Helldivers 2 Stuttering, Lags, or Freezing constantly (Solved)

Helldivers 2, from Arrowhead Game Studios and published by Sony, is a third-person shooter releasing on February 8, 2024, for PlayStation 5 and Windows. Some PC players have faced issues like stuttering and lag. To fix these, ensure your PC meets the game’s hardware requirements. High resolutions and FPS need powerful specs; inadequate ones can cause performance problems. This guide provides steps to troubleshoot and resolve these issues in Helldivers 2.

Players often face challenges like stuttering, lagging, crashing, and dropped frames, which can vary in severity across different systems. Addressing these issues is crucial for a smoother and more enjoyable gaming experience, and this guide aims to help users identify and resolve the root causes of these problems.

Helldivers 2

Check System Requirements

Check out the system requirements of the Helldivers 2 game below to ensure that your PC configuration meets the game’s system requirements.

Minimum System Requirements:

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10
Processor: Intel Core i7-4790K or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 470
Storage: 100 GB available space

1. Use Launch Options

Open your Steam client > Go to Library > Right-click on Helldivers 2.
Select Properties > On the General tab, you’ll find Launch Options.
Enter the launch options -fullscreen = Forces the engine to start in fullscreen mode.

2. Update Graphics Drivers

Right-click on the Start Menu to open up the Quick Access Menu.
Click on Device Manager from the list.
Now, double-click on the Display Adapters category to expand the list.
Then, right-click on the dedicated graphics card name.
Select Update driver > Choose Search automatically for drivers.
An update will automatically download and install the latest version if available.
Once done, make sure to reboot your computer to change the effects.

3. Run the game as an administrator

Running the game exe file and the Steam client as administrator can prevent privilege issues and user account control.

Right-click on Helldivers 2 exe shortcut file on your PC.
Now, select Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.
Make sure to click on the Run this program as an administrator checkbox to checkmark it.
Click on Apply and select OK to save changes.

4. Set High Priority in Task Manager

Make your game priority in the higher segment via the Task Manager to tell your Windows system to run the game properly. To do this:

Right-click on the Start Menu > Select Task Manager.
Click on the Processes tab > Right-click on Helldivers 2 game task.
Select Set Priority to High.
Close Task Manager.
Finally, run Helldivers 2 game to check for the issue.

5. Verify the Integrity of Game Files

If there is an issue with game files getting corrupted or missing, use this method to check for the problem easily.

Launch Steam > Click on Library.
Right-click on Helldivers 2 from the list of installed games.
Now, click on Properties > Go to Local Files.
Click on Verify Integrity of Game Files.
You’ll have to wait for the process until it gets completed.
Once done, restart your computer.

6. Change GPU Settings

It is important to check the PC’s graphics card settings to determine if any issues have been resolved. Follow the steps below to make sure the settings are correct.

For Nvidia:

Open up Nvidia’s Control Panel > Right-click on the desktop screen.
Click on Nvidia Control Panel > Click on Manage 3D Settings.
Select Program Settings > Find ‘Helldivers 2’ and manually add the game if it’s not in the list:
- Monitor Tech: G-Sync (If available)
- Maximum Pre-rendered frames: 2
- Threaded optimization: On
- Power Management: Prefer Maximum Performance
- Texture Filtering – Quality: Performance

For AMD:

Monitor Tech: G-Sync (If available)
Maximum Pre-rendered frames: 2
Threaded optimization: On
Power Management: Prefer Maximum Performance
Texture Filtering – Quality: Performance

7. Disable Fullscreen Optimizations

Full-screen optimization and DPI settings are the default ones on Windows. It would be best if you tried disabling it by following the steps below:

Locate the Helldivers 2 game directory.
Find and right-click on the Helldivers 2.exe file.
Select Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.
Checkmark the ‘Disable Full-Screen Optimizations’ box.
Now, click on the ‘Change high DPI setting button.
Checkmark the ‘Override high DPI scaling behavior’ > Select ‘Application’ from the drop-down menu.
Click on Apply and then OK to save changes.

8. Update Helldivers 2

If your Helldivers 2 game hasn’t been updated recently, follow these steps to check for updates and install the latest patch.

Open the Steam client > Go to Library > Click on Helldivers 2 from the left pane.
It’ll automatically search for the available update. If an update is available, make sure to click on Update.
Installing the update > and closing the Steam client may take some time.
Finally, reboot your PC to apply changes, and then try relaunching the game.

That’s it, guys. We assume this guide is useful to you. If you have any further queries, please comment below.