Game Settings - Company of Heroes 2

Game Settings Guide for Company of Heroes 2

This guide covers every major settings category in Company of Heroes 2: Graphics, Audio, Controls, Accessibility, Language, Network, and Gameplay. It includes recommended presets for low-end, mid-range, and high-end systems, highlights common misconfiguration pitfalls, and explains settings that require special attention during initial setup.

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1. Graphics Settings

#### 1.1 Key Settings Breakdown

Setting	Description	Performance Impact
Resolution	Native monitor resolution. Always set to your display's native res for best clarity.	High – lower resolution increases FPS.
Display Mode	Fullscreen, Windowed, Borderless Windowed. Borderless is good for alt-tabbing but may incur slight input lag.	Low – Fullscreen often gives best performance.
VSync	Synchronizes frame rate with monitor refresh rate. Off: screen tearing; On: capped FPS, can cause input delay.	Medium – disabling boosts FPS but may cause tearing.
Texture Quality	Controls resolution of in-game textures.	Medium – higher uses more VRAM.
Model Quality	LOD for units and structures.	Medium – higher reduces draw distance but looks better.
Shadow Quality	Resolution and softness of shadows.	High – major FPS hit. Low/Off helps low-end PCs.
Antialiasing	Smooths jagged edges. Options: Off, FXAA (low cost), MSAA 2x/4x/8x (expensive).	Very High – MSAA is very demanding.
Ambient Occlusion	Adds depth shading between objects.	Medium – can reduce FPS significantly
Terrain Detail	Foliage, debris, ground textures.	Medium – high settings reduce FPS in heavy forests.
Particle Quality	Explosions, smoke, muzzle flashes.	Medium – high can cause stutter in large battles.
Water Detail	Reflections, transparency.	Low – minimal visual benefit, high cost.
Lens Flare	Light streaks from sun/explosions.	Low – off gives minor FPS gain.
Effects Quality	Multi-effect LOD (bloom, motion blur, etc.).	Medium – high can blur clarity.
Saturation	Color intensity.	None – performance neutral.
Gamma	Brightness adjustment.	None – use a calibration image for best visibility.

#### 1.2 Presets by Hardware Tier

Low-End (e.g., Intel HD Graphics, 4 GB RAM, 1 GB VRAM)

Resolution: 1280×720 / 1366×768

Display Mode: Fullscreen

VSync: Off

Texture Quality: Low

Model Quality: Low

Shadow Quality: Off (or Low)

Antialiasing: Off

Ambient Occlusion: Off

Terrain Detail: Low

Particle Quality: Low

Water Detail: Low

Lens Flare: Off

Effects Quality: Low

Aim for 30 FPS steady.

Mid-Range (e.g., GTX 1060 / RX 580, 8 GB RAM, 4 GB VRAM)

Resolution: 1920×1080

Display Mode: Fullscreen

VSync: Off (unless tearing bothers you)

Texture Quality: High

Model Quality: High

Shadow Quality: Medium

Antialiasing: FXAA (or Off)

Ambient Occlusion: Off (or SSAO Low)

Terrain Detail: High

Particle Quality: High

Water Detail: Medium

Lens Flare: On (negligible cost)

Effects Quality: High

Target 60 FPS most of the time.

High-End (e.g., RTX 3070 / RX 6800, 16 GB RAM, 8+ GB VRAM)

Resolution: 2560×1440 or 4K

Display Mode: Fullscreen

VSync: Off (use G-Sync/FreeSync if available)

Texture Quality: Ultra (if available)

Model Quality: Ultra

Shadow Quality: High / Ultra

Antialiasing: MSAA 4x (or 2x for 4K)

Ambient Occlusion: SSAO or HBAO+

Terrain Detail: Ultra

Particle Quality: Ultra

Water Detail: High

Lens Flare: On

Effects Quality: Ultra

Aim for 60 FPS minimum; 100+ FPS on 1080p.

VSync: Many players leave it Off for lower latency, but if you experience screen tearing, enable it or cap FPS via your GPU driver. In CoH2, VSync also caps at 60 FPS even on 144 Hz monitors – this can feel sluggish. Use driver-level Frame Rate Limit instead.

Antialiasing: MSAA often causes crashes on older drivers or AMD cards. Start with FXAA – it's light and prevents jaggies adequately in an RTS where you're zoomed out.

