How To Fix Dota 2 Lag Or FPS Drop In Main Menu Or Intro

Dota 2 is constantly evolving and so are its issues. A few months ago, curious cases started emerging about Dota 2 client stuttering, lagging or showing FPS drop issue when loading the game introduction or main menu. While the problem does not appear to affect the main game, it’s definitely not a reassuring sign especially that the issue started showing up after the Battle Pass 2020 update was released.

What causes FPS drop issue on Dota 2?

If you experience FPS drop when Dota 2 client is loading or when you are in the main menu, there are a number of things that you need to consider.

Corrupted Steam game data.

If the issue seems to appear only when the client is loading or in the main menu but you can play a regular Dota 2 game (matchmaking and other modes) without problems, there may be a problem with the game files. 

Sometimes, certain files in a game can cause conflicts or errors. In some cases, deleting these files may fix the issue although it can be tricky to know which file or files are the culprit. New updates may bring in new sets of files that may cause problems with the game. For instance, some Dota 2 players discovered that deleting certain video files that run on game introduction seems to have fixed this issue.

Inefficient coding.

In many other cases, game changes implemented by updates are the main reasons. The good thing is that these issues tend to go away on their as developers realize their mistake. Coding issues are usually not fixable on a user’s end so all you need to do is keep updating until the issue disappears.

How to fix Dota 2 Lag or FPS drop issue

FPS-related issues on Steam games tend to be caused by hardware limitations or problems than by issues with the games themselves. For this reason, Valve does not usually provide specific solutions for issues like the one we’re trying to fix here. 
The solutions that we provide below are known fixes and workarounds but they are not considered official. This means that they are not guaranteed to work for every case.
In fixing FPS drop issue in the main menu, we assume that you’ve already tried the basics like restart the Steam client and PC, update your graphics drivers and computer software, check for server issues. If you haven’t tried them yet, be sure to do them before you try the solutions below.

  1. Solution 1: Verify integrity of game files.

    Lag in Dota 2 main menu can be fixed by letting Steam client check if the game has all the necessary or updated files it needs. To do that, follow these steps:
    -Open Steam client.
    -Click on Games tab at the top.
    -Click View Games Library.
    -Highlight Dota 2 and right click on it.
    -Select Properties.
    -Click on Local Files tab.
    -Click on VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME FILES.
    The process can take several moments so just wait for it. Once the check is finished, open Dota 2 and check for the problem.verify integrity

  2. Solution 2: Delete some intro video files.

    Some Dota 2 players found out that their game stopped lagging at the main menu and the FPS drop issue went away after deleting specific files in the game folder. Below are the steps to follow:
    -Browse to the installation location of your Dota 2 game. (The default is typically in this path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\dota 2 beta)
    -Once you’ve located the installation folder for Dota 2, go to “game\dota\panorama\videos.” So, if you have the default location, the path should look like this: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\dota 2 beta\game\dota\panorama\videos 
    -Once you’re in the “videos” folder, remove these 2 files: intro_movie and ti10_background. You can either delete them or transfer them to another folder.files

  3. Solution 3: Adjust game FPS to match your monitor’s refresh rate.

    If Dota 2 continues to experience FPS drop, lag, or stuttering in the main menu, you can also check the in-game FPS setting and change it. Here’s how it’s done:
    -Launch Dota 2 game.
    -Open Settings menu.
    -Go to Video tab.
    -At the bottom part, find the Maximum Frames per second allowed option.
    -Make sure that you select the the FPS that matches your monitor’s refresh rate. So, for example, if your monitor has 144Hz refresh rate, make sure that the game’s FPS is at 144. The default FPS for Dota 2 is 60 FPS.FPS

Suggested readings:

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