobyl is the long-awaited sequel, taking players back to the harrowing horrors of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. Equally as terrifying is the presence of input lag for many PC players, and I’m here to show you how to fix this.
No one likes input lag, and it’s one of the most frustrating issues in gaming. Forget Stalker 2: Heart Of Chernobyl, any game with input lag sets itself up for failure. A sports title with input lag offers inconsistent gameplay, fighting games depend on smooth gameplay for flawless combos, and let’s not get started on entries in the rhythm genre.
First-person shooters are no strangers to input lag, and it makes shots fire with far less precision than required. Stalker 2 has a plethora of intense firefights, so let’s help you fix any input lag to make your time in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone slightly less stressful than it already is.
Stalker 2: Heart Of Chernobyl Input Lag Solutions
You can improve—and fix Stalker 2: Heart Of Chernobyl’s input lag by turning off various features from Frame Generation to V-Sync, lowering your graphics settings, changing the Upscaling, and updating Graphics Drivers.
Adjust Graphics
No matter how perfect your rig is, it might not be worth trying to run Stalker 2 at higher performance settings. We’ve already discussed Stalker 2’s PC Specs and the best ways to enjoy the shooter. However, even if you can hit the recommended specs, if you’re facing input lag, I’d suggest biting the bullet (not literally) and tuning everything down.
Lower the frame rate, decrease the quality and crispness of the textures, and focus on performance over image quality.
Change Upscaling
The second solution to fix input lag in Stalker 2 starts with Upscaling. Whether dynamic or natural Upscaling, the process takes an image/picture and refines it to create a slighter better picture. The option is present in Stalker 2, but players have found choosing a different option might be better:
- Pause Stalker 2.
- Go to the Options menu.
- Scroll across to the Graphics tab.
- Head down to Upscaling method.
- Change this to TAA.
Graphics Driver Updates
Updating your Graphics Drivers is a simple and effective fix commonly overlooked. I see players have great success with this, and it’s as simple as checking your Graphics Driver—NVIDIA, in most cases—opening it up, and updating the software to the latest version. This can fix performance issues, ensure your system is up to date, and potentially reduce (if not cure) input lag.
Turn Off Features
This goes back to our “Adjust Graphics” section, but modern-day games have a ton of settings designed to improve various aspects of a title. This sometimes comes at the detriment of a game though, and in Stalker 2’s case, the community has recognized input lag can be attributed to several settings:
- FSR
- V-Sync
- Frame Generation
Simply, turn these off in the settings menu, and see if it affects your input lag. Even if it alleviates some of the problem by even a few ms, it’s better than nothing.
Stalker 2’s performance and graphics settings are two of the biggest issues with the shooter sequel, and developer GSC Game World is already on the case to fix this. Stay tuned for more solutions and, hopefully, a complete fix for input lag.
How bad is input lag for you in Stalker 2: Heart Of Chernobyl? Is it manageable or game-breaking? Let us know, and if you can persevere to enjoy Stalker 2, check out how to upgrade weapons, as well as how to fast travel.
