Last updated: July 10, 2026
If League of Legends stays above 144 FPS during laning but suddenly drops during dragon fights, Baron contests, or full 5v5 teamfights, the problem is different from consistently low performance.
During a teamfight, multiple champions, abilities, particles, shields, health bars, projectiles, shadows, and interface elements must be updated at the same time. A CPU or GPU that has enough headroom during laning can temporarily reach its limit when the fight becomes more complex.
This guide focuses specifically on FPS drops that happen during teamfights. For general performance problems that begin as soon as the match starts, use the complete League of Legends low-FPS and stuttering guide.
Display FPS and ping with Ctrl+F → record lane FPS and teamfight FPS separately → disable Shadows → set Effects Quality to Low → use a stable FPS cap → close Discord, graphics, recording, and stat overlays → enable client performance options → check CPU cores, GPU usage, RAM, and temperatures → test mouse polling rate only when mouse movement triggers the drop.
If the screen remains smooth but champions teleport, abilities activate late, or the ping number rises, investigate the network connection. Apply the FPS steps below when the entire image stutters and the FPS counter falls during the fight.
- Why FPS drops only in teamfights
- Measure lane and teamfight FPS
- Lower Shadows and Effects Quality
- Set a stable FPS cap
- Close overlays and reduce client load
- Identify a CPU or GPU bottleneck
- Test mouse polling rate
- Check heat, memory, and drivers
- Compare Fullscreen and Borderless
- Ten-minute checklist
- Frequently asked questions
Why FPS Drops Only During Teamfights
Laning usually places fewer champions and ability effects on the screen. A large fight can increase CPU calculations, visual effects, interface updates, audio events, background overlay activity, and GPU rendering load within a few seconds.
| Symptom | More likely cause | Check first |
|---|---|---|
| FPS falls as soon as multiple abilities appear | Effects, Shadows, GPU load, or CPU spikes | Effects Quality, Shadows, GPU usage, and CPU cores |
| Lane FPS is 240 but teamfight FPS falls below 100 | Large uncapped swings or a temporary bottleneck | Stable FPS cap and resource usage |
| The problem appears only with a stat application | Overlay, browser rendering, or background activity | Exit the application completely |
| FPS falls only while moving the mouse quickly | High polling rate, input software, or overlay conflict | Compare 1,000 Hz and close mouse software |
| Teamfight performance becomes worse later in the match | Temperature, memory use, or background downloads | Temperatures, clocks, RAM, and disk use |
| FPS remains normal but champions teleport | Ping, jitter, packet loss, or server conditions | Ping display and network activity |
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A stable 144 FPS during important fights can feel better than 300 FPS during laning followed by repeated drops below 100 FPS when abilities fill the screen.
Measure Lane FPS and Teamfight FPS Separately
Create a baseline before changing graphics or Windows settings. Comparing an empty lane with a different match and different champion effects will not produce a reliable result.
Step 1: Display FPS and ping
- Enter a match or Practice Tool.
- Press Ctrl+F.
- Confirm that FPS and ping are visible.
- Record the typical FPS while walking through a quiet lane.
- Record the lowest repeated FPS during a large fight.
- Check whether the ping number rises at the same time.
Step 2: Change one setting at a time
Disable Shadows and repeat the test. Then return to the same conditions and lower Effects Quality. Do not change Shadows, Effects Quality, the FPS cap, display mode, and overlays simultaneously.
An FPS counter shows the current rate but can hide short frame-time spikes. A performance tool can help compare average FPS, slower frames, and frame times before and after each change.
Lower Shadows and Effects Quality First
When the problem happens only during combat, prioritize settings that become more demanding when several champions and abilities are visible. Do not immediately reduce every option or lower the resolution.
| Setting | Teamfight starting value | Why test it |
|---|---|---|
| Window Mode | Fullscreen | Creates a consistent display baseline |
| Shadows | Off | Reduces additional scene rendering during busy fights |
| Effects Quality | Low | Targets ability, explosion, shield, and particle load |
| Environment Quality | Low | Creates additional CPU and GPU headroom |
| Character Quality | Medium, then Low for comparison | Balances champion visibility and performance |
| Anti-Aliasing | Off for comparison | Creates GPU headroom when usage is already high |
| V-Sync | Off for the first test | Separates synchronization and frame-cap behavior |
Resolution reduction is most useful when GPU usage reaches approximately full load during fights. If GPU usage remains low while a CPU core is heavily loaded, reducing resolution may produce little improvement.
