Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty: Best graphics settings for Steam Deck (2.0)

The Steam Deck is the most popular handheld gaming machine in the market today. The Valve gaming machine, however, packs some modest hardware and is nowhere close to the minimum recommended for most of the recent video games. Therefore, gamers have to frequently resort to the lowest settings in some modern releases like Starfield for a decent experience.

Cyberpunk 2077, which is now getting a 2.0 update and the Phantom Liberty expansion, is no exception to this formula when it comes to the Steam Deck. Gamers will have to tweak the settings for a decent experience on the handheld console. Here is a list of the best settings to optimize your gameplay.

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Best Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 graphics settings for Steam Deck

Although Cyberpunk 2077 isn't very optimized or easy to run, the game bundles a dedicated Steam Deck mode that customizes the in-game settings to optimize the performance for the handheld. The game doesn't play at sky-high framerates with these resolutions applied, however. We recommend setting the console to a 15W power draw and a couple of settings tweaks to ensure the best experience.

Our recommendations for the best settings for Cyberpunk 2077 on the Steam Deck are as follows:

Graphics

Cyberpunk 2077 graphics settings for Steam Deck (Image via CDPR)

• Quick preset: Custom
• Texture quality: High

Nvidia DLSS

• DLSS frame generation: N/A
• DLSS Super Resolution: N/A
• Nvidia DLAA: Off

Resolution scaling

• Dynamic resolution scaling: Off
• AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.1: Balanced
• AMD FSR 2.1 image sharpening: 0.50
• Intel Xe Super Samping 1.1: Off

Basic

Basic and advanced settings in the game (Image via CDPR)

• Field of view: 80
• Film grain: Off
• Chromatic aberration: Off
• Depth of field: On
• Lens flare: On
• Motion blur: High

Advanced

• Contact shadows: On
• Improved facial lighting geometry: On
• Anisotropy: 16
• Local shadow mesh quality: High
• Local shadow quality: Medium
• Cascaded shadows range: Medium
• Cascaded shadows resolution: Medium
• Distance shadows resolution: Low
• Volumetric fog resolution: Low
• Volumetric cloud quality: Medium
• Max dynamic decals: High
• Screen space reflection quality: High
• Subsurface scattering quality: Medium
• Ambient occlusion: High
• Color precision: Medium
• Mirror quality: Medium
• Level of Detail (LOD): High
• Crowd density: Low

Ray tracing

Best Advanced settings in Cyberpunk for the Steam Deck (Image via CDPR)

• Ray tracing: Off
• Ray-traced reflections: Off
• Ray-traced sun shadows: Off
• Ray-traced local shadows: Off
• Ray-traced lighting: Low
• Path tracing (Technology preview): Off
• Path tracing in photo mode (Technology preview): On

Video

• Monitor: As per your preference
• VSync: bOff
• Maximum FPS: Off
• Windowed mode: Fullscreen
• Resolution: 1280 x 800
• HDR mode: As per your preference
• Nvidia Reflex Low Latency: N/A

Although the game runs at playable framerates on the Steam Deck with these settings applied, it looks nowhere near what can be expected at the highest tiers. FSR isn't the best upscaling tech out there, and you might experience some artifacts and inconsistencies here and there during gameplay. This can negatively impact the experience.

Moreover, when running at full 15W, the Deck's battery life doesn't last very long either, which can also be another drawback of the console. Therefore, it is best to stick to your gaming PC rig for the best experience in Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 and Phantom Liberty.