Best Mecha Break settings for PC and Steam Deck

Mecha Break is proving to be a hit on Steam, even if players have already assembled a laundry list of requests for future improvements. While the game isn't overly demanding, we've dug into it to find the best Mecha Break settings to squeeze every last drop of performance out of this chaotic PvP mech game.

The Mecha Break system requirements shouldn't scare anyone with a gaming PC or laptop built within the last five years, but if you're using an old or low-end graphics card, it's worth checking out our buying guide to the best GPU, as you're likely to need an upgrade if you wan tot run this game at a high resolution with decent settings. Mecha Break is also verified for Steam Deck, which is great news for owners of Valve's handheld, but you won't be able to tweak many settings.

• Rendering Quality: Ultra
• Texture: High
• Depth of Field: On
• Interface Soft Lighting: On
• Global Illumination: High
• Screen Space Ambient Occlusion: On
• Screen Space Reflection: Off
• Volumetric Fog: High
• Scene Interactions: On
• Weather Effects: Ultra
• Virtual Geometry Precision: Ultra
• Terrain Precision: Ultra
• Vegetation Precision: Ultra
• Special Effects Quality (self): Ultra
• Special Effects Quality (others): Ultra
• Special Effects Precision: Ultra
• High Quality Hair: On
• Streamed Texture Quality: Standard
• Motion Blur Intensity: Medium
• Radial Blur Intensity: Medium

Using the above settings on our RTX 4070 testing rig, we achieved an average frame rate of 106fps with 1% lows of 65fps at 1,920 x 1,080. Moving this up to 2,560 x 1,440 brought the average frame rate down to 100fps with a 1% low of 64fps. Finally, at 4K, the average frame rate was 99fps with a 1% low of 61fps.

These are incredibly strong results given that we've bumped the majority of the settings to ultra. While we've already pointed out that Mecha Break doesn't have unruly system requirements, the graphical ceiling is quite high, and the overall image quality is fantastic at the highest preset.

Given that Mecha Break is a competitive shooter at heart, you may want to adjust some of the settings to improve both the average frame rate and the 1% lows. However, with the 1% low sitting above 60fps in our testing, the game is still remarkably smooth and performs well in online matches.

Mecha Break upscaling and frame generation settings

• Super Resolution: Nvidia DLSS
• Super Resolution Quality: Deep Learning

Mecha Break has support for both Nvidia DLSS 4 and AMD FSR included, and throughout our testing, we had DLSS enabled on the Deep Learning setting, which is effectively a different name for DLAA.

This means we were using Nvidia's AI-driven anti-aliasing to smooth jagged edges in the game, rather than using the default anti-aliasing option.

We cycled through the various upscaling settings across both DLSS and FSR, but ultimately found that we didn't require upscaling to obtain desirable performance.

As for frame generation, it's included in the graphics menu, but we don't recommend using it. This is because, as we've already stated, Mecha Break is a multiplayer game, and enabling frame generation can introduce some minor input lag, which would be frustrating in this environment.

Best Mecha Break settings for Steam Deck

Currently, the graphics options for Mecha Break on the Steam Deck are locked, which is becoming a common practice for certain games to obtain a verified rating.

In the case of Mecha Break, three options are still customizable, but only the AMD FSR setting can have a meaningful impact on performance. Leaving it on the auto setting resulted in a consistent frame rate of 58fps. Very occasionally, this would spike above 60fps, but rarely would it drop below 55fps. We recommend capping the Steam Deck frame rate to 60fps for the best experience.

Changing the FSR setting to any of the available profiles, be it quality, performance, or balanced, would result in the frame rate dropping to the mid-40s. This could just be a bug that needs fixing, but for now we advise playing it safe and sticking with the auto setting.

• AMD FSR: Auto
• Depth of Field: Off
• Motion Blur: Medium

Mecha Break graphics presets

There are six total graphics presets in Mecha Break, with two of these options being quite unconventional.

• Low
• Medium
• High
• Ultra
• Cinematic
• Esports

The first four profiles are self-explanatory, but the cinematic and esports presets are effectively polar opposites, with the cinematic setting being focused on graphical fidelity, while the esports preset focuses on achieving a fast frame rate.

Having also tried out both presets, they're not as extreme as I first feared, with the esports preset still maintaining a good level of graphical fidelity, and the cinematic preset still offering a solid frame rate, despite the focus on visuals. However, this could be a very different story on hardware that isn't as powerful as our testing rig.

In the below image, you can see the quite substantial leap in quality between the low and ultra preset. There is far more detail to the image at ultra, as well as additional lighting effects. However, the general character model quality isn't hugely different, with the edges simply being sharper at the ultra preset.

Elsewhere, there is no VRAM calculator in the Mecha Break settings menu, which is a shame given the sheer wealth of options on offer. It would be nice to see a representation of how each setting impacts the graphics memory usage, rather than having to blindly run through a trial-and-error process.

Mecha Break accessibility settings

Mecha Break has a surprisingly detailed accessibility menu, covering a range of gameplay tweaks that can make playing the game easier based on personal preference or individual needs.

The range of options includes settings such as melee aim assist, hit indicators, HUD modes, map markers, and a range of action toggles. Common accessibility settings, such as subtitles, remain part of the audio menu.

How we tested Mecha Break

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 Mecha Break includes the following components: Intel Core i7-11700F, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 12GB, 32GB of DDR4 3,200MHz RAM in a 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 Mecha Break need an SSD?

Mecha Break does not require an SSD, but one is recommended, as per the system requirements. Due to the long loading times you can experience without one, it's highly recommended that you upgrade if you still currently use a mechanical drive.

If you grab yourself the best gaming SSD from our buying guide for your existing gaming PC, it will really help keep game loading times in check while also providing some minor performance boosts.

How to monitor performance in Mecha Break

If you want to keep an eye on performance in Mecha Break, 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.

If you're hoping to have the most comprehensive keybinding setup in Mecha Break, you're going to want to upgrade to one of the best gaming keyboard picks from our extensive buying guide. Meanwhile, if you're struggling to get to grips with the wealth of mechs on offer, check out our Mecha Break tier list for a complete rundown of each striker.

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