First, describe the symptom precisely
“Lag” covers at least four different problems, and they have different causes. Note which one you have before changing anything.
| Symptom | What it usually points at |
|---|---|
| Everything runs in slow motion | The game is not hitting its target frame rate at all |
| Stutter when entering a new area | Loading, rather than sustained performance |
| Low FPS that is otherwise smooth | Graphics settings or the wrong GPU being used |
| Drops only while an overlay is open | Overlay rendering — improved in v1.0.2 |
The official settings sequence
The developer asks you to try these as two separate configurations rather than mixing them, because the right answer differs between machines.
| Try | Settings |
|---|---|
| Step 1 | VSync On or Adaptive, Fullscreen mode |
| Step 2 | VSync off, 60 FPS frame-rate cap on, Fullscreen mode |
Further official adjustments
If neither configuration is enough, the official page also suggests resetting Brightness and Saturation to their defaults, increasing the In-Game Scale, lowering your resolution, and adjusting camera tracking.
Check the GPU the game is actually using
On laptops especially, the game may be running on integrated graphics. Search Windows for “Graphics Settings”, select Fields of Mistria, and set it to High performance.
What the patches changed
Version 1.0 reported substantial performance work including a reduction of VRAM use by more than 50%. Version 1.0.2 improved performance when other programs — specifically AMD and Nvidia’s proprietary game overlays — render in the same window as the game. The developer still lists additional performance and graphical optimization as an active known issue, so some cases are genuinely not fixable at your end yet.
Primary sources
Checked against these public pages. Official sources define confirmed features and status; community sources are labelled as such and used for game data that the developer does not publish directly.