Use a Stable FPS Cap Instead of Unlimited FPS
Unlimited FPS can produce a high number in quiet areas while keeping the CPU or GPU close to maximum load. When a teamfight begins, there may be little performance headroom left for the additional work.
| Measured result | First cap to compare | What to observe |
|---|---|---|
| Lane 240 FPS, teamfight 130–150 FPS | 120 or 144 FPS | Whether fight consistency improves |
| Lane 180 FPS, teamfight 110–130 FPS | 100 or 120 FPS | Whether the size of the drop becomes smaller |
| 144 Hz monitor and 144 FPS remains stable in fights | Keep 144 FPS | No reason to lower it unnecessarily |
| GPU usage stays near maximum | Cap below the current average | Whether GPU headroom and temperatures improve |
Begin with the in-game FPS cap. Do not apply different limits through League of Legends, the graphics-driver control panel, and a third-party limiter at the same time.
Close Overlays and Reduce Client Load
An overlay may appear harmless during laning but contribute additional CPU, GPU, memory, or browser-rendering work when the system is already under teamfight load.
- Discord Overlay and screen sharing
- NVIDIA Overlay, Instant Replay, and game filters
- AMD Overlay, recording, and performance metrics
- Xbox Game Bar captures and background recording
- OP.GG, Blitz, Porofessor, and similar stat overlays
- OBS and other streaming or recording applications
- RGB, fan-control, peripheral, and monitoring software
- Browser videos, downloads, and cloud synchronization
Enable the client performance options
- Open the League client.
- Select the gear icon.
- Open the General settings.
- Enable Low Spec Mode.
- On a memory-limited system, enable Close Client During Game.
- Restart the client.
- Test another match with the overlays still disabled.
Exit the applications and test first. If the problem disappears, re-enable the tools one at a time to identify the specific overlay or recording feature responsible.
Identify a CPU, GPU, or Memory Bottleneck
A teamfight FPS drop is not always caused by insufficient graphics performance. League of Legends may be limited by one heavily loaded CPU core even when the total CPU percentage appears moderate.
| Measured result | Likely explanation | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| GPU reaches 95% to 100% during fights | GPU rendering load | Lower Effects, Shadows, Anti-Aliasing, or the FPS cap |
| GPU usage is low but one CPU core is heavily loaded | CPU or game-thread limitation | Close overlays and background applications |
| RAM usage remains above approximately 90% | Memory pressure and possible paging | Close browsers, launchers, the client, and recording tools |
| CPU and GPU usage appear low but stuttering remains | Frame cap, input, display mode, driver, or overlay issue | Check polling rate, refresh rate, window mode, and overlays |
| FPS falls as temperature rises | Thermal or power throttling | Check cooling, fan mode, charger, and clock speeds |
Check logical CPU processors in Task Manager
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
- Open the Performance tab.
- Select CPU.
- Change the graph to show logical processors when available.
- Check whether one core reaches a much higher load during the FPS drop.
- Open the Processes tab and identify non-game applications using CPU, RAM, or GPU resources.
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A single heavily loaded core can restrict the game while the overall CPU figure remains at 40% or 50%.
Test Mouse Polling Rate Only When Movement Causes the Drop
A polling-rate test is useful only when the FPS falls while moving the mouse quickly. It is not a universal League of Legends optimization setting.
- If the mouse is set to 8,000 Hz or 4,000 Hz, compare it at 1,000 Hz.
- If the problem remains, temporarily compare 1,000 Hz with 500 Hz.
- Close mouse macro, RGB, and overlay software.
- Connect the mouse directly to the PC instead of an unpowered USB hub.
- Repeat the same rapid-camera-movement test.
- Restore the original rate when there is no measurable improvement.
