Steam Deck

Apex Legends™ Complete Edition Best Steam Deck Settings

Check out these settings to get the best gaming experience when playing Respawn's premier hero shooter on the go.

Apex Legends is the award-winning free-to-play shooter that melds the hero shooter and battle royale genres to create a frenetic shooter experience like no other. It also runs incredibly on the Steam Deck, making for the most authentic Apex Legends experience you can take on the go.

Read on for the Apex Legends™ Complete Edition best Steam Deck settings in two configurations: best performance and best quality.

Apex Legends™ Complete Edition Best Steam Deck Settings

Compatibility Settings
Proton VersionDefault
BIOS Settings
UMA Buffer Size4G

In the past, Apex Legends had issues running on the Steam Deck due to AntiCheat issues. The good news is that those problems seem to have been resolved!

We recommend increasing the Steam Deck's UMA Buffer Size to 4G to give the GPU a bit more RAM to work with. This is important for maintaining stable performance with our recommended Balanced Settings or if you want to go with the Best Quality configuration.

Recommended — Balanced Settings (Native@60fps | ~2h30m)

With this configuration, all you have to do is turn down a few settings to get stable 60fps gameplay in Apex Legends. You'll see we've also set Texture Streaming Budget to High, which allocates up to 4GB of VRAM for this feature. This is why we suggested raising the UMA Buffer Size to 4G above.

In-game Video Settings
Display ModeFull Screen
V-SyncDisabled
Adaptive Resolution FPS Target0
Anti-aliasingTSAA
Texture Streaming BudgetHigh (4GB VRAM)
Texture FilteringAnisotropic 16X
Ambient Occlusion QualityMedium
Sun Shadow CoverageHigh
Sun Shadow DetailHigh
Spot Shadow DetailMedium
Volumetric LightingDisabled
Dynamic Spot ShadowsDisabled
Model DetailHigh
Effects DetailMedium
Impact MarksHigh
RagdollsMedium
Steam Deck Performance Menu Settings
Refresh Rate60
Framerate Limit60
Allow TearingOff
Half Rate ShadingOff
Thermal Power (TDP) LimitOff
Manual GPU Clock ControlOff
Scaling FilterLinear

Best Quality Settings (Native@60fps | ~2h)

These settings will get you the best possible graphics with stable performance. The framerate floats around 60fps both indoors and outdoors but will occasionally dip into the mid-50s when the action gets busy. Apex Legends looks incredible with these settings, so if you're good with "mostly 60fps", we'd recommend going with these settings.

In-game Video Settings
Display ModeFull Screen
V-SyncDisabled
Adaptive Resolution FPS Target0
Anti-aliasingTSAA
Texture Streaming BudgetHigh (4GB VRAM)
Texture FilteringAnisotropic 16X
Ambient Occlusion QualityHigh
Sun Shadow CoverageHigh
Sun Shadow DetailHigh
Spot Shadow DetailVery High
Volumetric LightingHigh
Dynamic Spot ShadowsHigh
Model DetailHigh
Effects DetailHigh
Impact MarksHigh
RagdollsHigh
Steam Deck Performance Menu Settings
Refresh Rate60
Framerate Limit60
Allow TearingOff
Half Rate ShadingOff
Thermal Power (TDP) LimitOff
Manual GPU Clock ControlOff
Scaling FilterLinear

High Performance Settings (Native@60fps | ~3h)

This configuration is for those who want to play at the highest possible framerate. We turn everything down but the resolution and uncap the framerate to get ultra-high framerates. Higher framerates may not be visible on the Steam Deck's 60Hz screen, but they do improve input responsiveness and reduce delay, which are both vital if you play Apex Legends seriously.

In-game Video Settings
Display ModeFull Screen
V-SyncDisabled
Adaptive Resolution FPS Target0
Anti-aliasingTSAA
Texture Streaming BudgetVery Low (2GB VRAM)
Texture FilteringBilinear
Ambient Occlusion QualityDisabled
Sun Shadow CoverageLow
Sun Shadow DetailLow
Spot Shadow DetailLow
Volumetric LightingDisabled
Dynamic Spot ShadowsDisabled
Model DetailLow
Effects DetailLow
Impact MarksDisabled
RagdollsLow
Steam Deck Performance Menu Settings
Refresh Rate60
Framerate LimitUncapped
Allow TearingOff
Half Rate ShadingOff
Thermal Power (TDP) LimitOff
Manual GPU Clock ControlOff
Scaling FilterLinear