Marvel Rivals FPS Boost: Taming Lumen on Unreal Engine 5
SHORT ANSWER
The single biggest Marvel Rivals performance lever is Global Illumination: switching it from Lumen to SSGI at low quality commonly returns 30-60 FPS on a mid-range card. Follow it with Reflection Quality set to Screen Space, DLSS or FSR at Quality with sharpening around 70-80, model detail and post-processing low, and exclusive fullscreen rather than windowed.
At a glance
| Engine | Unreal Engine 5 |
|---|---|
| Biggest single win | Global Illumination: Lumen to SSGI Low |
| Typical gain from that one change | 30-60 FPS on mid-range GPUs |
| Second win | Reflection Quality to Screen Space |
| Display mode | Exclusive fullscreen |
Key takeaways
- Global Illumination is the whole game. Lumen costs 30-60 FPS on mid-range hardware; SSGI at low quality gets almost all of it back.
- Reflection Quality set to Screen Space is the second-largest saving, for a difference you will not see during a teamfight.
- Use exclusive fullscreen, not windowed fullscreen. Exclusive mode takes the lowest-latency path to the display.
- Set upscaling sharpening around 70-80 to offset the softness DLSS and FSR introduce at Quality.
- Lower resolution last. In a hero shooter, smaller enemies on screen costs you more than the frames are worth.
Quick setup
- 1
Change Global Illumination to SSGI at low quality
Lumen is the single most expensive thing your GPU does in this game. This one change commonly returns 30-60 FPS on a mid-range card - do it before anything else, then re-measure.
- 2
Set Reflection Quality to Screen Space
The second-largest saving, for a difference you will not see during a teamfight.
- 3
Enable Super Resolution at Quality
DLSS on NVIDIA, FSR on AMD, XeSS on Intel Arc. Set Super Resolution Sharpening to about 70-80 to offset the softness.
- 4
Drop Shadow Detail, Effects and Foliage to Low
Ability effects stack heavily in teamfights, which is where frame rate matters most.
- 5
Use exclusive fullscreen with V-Sync off
Windowed fullscreen routes through the Windows compositor and adds a step. V-Sync trades a full frame of delay for tear-free output, which a shooter cannot afford.
- 6
Only then consider lowering resolution
It makes enemy heroes physically smaller on screen. If you need more frames, use the upscaler's Performance mode instead so the UI stays sharp.
Global Illumination is the setting that matters
Marvel Rivals is built on Unreal Engine 5 and uses Lumen, the engine's real-time global illumination system, by default. Lumen produces genuinely beautiful indirect lighting, and it is the most expensive thing your GPU does in this game by a very wide margin - commonly 30 to 60 frames on a mid-range card.
Switching Global Illumination from Lumen to SSGI at low quality replaces it with a far cheaper screen-space approximation. The scene loses some depth in shadowed areas. Your frame rate does not lose a teamfight.
The rest of the settings, in order of impact
| Setting | Recommended | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Global Illumination | SSGI, Low quality | The single largest performance lever in the game. Typically worth 30-60 FPS on mid-range hardware. |
| Reflection Quality | Screen Space | The second-largest saving. Ray-traced and Lumen reflections are expensive and invisible during a fight. |
| Super Resolution (DLSS / FSR / XeSS) | Quality | The biggest free gain after lighting. Match the technology to your GPU vendor and never enable two at once. |
| Super Resolution Sharpening | 70-80 | Upscaling at Quality softens the image slightly. This offsets it without introducing the ringing artefacts you get near 100. |
| Display Mode | Fullscreen (exclusive) | Windowed fullscreen adds a compositor step. Exclusive takes the lowest-latency path to the monitor. |
| V-Sync | Off | Trades a full frame of latency to stop tearing. That is not a trade a shooter can afford - cap frames and use VRR instead. |
| Model Detail | Low or Medium | Hero models are large and distinctive; the detail reduction is barely visible in motion and the CPU saving is real. |
| Shadow Detail | Low | Large GPU saving with no competitive information loss in this game. |
| Effects / Post-Processing | Low | Ability effects stack heavily in teamfights. This is where frame rate collapses at the moment it matters most. |
| Foliage Quality | Low | Cheap win on the maps that have it, and less visual clutter to hide enemies. |
| Resolution | Native - change this last | Lowering resolution makes enemy heroes physically smaller on screen. Exhaust every setting above before touching it. |
If you are on a low-end machine
The order still holds, it just becomes stricter. Work top to bottom and stop when you reach a stable frame rate above your refresh rate:
- Global Illumination to SSGI Low. Non-negotiable, and it may be all you need.
- Reflection Quality to Screen Space.
- Super Resolution to Quality, then Balanced if required.
- Shadow Detail, Effects and Foliage to Low.
- Model Detail to Low.
- Only now consider lowering resolution - and if you do, use the upscaler's Performance mode rather than dropping your display resolution, so the UI stays sharp.
Frequently asked questions
How do I fix low FPS in Marvel Rivals?
Change Global Illumination from Lumen to SSGI at low quality. It is the single most expensive setting in the game and switching it commonly returns 30-60 FPS on mid-range hardware. Then set Reflection Quality to Screen Space, enable DLSS, FSR or XeSS at Quality with sharpening around 70-80, and drop Shadow Detail, Effects and Foliage to Low. Lower your resolution only as a last resort.
Should I use fullscreen or windowed in Marvel Rivals?
Exclusive fullscreen. It takes the lowest-latency path to your monitor, while windowed fullscreen routes through the Windows compositor and adds a step. If you need to alt-tab frequently and want to stay borderless, at least enable the windowed-game optimizations toggle in Windows display graphics settings, which recovers most of the difference.
What sharpening value should I use with DLSS in Marvel Rivals?
Around 70-80. Upscaling at Quality reconstructs from a lower internal resolution and softens the image slightly; sharpening in that range restores perceived detail without the halo and ringing artefacts that appear as you approach 100. Adjust to taste - it is a preference setting, not a performance one.
WRITTEN BY
Frost Live
Frost Live is the founder of Frozen Tweaks and the creator behind the FrozenTweaks optimization guides. He has spent years testing Windows, GPU driver and in-game settings on competitive titles including Counter-Strike 2, Valorant, Fortnite, Apex Legends and Call of Duty, and turned the tweaks that survived that testing into the Frozen Tweaks optimizer.
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