When the game stutters even while the mouse is stationary, investigate teamfight load, overlays, CPU usage, temperature, and display settings instead.
Check Temperature, Memory, and Graphics Drivers
If early teamfights are smooth but performance becomes worse after 20 to 30 minutes, the cause may be temperature, power limits, increasing memory use, or a background process rather than the visual settings alone.
- Compare CPU and GPU temperatures immediately after launch and after 20 minutes.
- Check whether clock speeds decrease as temperatures rise.
- Connect the correct charger when using a laptop.
- Check the laptop manufacturer’s performance and fan modes.
- Close browsers, launchers, downloads, and cloud synchronization.
- Return CPU, GPU, and memory tuning to default values.
- Check whether the problem began after a graphics-driver update.
Use the NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel graphics-driver guide to check the current version, update normally, or compare a previous stable release.
If teamfight stuttering began immediately after an update, restart the PC and repeat the same test. Compare the previous stable driver only when the problem remains reproducible.
Compare Fullscreen and Borderless Windowed Mode
When the problem begins after Alt+Tab or appears only in Borderless mode, compare the display modes without changing the graphics quality at the same time.
- Set League of Legends to Fullscreen.
- Restart the game.
- Record the teamfight FPS and Alt+Tab behavior.
- Change to Borderless mode.
- Restart the game again.
- Compare the same type of fight.
- On Windows 11, check Optimizations for windowed games separately.
The Windows 11 gaming optimization guide explains Game Mode, GPU preference, refresh rate, windowed-game optimizations, recording features, and startup applications.
League of Legends Teamfight FPS: Ten-Minute Checklist
| Step | Action | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Press Ctrl+F and display FPS and ping | Separate rendering and network problems |
| 2 | Record lane FPS and teamfight FPS separately | Measure the size of the drop |
| 3 | Disable Shadows and lower Effects Quality | Reduce fight-specific visual load |
| 4 | Set a stable FPS cap | Reduce large frame-rate swings |
| 5 | Close stat, Discord, graphics, and recording overlays | Remove external load and conflicts |
| 6 | Enable client performance options | Reduce client CPU and RAM use |
| 7 | Check CPU cores, GPU usage, and RAM | Identify the limiting resource |
| 8 | Test polling rate only when mouse movement triggers the drop | Separate an input-processing problem |
| 9 | Compare temperatures and clocks after 20 minutes | Detect thermal or power throttling |
| 10 | Compare Fullscreen and Borderless modes | Check display and Alt+Tab behavior |
Teamfight FPS drops are different from a game that is slow from the beginning. Record lane and fight performance separately, then test Shadows, Effects Quality, the FPS cap, and overlays. High GPU use points toward visual load, while low GPU use and a heavily loaded CPU core point more strongly toward CPU or background-software limitations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it normal for FPS to fall from 240 during laning to 100 during a teamfight?
Some difference is expected because the scene is more complex. A repeated drop that causes noticeable stuttering should be tested with lower Effects Quality, disabled Shadows, a stable FPS cap, and no overlays.
Will setting every graphics option to Very Low fix teamfight stuttering?
It can help when the GPU is the bottleneck. It may not help when one CPU core, an overlay, high memory use, temperature, or mouse input processing is responsible.
Is unlimited FPS always best?
No. Unlimited FPS can keep the CPU or GPU highly loaded during quiet scenes. A stable cap can preserve headroom and reduce the size of the drop when the teamfight begins.
What should I do when ping rises during teamfights?
Treat ping separately from FPS. Pause downloads, check other devices, compare Wi-Fi with Ethernet, restart the network equipment, and investigate packet loss or routing problems.
Can the CPU be the bottleneck when total CPU usage is only 50%?
Yes. One game thread or CPU core can reach its limit while the remaining cores are less active. Check the logical-processor graphs and GPU usage together.
Does an 8,000 Hz mouse always reduce League of Legends FPS?
No. Test a lower polling rate only when moving the mouse causes the FPS drop. Restore the original setting when the comparison shows no improvement.
Why did teamfight stuttering begin after a driver update?
Restart the PC and repeat the same test. If the problem began immediately after the update and remains reproducible, compare the previous stable driver version.
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