Effects Quality: Setting this to Ultra adds heavy motion blur and bloom that can obscure enemy units at the edge of the screen. Many competitive players keep it Medium or Low for clarity.

Terrain Detail: On snow maps, High terrain detail adds a lot of snow particles that hurt FPS. If performance dips on Eastern Front maps, lower this first.

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2. Audio Settings

#### 2.1 Options Explained

Setting	Description	Recommendation
Master Volume	Overall volume.	70–80% to leave headroom.
Music Volume	Background music.	30–50% – can be distracting during combat.
SFX Volume	Weapons, explosions, vehicles.	100% for situational awareness.
Voice Volume	Unit callouts and narrator.	100% – crucial for hearing “Squad wiped!” or abilities.
Cinematic Volume	Cutscenes only.	Same as Master.
Enable EAX	Environmental audio effects (if supported).	Off – EAX is obsolete and can cause distortion.

#### 2.2 Special Attention Points

Voice Volume is vital: Enemy flamethrower sounds, tank engine roars, and ability activation voicelines give early warnings. Never lower it below 80%.

Music Volume: In multiplayer, consider turning music off entirely to focus on ambient sounds like footsteps or artillery.

Speaker Configuration: If you use headphones, enable Windows Sonic or Dolby Atmos for better positioning. CoH2 doesn't have native HRTF, so stereo headphones are fine.

3. Controls & Hotkeys

Camera Scroll: WASD or Edge Pan

Group Select/Create: Ctrl + 1-9

Attack Move: A + Left Click

Reverse Move (Vehicles): R (press while vehicle selected)

Hold Fire: H

Stop: S

Squad Abilities: Q, W, E, R (by default)

Retreat: T (all squads) or Backspace (selected)

Build menu: B (then click structure)

Change Retreat to a more accessible key like `R` or `Mouse Button 4` (since T is far from WASD).

Move Attack Move to `Shift + Right Click` (like Starcraft) if you prefer it.

Remap Ability keys to `1-4` instead of QWER if you have small hands.

Camera Scroll Speed: Adjust between 40–60% for precise control.

Edge Panning: Enable. If disabled, you must use WASD – edge pan is faster for most players.

Sensitivity: Keep mouse DPI 800-1600; in-game Pointer Sensitivity = 5-10.

Reverse Move (R): By default it's a toggle – pressing R once makes the vehicle drive backward BUT it reverses direction of turret if the vehicle is facing away. Practice in skirmish before using in multiplayer.

Retreat: The default `T` key retreats all squads – not just selected squads. Many new players accidentally retreat their entire army. Rebind to something else or use `Backspace` for selected units only.

Hold Fire (H): Very useful for ambushes – but beginners often forget to re-enable fire. Use `H` to toggle; check the unit icon (crossed-out gun) to confirm.

4. Accessibility Settings

Colorblind Mode: None directly in settings. You must enable High Contrast via Windows Ease of Access (which affects UI colors). Alternatively, use Reshade filters to adjust color grading.

Text Size: Cannot be changed. Use Windows Magnifier (Win + +) to zoom UI.

Cursor Size: No setting. A third-party tool like Yolomouse can enlarge the cursor.

Subtitle Size: No adjustment. The game has subtitles for campaign cutscenes but they are small.

One-handed play: Use AutoHotkey script to map mouse buttons to keyboard keys (e.g., side buttons for Retreat/Select all).

Slow down game speed: In custom skirmish, set game speed to 0.5x to give more reaction time.

TTK (Time to Kill) cannot be adjusted. CoH2 is very squishy – one sticky grenade can wipe a squad. If you have slow reaction times, play 1v1 with longer game speed or play against AI on Easy.

UI Opacity: Not adjustable. For players with low vision, try lowering resolution to enlarge HUD elements.

5. Language Settings

Interface Language: Supports English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Russian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, and more. Can be changed in Steam properties (right-click CoH2 → Properties → Language). Does not affect gameplay.

Audio Language: Only English voice acting is available. Some community mods add other languages, but they are not officially supported.

Subtitle Language: Subtitles only appear in the language of the player's interface language. No separate subtitle toggle for story conversations.

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6. Network Settings

#### 6.1 Online Modes & Connection

CoH2 uses peer-to-peer (P2P) networking for multiplayer. No dedicated servers in standard matchmaking (except some community mods like Spearhead).

