Update: If you are here in search of lag issues on World of Warcraft’s latest expansion Battle for Azeroth then we have a separate lag fix guide for it that you should definitely look into. However, if you are here for Legion lag then you are at the right place.
I’d probably enjoy #worldofwarcraft more if Legion didn’t freeze, lag, or dc constantly. Wow, but not in a good way. Other zones=fine. 😕
Legion Pre-Patch and ELVUI - Kkthnx Unfortunately with the pre-patch, it works. Technically, but the LUA errors are 'real'. Anyone currently using and formulated a fix? Misleading Legion Pre-patch submitted 2 years ago * by WoWLeakz I just received notice that the pre-patch has been moved up to the 12th (one week earlier than previously informed). Usually an expansion's pre-patch adds all the major changes into the game before the actual expansion is released. So for Legion, we should get things like all the class/spec/talent changes, the new Demon Hunter class (for those who pre-ordered), any profession changes, and new features like the revamped wardrobe/transmog settings.
— Lisha Forrester (@ElishaForrester) February 3, 2017
this happens sometimes when new things come out. WoW was HELL when legion dropped. Lag for days.
— 🍩 (@honeyrust) November 7, 2016
Blizzard’s Response on WoW Legion Lag
It is good to know that Blizzard isn’t turning a blind eye to it and is doing their part to come up with a solution. Blizzard knows that players are facing lag problems in Legion and tweaks have become part of their updates they roll out every now and then.
However, another point to note is that Blizzard is already too plagued with threats as they have faced many DDoS attacks as of recent. Apart from that, the engine that designed World of Warcraft is quite old and adjusting it accordingly becomes difficult.
It is why many players even with their GTX 1080s and RX 480s aren’t able to fully utilize their GPUs and in turn face FPS drops and WoW Legion Lag. This was also pointed out among one of the threads regarding WoW Legion Lag fix which kind of makes sense why there are so many players facing the issue.
Blizzard in this regards also posted something on the official forum enlightening players of the possible problems that players might face during the pre-patch release. But the lengthy post still didn’t include each and every problem and is why Blizzard also mentioned that “the list does not include every issue that we know about, but a majority that we feel will impact you the most.”
WoW Legion Lag Fix
So as part of our efforts to provide gamers the liberty of playing their favorite games with an enhanced experience, we would be putting through a few steps that will help you solve WoW Legion lag problems and hopefully allow a smoother gameplay.
Step 1: Turn down your graphic settings
If your WoW legion lag is related to FPS drops then lower your graphical settings as per the aspects defined below. Yes, even though you have the best computer in the world, giving this a try is still worthy. As described above, since the game’s engine being outdated, it does not utilize computers the way it should. As a result, even having high-end PCs don’t let you play WoW legion lag free.
- Take down Anti-Aliasing to zero or minimum
- Reduce Draw Distance
- Reduce Shadow Quality
Furthermore, there are also some significant tweaks that are recommended if the above ones don’t seem to help.
- Disable all add-ons (Trust me this helps in 90% of the cases)
- Set Render Scale to 100%
- Turn off Vsync and Triple Buffering. If you have a good GPU and Monitor turning on Gsync will give you the same graphical results without compromising any FPS.
Step 2: Prioritize the game over other processes
Since WoW doesn’t fully utilize the capabilities of a computer, in many cases, this can be the source of the issue. The game does not consume all the cores of a PC the way it should and in return can cause WoW Legion lag. Forcing high priority to the game has solved the problem in many cases. DO NOT, however, set the game to Real-Time priority as it may crash your computer. We hope you know how to do it, but if you don’t you can find the pictorial representation below;
Step 3: Reset Game Settings
A good way to make sure your WoW Legion lag isn’t because of inappropriate game files is to scan and repair them through Blizzard’s utility. Those who have been playing the game in the past would probably know how to do it. As for those who are new to the MMORPG the points below will let you know how to do it.
- In the Battle.net app click on World of Warcraft and go to options. The options button is located right in the front and looks like this.
- Click Scan and Repair.
- The utility will check all game files for World of Warcraft: Legion and automatically repair them if deemed necessary.
Legion Pre Patch
Start the game and observe the changes. If it helped, you would be able to see a significant decrease in WoW Legion lag and at the least, you will experience an FPS increase for the game. In case no detrimental changes were observed, one should also reset the World of Warcraft UI as the game add-ons can also be the culprit behind the problem.
- Simply locate the World of Warcraft folder in your computer
- Look for folders named WTF, Interface and Cache
- Rename them with WTFOld, InterfaceOld and CacheOld respectively
- Relaunch the game and it will automatically reset your game UI to the default settings
- You can later copy your desired addons from the Old folder
Step 4: Improving Internet Connection
While this may sound strange but bad internet connections are one of the main reasons why one might be facing WoW Legion lag. The game is very network demanding, and if your internet isn’t up to the task, chances are you will never be able to solve the problem.
While an internet connection of 2MBPS is recommended, we advise you to upgrade it to at least a 4MBPS connection. It’s because of the huge amount of game data that is required to play the game in a smooth environment. Roaming freely in the world you won’t notice anything, but in PvP and PvE scenarios you will clearly be able to see a lackluster performance.
In the case of PvE scenarios where DPS is considered the only difference between a good and bad raider, pings above 100ms will apparently put you on the back foot. It’s something that can greatly felt by Hunters whose primary damage output is by standing and throwing out your arrows.
In PvP cases, each and every second counts. Split second decisions can be the difference between a match won or lost, and you are greatly relying on coordination and timings to get the upper hand. Your teammate expects the same for you, and if you mess up your timings then most likely you are as good as dead.
Step 5: Using a lag reducer
We are not boasting about how awesome we are at reducing lag but truth be told, we have our success story to back up the statement. Blizzard’s FPS Overwatch in its Beta stage and even after the official release faced similar troubles. We asked players to give Kill Ping a try and it worked wonders for them.
We already support Warlords of Draenor and ever since Legion’s pre-release Kill Ping’s main focus was to support the new expansion as well. Thankfully, the homework is done and Kill Ping now fully backs World of Warcraft: Legion. Therefore, along with the tweaks described above, the best thing you can do to reduce WoW: Legion lag is to use Kill Ping.
Above, you will find a video of a user who used Kill Ping to reduce WoW: Legion lag and was satisfied, to say the least.
Below are the results of one of another user who has been playing since Vanilla WoW. In the past, the pre-release patch was just unplayable for him but now with the help of Kill Ping, he can play it in much smoother settings.