HUGE Gains! – Mechanicus II PC Performance Update Tested

Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II has received its big “Performance Update”, and it is transformative

Bulwark Studios has released its “substantial optimisation update” for Warhammer 40,000 Mechanicus II. At launch, the game ran incredibly poorly on our test system, and today we can report substantial performance improvements on PC.

This update improves Mechanicus 2’s performance and stability. It also adds some welcome new features to the game, such as a “mission restart from the War Map” feature. Mechanicus fans are getting improved performance and requested features.

What does this update do?

Mechanicus 2’s big June update moves Mechanicus 2 to a newer version of Unity, the game’s engine. This is a large technical update that includes many under-the-hood changes. For example, the game has moved from DirectX 11 to DirectX 12 on PC.

The primary aim of this update is to improve Mechanicus II’s baseline performance. While performance gains will vary based on your PC hardware configuration, our testing has proved that substantial gains are possible.

To give gamers better control over performance, two new graphical options are available. These are Mesh LOD quality, which controls 3D model quality at a distance, and Background effects, which controls visual effects on background elements.

We will also note that DLSS quality appears to be improved. Using DLSS performance mode, we observed notable gains in image quality. This was especially true at lower output resolutions. We will also note that this game appears to use AMD FSR 1, which is a tad disappointing.

Full release notes for Mechanicus 2’s big June update are available here.

What are the performance implications?

When we tested Mechanicus 2 at launch, the game performed poorly on our test system. We tested the game using both AMD and Nvidia GPUs, and both performed poorly. Even at 1080p, with minimum settings and DLSS set to performance mode, we couldn’t maintain a consistently stable 60+ FPS. Something was clearly wrong. We tried older drivers, a fresh game install, and other tweaks, but nothing worked. The game just ran poorly on our test system, even with an Nvidia RTX 5080. Thankfully, the game’s newest update has changed things.

At native 4K maximum settings, Mechanicus II’s newest game update has boosted the game’s average framerate by 114% in our test area. This is almost enough to push our average framerate over the 60 FPS mark. We replicated the test settings we used on the game’s day-1 build, and found similar gains. Mechanicus 2 now runs much better on PC.

While we will note that not all PC gamers experienced major performance issues when playing Mechanicus 2, we did. The game’s latest update has effectively fixed it for us. Before this update, the game simply couldn’t run well on our gaming system. Now, we can achieve solid performance levels on PC. The game now feels good to play on PC.

Further improvements are possible, but Mechanicus 2 is now a game that’s worth playing

I enjoyed Mechanicus 2’s gameplay at launch, but its poor performance killed the experience. In its turn-based battles, the game’s framerates would dip, and the game would look choppy. While I wanted to play more of the game, I didn’t want to subject myself to a subpar experience. If you’re using an RTX 5080 and can’t play a game with a solid framerate, something’s wrong. Thankfully, Bulwark Games has addressed our performance concerns with its big performance update.

Moving to a new version of Unity and DirectX 12 has greatly improved Mechanicus 2’s baseline performance. Well, at least for us. However, this does not mean that further improvements couldn’t be made. For starters, moving from FSR 1 to FSR 3/4 would be great for AMD users. XeSS would also be welcome for Intel GPU users. Furthermore, Frame Generation would be a good fit for this turn-based game. Latency isn’t an issue for turn-based games. This makes Frame Generation a great add-on for a game like this, as it can increase smoothness with no negative consequences.

I’ve been waiting for this update. I wanted to play more Mechanicus 2. Thanks to this update, I can now do this without gritting my teeth. The game now runs much better on PC, and that’s great news for everyone.

You can join the discussion on Warhammer 40,000 Mechanicus 2’s big performance update on the OC3D Forums.