Setting	Location	Recommendation
Port Forwarding	Router / Firewall.	Forward TCP/UDP 6112, 28910, 29900, 29901, 29910, 29920 for best stability. See official support.
UPnP	Router setting.	Enable – helps CoH2 open ports automatically.
NAT Type	In-game network test (Settings → Network → Test).	Must be Open (Precision: player-hosted then type 5). If Moderate or Strict, other players may fail to connect.

#### 6.2 In-Game Network Options

Latency Indicator: Always keep enabled (top-right of screen). Shows ping to host.

Mod Sync: Turn off Auto-Download mods if you play only vanilla; turning off reduces loading time.

Spectator Mode: Joining as spectator uses same connection. Ensure stable internet (5 Mbps up/down).

Firewall/Antivirus often block CoH2's ports. Add exceptions for `RelicCoH2.exe` in Windows Defender and any third-party AV. Symptoms: cannot join games, dropouts.

Mod compatibility: If you have mods installed and the host does not, the game will prompt to sync mods. If you decline, you may be kicked. If mods cause connection errors, verify game files in Steam.

Voice Chat: CoH2 has no in-game voice chat. Use Discord or TeamSpeak. Ensure Push-to-Talk key does not conflict with control keys.

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7. Gameplay Settings

#### 7.1 Options That Affect Core Mechanics

Setting	Description	Recommendation
Auto-Select Substitute Squads	When a squad is wiped, automatically selects another.	Off – better to manually select.
Camera Follow on Selection	Camera jumps to selected unit.	Off – use double-click unit icon or Space to locate.
Show Terrain Grid	Displays cover icons on ground.	On – essential for positioning squad behind green cover.
Show Health Bars	Always show HP above units.	On – critical for assessing retreats.
Show Capture Progress	Shows percentage of each point.	On – helps prioritize.
Auto-Retreat (Post-Victory)	Units automatically retreat after objective capture?	Off – you control timing.
Toggle Grenade Auto-Cancel	If you press a grenade ability, you can cancel by right-clicking (default).	Keep On – to avoid wasting munitions.
Minimap Mode	Circular or Square.	Square is easier to read.
Minimap Size	Small, Medium, Large.	Large – useful for spotting flank attacks.
V-Sync (Repeated from Graphics)	Also appears here.	Keep Off in gameplay for no input lag.

#### 7.2 Special Attention Points

Show Terrain Grid: Without it, you cannot differentiate green (heavy cover) vs yellow (light cover) vs red (negative cover). Always on.

Auto-Select Substitute Squads causes confusion when you lose a unit and suddenly control another squad far away. Turn Off.

Camera Follow on Selection: Can disorient you when you click on a building and the camera teleports. Keep Off; use `Space` to recenter on selected units.

Minimap: Enlarge it and set to transparent if it blocks view. Click on minimap to issue move orders – very fast.

8. Additional Configuration Tips

Mouse Smoothing: Add `gfx_smoothmouse = 0` under [Graphics] to remove acceleration.

FPS Limit: Add `gfx_maxfps = 144` (or your monitor's refresh rate) if VSync is off to avoid unnecessary GPU load.

`-novideo` – skips intro videos (saves a few seconds).

`-dx11` – use DirectX 11 (default). Use `-dx9` for older GPUs.

`-window` – force windowed mode.

`-nosound` – disable sound entirely (use only for troubleshooting).

#### 8.3 Cloud Saves

CoH2 syncs settings and profile via Steam Cloud. If you change settings on one PC, they apply everywhere. To revert to default, delete `configuration.lua` and restart game.

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9. Final Setup Checklist

1. First Launch: Run the game once to create default files, then exit.
2. Graphics: Apply the appropriate preset from the hardware table above. Disable VSync and set antialiasing to FXAA first.
3. Audio: SFX and Voice at 100%, Music at 30%.
4. Controls: Remap Retreat to a safe key (e.g., `R`), enable edge panning, adjust scroll speed.
5. Network: Forward ports if you host often; run the in-game network test to get Open NAT.
6. Gameplay: Enable Terrain Grid, Health Bars, Capture Progress; disable Auto-Select Substitute.
7. Test: Start a skirmish vs AI on a snow map (e.g., Kharkov) and adjust graphics if FPS drops below 30.

With these settings, you'll have an optimized and competitive experience in Company of Heroes 2. Adjust based on personal preference, but the defaults described above will avoid common pitfalls.